York is a beautiful place I had heard. But never been there until now. Glen, Jessica-Leigh and I took a small break and stayed in a hotel just a short walk from the City centre.

It wasn’t the best weather, in fact it rained on and off the whole time we were there, but the grey skies added to the drama of the Castle ruins and architecture. Just a little walk from our hotel was the old buildings mixed with the new – traffic lights and roads leading through the old castle ruins with the Minster Cathedral peeking in the background.

We went to Jorvik Viking Centre and learned of the history of York; battle wounds, how they earnt their living and a beautifully preserved Dig of an actual Viking home.

The shopping centre was beautiful. A great many shops that London has itself and I found myself stopping to admire the buildings rather than the clothing etc from the stores.

Around the corner from this little street was The Armoury. An amazing shop where Glen purchased a replica broad sword and I got a couple of goblets embellished with skulls – I will definitely use them in a photo shoot soon, they’re awesome. We did want to take the suit of armour home, but alas, no room in the car or indeed our home. Damn!

HogRoast and beer appears to be the cuisine of York so of course we had to sample it. Glen got his Battle Axe bitter from the Jorvik gift shop which we had a good laugh about while we ate out hog roast pork and stuffing baguettes on a rain soaked bench in York.

On our wanderings there was a really funny street. I just had to take a picture, much to Glen’s amusement. I looked up Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate on the internet as I was curious!

York Castle was on our list to visit but unfortunately it wasn’t incredibly baby friendly so will go back there maybe next year with Jessica-Leigh and MegaBeth.

There was still plenty to see walking around the City and the buildings were so magnificent, walking around the corner was always a nice surprise when you see something like this

The York Minster. It’s a seriously huge yet intricately made building. Glen and I wondered how long it took to build, they sure don’t make buildings like that now.

York had such a nice vibe to it, incredibly friendly people and so much to do – I really recommend a visit if you haven’t been already!

Just a little update to let you all know my latest published news…

REVOLVER Magazine, (USA based rock magazine) has printed one of my pictures full page in their latest issue out this week – their yearly Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue. You may all recognise Simone Simons from the shoot I did earlier this year, with Simone wearing jewellery from the Jane Doe Collection by Seventh Circle Artworks.

Alongside that, REVOLVER have a Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock 2012 Calendar which is available for sale now. Another photo I took of Simone features in their Calendar – she is centre spread, the month of June. Order your Calendar here. Each month has dates marked with important birthdays and events in the Rock Music world.

Both of these items are the first major pieces of publication I’ve had in the States so far and I’m super stoked!

Lastly, with the release of Machine Head’s album ‘Unto the Locust’, Terrorizer Magazine printed full page my picture of Robb Flynn. Machine Head have just started touring on this album and I’m very much looking forward to catching up with the guys here in December at their London show!

I spent my Friday night this week at my favourite photo studio with rock band DogState. The guys wanted some promos to go alongside their new EP release ‘War Baby’.

Here’s a little teaser of one of the shoot settings!

The guys currently have the contact sheets to decide their final images, so after then I will share some of them with you all. We all worked really hard on the shoot but also had a great laugh too.

I’m off to York tomorrow morning early for a little break but will share some pictures as I’ve been told that there’s some great architecture there. Plus I want to go to the Viking Museum too!

Mx

The first few days of October felt like summer at almost 80 degrees, so I actually refused to believe it was actually October until today!

Model, Burlesque Performer and Seamstress are just a few of the talents of Miss Bruise Violet – the lady that graces the month of October on the Dolls ‘n’ Divas Calendar.

Wearing a handmade dress with a thigh-high side split to show off her awesome spooky Halloween tattoo, it’s clear why she is Miss October. Miss Bruise Violet has her own clothing label ‘Sucker for a Heartbeat’ and performs her Burlesque routine across the UK. I have no doubt she will be traveling further afield very soon. Check out her website for all the latest!

My amazing team on Hair and Makeup was Marino Lambrix and Julie Cooper. It was probably one of the funniest shoots and I have so many outtakes and behind the scenes images. Here’s one of my favourites. It was so hot that day that Marino had to use one of the props in the dressing room to fan her.

Everyone at the Calendar Launch last year caught her sexy routine at the London Tattoo Convention. Here’s the clip so you can see her in action, and don’t forget to check out more of the pink (now green) haired siren’s performances online at her website or catch one of her shows!

Miss Bruise Violet at the London Tattoo Convention

Mx