molly would

The video is complete!!!! Director/Editor: Ryan Dickie Producer:...

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:11:58 -0400

The video is complete!!!!

Director/Editor: Ryan Dickie

Producer: Phil Pinto

Camera/Lighting: Ryan Dickie and Kevin Phillips

Assistant Camera/Gaffer: Tonito Santos

Costumes/Art Direction: Molly Gottschalk

Special thanks to Sarah Kinlaw, Richard Peete, and Bryan Keller!!!!

Unsolved Mysteries

Sat, 08 May 2010 11:00:00 -0400

I grew up in very large house, with dark wood floors, jewel toned upholstery, and grandfather clocks. I will never forget the sound the hanging bells made as I ran through the foyer, across an Oriental rug, to the bottom of the staircase; regardless of my efforts to quiet my steps, the clock always chimed a daunting hello and its woodwork, capped with two ornate horns of wood, produced the unmistakeable apparition of a devils crown.

Children innately form superstitions and fears, petrified of monsters in the closet and under the bed and “boogie men” hiding in depths of any darkness. No mother would wish it upon herself or her child to instill such ideas, yet somehow, we all successfully devise the same superstitions and not-so-fantastic fantasies to slow the tick of the hands at night.

Enter Are You Afraid of the Dark, Unsolved Mysteries, even Scooby Doo- television shows which serve to confirm early suspicions, refute reassurance from mothers, and inspire new consternation, all within a thirty minute time slot.

I stayed up past my bedtime for the duration of the program, but well into the night in its wake. I thought of the cases described in Unsolved Mysteries - described with such validity, so strong in their evidence, but lacking restitution.

Open cases, unfinished business, daydreams, nightmares, apparitions, superstitions, fear, fire, danger, desire, questions, qualms, love, lust, liasons, mysteries never to be solved but always pondered in our young and trusting minds.

Unsolved Mysteries - the once solo project of Jon Lynn and now accompanied by Colin Alexander and Bryan Keller, is a band that boldly sites the name of our epic and nostalgic program, and honors it well. High energy, capricious, light but heavy, whimsical and yet dark- like the cases which kept us awake long after the credits, Unsolved Mysteries plays over and over again in our heads and seems to appear everywhere we turn. Looming like the monster under the bed, watching like the spaceship up above, appearing on the scene like orbs in a family photograph.

Last weekend we filmed a music video for their song You Only Live Once.

Starring long time best friend Jon Lynn, with California dream second camera Kevin Phillips, 2010 favorite partner in crime director Ryan Dickie, and boundless contribution from our talented friends, we spent the weekend shooting the video throughout some of our favorite spots in Brooklyn. It is amazing to work together with this group. We have come a long way, guys… .

Check out Unsolved Mysteries here:

Myspace

W Magazine

NYLON Magazine

and watch for the video soon!

So good.

Covert Cameo

Fame

Friends

Fellows

So many posts in the queue. Soon I swear!

Isn't elegance forgetting what one's wearing?

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:59:00 -0400

I have recently become acquainted with the amazing Mike Anderson. (<—— CLICK THIS LINK I’M SERIOUS!)

Below is a video shoot I wardrobe and makeup styled yesterday, (with the wonderful Ryan Dickie as DP!).

I’ll post the finished product soon, but that is all I am going to say for now. Otherwise, where is the suspense?

So far, I am loving 2010!

All encompassing loss, including my words. . .

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:34:47 -0400

Backspace is the only key which I seem to successfully employ this morning. I will write about the fire, I will write about the damage and devastation, I will I do promise, I just will not do it today… .

(note the above dresses worn by Sarah in the SoftSpot music video)

The Christopher Pike Book Club

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:13:00 -0500

At my childhood beach house, on a shelf below flip flops encrusted with sand, the entire series of Sweet Valley High novels stood carefully catalogued between two pelican book ends. Even more so than our reprimand for forgoing doormats, tracking sand and shells across newly polished floors, my sister and I were routinely scolded for our choice in fiction. These teenage dramas, frivolous accounts of the lives of two painfully ordinary high school twins, (affectionately coined “valley girls”) were ghostwritten and therefore so full in their abundance that our guilty pleasure could flourish into a substantial full time hobby.

Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, the sisters around which the entire series is based, traveled with us to swim team, music lessons, ballet class and theater rehearsal, sometimes smuggled in the bottom of book bags and others, blatantly displayed open and an inch from eyesight.

I was fortunate, as an infant, to have an older sister adamant in teaching me how to read. Later in my development, she cared very little if I could whistle or tie my shoes, perhaps at the time too focused on my proper use of my newly acquired verbal repertoire. Erin instilled an appetite for language so severe that today, she as a linguist and I as a writer and bibliophile, surely give credence to her early instruction. Regardless of her conviction and eloquence in her dialogue, even at such a young age, Erin was nonetheless guilty of one impenetrable vice: Sweet Valley High. From cover to cover, they provided a glimpse into a world so far from academia that, according to my father, they might actually lower our IQs. We thought of these books as a vacation and a guilty pleasure. Today, I think of the titles with an overwhelming remembrance of youth.

I recall these books with the same nostalgia and affection that I am sure many associate with Christopher Pike’s young adult series of thriller novels. With titles such as Bury Me Deep, Road to Nowhere, and Fall into Darkness, these books demand covers with nothing short than the embossed and dripping, neon fonts and kitchy illustrations that they have come to earn as their most defining characteristic.

Enter Body Holographic CHRISTOPHER PIKE BOOK CLUB. Enter the most talented group of artists and filmmakers I know.

Above are stills from the most recent short, based on an interpretation to the cover of Pike’s “The Witch” by director Terry Duthu, with musical collaboration by Colin Alexander and Kevin Phillips. (Click here to view)

I strongly suggest following the link and taking the time to view all of the films. Whether it be Goosebumps or Sweet Valley High, Hardy Boys or Christopher Pike, I urge you to recall your childhood right of passage by way of sub par literature. Recall the covers, the characters, the priceless dialogue and memories of an era that today, at best, we can only aspire to replicate.

luke baker

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:00:00 -0500

I first met Luke Baker when I was working for David LaChapelle and at the time, living in his West Hollywood home. As a single girl occupying a three bedroom house, I was subject to entertain the occasional random guest of the studio. Without failure, each visitor posed as an opportunity for a new friendship and at the very least, an interesting number of days to follow.

To this day, Luke refers to me as “Molly Myspace”, a name which although pronounced in the same quirky and posh British accent I can easily recognize as Luke’s, sounds as foreign and distant as the life I once lived in southern California.

Luke was flown to Los Angeles from New York City as a hairstylist for a Sky Vodka shoot we were producing at the studio. This was the first of many visits, most notably his arrival to style the hair for our Elton John music video, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”. (Notice me on the floor in the polaroid above, dazed and lifeless but not without a flawless Isadora bob.) I went on to wear this wig on several other occasions, my favorite being, (at the request of David,) at his gallery opening at the Palazzo Reale Museum during Milan Fashion week in ‘08.

Over flutes of champagne and relaxing in the jacuzzi after several long days of shoots, Luke spoke to me as a mentor and gave advice regarding my future that I still recall and cherish to this day. When I last saw him, he advised me with a similar wisdom regarding the state of the industry as affected by the current economic crisis. He advocated perseverance, endurance, and most importantly, hope, and last night when I saw him for an impromptu hair cut, his current portfolio served to sanction this advice.

His work is featured on several upcoming covers of W Magazine, as well as Pop, and somehow I’m sure this is only the beginning of an incredibly climactic success in 2010.

I arrived at Luke’s apartment last night with a hairstyle so overgrown that I could not even salvage it with my impenetrable go-to: hair gel and a marc jacobs clip. Desperate for his expertise, I sat down before the mirror and as he combed my hair with a large paddle brush, I interrupted his inquiry of what I wanted with an almost abrasively urgent “do whatever you want”. He is an artist, and an extremely talented one at that, and I consult him with only the greatest of confidence and trust. While he worked, I admired his current covers and delighted in his recent stories of success.

I left Luke’s apartment with an overwhelming enthusiasm for his well deserved good fortune, a favorite new hairstyle, and again, a mind full of wisdom from a genuinely wonderful friend.

The only hint he gave me was "sweaty Sadie Hawkins"

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

It is presumptuous for me to flatter myself so greatly as to refer to Nicholas as my other half.

He is, however, my consummate soul mate, my dearest friend, and my greatest support.

Sequined saddle shoes are the new Ruby Slippers, from the boy who sits in his sixth floor LES walk up weaving collars from mops to The Wizard of Oz and gluing plastic hats to the soundtrack of Sister Act. His work is one in a million and he himself is even rarer of a find…

Soft Spot video featured on S U N D A N C E BLOG!!

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:06:00 -0500

http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfiltered/2010/02/soft-spots-half-a-house/

The Soft Spot video is finally released! Director...

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:55:00 -0500

The Soft Spot video is finally released!

Director Cinematographer Editor: Ryan Dickie

Starring Sarah Kinlaw and Bryan Keller.

Art and Costume Direction: Molly Gottschalk

Headpieces by Savannah Wyatt

Props by Amanda Sussman Van Slyke

Clothing donated by Malin Landaeus

Very Special thanks: Katie Zinke

Lets make it viral!

I went sledding today in Central Park, did you?

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:12:00 -0500

I felt like a like a kid, as little as I was when I wrote the poem below:

I wish for a blanket to cover my toes

A fluffy white one is what I chose.

When I woke in the morning, to my surprise,

A blanket of snow,

A compromise!

Match your shoes to your bag to your baguette.

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:03:00 -0500

Crafted from carbs and the loaves they loathe. Leave it to Nicholas Mendise to dress these society women with garments which, though never passing their lips, alternately have found themselves atop their haughty heads. Sourdough, tuscan, and pumpernickel à la Amy’s Bread, these loaves channel the famine of the great depression and, like peasants once standing in line awaiting rations of bread, wait patiently in queue to be photographed for editorial.

He is a genius, is he not?

MYTHED CONNECTION ART SHOW

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:35:00 -0500

Last night I unrolled my prints from the home they have become far too acquainted with, slipping them carefully out of a cardboard tube which, although dusty on the outside, was immaculately pristine beneath the several corrugated layers. With my hands encased in white cotton gallery gloves, I tacked my work to the walls of a Brooklyn basement where I felt both honored to present and genuinely privileged to be among the presence of such talented company. The surrounding images encompassed this small basement with an unapologetic sense of ownership; they spanned every surface of the space, extending, in places, to disperse across the ceiling. As a result, I too became engulfed with this overwhelming, unlimited, and unprecedented artistic energy which I have come to regard with permanence among my peers.

In the morning, I will return to the space to celebrate the success of the show and sip mimosas while also, inevitably, scrubbing the floors. A stroke of the sponge for the footprint of every soul who chose to show their support, and so I must confess, I do hope we are cleaning all day.

Soft.Spot

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:44:00 -0500

Today, the arrival of two huge boxes of Soft Spot t-shirts, to the excitement of some but much to my dismay, marks the subsequent and impending departure of my two best friends on their tour of the eastern US.

Who will I drink coffee with in the mornings from our giant French press? The question remains unanswered, the only absolute being it will certainly not be my roommates Sarah and Bryan, who will embark in February on their very first national tour.

Below is the t shirt Bryan designed, crafted from one of his drawings and screen printed on the softest cotton shirts. (BK don’t kill me for posting this! Also- this picture was totally his idea!)

Want one? Go to one of their shows! For tour dates visit www.myspace.com/withlovesoftspot.

Soft Spot- New Bio!! (written by me!)

When given the prompt to illustrate his aspired career with crayons and crepe paper, a kindergarten aged Bryan Keller may just as well have devoted his efforts to drawing the blonde haired beauty three seats away, who was diligently scribing herself as a singer. Surrounded by dreams of firefighters and racecar drivers, homemakers and movie stars, Sarah and Bryan’s destiny was far too articulate to be resolved with gradeschool mediums of craft. Had Bryan been told that in just sixteen years, the little blonde haired Sarah Kinlaw would become his soul mate and band mate, touring the country and performing the incarnate of their combined talents and mutual affection, would he have believed his incredible fortune, and more importantly, could he draw that with crayons?

Although romantically the two progressed from puppy love to teen love to their present adoration of true love, musically their collaborations had a much later arrival. Bryan spent his adolescence grooming his skills as a guitar player, bassist and drummer, while separately, Sarah studied classical opera and lyric soprano from behind tightly sealed and sound proof doors. Though Sarah consistently occupied the front row of the audience at any of Bryan’s shows, she maintained her status as a spectator who, regardless of her aspirations and musings, was never a participant and always a voyeur. It was not until the formative year of 2009 that Sarah was able to develop the courage to share her music with others. She emerged to the public with heartfelt and handwritten songs, easily recognized through their use of the ukulele but often incorporating other elements such as the accordion, keys, melodica, and perhaps the greatest addition of all, her long time best friend and boyfriend Bryan Keller.

Soft Spot was born as the lovechild of two passionate artists, emerging to the public with an insatiable desire for omnipresence. From local venues to radio waves, and now in preparation for an upcoming national tour in late February, Soft Spot is the song you cannot get out of your head, the subtle scent that lingers on your pillow, and the girl in the classroom three seats ahead who, try as it may, can never be rivaled for attention with arithmetic.

Prior to their approaching February tour dates, Bryan and Sarah will release their debut EP, complemented in conjunction with the premier of their very first music video for the song Half a House. Their route will cover the entire Eastern United States, with notable stops such as their hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina and even pausing to spend a night in a commune of tree houses in southern Georgia. They will be accompanied by their live percussionist and dear friend Jarrod Drobot for this eastern tour, (which although already scheduled, is still open to inquiries for additional stops).

Soft Spot is music to dance to and music to sit to, music to wake to and music to make love to. For as childhood ambitions once scribbled in crayon and existing only in daydreams, this product of two passionate hearts can only have the sweetest of fruits.

One day when we are grown-ups

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:22:00 -0500

First:

Go to Soft Spot on Myspace and listen to the song Half a House!

The two faces above, though one smiles at the camera while the other cheats a slumber, are the very same faces that once stood side by side and mused of adulthood in a bathroom mirror. I applied her lipstick and braided her hair and she sang along to Jewel’s Pieces of Me with a sound far surpassing an adolescent’s mimicry.

We were twelve. We made grandiose wishes and aspirations for our future and whispered them in each others ears with the scarcity of a birthday wish that would vanish if uttered aloud. We believed we could do anything. We counted the days to the moments to the seconds until we would be all grown up and could fast forward to the truly magical parts of our lives.

Sarah the singer and Molly the artist. Eleven years later and we are still side by side, though this time the rouge I apply wasn’t stolen from my mother. This time we are in Montauk, in the wardrobe room of her first music video, and later, while dressing the set, I cannot help but absorb the whimsy of the scene. Stacking mattresses one by one, I build a bed for Sarah to rest upon like the Princess and the Pea and realize that our once distant fairy tale will surely exceed the duration of the shot.

Please grant me the patience to wait for the first edit of this video. I will be sure to post it immediately! Until then, this is the most I can do without spoiling all of the amazing surprises! We have waited our whole lives for this. I think you can make it a few more weeks!

Above, wearing a headpiece made especially for this shoot by the lovely and talented Savannah Wyatt and resting on layer after layer of vintage quilts supplied by Amanda of Really Roseberry Vintage! (as well as the majority of antique props used to dress the set!)

Sarah with her paternal grandmother’s vintage tea set, wearing clothing from Malin Landaeus Vintage Archive.

We decided that you cannot go to Montauk without fulfilling the quintessential romantic-escapade-on-a-bed-of-ice experience. I’ve also added to the list: venturing to the beach at night and brainstorming shots while gazing at the stars.

Below, the amazingly talented and wonderful director and my very dear friend Ryan Dickie, shown on set with a misses Sarah and a mister Bryan. So much love for these three. So much excitement for this project.

And so, so much to unpack.

xoxo

N O V A L A N D A E U S

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:54:18 -0500

Nova Landaeus returns integrity to the lost art of modeling, discreetly slipping it back into place as if it were never absent to begin with.

She filled this eighth floor loft in Astoria with a presence that rivaled the afternoon sun, lighting up the room and creating an ambience so luminous, it would be shameful not to document its beauty.

I found myself infected by her energy, as well as that of the others on set, correlating her ability to inspire her surroundings with the sequins on the very tip of her hat. Teaming with light and shadows, these embellishments make reflections which dance around the room and touch all with a spell of magic and whimsy.

With the grace and careful movements undeniably and inimitably accredited to a lifelong study of classical ballet, Nova gives dresses, once lifeless on metal hangers, the absolute dance of a lifetime.

She contorts herself with a seemingly innate agility, holding poses so statuesque that it is actually startling when she becomes animate again. Her repertoire of movements is commendable, and the fact that she smiles showing all of her teeth is as refreshing and lighthearted as it is foreign on an editorial set.

I am not surprised to find she is an aspiring actress, and can speak on behalf of her acting school that her educational endeavors are clearly well spent.

(for more about Nova please proceed with the following link: Nova Landaues)

Today, Nova modeled a collection of Michael Calloway, a local designer partial to hand sewn and one of a kind creations. Comprised of both new and vintage garments, his designs are sold exclusively in Nova’s mother’s Williamsburg boutique Malin Landaeus Vintage, where he holds the noteworthy title as their only contemporary designer.

Her red lips and platinum pin curls were provided by the talents of the wonderful Johnny Ducoin, and together with an extremely talented photographer and my best efforts styling, I feel we were able to reach an outcome nothing short of spectacular.

Thank you to all for this wonderful shoot. I cannot wait to update with more pictures!

Did you see these shoes??? Would you like a closer look?

Also, my Nick Cave photos made it in LA Weekly!!!

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:11:59 -0500

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/nick-cave-at-the-folwer/

I entered a self portrait contest (obviously)

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:09:38 -0500

The following link will take you to the portfolio I submitted,

http://www.artistswanted.org/mollygottschalk

and if you vote for my pictures will help my chances!

I am heading out the door to drive to a photo shoot in Astoria. I will update tomorrow with pictures!

Lots of really exciting projects on the horizon. Sorry for the slow updates lately but I assure you this is only the calm before the storm.

My new friend January

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:50:00 -0500

On New Years day, I awoke in my bed in my baby blue Rodarte dress, carefully chosen to ring in the new year and now longing for its previous and more stable home on a lonely wooden hanger. After noticing the absence of one five hundred dollar shoe, I felt immediate panic followed by a tickled association between myself and Cinderella. This self appreciation, however, I dismissed rather quickly upon my first glimpse in my mirror. My Grace Kelly curls now resembled more of an Ethel Mertz coif, and I realized, like Cinderella, after the stroke of midnight New Years Eve presents nothing more than a slow and steady demise.

Rest assured, I am not referring to excessive drinking. Sure, I honored the festivities and and befriended a crystal flute of bubbles. I looked into the eyes of all my dearest and toasted the new year with genuine optimism. The debauchery, however, I left to the usual suspects, and returned home somewhat soberly and undeniably somberly with the sun at my back and threatening to rise.

I lay wide awake in my bed overwhelmed by the gravity of the once approaching, now fully present, daunting New Year.

Why such a dismal outlook to the turn of the New Year? On the first, I come face to face with my greatest foe. Immediately following the highlight of my calendar, January is an unwelcomed and aggressively punctual occurrence to succeed a month of merry entertainment and pleasant reinforcement of relationships.

A green and fragrant Evergreen challenges its namesake and finds a home on a curb; brown and brittle, it impatiently awaits a dump truck kept company by puddles which, erect, once answered to ”Frosty”. All that is left of these snowmen now are pools of sleet, housing irrelevant and soiled items such as a scarf, buttons, corn cobs, and of course, a single carrot which in its prime was a nose, but today is a reminder of the fleeting nature of holiday content.

We are given one day to accommodate this transition. We are given one night to mourn the loss of the year and welcome the next. Nostalgia for what is left behind rivals excitement for all that lies ahead, and the focus falls on an assessment of what we have, what we don’t, and what we desperately need to obtain beginning on January first.

On New Years Eve I crumble at the mercy of the persistent hands of a clock. Any effort to prolong the stroke of midnight are made in vain, as the seconds arrive in unwavering and mathematical succession and the impending doom of the a new calendar year looms in a daunting queue in the rafters.

This year, I resolve to embrace my enemy. I will transform my dislike to an affection so strong that I must stay up all night on the thirty first, desperate to absorb every last moment of the once hated, though clearly only misunderstood, month of January.

I now have moss green German leather gloves with gold grommets that warm my hands sometimes even after I have gone indoors. Similarly, I have learned that hats are not just a novelty and instead a necessity! If worn on a cold day, believe it or not, they do much more than accessorize the last ten percent of a once incomplete outfit. My cozy queen size bed is adorned with an electric blanket, consistently warmed to level nine, and just at the foot rests hand sewn mohair bunny slippers compliments of my mother. My cabinets are stocked with chai and chamomile tea and hot cocoa, my drawers with heavy wool socks, and my calendar filled with cozy dinner parties where I will sip hot cider with friends and watch the snow fall through hand-smeared windows in a foggy pane of glass.

It is this outlook that will transform this month for me. For New Years I resolve to have the best January I possibly can. Therefore, on the first day of the year, I ignored my lethargy and leaped from my bed to cook black eyed peas and collard greens and treat my best friends to a special dinner and good luck for the entire year. It is this same luck that I wish for myself as I anticipate the forthcoming where, using this day as an example, I take whatever I am given and even if it is not immediately desirable, transform any hand into the perfect play.

I believe in a reciprocated exchange of energy, and I believe that ultimately you are given what you put out into the world. Take note, 2010: this year, I am expecting some really magical gifts.

they tell us "happily ever after" at the end of every story, because if they told us anything else, we'd never ever read another.

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 07:22:00 -0500

This year, I spent a long time reflecting on Christmas holidays of my childhood. It seems as though in the past, the celebration was more all-encompassing. I sat in my living room and gazed at a beautifully decorated evergreen tree and realized, at four years old, our freshly cut fir was relatively five times my height. The glass of eggnog poured by my mother filled a mug so large, I could barely grasp it within my meager grip and and when eagerly sipping this sweet novelty, it successfully covered my entire face. We toasted marshmallows in our home fireplace and I timidly offered a long, thin stick as a barrier between myself and my carefully secured treat, which was lapped by the flames of a fire twice my size.

I tried to picture a room, scaled to accommodate my adult proportions, filled with beautifully wrapped boxes that were large enough to stand in, trees tall enough to play beneath the boughs, and unlimited challenges presented in obstacles around every corner. Massive cookies in jars just higher than reach are decorated with festive icing and sprinkles and present the omnipresent incentive to build stairs to the countertop. The prize, I should note, by equal scale today, would be a cookie the size of a dinner plate.

Whispered rumors of Santa Clause and his flying reindeer kept me awake during this winter month, but in retrospect I have trouble understanding how I was able to sleep for the remaining eleven. The entire world poses as a playground to a child, because in addition to toys and fantasy and make-believe, every day objects are simply so large in comparison that it is hard to not acknowledge this real life fun house.

I do my best to carry the whimsy of a child in my every day life. It would be a shame to overlook this forgotten magic, or to abandon the belief that all the world was made for our entertainment. The trick to adulthood is to maintain this optimism when the conditions are not as ideal. When restaurants do not offer, in addition to a meal, a small prize and perhaps a jungle gym or slide to climb while waiting for the food.

There are special secrets for adults, too. It is an every day scavenge to find them, and the treasure is perhaps even more fulfilling on account of the arousing and challenging pursuit.

See you soon, NYC!

Three pictures may seem excessive,

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:33:25 -0500

But I am really proud of this broad……

Last day in NYC till twenty ten.

Homeward bound and in the highest spirits!