In the early 80’s my then husband gave me a camera. A Canon AE-1, and I fell in love with photography. For a few years I photographed everything. People, landscapes, animals. When my children were born they became my favorite subjects, of course, and I probably have a thousand photos of them. In the late 80’s I took some photography classes at the local community college. We had a great instructor, Luis Valdovino. I absolutely loved the full control of printing my own photos, black and white and color. In the early 90’s I began taking horseback riding lessons and started photographing horses. I considered starting my own equine and portrait photography business. I put a darkroom in my house. But I still had children at home and could not give up the steady pay check, nor was I willing to take the time away from my children that it would have required to be a business owner. The darkroom was taken out. I no longer had access to a photo lab and took pictures less and less, frustrated with the quality of commercial printing. But I still have all those photos taken over almost 2 decades and some of them I might like to turn into paintings some day.
In 1990, after divorce, I bought a house with a huge back yard. A house, some of you well know, is a lot of work. It was just one of those typical 50’s ranch style houses. That house and yard became my canvas. My ex husband had made a lot of money and I was used to driving nice cars and living in a very nice home. It was a culture shock to suddenly have so much less. But I thought, why shouldn’t this 50’s ranch be as nice as it could be? I set to work “refreshing” it room by room, slowly, over the next 18 years. It took all that time because I only had so much money to work with. And, when I put in new closet doors, I put in GOOD ones. When I replaced the bathroom sinks, light fixtures and toilets, I put in the best quality I could afford. I painted. I replaced carpet. I pulled out carpet and refinished hardwood floors. I laid ceramic tile. I laid ceramic tile on a diagonal! I finished the entire walk out basement including adding a bedroom, two closets and a full bath. One big “installation” project! Credit goes out to my family – brothers, mother, sisters, and yes, kids, who provided me much labor and support through out the years, as well, here.
Then there was the yard. The prior owners had left a little 3’ square plot of dirt surrounding by a timber border. Maybe it had been a vegetable garden. I don’t know. I planted a couple of flowers in there and seeing them grow led to an obsession with gardening. My little 3’ square garden grew and grew. Some summers I rip out everything and move it around. It was in constant change. Then I met my future husband, Jon. He saw my dream and he built the patio, walls and steps. We did this on our own, the labor, the design, everything. My entire back yard became a lovely outdoor “room”. I thought it was beautiful.
My work paid off. I sold it. For the price I wanted. I sold the house to the first person who looked at it. In December. Right after the real estate bubble broke. I had even had a difficult time finding a realtor that would list the house at the price I wanted to ask. They all said no house in my neighborhood would ever sell for my asking price. I finally found someone willing to let me name my price. And it sold!
So, I must have done some things right, maybe?
Maybe I wouldn’t change too much of the past.
But I do wish I had gone to EVERY class in college.
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