A new beginning

For those of you who have been following my work you may have noticed that I have a passion for photography.  It was one of my favorite classes in college but I never fully pursued at the time because:

a)    It was an expensive hobby for a poor college student

b)    After college where does one find a dark room?  

So it was something I was always interested in but I put it on the backburner for Someday…

 

 Now, fast forward to 2009.   I was nine months pregnant.  A newlywed.  I had recently moved from Alexandria, MN—leaving to job I loved to DeKalb, Illinois—where I would become a stay at home mom.

Big changes.

I knew amidst the shuffle I needed to continue pursuing something that makes me me.  Where I could continue to evolve and challenge myself as a person and visual artist.  That’s when photography came back into play. 

So, August of 2009, the month I would become a first time mom and receive my final paycheck I decided it was time to dip into what I like to call the “Bite the Bullet Budget” and purchase my first digital SLR camera. 

Over the last two years I have...
learned to shoot manually, 
explored different lenses and found some favs, 
became familair with Photoshop, 
found a love for natural light photography
and most importantly, documented some of lives sweetest moments.  


 I think that I have found a niche. 

 Now, August of 2011, Once again I am moving.  This time to Palm Springs, California where we will be living for the next three years for my husband’s job.  I am excited about the adventures and memories to be made together.  I also am going to pursue something that I love. Photography.

 My intention of this blog is to share my work with you as I hope to continually evolve as an artist.  I’m not sure where this will take me but I am willing to take the risk and try to shift from a mom-tographer to hopefully a photographer. 

I’ll leave you with this quote below that resonates for me and I hope it will for you too.

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

— Louisa May Alcott

Bring on the big 2!

   All summer Mae has been obsessed with bikes.  So when it came time to brainstorm ideas for her birthday we knew exactly what to get her - the good ol' Radio Flyer.  

   At the moment she is a bit of an unconventional rider but soon enough I will have to chase her down the street.  So, without further adieu bring on the big TWO! 

Xo,  

Meg

Little Mae West

The clouds were overcast, irises were in full bloom & I had toddler who was ready to sit for all of two minutes - it was a photographers dream.  Sweet & spunky Mae, mommy loves you. 
xo.  

The heart of a teacher.

Last week was my final week of teaching for the 2010-2011 school year. For most of us there is a collective feeling of excitement for the summer days ahead. For me, it was an emotional week.

As many of you may know my husband’s job has us moving to Palm Springs, California for the next 2-3 years. As excited as I am that we will be together as a family and have this life experience I feel that I am leaving behind something that makes me me.

I have been blessed with an amazing profession where I get to be creative and & guide students into finding who they are. Where I observe little "ahas" everyday from the shift of transferring information from the working into the permanent memory. Where I guide them in un-taping a potential that they never knew existed. Where I get to give boosts of encouragement to a student that may not get it from anywhere else.

I cannot help but continue to think of my students. It's the inner mom in me. Or I guess you can also say it's the teacher in me. Will someone be there to listen to a student's ramblings that just want to be heard? Will someone be willing chip away layers of a facade from a student written off as unreachable? Will someone take the time to sit next to the student that sits alone and is struggling to find of sense of belonging?

Teaching is so much more than covering curriculum. It is a human endeavor where we model and guide how to be a good person. If my students learned from me even 1/10 of what I learned about myself I would consider that an accomplishment.

For my students, even though you may never read this, Mrs. Denne, "Denne", Denzanator, Denny-Benny, Den-Den, Ms. Gullikson, "G" (and I'm sure other names that I would rather not know) is so proud of you and the person are evolving into.

Posted below are some artworks done by students at DMS during the 2010-2011 school year.