humble beginnings

mouse over to see the original

1720 West 34th Avenue

Denver, Colorado

This is the house where Dad was born, almost 88 years ago.

As you know, I am finishing Dad's genealogy scrapbook. I had originally planned to just use a small black & white "snapshot" version of this photo, to document Dad's birthplace in a layout about his birth. But as I collected and scanned old photos, I was inexplicably pulled back to this, my own, photo. And then, over the course of a few days, the oft-used phrase humble beginnings kept whispering to me, "use me for a layout about Dad's humble beginnings..."

Oh boy, here we go again: despite my own best intentions, my art tells me what to do and leads me off in a direction I hadn't planned. I have learned to listen.

***

Dad's story is the classic American Dream. Born of immigrant parents, who, while not dirt-poor, had very little materially. They lived simply and honorably, scrimped and saved every penny...in order to give their son the best that they could offer: faith in God above, loving and devoted parents, a quality education...a good start in life.

Aldo grew up and become a distinguished attorney; he married and raised a family...and with Mom at his side, passed on the values of his parents: he lived simply and honorably, scrimped and saved, giving his children the best that he could offer: faith in God above, loving and devoted parents, a quality education...a good start in life.

***

When you "mouse over to see the original," you will see the original photograph I took in February, 2005, while on a genealogy research excursion with Dad into what was once called "Little Italy" (also known as Lower North Denver). At Dad's request, I took my camera and drove him around the neighborhood, documenting some of the landmarks of his childhood.

Dad's parents - Greg and Della - rented this little house from Della's mother, Carmela Libonati, who lived in the big house next door; they lived there for a just few short years before eventually moving to a home of their own.

***

I really had fun photo editing this image. Sure, the subject matter is the house, but the subject itself is fond memories of lives lived, of a bygone era. Not my own, but Dad's. I wanted, above all, to convey a feeling, not just document a place. 

I knew I needed to remove or minimize details of contemporary life, so I erased the wires and neutralized the colors; then I applied a couple Rad Lab filters to get that "misty memories" feel. I initially tried simply converting it to black & white, but it didn't convey the emotions I felt. I probably spent most of my time fine-tuning the colors until it felt just right. I did seek help from one of Kim Klassen's inspiring video tutorial "recipes," from her blog. I believe it was entitled "Dream Processing." And of course, because I can never follow any recipe accurately, I changed it up a bit here and there, as Kim herself expects her students to do.

Can't wait to share the scrapbook layout...

xoxo

Cindy

li'l punkins: part 2

So...when I made the storyboard for last week's post, which was just the three photos, I figured I might as well print it so I could use it for the girls' scrapbooks. On a whim I decided to print it on a transparency...then I left the rest up to chance, adding stitching, assorted papers, stamping, stickers, ribbon and tags, just making it up as I went along. Then Dad & I both signed. Yes, I made two identical layouts, one for each daughter's scrapbook.

Happy Halloween!

li'l punkins

One sunny autumn day

21 years ago

in a field on a little farm

north of Toronto...

we found these two l'il punkins.

***

What joy they have brought

to our lives!

I've been playing around in Photoshop and Lightroom, learning so many things that my brain is tired. Once again, huge thanks to Kim Klassen for leading me on this grand adventure, through her many fabulous online courses this past year.

I've also been reading a new book - Vision & Voice, by David duChemin...inspiring me to "discover your vision for that image - the internal, invisible guiding principle that directs how you capture the image and how you develop it in the digital darkroom. Without vision, you likely find yourself flailing both behind the camera and in front of the computer - indiscriminately shooting and arbitrarily moving sliders in hopes of stumbling upon something great every once in awhile."

As with any art form, once you learn some basic skills, you start thinking about what you want to say with your art, or as David puts it, "identifying your vision...and giving it voice."

This little storyboard is the first project I've attempted since studying David's book; strangely enough, it involves a handful of snapshots I took 21 years ago, before I ever considered photography to be my art form (well, one of them, at least). I started with a Vision (simply this: a sentimental recollection of fond memories from my girls' childhood), dug out the snapshots, scanned them into my computer, and played with them in Lightroom and Photoshop....til I had given it Voice.

Yeah...it's a pretty simple, straightforward Vision, but totally from my heart and soul...where I have always found my best "stuff."

Stay tuned for the scrapbook layout...Halloween seems a reasonable deadline for me. Got the urge play with some paper and glue and paint and embellishments and....

xoxo
Mimi

greg & della

Awhile back I posted a few of Dad's scrapbook pages from his genealogy project (check out my archives...it was August 4th). It was a hobby that we shared, combining our love of art with our fascination with family history. Well, he never finished, but he got as far as the story of his own mother and father (my grandparents), up to their meeting and falling in love.

I decided several months ago - with Mom's enthusiastic approval - to pick up where Dad left off.
To the best of my ability, I hope to complete Dad's beloved project.

I have given it a lot of thought as to how to proceed, and have had many discussions with Mom, on whom I am relying as my primary source of information...and the keeper of all family photos. A couple weeks ago we had our first really productive gathering/organizing/brainstorming session, and here is what came of our efforts:

I started with their wedding portrait - which never fails to take my breath away - copied from an original print which hangs on my living room wall alongside several old family photos. One of the very first design decisions I made was to include a bit of heirloom Italian lace, from Della's own collection. Years ago my mother documented it (we affectionately called our grandmother "Dudie"):

From Dudie Notarianni's things:

This lace is from Italy and was part of the trousseau of her friend, the Countess Chilasotti, whose husband was the Italian Consul in Denver during the 1920's. 

a peek inside my box of heirloom lace

The accompanying page features a copy of their marriage certificate and wedding announcement, which Mom and I discovered among the documents and photos Dad had assembled.

We know very little about the wedding ceremony, but we do know that Della's mother, Carmela, did not want Greg to marry her daughter. Grandpa told me once that he had to marry her...he just couldn't let her marry the older, well-to-do man that her mother had intended for her. Their in-law relationship remained strained after that.

Greg and Della were devoted to each other for almost 46 years, until my grandmother's death in 1968.

She was laid to rest in her wedding gown.

xoxo

Cindy

a hug for enna

Sometimes it's all I can offer.

(a page from Erin's scrapbook - April 2010)

xoxo

Mimi

miss you dad

Home at last

***

Rest in Peace

(a page from my art journal - October 8, 2011)

xoxo

Cindy

erin & haakon

mouse over to see the original

“So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard;

we're gonna have to work at this everyday,
but I want to do that because I want you.

I want all of you, forever, everyday.

You and me... everyday.”

Nicholas Sparks
The Notebook 

***

Awhile back I was enjoying all the wonderful snapshots taken by my sister-in-law, Pat Swainson, at Kelly & Aaron's wedding in August (because the Mother of the Bride certainly didn't have time to take many pictures that day...Thank you, Pat!)

It didn't take long to zero in on this wonderful shot of Erin and Haakon, recently engaged.

And then I started playing with it in Photoshop. I accidentally cropped it at an angle...and I liked it! I didn't have to do much else to this photogenic couple, so I sent it to Erin and she happily posted it on her Facebook wall.

One comment stuck in my head: that of my nephew Joey - away at college and unable to attend Cousin Kelly's wedding in his own home. It was something like, "I know that brick..."

I simply had to do something about "that brick" or that's all I would ever see.

Back to Photoshop to painstakingly clone the grout away, and...voila!

xoxo
Mimi