I am a creative late bloomer

I am A Creative Late Bloomer!                                                 By: Debbie Kusch        June 11, 2012

Pictures, pictures, pictures.  So many pictures so little time! I have always taken more pictures than the average person.  My father owned and operated a camera store for 43 years.  I have been scrapbooking and making my own Christmas cards for more years than I can remember.  My poor children, year after year I would pose them for multiple family photos for my annual handcrafted photo Christmas card.  I used or should I say reused beautiful cardstock covers from old worship booklets from my church. My father processed and developed my pictures (if I hadn’t gotten his discount I probably would have been one of his best customers).

My children weren’t the only subject of my photos. My husband and I enjoy traveling and visiting different locations each year. I have many pictures from those vacations. I have always been complimented on the pictures I take. The composition, the quality, and the clarity of the photos have often been feedback that was heard, valued and imbedded in my heart as I went about my daily life, raising my family and working. I feel I have been given the gift, passion and love of photography. Maybe handed down from my dad and instilled as more than a hobby. 

My dad passed away about 6 years ago. I lost not only my friend and mentor but my means of having all those photos developed. Not only was the quality of his work superb, my discount helped and I realized that when I went somewhere else recently after he was gone. The cost and inconsistent quality, in my opinion, led me to digital photography and printing my own pictures from home. After many years of taking and printing my own pictures as a hobby, I had begun to feel I was missing the boat on life. I loved spending time at my computer, editing and printing and feeling the energy and love of my dad along the way. When I went to work, I’d think about my dad and his business. It was truly his love and he did what he loved until he no longer could. I continue to be inspired by his example and long for his legacy to live through me. I often think about opening my own business in his camera store.

I have worked at our church for 13 years in the religious education department. I have enjoyed what I do and I am grateful for what being part of a faith community has done for my family. I am especially grateful for the love and support from that community when I underwent treatment for breast cancer when I was 40.  In the past few years, maybe because of my dad’s death, I have thought about and wondered how I can do both, work at church and continue his legacy. Many hours are spent at work on program planning and implementing; day hours for planning and night and weekend hours for implementing. I spent a lot of time craving photography and feeling a loss. I didn’t necessarily want to quit my job, nor could I afford to, yet I continued to say “I really want to do what I REALLY WANT to do”.

Then came the Sedona vacation! About eight months ago my husband and I traveled to the beautiful red rock of Sedona, Arizona. I was so taken aback by all the beauty. I took so many pictures and each new light and each new angle was that much more beautiful.  But the best part was meeting Teresa because I am now doing something with all those photos. Teresa and her husband, and me and my husband happened to be in the same building and would often end up in the hot tub with our beverages after the long days. We’d compare our adventures for the day and got to know each other. Teresa and I started talking about our hobbies, passions and dreams. We both had so much to say and had more in common than one would ever realize in the amount of time you spend on vacation chatting with strangers. We were kindred spirits! I felt like I met my soul sister. Well, at 51, I can tell you that I am a creative late bloomer because of the steadfast support and cheerleading from Teresa. She had an awesome blog which gave me the courage to blog myself. Her art and inspiration truly fed my “I can do this” thinking and feeling.

One day shortly after viewing and printing my Sedona pictures I had a vision of creating “Photo Note Cards” They could look like my Christmas cards except that instead of a family photo it would have a beautiful image of my many vacation shots.  I had been collecting the cardstock covers from old worship booklets from my church for several years and had a pretty good supply. I created a few cards and fell in love with the cards and the idea. It was like a door opened and I couldn’t be stopped. I made over 300 cards, I came up with a logo, “Prayerfully Recycled”, had it professionally designed and added a short description of the paper being repurposed from worship covers. I created packing for packs of six blank photo note cards.  I took some cards to work, received great feedback and sold some just “showing” them.  I sent samples to Sedona businesses with a letter about my story and kept making cards, printing my own pictures, cutting each piece of paper and adhering them all together to create each photo note card while dreaming and thinking “maybe I could do this and work at church while I build my creative dream to bring beauty to others while recycling paper that was prayed with and build my “flower pot”, one blossom at a time, and dream of someday being in my dad’s camera store, selling cards, offering scrapbooking classes and printing photos.

I have since created over 500 photo note cards, cards from past vacations, retreats, flowers, sunsets and more. Each is as beautiful as the next. I have sold many and receive affirmations of the thought and quality in each card. I am inspired to keep dreaming and keep my options open. I am very grateful to Teresa for her encouragement and support. She has been a true inspiration to many and should really be the first creative late bloomer in her flower pot!

Visit Teresa's site here  http://www.imalatebloomer