1965 ~ Molly and me at my art table.
When I was about 7, my Dad built me an art table for my bedroom. One of my favorite memories was sitting there with my dog Molly, and coloring with a fresh box of crayons. I loved those jumbo boxes of Crayolas, and I can still recall their marvelous smell and how handy it was to have that little sharpener built right into the back of the box!
My early years were filled with many creative hours…making clothespin dolls with my mom, designing train-set villages with my Dad, decorating tiny boxes with friends, and decoupaging boards and painting rocks for Christmas gifts.
The summer I turned 13, I remember setting up an “art studio” in our playhouse. I had an easel, a desk, graphite pencils, a calligraphy set, sketch pads and solitude! What a perfect place it was for me to create and practice my “fine arts.” I went to camp to learn drawing and fondly remember the magic of learning perspective and how to draw a railroad track with electrical poles running alongside. I was fascinated with the order and precision of being able to draw something that looked real.
During the years that followed, I loved journaling with calligraphy pens and sharpies, collecting quotes and phrases and sketching tiny figures in the margins to remind myself of a flower, a canyon or funny sign that would forever be tied to that memory. And then… in 2007, I got my first Apple computer 💻, and that was when my creating took a new turn.
At last, a computer system to bring order and creativity to my life. I fell in love. I went to classes at the Apple Store, read books and practiced, practiced, practiced! Everything about my computer made sense to me now, and I had a new place to create….Apple Pages! I could import photos and do funny things to them, I could play with fonts and borders and make invitations, memory books and greeting cards. I now had a way to create some of the most whimsical and personal gifts for people, and I did!
Flash forward to 2014 when my dear friend suggested that I start a business selling these funny personalized greeting cards and promoting my love of all things beautiful and optimistic, and so… Photoptimist was founded! I continue to create every day and find such joy in making magic with fonts, borders, quotes and with my portrait and event photography. I am so grateful to the many muses in my life who have encouraged and inspired me to create! ✨
Beth Shedd | Photography 