Childhood

During my early years I learned to appreciate the things Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed — carpentry, gardening, canning, art, reading, learning, people, the scent of freshly washed clothes hanging on the line... . Mom with her husband and growing family of children, my half siblings, visited us often. Many summers and even over the course of a school year or two, my sisters and brothers spent weeks or even months with us.

Sometime between the two pictures below, the first where I looked stiff and uncomfortable in a little dress while trying to hold that white adornment atop my head and the second where I must have just come in from a windstorm, I learned how to feel quite comfortable with life. Because of those years with the strong and loving influence of my grandparents, I can gladly say along with Hortense Calisher, "A happy childhood can't be cured."

For 66 years my little-girl eyes have watched sunrises and sunsets, my hands have held hands with those I love while walking through life. I've hugged and laughed, cried and mourned, followed birds in migration, birthed puppies, cuddled kittens... . From those and a life full of rich experiences, I've found inspiration for drawings, paintings, photography, for lathe turning and other creative projects with wood. Now as the journey continues on this lovely planet, we're making space and time to do more creating. Our new Art Studio at our home is essentially finished. Let the paint blend! Let the chips fly — and fall where they will. Stay tuned. We'll be sharing. Thank you for tracking along with us on our adventure.

     Vickie with Myrna, October 2009

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.                                                          — Mark Twain

Education

My education from elementary through college until graduate level was in Seventh-day Adventist schools. I've always been interested in science, in art and in things mechanical — creating with my hands. I became an elementary teacher. In the process I took all the art classes offered and did as many creative projects as I could. During 15 years of professional teaching, I began giving private art lessons, eventually having my own art school teaching both children and adults for nearly 20 years. Additionally, I studied with Ray Vanilla, one of the Taos Masters.

It was during college years in the '60s that I had the good fortune to meet my lifelong companion and dearest friend, Myrna Windecker. She is often pictured in my photo essays under the photography link. Together we've shared a rich and full life throughout forty-two years. We've cared for and nurtured each of the elderly members of our families through their final illnesses — both my grandparents, Myrna's dad, my mom, her mom. We both are happy to be care givers. More than that, of course, we share the joys of life, its challenges and its adventures. We garden together, we travel. We live!