One of the biggest changes for my business is going to happen this year. It is long awaited and I am EXCITED to share this with you guys!

Two photos of me, each taken by a different female artist. 
LEFT: Adina Brown-Selner with Thistle and Lace Photography 
RIGHT: Janie Yoder with Imagination Photography

Photo on the left was just recently taken. Right photo taken in 2013. I commissioned a super talented photographer to document me in my studio last year b/c I wanted to use these images to showcase something I am trying to curate in 2017 which is a new line I am offering in my business specifically tailored to women.

The MARIPOSA COLLECTION....
Spanish for butterfly - mariposa posar: “to perch” or “rest”, mari- indicates “effeminate”

This concept has been in my head for years. I had to journey on a bit though before I knew where I personally wanted to take it. Within the Mariposa Collection will be two lines: Chrysalis and Wings.

C H R Y S A L I S
This image on the left is a vision for this session. And I'll tell you why I wanted to create a session like this just for women. A chrysalis is a hard casing that envelopes the caterpillar as it endures a preparatory or transitional state in which it literally breaks down into a liquid. {talk about starting over!} and then forms into a butterfly. 
I think this is best described in one word: becoming. 
We are all becoming something... our journey isn't just our word, our story but it's also told in photographs. When I was a girl I would look at a photo of my Grandmother on my mother's dresser. I never met my Grandmother, she died young. But I was named after her. I have that same image of her seated and posed, dressed up beautifully with gloves and pearls in my mind when I think of who she was. That visual representation of her was all I had, that photograph. Photographs are so important, not only for our children but our grandchildren. We do so much as women, as mothers, as wives for others, but it is time we give back to ourselves this gift which is really a gift to all those we love. This session is for a woman to come in, get her makeup done, put on a beautiful dress or outfit that she feels beautiful in and have photos taken that showcase her beauty and tell a little of her journey. I wore a 2nd hand black beautiful dress for this that hangs in my studio. Simple. Beautiful. Full of legacy for my children. I would want to see them keep this photo on their dresser one day, and their kids admiringly look at it like I once did as a child.

W I N G S 
This image on the right is a vision for this session. One word comes to mind - and while there are a million others - {ethereal, sexy, beautiful, etc} the one word that truly comes to mind here for me and what I felt when I first saw this photo of myself was EMPOWERED. This is a session to celebrate unabashed femininity, empowered strength, beauty. Women of all ages and sizes struggle to love their bodies. This session is meant to empower and focus on your true beauty.. loving yourself more. Boudoir based as well as ethereal and dreamy {as in photo, just a simple old slip that was my Grandma Alice's slip - not the same grandma mentioned above, but the one I grew up with and was super close to. She passed away this last year on Mother's Day. Even little things like this photo which to me is so powerful and I keep hearing the words, "walk away from what no longer serves you..." My feet are dirty. I'm coming out of a transitional state {much like the chrysalis, but now with wings of empowerment} ALL OF THIS IS ABOUT EMBRACING CHANGE and WHO YOU ARE BECOMING. My grandma Alice was a huge inspiration to me in what it means to be a woman. She helped me start my photography business. To even have this image??? You guys, this image means SO much to me. It is priceless and one of my most cherished images anyone has ever taken of me. It hangs on a canvas in my bathroom. I see it every day. It reminds me to stand tall, hold my self with shoulders back and embrace the world, fearlessly, unashamed, beautifully.

Both of the session styles are about empowering women but in different ways. One more sensually, one more traditionally. I have been on my own journey, like many women I've experienced life changing, pivotal moments that have shaped me, made me stronger, proud of who I am becoming. The first step in loving yourself? Take a photo of yourself. I'm not talking about on your cell phone. Love yourself where you are enough to make an investment in yourself. Have a beautiful professional image taken. One of the hardest things I ever did was to look at an image of myself and tell that girl, I love you and I am going to make a better effort to love you more for the rest of your days. And I meant it. We deserve this kind of self love. I deserve this. You deserve this.

Ironically both of these images were taken in the studio space I now work out of. Years apart, before they revamped the building and after. Amazing - just that fact - to me!! Would have never known that photo on the right would be taken in the same place as where I would be building this dream of helping women find their self-love and confidence again.. or maybe for the first time. Serendipity.