What i learned from my career as a writer:
make it fun.

My altered photo world started the day I realized I needed a birthday gift for my husband. “He has everything,” I lamented. Then an idea whacked me in the head. “But he doesn’t have a photo album of fake relatives.” So I set to work painting on Victorian photographs to create a faux family of oddballs and eccentrics. One thing led to another and soon my husband’s altered ancestors were turned into a line of greeting cards and Ain’t That a Kick in the Head was born.

Friends convinced me to open an Etsy shop for my greeting cards and soon afterwards I started selling original artwork as well. Tiny versions of my hand-painted altered photos made their way into Art-o-mat art vending machines. (Art-o-mat, noun: repurposed cigarette machines that now dispense original artwork.) My found photo artwork was included in the book Artful Memories: How to Create Unique Art With Old Photographs by Jane Chipp and Jack Ravi and has been featured in several zines and e-zines. Some of my original altered photos found homes in other countries and my small-run, boutique greeting cards continue to spread cheer worldwide. To say I’m honored by all this is an understatement.

Especially now, with the world being so heavy, messing with old photos to create a bunch of ridiculous people brings me much needed lightness. And if my whimsical artwork makes someone else smile, there’s not much more I can ask for.

Thanks for stopping by.

Debbie