Story: “If I knew that day when that picture was shot by my dad I would become an artist…”

I would have smiled wider, held that doll closer, and dreamed even bigger.

Even though I was only 5 years old in that picture, I was already quietly creative, curious about form, color, texture, and meaning, even if I couldn’t yet put it into words.

When I look at this photo, the first thing I notice is how serious my gaze is, as if I already knew that life had stories to tell, and that someday, I’d find my own way to tell them. That yellow dress, that soft doll with her plastic hand resting against mine, even the striped brown back of my father’s favorite lacy chair, it all feels like a time capsule of becoming.

Sitting in my father’s lacy chair brings back memories of quiet afternoons filled with imagination, of watching my parents move through the rhythms of everyday life, raising me and my siblings and unaware that in my mind I was building kingdoms, dreaming of crowns, jewelry, wigs and sculptures in metal.

I didn’t know then that art would become my language. But looking back, I see it clearly now, this moment, caught by my father’s lens, was the beginning of a lifelong journey shaped by vision, transformation, and the strength to create beauty from memory.

Photos taken in 1976 & 2021

Creative Field: Jeweler

Connect: @ateliermauke_v & @maukevjewelry