C&T Publications 50 States of Art - 2015 | Page 36

Kimberlee McKinzie-Marvin - Indiana
Kimberlee McKinzie-Martin is a self-taught fine art photographer from West Lafayette, Indiana.
I was born and raised in West Lafayette, Indiana. Who am I? I am more than another artist. I am a
mother, wife, sister, and friend. I am also a nurse, and an artist. Though, I love my family and my
job, my first love has always been art. I made my full time career as a nurse, but I use my free time
to create. When I look at anything, I see the potential to create something beautiful. It may not be
profound, it may not be dramatic, but it is mine. It is my imagination. It is my soul. It is my way to
redesign the world around me and my way to deal with the world around me. My artwork is
always a piece of who I am and how I felt on the day it was created. I create with different media,
but my favorite is in the digital age. I like to take a photograph and manipulate it.
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kimberlee-mckinzie-marvin.html

Here is my piece. It is called Time.
This particular photograph, I call “Time”. It represents change and aging. Over time, all things fade, but beauty can be found in all
things, even the fading and dying. I received this flower from my cousin overseas when I was struggling with thyroid cancer. She
sent the bouquet to cheer me up. I did not know what to expect during that time in my life. I was frightened. The bouquet was
beautiful. Just what I needed at that moment in my life. I wanted to preserve the flowers as long as possible, as I also wanted to
preserve my life for as long as possible. I have never met my cousin personally, and still have the goal to meet her someday. We
have only met online. The day I photographed this I thought about dying and being without my family and what time would do to
me. I thought about not being able to meet my goals. The flower is faded, but still very beautiful. All things living eventually fade
and die. We leave our mark with what we leave behind. I still have a lot to offer and a lot to do and I was blessed with more time. I
have several versions of this flower on my website and in my own collection. The rose was my calm within my storm. The safest
place within a storm is within yourself and looking for the positive in all. Find the beauty in all things all the time.
When The Rose Is Faded - Poem by Walter de la Mare
When the rose is faded,
Memory may still dwell on
Her beauty shadowed,
And the sweet smell gone.
That vanishing loveliness,
That burdening breath,
No bond of life hath then,
Nor grief of death.
'Tis the immortal thought
Whose passion still
Makes the changing
The unchangeable.
Oh, thus thy beauty,
Loveliest on earth to me,
Dark with no sorrow, shines
And burns, with thee.

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