Fierce Katy

If you know Katy, you are well aware of how sassy and full of life she is! "I got it all from this lady," she told me jokingly pointing to her sweet mama Mindy. Katy came for a portrait time to time stamp how she is embracing midlife with all her gusto! She's also time stamping her 110 lb weight loss over the last four years. As we vision cast she decided she wanted to include her mom in the portrait time.

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Katy's mom has blazed a path of feminism, strength and social justice for Katy throughout her whole life. (It's not just the luxurious curls that Katy inherited from her mother.) Mindy, at 76 years of life shows no signs of slowing down! She is a professor of Psychology at Stevenson University. She has spent a lifetime advocating for children and now trains students in the matters of the mind. Katy spends her life advocating for veterans, as an attorney, to help ensure they receive benefits they have earned. I can't help but think Mindy has inspired Katy towards this social justice.

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These two were thicker than thieves in their conspiratorial grins shared throughout the portrait time. The sweetness of this bond is the thing that mothers dream about when they have a daughter! Such a beautiful thing to behold! Katy brought this red shawl, which belonged to her maternal grandmother Zelda, as a tribute to the paths she blazed for both of them.

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Katy came to me after she had seen the portraits I created for her adored nephew and niece, Joey and Wren who are very talented dancers, and her beloved neighbor of 20 years Nicki. Through all this overlap, I came to realize that Katy delivered a theatrical performance in Guys and Dolls when she was in high school that I still very much remembered today! I was a new history and psychology teacher at the time and went to the show to support my students. I returned the following day to see the show again because of how blown away I was by the performance. The casting--spot on! Katy's vocals filled that auditorium with a strength and energy I had only seen in professional productions! She could not have embodied her character more! I was in awe of the whole performance!

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Katy considered pursuing a career in theater, and did have paid theater gigs for a small stint in her young adulthood. She knew the road ahead had such slim possibilities of actually being able to support herself, so she gave herself a mandate. She decided she'd try out for one more show and if she made it, it was full steam ahead. If not, she'd go to law school. Meanwhile her brother Ben was traveling the world as a professional opera singer. At that last audition, somehow she had the wrong sheet music and she did not get the role. She felt like that helped to make an easy break from pursuing a career in the arts. Law it would be.

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Today Katy still performs, but as a percussionist in a community band Most people have no idea of the powerhouse vocal ability that lies within Katy. Life is busy with a family and career so community band is a perfect match for her artistic outlet. Katy hopes to step back into community theater, with its heavier time demands, in the future when her boys are older.

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This portrait time is a celebration of midlife, weight loss and feeling more attractive than Katy ever has in her life. It is a celebration of her sweet husband John, who she fell in love with at first sight back in 2004. The sight of him in his signature black fedora stole her heart. He cheered her on through this and loves seeing his girl so on fire for life and full of joy! Katy mentioned, "I wish i could give every woman the gift of finding herself beautiful just as I have." What a gift indeed! Rock on Ms. Sassy!

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