When we’re just starting out all of us probably have a vision of what we want our life to look like. Then it’s usually tempered by what the world tells us is possible and often by the simple twists and turns of fate.  Somewhere along the line we may realize the picture is vastly different from what was imagined years before. And yet we’ve learned such valuable lessons, met so many interesting people, achieved so many things we never knew we wanted to – if we had to change anything, looking back, would we?

Like when I was pregnant with my second child a number of years ago - I was really hoping for another girl.  Had the name picked out and everything: Clementine.  I had the future pictured. But the Sonogram foretold a different story, and the unfolding lifestyle, with fantastically rambunctious little boy, is unrecognizable from what I had imagined. But I wouldn’t change a thing now.  Still, Clementine is such a great name – something kept tugging at me to stitch it into the life somewhere.

I changed a few things in my globe trotting corporate life to scale back and ultimately went freelance. I never would have guessed where new and satisfying work would appear. Tables turned. My experience in the industry had been extensive and varied. From Photo Editor to Art Director to Head of Art to the myriad of production hats worn in developing new businesses and the nature of freelance. You get to be anybody you want to be at any time.

I found myself helping out with a photographer aside from my photo production task, preparing meals for his crew of 20-50 so they’d be eating quinoa pilaf and cedar planked salmon sided with a hibiscus flower cooler instead of pizza. Family style meals with a twist. I got to develop recipes and play with food. The clients and crew enjoyed the best food they’d have all week: hand-made, healthy and organic and often local.

The intrinsic reward surpassed all expectations. My love of food now merged into the photography community. This meal-making grew and morphed into parties and giving private cooking lessons balanced with running a casting or producing a shoot for another client.

 

That’s why this Art Director/Photo Editor/Producer can food style and cook too.

 

And that’s why I’d like to establish the Clementine Kitchen Foundation. Family and food first.