Art Stroll – Friday March 9th at the Berlin Coffee Shop

photo: Frank Fleming

Being a  hobbyist can mean a great many things, but is basically doing something primarily for pleasure that is outside your normal occupation.  People that have been through trauma can take up an activity or hobby  that helps both physically and mentally.  The benefits can be varied and good for personal improvement.  it gets tricky though especially because often a lot of people use some form of art as a hobby. The rub is that  Art is subjective in nature and hobbies at their origin are not.

So when the search for improvement become more important than the search for pleasure, a hobby becomes an art.  For right now GCFL’s Natalee is at this transitional point.  She started taking pictures as hobby, something to do to bring some balance back after staying home raising kids for several years.  She wanted to have something that was exclusively hers.  So with no formal training, three years ago she set out to  capture the images that made her happy.  Her lens naturally gravitated to music and live performance.  She spent some time on the other side of the lens with modeling for fun.  Although she is just as comfortable on either side of the camera, it seems that when she is in front of it she is taking notes and on what it means to be behind it.

GCFL has always been the showcase for her shots and has helped her to grow as a photographer (which she is still hesitant to call herself.)  But starting this Friday at the Berlin Coffee House she will be displaying some of her choice prints for 2nd Friday Arts Stroll.  This is the first public showing of hers and will be up and available to see for the next month.  So stop by and see for yourself the transition from Hobbyist to Photographer.

Photos from the Event