We were still in college when we got married. We lived in a tiny (as in 384 square feet) studio apartment for a little while and then through some friends we found a really old, but charming, apartment complex that was a lot roomier and even had a small fenced in backyard. We lived there until we had to prepare to move to Vegas for Shane's architecture program. While we lived there, Shane was getting some pre-requisite classes done at the U of U. He had several art classes. One of the teachers fingerprinted the students and had them enlarge the print to about 20" by 30". He then had to trace it onto a new sheet of paper and fill it in with black ink. He was working full time since we had just had our first baby. It was a labor intensive project to paint all those little blobs. I helped him and we spent hours on it. I was so excited when we finished and he turned it in, thinking we were done. The professor then had Shane enlarge the fingerprint up even more and start the process over again. We ended up doing this 6 or 7 times. I was so sick of seeing black and white blobs! I almost threw them away but decided to keep them as part of Shane's portfolio. Sadly we did nothing more than simply roll them up and put them in a black garbage sack with his giant portfolio file.
After 13 years and 4 moves, I found them when cleaning out of the garage. Instead of rolling my eyes when looking at them like I did all those years ago, my eyes welled up with tears. I fondly remember sitting at our "Kmart special" table in our old apartment painting the night away with Shane. I remembered the hours we chatted while our fingers ached from hours of carefully painting to fill in the lines we had painstakingly traced.
I knew I needed to find a home for at least one of the prints. My office, with the awesome new black and white striped floors seemed like the perfect place.
It was not in the best shape and at first I was disappointed that it had some cracks in the paint where it was rolled and some fading. After looking at it for awhile though, I decided it made it more artistic to have it be a little rough and distressed. And you can't really tell unless you get really close up.
And can we just take a moment to appreciate the gorgeous new fiddle leaf tree I snagged at our local nursery? I've been looking for a tall one forever.
I still have to finish the cabinets that go under the floating shelves, and hang a couple more things on the wall, but other than that the office is done and I should be able to give the full reveal very soon!
Do you have any items from early in your life or marriage that didn't start out having meaning, but over the years you see the value in them? I love when we surround ourselves with things that mean something, and have a memory attached to it!
My husband and I used to cook dinner together every night. We also spent regular time at the public library since our apartment did not have internet. Those sort of sacrifices still mean a great deal to our marriage.
Oh I love that! Investing time in one another is the best thing you can do :)
I love the fingerprint and the time spent is priceless.
I have an original artwork I drew as a child, then later embroidered. I actually entered into my local county fair. The blue ribbon hangs behind it. So fun to see art from my teens. Still waiting to hang is a drawing of a horse and cat. Trying to decide a creative way to display. Love your story. Perhaps typing that up and securing to the back of the print would be nice.