About Me

If you are visiting here, you may have come over from my Art/shop & Personal blog, A Fanciful Twist, found at: http://afancifultwist.typepad.com

However, "Through the Secret Keyhole" is a visit to another place that lives within my thoughts and inspirations...

Let's walk down this little path over here, while we chat...

From the time that I can remember, I was intrigued by old photographs, old treasures... All kinds of items that I would attach stories to. Sometimes, if I was held hostage & bored somewhere, like an aunt's house or some place... I would use photographs people had, even if they were framed, and turned them into my "dolls" so to speak. They would talk back and forth to eachother in my mind. My mom said she could see my little head bopping around chatting back and forth.

Funny enough, I automatically gave them the names and accents, titles, that I thought suited them.

I am certain, that I am not alone in this. I am certain that you too, escaped into stories and such when you were a child...

As the years went by, and I became a teenager, I found my fascination had not changed. I might walk into an antique store and stay for four hours at a time. Delving into photographs and items... Stories pouring out of these treasures... Who owned this doll? Who did this tea service serve tea to?

I think my personal fascination began with the fact that I remember standing at my Grandmother's attic door (at a very young age), which was way at the top of some stairs. And, the only way to enter was through a two door passage way of sorts...

We would go through this long deep tunnel type closet, and find ourselves at a tiny hobbit door (this place still exists and we still do this sometimes). The door is always sealed shut. But, my grandmother would take down the barriers, and open the door. In this attic were tremendous treasures. And, as my grandmother would hand me some item, she would attach its elaborate story to it...

It was my passion. I think I am a treasure hunter by nature. My parents property (where I grew up & they still live) sits surrounded by very old gold mines. They always intrigued me to the core... I would have picnics beside them... But, feared falling in... As they were at least a hundred years old, and certain to cave in at any moment...

In the deep desert in the middle of nowhere (where I grew up), there is a Dick Tracy type car that I played in as a kid. I was always baffled as to how it got there? In a valley between two huge rugged mountains...

I would create expeditions into the hills, where down a dry stream way behind our house, there still exists a tiny little dilapidated miner's house, and some wooden miner's machinery...

So, it is inevitable that I would find such intrigue in faces, treasures & places, as an adult...

To add to all of this comes something else. As far back as I can remember, our family has been filled with a bevy of ghost stories and witch tales. It never seemed unusual to me, just factual, but intensly intriguing... Many accounts of strange happenings and curious characters have left enough stories to fill a life time. All accounts brought to our ears, from my Grandmother's lips... And, all true of course...

So with that I will say... This blog is a place where I will share faces and places, even treasures, that might inspire the imagination...

Many photos will be of places I visit that tickle my love of mystery. I will also use this blog to share the many antique/vintage postcards and photos I have collected over the years. There is no sense in letting them go forgotten in a drawer...

I will look forward to your ideas of who some of the characters in the photos might be... What their lives were like... Who knows, maybe you might find a long lost photograph of someone in your very own family, sitting right here... Stranger things have happened you know ;)

So, what are we waiting for... Let's start our adventure here!!

As a side note: My University studies were in photography as a minor(A BS in International Retailing), but I can't tell you how many hours I spent in that dark room.

And funny enough, most of my photography was of those old mines, and places in Arizona, that hold so much mystery and intrigue... (The original photograph in my banner was taken, processed & developed by me in 1995).

I can't wait to see where the journey of our imagination unravels a bit here. I would love to hear your stories...