Hey there!
I’m Maria Leinen and I hail from South English, Iowa (population 370), where I grew up as a typical Iowa farm girl, except that I was also classically trained in opera and piano. By age 16 I was touring the country as an opera singer, while on the weekends I sang in a punk band. I love history, white chocolate peppermint mochas, studied photography and fine arts in college, and I moonlight as a computer geek.
The love of my life, Frank, is a former bouncer from Mesquite with a penchant for antiques and a fierce gift for playing guitar. His father was a jazz guitar player in New York in the 1940s; his mother, a country western singer who won the title “Queen of the Hillybilly Jamboree,” was offered the chance to sing with Roy Rogers.
One day, while Frank was at a local establishment taking a breather from breaking up bar fights and keeping hooligans and miscreants at bay, a friend of his approached me and let me know that my drink was courtesy of “the gentleman in the corner.” I gave Frank a quizzical look and a good stare-down. Frank, not privy to this brilliant match-making scheme, wondered why the girl across the way looked rather like she might want to murder him. A few weeks later we were laughing all night as we met up for dinner and shut the place down. A few years later we tied knot. Today, you can often find us at White Rock Lake with our two pups, an American Bulldog named Buster, and a sharp Border Collie named Raven. One for the books, you might say. You ever know the places life will take you or the stories it will tell.
I believe that photographs tell a story. They capture the emotions, document our lives, and act as a permanent memory that strengthens the bond in relationships. I believe that photographs should reflect our lives: comfortable, not always matching or clean-cut, and showing life as it happens. I can’t wait to help tell your story!
