There comes a time when you realize you need to embrace yourself as the person you wished you could always be...

When you close your eyes and picture yourself, who do you see in the mirror? Most people try to picture themselves as something they wish they could be, rather than striving to be that person in reality. I picture myself as a successful photographer. I picture myself wise and with a lot of tattoos, but then I open my eyes and I see a twenty-seven year old struggling with life and looking for the next payed photographic gig.. I've known who I wanted to be since the age of fifteen. I've been working in the industry for so long and just recently I found my voice and where I want to take my photography. I now know what I have to do.

Silke Turner: artist portrait session by Ricky J Hernandez

However, for some people they don't know who they are because they let family or society tell them who they should be. I don't think its ever too late or we'll ever too old to redirect our lives and change our lifestyles, looks and points of view...if we change ourselves it should be a conscious decision and its a struggle to not let society dictate who we should be at a certain age. Independent thinking should be everyones priority.

When I meet Silke I thought, "Wow, now here is a cool woman with a sense of style, confidence and independent thinking that has embraced who she saw when she closed her eyes." A real role model to us, the people who struggle to find their home in society. As I got talking to her she revealed that she only recently asserted herself and now is proud to wear her colors. When she was younger she was far more conservative than she is now, but she told me that she never felt at home with the norm. She tried but it just felt forced. When she got her first tattoo she felt happy and when she realized there was a So Cal culture of like-minded people, she said "I'm not the only one!" For so long she felt herself to be an outsider, but once she embraced the person she always dreamed of being, she found a whole community.

As an artist, she began to create one-of-a-kind sculptures and wall art with old and found objects, merely as an expression of the style she herself enjoyed. She makes art that she enjoys, and if someone loves the piece as much as she does, its such a joy for her because the art piece connects the two of them in a common spirit.

Silke is going to be part of the Laguna Sawdust Winter Festival where she will display and sell some of her most recent work. Silke has a great eye for cool styling, so make a trip to the Sawdust Festival to meet her, check out her work and show her some love. Now enough with the words, enjoy the photos.