Hi there! My name is Chelsey Smith and I am The Painted Lady! Welcome to my blog! This is my little corner of the internet where I share my photography and other neat things that catch my fancy. Thank you for taking the time to visit! I am a photographer and stay at home parent residing in the heart of Texas. My family includes myself, my husband James (The Captain), our rumpus 2yo son Lincoln (The Cub), our corgi dog Maeby (The Dainty Lady), and our big ol’ golden retriever Bernie (The Big Baby). We are just your average tiny house dwelling family trying to make it in this crazy world.

We are wanderers at heart. In 2010 The Captain and I hosted a quaint guerrilla wedding in our college town of Denton, TX. We gathered with the close friends and family who could be there and pledged our love and commitment to each other. We quit our jobs and hit the road traveling west as fast as our little Mazda would drive. We spent a summer of love bumming around San Francisco living in an rv, which I highly recommend any young wanderer experience in their life. Eventually, we headed to Colorado where we found adventure and life long friends before, finally, returning home to Texas to be close to family and begin laying down roots.

In 2013 The Captain and I began our greatest adventure yet. We welcomed our son with the support of Midwife, Doula, and Nurse at Mountain Midwifery Center in Denver, CO. While our restless spirits have been softened by the expansion of our family, parenthood has provided an entirely new sense of purpose in this great dance of life.

It has been during this period of growth and discovery that I have reconnected with my passion for photography. It has always been a love of mine to get lost looking at beautiful photographs by my favorite photographers. I studied black and white photography in college, but it was the birth of The Cub that really motivated me to take my own knowledge and experience in photography to the next level. If you can’t afford them, join them, right? I love documenting my little family. The real struggle, and I am sure all of you other momtogs can relate, is to balance capturing life and living it. So join me on this journey around the sun. Live and learn with me!