Notes from Lauren

People always ask me why I came back to Alabama after having lived and worked in exciting places like Aspen and NYC for close to 20 years of my adult life. More, they never can understand why I would move into an old log cabin way out in the country in a little town like Waverly.

Apparently, I was born with a genetic disposition of needing to have my hands in the dirt most of the year. This I inherited from a long line of extraordinary gardeners and farmers.
My grandmother, Evelyn Corley Buzbee, was a lifelong gardener and a national judge of daylilies and hostas for more than 35 years. The Agricultural Engineering building at Auburn University is named after her brother, Tom E. Corley. Master Gardener groups have toured my mother’s shade garden. My great-grandfather was known as 'The Watermelon King'. On both sides, my family has always been about growing things.

As much as I thought I might be different than my roots and that I didn't need the earth of the South, it was the dogwoods in full bloom, the daffodils in February, even the smell of kudzu and privet, that locked into my soul every time I came home for a visit. Though I tried to capture it all with my camera and take it back to wherever I was living at the time, it never was the same. There finally came a point where I felt I was missing out on life by not being here.

Of course, living in the country in an old log cabin and having a garden is lovely, and certainly photographing this landscape and connecting with the cast of characters here is truly a joy for me, but what to DO here?

As I started getting my hands in the dirt, I loved everything that I was learning, both from my own experimentations, as well as from the advice of everyone in my life. The one piece of advice I was given that I wish I had listened to from the beginning was to keep a record of the basic events and activities in my garden.

Once I started keeping a record, no one was more surprised than me at the difference a few quick notes could make. Within weeks, I was marveling at how my garden was really coming together, and especially at how efficient my time in the garden was becoming. Yet every day I wondered about things from last year: What was it I planted? Which variety of tomato was it that worked so well? Which one didn't? What were those beans I liked so much?

I searched and searched for a record book that worked like I wanted it to, unable to find one. Finally I decided I could make my own, using my photographs from years of visiting people in their gardens, along with my grandmother's notes as the inspirational guide. The further along I got making my record book, the more people saw it. It wasn't long before all those gardeners in my life had ideas on ways to really make the book sing --- this time there was no ignoring their suggestions.

Many generations and years of time in gardens went into defining the elements of this book, so what came from it was not just a personal journal or record book, but one that works for every kind of gardener --- from Master Gardeners to beginning gardeners, from career horticulturists to backyard hobbyists.

And so CABINTIGER STUDIO, INC. was born, a new product development company based in Waverly, Alabama, whose mission is to deliver quality products that are useful, inspiring and easy on the wallet. There are more products in the webstore, and still more in the development pipeline ... it seems CABINTIGER STUDIO has given me plenty to DO way out here in the country in Alabama!

--- on traveling to Cuba

In January 2002, I traveled with an American photographic workshop to Cuba. Upon arrival, our group was inundated with overwhelming compassion from the people of Cuba, for they had watched horrified with the rest of the world the attacks on America at the World Trade Center. Few Americans had traveled to Cuba by January of 2002, so our group was one of the first opportunities the Cubans had to express their great sorrow and compassion. During this time, I was fortunate enough to be invited into homes and worlds that were previously unknown to Americans. I very much enjoyed meeting the people of Cuba, and tried to capture the beauty of their world in these photographs.

I hope you enjoy visiting the gallery for this body of work.

Fine Art prints are available upon request.

--- On her grandmother, Evelyn Corley Buzbee

I guess I thought we'd grow old together --- my grandmother and me.

I don't know what I thought, but I sure never thought the Sunday afternoon in April that we spent together in her garden would be the last one.

It had rained all weekend, and when the sun came out on Sunday afternoon, I called her to see if I could come over to photograph her garden, knowing it would be beautiful after the rain. She said to come on.

We had the nicest visit all afternoon in her garden --- her with her hoe, and me with my camera. As always, we ended the day sitting on her porch, laughing at stories we had told each other many times before. She died the following Friday.

Weeks later when my mother and my aunt were cleaning out Grandmother's things, they came across all of her notes.

For more than 35 years, my grandmother -- Evelyn Corley Buzbee -- was a national judge for both the American Hemerocallis (daylily) Society and the American Hosta Society. There is even a daylily named after her --- it is called Evelyn Buzbee, and is a late bloomer.

When she traveled to various flower shows and conventions around the country, she always made a point to get out in those communities and speak to the local garden clubs. Her notes are from those speeches.

It is my honor to have the opportunity to share her notes and love of gardening through the products offered by CABINTIGER STUDIO. Working with these notes and the images from that afternoon has been like having her near, so maybe we really are growing old together ;)