I Used To Be ... And Now I'm ..: From Cover Girl Cheerleader To Mom To Professional Photographer

Thanks to a magnet's help, Sandee Bartkowski is becoming what she might have been.

by Mary Welch

June 1, 2008

S andee Bartkowski loves being a wife and a mom to her two sons.     

"I never had big ambitions or career dreams," she says. "I had a really great family, but they didn't push me to go to college. Really, I wasn't much different from most of the other girls my age. I assumed I would marry and have babies."     

Bartkowski's story isn't that different from many women. Okay, fine, there's a little more glamour to it – maybe – because she married Steve Bartkowski, the famed Atlanta Falcons quarterback. But it's basically the story of a woman who spent her life making her family happy and is now finding her talent – and maybe herself.     

Yes, the woman whose biggest claim to fame was that she was Mrs. Steve Bartkowski now is selling her photographs for thousands of dollars and has her own gallery.     

"It's not like I'm stepping out of Steve's shadow and saying, ‘It's my time to shine now,' because that's not it," she says. "But my kids are grown [they are now 24 and 27]. It doesn't matter who your husband is. I so loved being a mom, and I was there for them always. But they've grown up, and I'm finding myself."    

In fact, Bartkowski says her new philosophy came from a magnet a friend gave her. "It said something like, ‘ It's not too late to become what you might have been.' It's a very dangerous magnet!"     

Bartkowski grew up on the south side of Atlanta, blonde and pretty. While she was in high school, Rich's department store had a program in which a girl from each of several area high schools could participate in modeling shows. She represented Sylvan High School. "I started doing some modeling with Rich's, and then that led to some modeling for companies at shows at the Merchandise Mart. I started making money at a very young age. When you're making $60 an hour at 16, you don't think about going to another career – or even taking the SATs. It distorts your view of the world and what you'll do with your life."    

Seventeen Magazine came to town for a Rich's promotion, saw her and put her on the cover when she was 17. Still, even a cover shot didn't propel her modeling career. "It really wasn't important to me at the time, but I couldn't get past the fact I was young and 5-6. I would be modeling at the mart and all the models would go out in couture gowns, and then I'd be in the tennis outfit. I ended up doing the ‘sporty' shots."    

She was also still at Sylvan High School and on the cheerleading squad. However, in the 10th grade she switched to another high school and didn't make the squad. Her father, a huge Falcons fan, saw an ad for Falcons cheerleaders and encouraged her to try out. "I was 16, looked 18, and made the squad. So I was a Falcons cheerleader but didn't make my high school's squad. That didn't help me make a lot of girlfriends. But my father would yell at me from the stands and it was fun."   


The uniforms were a lot more subdued back then. "It was turtleneck sweaters and jumpers," she said. "Then the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders came in and vamped it up. I got out after three years. I didn't have the cleavage."     

She dabbled in the fashion industry after high school, working at the Merchandise Mart but eventually settled for a "boring office job." She was a competitive racquetball player and was at a sports club when the manager offered to introduce her to the Falcons quarterback. "This is so ‘ 70s," she says with a laugh. "The court was all windows, and he had three gorgeous girls watching him play. He was viewed as this great bachelor in town. I looked at him and told my friend that Steve was cute, but he didn't need to meet me because he had all these other women."     

Anyway, they were eventually introduced and he asked her to go to lunch. She put him off. "He was like ‘Excuse me!' He couldn't believe it. But he had like 14 girlfriends, and I wasn't interested. But the fact was that he was so boyish and awkward. He never had to talk to girls because they were always coming to him."     

The two met in 1979, married in 1980 and a year-and-a-half later had the first of two sons. "I loved staying at home and being a mom. Looking back, those were the best times," she says. "Steve traveled a lot, and I wanted to be there. I didn't want baby sitters."     

But gradually she wanted something of her own. She always had an interest in art and went to local children's hospitals and would ask a child to draw a picture before he or she went in for a chemotherapy treatment. She would copy the drawing and put it on a T-shirt and give it back to the child. "I called my business Wear Me Out, and that was my first venture – children's clothing."     

When her younger son was 5, she took a photography class at the Atlanta College of Art. "I always took the family Christmas cards, and people would ask who our photographer was," she says. "I didn't know how to operate a camera really, but the pictures turned out nice. I went once a week to a night class, and that was a big step for me."    
Over the next several years she took every photography class she could and started taking pictures of children professionally. "I had strong word of mouth and set up a darkroom in my house. The first time a picture I took came out of the development film I cried. But I felt awkward having people come to my home in Duluth and selling paintings in my dining room, so I wanted my own space. And, that was huge."    

Her Buckhead gallery is called Sandee O [her maiden name is Oliver]. "I love my last name, but people would come in with footballs wanting Steve to sign them. It's not about football. I want people to buy my work because they like my work."     

As with other families in which mom suddenly starts having her own career, there were some shock waves. "I have a very strong work ethic, and I am learning how to balance. My kids still want to come and hang out at the house, and I'm grateful for that, but I'm not at the house as much. They find it weird. Steve's been supportive, but sometimes he's like, ‘Can't you make a sandwich and be at home?' I think if I had girls it would be very cool to show them that a woman at my age can start something new."     

A pivotal moment in Bartkowski's life was going to Africa. Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank treated 70 friends to a safari to Africa to celebrate his wife Stephanie's fortieth birthday. "Obviously it was the trip of a lifetime, and we were very spoiled."     

Although others were interested in taking pictures of animals, Bartkowski was more drawn to the scenery. "I was intrigued by the trees. And then the animals would show up. You never knew what would come along."     

She was also able to photograph Masai warriors. "They are so proud and their clothes are so wonderful, but they don't like to be photographed, so I was very lucky."     

She took many of her photographs and applied a technique called encaustic in which the artist draws over a photograph using wax. She first learned of the technique from Maggie Hasbrouck, a local artist, and one of Bartkowski's teachers at the Atlanta College of Art. "A huge inspiration to me," she says.     

She recently had her first independent gallery showing at the Mason Murer Gallery, with part of the proceeds benefiting children in Africa.      

Bartkowski now sells her photographs for thousands of dollars and is finding a receptive audience not only from private collectors but also from corporations and hotels that are buying her work.   

"I turned 50, and I feel fine," she says. "In fact, it's kinda cool. I've grown heavier and older and I'm a grandmother, but I'm doing things I never dreamed about. I was scared to death to do the things I'm doing. I didn't know if I could sell my photographs. I didn't know if it would affect my family in a negative way by starting my own business. But it's been fine."     

Still, a little insecurity still shows. Asked about future ambitions, she'll only say. "I have a few, but I'm afraid to say them out loud."