Mixed-Media Photography
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Member of Flag since 2024
About the Artist:
Growing up in NW Florida in the late 1950’s and 1960’s, the artist had ample opportunity to engage in a small-town community and to experience the stories of the people around them. Art was part of the curriculum at school from elementary school days, and the artist was encouraged at home, in classes, and in private lessons to explore different media and ways to express what they were seeing and feeling. When the artist first picked up a camera, they fell in love with photography and then with the magic of the darkroom. The artist discovered how to use the tools of light, composition, and post-processing to express themself. After years of informal learning, the artist studied formally to earn a degree in photography, where they learned about and from diverse image-makers including the passionate young photographers whose vision was so much different than the artist.
Far from diverting them from art, the diverse experiences of the artist working professionally with horses and teaching biological sciences at the college level have enriched the depth of the artist’s vision and storytelling. The artist has continued to create images with personal meaning and narrative and now is able to devote most of their time to creating art in their personal studio. Their affiliations with various artist organizations and galleries have also contributed significantly to their growth by enabling fruitful exchanges of ideas and techniques. The artist enjoys sharing their art knowledge and passion by teaching classes and workshops around central Florida where the artist resides fulltime. The artist learns as much from these students as they learn from the artist, and the artist is continually gleaning new ideas and stories from these creative people. For their art, the artist gets inspiration from our shared human experience, and for the artist each scene has its own compelling narrative. True to their photographic vision, the artist starts each piece with a camera and uses techniques such as slow shutter speed or intentional camera movement to portray an impressionist view of the scene. Then the artist allows the image to tell its tale as the artist adds encaustic wax and builds layers and textures, often incorporating other media such as paints or pastels. This more tactile approach connects the artist more deeply to the work as the piece evolves.
In creating the current body of work featuring dancers, the artist has been drawn into the world of these dancer-artists. Movement, ecstasy, yearning—all are revealed in the dance! The artist sees the dancers open up, reach out,
and stretch towards each other and heaven, all the while focusing deep inside themselves. After years of practice, their movement, flow, and connection are so established that their very souls can come out to play. As the artist watches, the artist sees glimpses of these dancer-souls, and the artist vicariously moves with the dancers. The art presented by the dancers leads the artist to look inside themself at their own art and creativity with new eyes. This body of work has and is challenging the artist to grow as an artist and as a human being. The artist has experimented with new techniques and with using techniques they already know in a different way, always learning. The artist feels themself being asked by each piece to look into their very soul, as the artist sees the dance artists doing, and there to discover the multiple facets of the artist’s own humanity—their unfolding, their passion, their strength, their revelation.