Artistic Background
The following is a brief description of my artistic background.
The University of Michigan opened my eyes to the world of art and self expression. Upon graduating in 1970 I felt driven to pursue life as an artist. I began painting and drawing. After 8 months of doing this and driving a cab I moved to Los Angeles, learned to work in stained glass and took a job working for a small shop in Santa Monica. A year there readied me to start my own studio in Venice where I worked for eight years.
Moving to Maryland in 1980 I began to use wood along with stained glass to make hanging and free standing sculptures. At the same time I continued to do stained glass commissions and some wood furniture. The rigidity of the design demands of using wood and glass together lead me to pursue wood sculptures alone in the mid 1980's.
I studied the human form in life drawing forums and created three dimensional sculptures depicting dancing, reclining, or standing figures.
Next I began using wood in a more two dimensional way to create hanging sculptures which were collages of images. They were organized around themes that were quite diverse. Two were inspired by movies, some by widely used cultural symbols, others were organized around a theme in which I created the symbols.
These two dimensional hangings held my interest for some time, but after a while I branched off into abstract designs using layers of wood and different colors of wood and veneers to depict interacting forms.
Starting in1999 I returned to photography and put together a darkroom in my house.I am seeking to bring my interest in composition to the world around me. I look at objects, landscapes and people and try to frame them in a way that I might have if I were still doing a drawing or putting together elements for a sculpture. The difference is that the objects to be photographed are usually not movable and finding a way to catch them in a way that is interesting requires me to shoot from unusual angles in order to create an image that is striking. It also requires shooting at a time and in a way so that lighting adds an important positive dynamic to the photograph.
I have been taking photographs for almost thirty years, but now I bring the level of artistry that I brought to the work in wood and glass to my photography. Living near the Chesapeake Bay, skipjacks and other sailing ships are a natural attraction. With the number of skipjacks in decline it seemed to me imperative to capture them on film while they are still working. The tall ships that visited the East coast for Op Sail 2000 gave me many chances to find designs defined by canvas, ropes. masts, clouds and men. Schooners which visit the Bay each year in the fall also provide a great opportunity to see and shoot some of the most beautiful sailing vessels still active.
Along with the sailing vessels I have been photographing seascapes in the Chesapeake area as well as in Maine, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The powerful geography of the Southwest and California have also attracted me in the last three years.
The next area that I have recently started to delve into is using photoshop to create photographic collages. I scan my own photographs into the computer and use photoshop to put together collages. I then have a 4 x 5 negative made from the digital image. With the negatives I then print a normal photograph.
As you can see among the photographs to the right I have been interested in creating collages for some time. With photographs the opportunities for collages seem endless. Photographs give me the kind of details that make a collage interesting at the micro or close up level. It is up to the artist to put together the overall composition that is coherent and thematically interesting.