ARTIST HISTORY
STATEMENT & CV
BACKGROUND
I am a story teller. I'll tell you when I'm making it up and if it's about me, it's never made up. I have lived a very interesting life. I tend to write in my head and when I sit down to do that forever-taking book writing, I get distracted. I can walk into an antique shop and find two post cards to the same woman. One will say it was so good to see you and the other, written at the same time, will ask why the sender hasn't heard from her. I look at the address; the postmark. The story unfolds. My friend, Allan, asks, "so when is the book coming?" There is always something else to attend to first. I promise, it is coming. I have the whole book up in my head, ready to go ... some day, but not today.
So, who am I? I grew up in Central New York and moved away when I was young. I lived in Los Angeles for 45 years and came to Upstate New York in 2014. It is culture shock. It has forced me off of the street shooting, which I love, to seeking every avoidance I can think of to resist becoming a back yard enthusiast. I may have turned into one, in spite of all of my angst. In truth, I've always been one and I'm embracing it. Whenever I had to do something I turned to flowers. "They" say it's a beginner's subject. It's not. I paid some interesting money for an expensive out of print book which was written about by two high toned artists who, in their words, ate their words about hating floral photography.
I have a love/hate relationship with floral photography. When I've studied with other people on the internet, I found that everyone was copying the instructor. I tried. I grew tired. Was there a better way to look at these things? I left it behind. I returned to it.
One day, while in my soul search, my mentor announced that the best things I did were macro and flowers, remembering one of those "Photo 1" assignments I had in college. Perhaps, I have been doing the avoidance dance around the one subject I gravitated towards when I set out to learn photography.
I was educated as a fine artist (painting, drawing, etc) and went to school for photography in Santa Monica. Later, I spent years with my photography mentor. My first camera was a Pentax K1000 Asahi. My first digital camera was operated with a floppy disc. I sold my first painting when I was 15 years old. In the 1980s, I had an artist rep for my paintings. The problem was that an artist/rep relationship is one of "property." I was asked to stick to the program and do what was expected of me. I rebelled. I stopped painting for a long time. I am not much different from my porch cats. The girls were born under the house and live on the porch, but refuse to come inside. There's just not enough stimulation in tight corners if you ask them, but if you ask the two indoor tigers, they'll tell you that there's plenty to rip up around the house. I supposed it is all about a state of mind and if the right hat goes on the right way, then it fits.
In my educational process, I believed that I would become a commercial photographer. Now, this was a head vice. I learned all of the skills. I had my pro mentoring me. Commercial photography was another avenue where one's work was expected, on time and as dictated. The art director, like the rep, told you exactly what to do. I wasn't a property. I was executing someone else's idea.
I went back to painting. I knit. I still have a book in me. That said, my eyes are always looking and that's why I am attracted to photography. The camera is my middle eye.
Print Sales and Licensing:
I print in limited editions of 15 which I print myself on high quality or fine art papers.
I am no longer doing commercial work which included commercial real estate, architectural and portraiture. I will work with close friends and models upon occasion.
Sales of earlier botanical and train work can be found at Munson Williams Procotor art museum in Utica, NY.
CV
- IPA 2021 (International Photography Awards) Honorable Mention Black & White Nature Photography: "Release"
- July 30,2021 Meet the Artist Solo Presentation, Munson Williams Proctor Museum
July 2021 Munson Williams Proctor Museum Sidewalk Show, Mt. Hope Pictorialist image - July 2020 Munson Williams Proctor Museum Virtual Sidewalk show, levitation composite not for sale
- July 2019 group show, Munson Williams Proctor Museum sidewalk show, exhibiting a train photograph (sold)
- June 2019 Solo Exhibit at Oneida Public Library of train photography
- January 2019 - Toy Train Show, Union Station, Utica, NY
- 2018 Gallery on Farrier Avenue, Oneida, NY
- December 2018 CAC Holiday Show, Sherrill, NY
- 2015 (March) Featured Photographer, New Landscape Photography
2013 MOPLA Pin Up Show, Robert Berman Gallery, Bergamont Station, Santa Monica, CA - 2011 & 2012 International Photography Awards
* IPA 2011 - Honorable Mention - Editorial : Environmental Category
* IPA 2011 - Honorable Mention - People : Lifestyle Category
* IPA 2012 - Honorable Mention - Special : Digitally Enhanced Category
* IPA 2012 - Honorable Mention - Fine Art : Other Fine Art Category
- 2012 Pico Artist Coalition
- 2010 / 2009 5x7 shows, Blue 7 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 2009 Water Show, Santa Monica College Exhibit, Santa Monica, CA
- 2008 Exhibit for Pico Blvd / Pico Improvement Organization, Santa Monica, CA
- 2008 National Geographic Bioblitz, Santa Monica Mountains, CA, contributing photographer
- 2008 Sierra Club auction contributor