The "I" behind the "Eye"
As a child I grew up on the banks of the Connecticut River surrounded by woods and had my own private waterfall. This waterfall was my mentor and always refreshed my spirit when the world seemed to be crashing around me. This may be why I am happiest out in the woods stalking a new photograph or communing with another waterfall. It’s easy to find one’s own space under the branches of a wildling apple tree or a muscled old maple.
I have always loved photography and can still remember the first photograph I took that I thought was really good. I was about 11 years old and on a holiday trip to Concord, Mass. The scene was a bridge with an iron chain fence casting a dark shadow on the weathered wooden planks. I may be bad at remembering names, but boy, can I remember images.
Along the way back to my first love I have had my own Stained Glass studio. Photographs of my sculptural kaleidoscopes can be found in several books. There is a two page spread in "The Kaleidoscope Book" by Thom Boswell. After a full career in breaking glass I returned to the art of photography, but found myself using light in a totally different way. I try to capture my images using translucent light, rather than the usual photographers' concentration on reflective light. The very best of my pieces seem to glow from within.
At the Ithaca Farmers Market, where I sell my photographs in various forms, my returning customers often open our conversation with, “I see you are on a new adventure again.” Although I do love the art of the straightforward photograph, I often find myself combining images to create a new vision of the area that I live in. The best simile I can find is that it’s like a visual memory. If you return in your mind to “Fact check” a memory, you will find that almost always you have added some extra elements and subtracted others, resulting in a richer, more artistic narrative. That is my goal as an artist.
Thank you for coming to visit my shop and learn about my work as an artist. I try to present my work in many different ways so that it is accessible and affordable to almost anyone who finds joy in nature. This new venture is exciting and I hope you come back to my store often to see how it grows – and maybe buy a unique gift for someone dear.
