The Artist as Mad Scientist

self portrait #23, photograph
“Life is ‘trying things to see if they work.’”
- Ray Bradbury
An equally apt definition of artistic creativity. Experimenting with your art is essential to keeping it alive and interesting, to yourself and others.
Some people are relentless experimenters – they’ll try anything and everything. Others seem reluctant to venture too far from their [...]

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It’s a Love/Hate Kind of Thing…

your grandfather’s barbershop, photograph
“Here’s the interesting thing about HDR images – a lot of photographers seem to dislike them, it’s a love it or hate it kind of thing, sadly. But the general public, the non-photographers out there, love them. And we should be asking why.”
- David DuChemin
This is an interesting observation from a well-known [...]

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I, Myself and Me

self portrait #14, photograph
“Self-portraiture is a singular in-turned art. Something eerie lurks in its fingering of the edge between seer and seen.”
- Julian Bell
I have begun a series of self-portraits which is a new endeavor for me. I must admit it’s one I have mixed feelings about already…
Certainly there is a long tradition in most [...]

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Remembrance of Things Past

into the light, photograph
“The best part is: I’m never finished! There are always new angles, new shadows, new lights…”
- Paula Bachtiger Kling
One thing I love about photography is that the same image can be reworked in so many different ways.
For several years now I have been photographing the female figure, typically in motion. That work [...]

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How Do You Find the Time?

flourish, photograph
“If I don’t practice for one day, I know it; if I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it; if I don’t practice for three days, the audience knows it.”
- Ignace Paderewski
Do you find that as an artist you need to limber up – you know, flex your creative muscles before undertaking [...]

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The New Medium for Art

Weight of Time Passed, photograph
“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”
- Stewart Brand
I spend most of my day looking at paintings and photography on a computer monitor and have been researching various aspects of publishing artwork, both online and in more traditional mediums.
It [...]

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Collecting Collectors

beethoven memorial, photograph
“You can either buy clothes or buy pictures.”
- Gertrude Stein
All artists love art collectors – it’s just so darn hard to find them!
I’ve been reading an interesting book by Brooks Jensen (editor of Lenswork Quarterly) called Single Exposures: Random Observations on Photography, Art & Creativity in which he presents some interesting views about [...]

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Inductive Creativity

well travelled, photograph
“One does not stand still looking for a path. One walks; and as one walks, a path comes into being.”
- Mas Kodani
Often as artists we reach a standstill when we feel we’ve lost our way.
One tendency is to stop working because we know that what we’re doing is not right for us. We [...]

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I’m the Decider

calla 2, photograph
“Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
- Howard Aiken
One of the most important phases in the process of making art is that of editing. By this I mean the decision what to do with a new work. I’m intentionally skipping past the prior step, which is [...]

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Don’t Pass Up the Chance

liquid gold, photograph
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and will be lost.”
- Martha Graham
I don’t think I’ve [...]

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