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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If Truth be Told

lines, photograph
“That’s part of what I love about abstracts.It’s not the symbolism; it’s not the metaphor. It’s the simple chord of tonalities… Such tones just make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.”
- Brooks Jensen
I also love abstraction but have sort of a love-hate relationship with it. The quote from Jensen [...]

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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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