Arboretum Abstract Photograph

I first got interested in photography as a boy, when a close relative loaned me his beloved twin lens reflex camera and taught me how to process the film and make prints in his basement darkroom. I've been shooting ever since. My first college was as a photography major at the Cooper School of Art. I changed my major when I transferred to Cleveland State University but continued to take photography and art classes along with my other coursework. I ended up with a Master of Arts Degree in Education and a career as a teacher. I continue to study photography and art. When it comes to processing the 'digital negative' and the use of digital paintbrushes, I am mostly self-taught. I gravitate toward scenes of nature - landscapes, water, mountains, wildlife, plants and flowers. My style leans toward photo-impressionism, abstraction, and abstract expressionism. 'Straight out of the camera' with minimal adjustments is often all that I need to get my message across, but I also use various techniques of digital art and traditional photography. For example I might use in-camera approaches such as long exposure, depth compositing, selective focus, multiple exposure, or intentional camera movement to capture a particular moment or feeling. Sometimes I make use of techniques of the digital darkroom, such as depth compositing, photo collage or image blending to emphasize a unique connection or an experience. I add painting with digital paintbrushes to many of my photographs, and use the pixels from my images to create my own paintbrushes. Some of my work is created completely with digital brushes, based on my photo reference. I'm open to requests for certain sizes, printing surfaces, or custom framing in keeping with edition limits and my artistic vision for a particular image. Please contact curator@saatchiart.com for more details.