I have a bachelor’s degree and a year of graduate school in sociology. I was an Air Force ICBM launch officer in Montana for four years, after which I spent five years in Eugene, Oregon, using my GI Bill to take English Literature and creative writing courses.
As an artist, I’m largely self-taught. I’ve done drawing, painting, sculpture, 3D animation, video editing, and photography. In the mid-90s I got a 4 x 5 camera, set up a darkroom, joined an artists’ co-op and sold a few of my abstract black and white photographs. I didn’t really enjoy darkroom work, however, nor working in any of the other media I tried, although I enjoyed the results.
Then the digital revolution occurred, and a few years ago I started manipulating individual images in Photoshop, changing the colors to make them more dramatic and interesting. When it occurred to me to layer different images on top each other in addition to altering their colors, I was amazed at the results. They were unpredictable, and although I developed some feeling about the kinds of images that would merge in interesting ways, I was often dumfounded by what happened when I put them together. Unlike the other media I had tried, the process of creating new images was totally engrossing and rewarding in itself. While I start with photographs I’ve taken, my process leaves them looking more like abstract paintings than photographs.
Recently I discovered the beauty of dye sublimation prints on aluminum. The colors are stunning, they are almost indestructible, they’re ready to hang, and I can have them made in larger sizes than I can print myself.
My web designer was afraid too many images would be overwhelming, but if you think you can handle being overwhelmed, follow me on Instagram.
Please contact me if you are interested in buying or showing my work.
I have a two-month show coming up in August: