“Whether hiking through hidden swamps, secluded beaches or verdant forests and looking for a special moment, walking through our downtown area and capturing the shapes and form of it’s architectural history or finding unusual and intriguing stories within seemingly mundane images, I am always exploring my world and attempting to share what I see, what I feel, what I experience… My Vision.
While venturing out into nature, I often find myself fully immersed in the experience. The smells of cypress needles under my feet, the sounds of a heron calling across the water, the glint of the sun off of fresh morning dew, the mystery of a fog shrouded tree… they all capture my imagination and my attention. It’s those special moments – like the sun bursting from behind a cloud bank or a slight breeze finally lifting the fog from a single cypress tree in the middle of a lake – it’s those moments and that fascination that I feel that I strive to capture in my work. I aim to bring the viewer to the scene with me, share the magical moment of discovery with them and share with them the rewards of my exploration.
Exploring downtown Ocala, I’ve often been intrigued by the older buildings and the face that they show the passers-by. A strangely shaped doorway. A barred window. A cracked and crumbling facade. Unique reflections in a window. These are “The Eyes of Ocala”. It’s a part of the character of the area. I enjoy walking the streets, finding those places that carry their own unique stories and capture that vision. Each doorway, every window leads to a story hidden behind them. Through my lens and my imagination, I aim to spark some exploration of both the city itself and the stories that we can create in our own minds.
At times, I aim my vision inward. Who hasn’t looked at a cloud and imagined some shape within, some fantastical story of ships in the sky, animals cavorting across the heavens or faces within a storm. During lockdown, I struggled mightily with the stress of life being turned upside down and I searched desperately for a way to express my creativity. After much searching, I found a subject that allowed me to explore within my own mind, my emotions and my vision. Photographing smoke from an incense stick, manipulating the air flow to create different shapes and adding variable elements, I was able to form the basis of a new series of works – “Smoke and Mirrors”. This series involves heavy digital editing to fully express my vision as I tease out and highlight figures within the smoke and hope to bring their story to the forefront. Each viewer is invited to explore their own vision while viewing these pieces. I guarantee no two people will see exactly the same thing within the same piece.
No matter if I am wandering the woods, exploring a historic district or locked within my own mind, I live for the joy of exploration and discovery. Filtered through my own history, life and experience, as well as my own unique view of the world both outside and within, through this exploration, I find and share my Vision.”
