Once upon a time...
My story starts in Alabama and has taken me around the United States and the world. That sounds like the opening of an adventure novel, but the shorter version is that I have always been curious about how things work—and how they look.
I served in the U.S. Navy as an aircraft electrician, working with F-14 Tomcats. Later, I earned a degree in Computer Information Sciences and worked in supply chain management and workplace safety. This site is hand coded, which probably tells you something about my fondness for figuring things out myself.
Making and seeing
Photography has been part of my life for a long time. My Flickr archive goes back to 2006 and has grown to include thousands of photographs. Somewhere along the way, looking through a camera also pushed me deeper into the traditional visual arts.
These days, I work in several different media. Watercolor is my usual painting medium, though I also work in oil and acrylic. I draw with traditional tools and digitally, and I spend time studying watercolor, figure drawing, and printmaking. I am exploring writing and sculpting too.
I have found that all of these things feed one another. Photography makes me pay attention to light, composition, and the small details in a scene. Drawing makes me slow down and really look at shape and proportion. Watercolor teaches me about color, value, and simplification. Printmaking makes me think about what can be communicated with just a few lines and areas of contrast.
Hopefully, what I learn from the traditional arts makes me a better photographer—and vice versa.
I still have room for older cars, cameras of all kinds, and jokes that may require an apology. If something catches my eye or makes me wonder how it works, there is a good chance I will follow it for a while.
Still learning
I do not think art is something you ever finish learning. Sometimes I am carrying a camera. Sometimes I am working with watercolor or ink. Other times I am drawing, making a print, experimenting digitally, or trying something I have never done before.
Some experiments work. Some do not. That is part of the fun.
This website is where I collect the results—the finished pieces, photographs, experiments, studies, and occasional odd idea that seemed worth pursuing.