Five Beliefs

•I believe there is an artist facet in everyone, and art-making exists in each person uniquely.
• Creativity/artistry thrives in daily life, but some of us are driven to create beyond daily norms or needs.
• Excellence is not necessarily perfection.
• Strengths and weaknesses often exchange places.
• Art should reach everyone.

Approach to Art
My approach to art flows out of my beliefs about art. It has been a revelation to me that we all see so differently. For me, color and texture are seductive. I believe my love of riotous color probably taps my French Canadian roots or the long Vermont winters. The psychology of my 3-D work is usually obvious; I enjoy process and making tangible expressions of a thought. My photos share the way I see. The 20x30 size of my photographs helps create intimacy and saturates the eye with color. On each photo, my initials & the year are camouflaged; it is often a real challenge to find them.

“Guerilla art” is art for everyone and is rooted in the thought that art-based surprise/fun can provide rich moments in life.

Creative Process
The sculptural pieces and “guerilla art” are more integrated examples of my creativity. They might start with a phrase (“thinking outside of the box”—I never knew there was “a box” till I was 45); a situation (the Buffalo Soldiers Centenary Celebration at Fort Ethan Allen, August 2009); an item (a spool of wire); or an experience (pain). There is no one example that says it all. I love the process.

Sculpture uses many facets of who and how I am in the world.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

2-D: Photography (playing with seeing)
I started taking photographs with a 35 mm camera, using large prints because it was thrifty. The size evolved into a preference because large prints saturate the eye with color and image. Technology has certainly changed photography. And as the photo-processing world has changed, so has my control in reproducing the initial image. All large format color photos are now processed digitally. My 35mm negative is scanned and becomes a gliceé print. With all the variables, I’ve had hit or miss results. Perhaps extreme Photo-shopping could make a difference, but to my eye, digital processing gives a flatter less lustrous image, but this could change and may have already. Digital photography and all its tools of processing result in a different art. As my goal is to try to capture what I observe, I’m now sometimes using a digital camera to explore and see if this form of photography satisfies me.

Equipment and Material Specs:
35 mm camera: 35mm Olympus SLR IS-3LX Lens: macro-lens for subtle, forced focus.
Film: High saturation film Digital camera: Leica D-LUX 4
Software: Photoshop Elements (?)
Preferred mounting: Museum laminate method for protection without glare; 20 x 30 inches

3-D: Sculpture
Sculptural pieces are often constructed from cheap, reused/repurposed materials. Fabricating sometimes involves technical professionals and/or machinery, e.g., a plastic-forming technician, vacuum-forming table, welder, or mechanical engineer.

3-D: Guerilla Art
“Guerilla Art” is my term for art that appears as a gift using location, everyday materials, as little cost as possible, and often the element of surprise. The choice of location maximizes visual access for everyone. Everyday materials—vine, flowers, fabric, paint, paper—are transformed. *Under ‘Other Work are multi-panel photos –a bridge between 2D and 3D.