For several years I have been exploring natural curiosities - dead birds, feathers, insects, reeds, twisted vines, shards of ice - as discovered and photographed during my many wanderings, or gathered and brought back to my studio where they get incorporated into my life and often into images.

 

When I first encountered a Red-Bellied woodpecker lying in a pile of bamboo branches I decided to use the situation as a chance to take a closer look at a creature I would never have been able to investigate while it was alive.  I experienced both thrill and sorrow as I proceeded to photograph and scan this beautiful bird. When I realized I could do no more, I placed the bird outside; it was gone in the morning.  Not a trace of its existence – except for my photographs.

The circle of life:  one creature dies so another can thrive?

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This closeup observation has led me to photographing other birds - living birds - in their natural habitats.

 

In the Vellum/Vines images,  there are layers of two images – vellum over paper.  The layering is not unlike the density one observes when walking in the woods:  there is always so much to see, but impossible to focus on it all at once.

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The newest work on the site are my Sand Abstractions. The ebb and flow of life is hard to ignore when you live on a beach.  The remnants of life, both human and aquatic, are there if you choose to notice.  I perceive these remnants as abstract pleasures.  Using a camera phone more often than not, I am free to explore, experiment and observe.

 

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