What does a day in your art practice look like? I’m either thinking of a project or working on one. Unfortunately, I am very disorganized and other things get in the way of my creating, unless I have a project deadline. What would life be like without art? Very left brain. My art requires just enough left brain to communicate what my right brain intuitively sees and wants to express. It is a joyful spark in my life and I enjoy sharing it with others. My life would be darker without art. What is the hardest part of creating your art? Editing the many photos I take can be challenging. Focusing on one project. I enjoy the editing process. The hardest part is allowing myself to understand a project isn’t working for me and letting go of it to put my creative energies in a more productive place. Also, pricing and selling my work, but it’s getting easier. What inspires you? Going to shows and seeing other artists’ work. I love seeing the many different ways people interpret things. Nature is a huge inspiration. I enjoy the colors, architecture of a scene, and the way Mother Nature places her creations.
What advice would you give your younger self? Take more chances. Work together with artists from other disciplines. Take a business and bookkeeping course.
Who would you most like to collaborate with? Why? I’d like to collaborate with a painter, sculpture, and paper maker to make some art.
What is the best advice you’ve been given? I must finish at deadline. Writing feature articles for a magazine helped me accept that there is no time for perfection.
If you could change anything about the art world, what would it be? Artists being more valued and taking the larger cut of sales they deserve.
What do you do to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work? Taking classes and look at other people’s work. Making time to work.
If you had the chance to live during a different artistic movement other than now, which one would you choose? and why? I’d choose the 1970’s. I was photographing then, in Connecticut, a 45-minute train ride to Manhattan. I would love to be back in that time and embedded in Greenwich Village. Document what was going on and working in a darkroom. Get to know the characters of that time. I’d have submitting my concert photos to Rolling Stone magazine instead of being afraid. I liked the grittiness of that time and the city.
How has personal experience influenced your creativity? Writing and photography have been helpful for me to deal with depression and the things I didn’t have control of when I was younger. They were a way to make my world brighter and more rich.
What do you wish to accomplish with your art? To touch peoples’ emotions and brighten their world.
What are your words of wisdom for someone starting out in your field? Experiment. Believe in your ability. Trust your intuition. Learn as much as you can about your art. Try your hand at other types of art because sometimes it can birth ideas you might not have considered before.
How do you make the leap from an idea in your head to the action you produce? I often visualize it in my mind and experiment Photoshop to create a look or digital collage until it is something I love. I can only create art that pleases me.
Images from my trip to Ladakh, India in the Himalayas this last September. Led by Nevada Weir – National Geographic photographer and my infrared photography teacher from Los Angeles Center of Photography. Nine photographers, two encyclopedic Indian guides, and three exceptional drivers took an 18-day adventure of a life-time
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