Belhouse Gallery
I have been shooting photographs seriously for 50 years--beginning in my early teens. I began drawing and painting even before that. I love paintings, but without the formal training required, I found that I was only occasionally happy with my canvasses. It seemed my mental masterpieces rarely transferred to the canvas the way I wanted. I quit painting about 20 years ago. But there is no way I could quit photography. I am so glad that I have managed to satisfy my painterly nature with my camera.
In mid-2003, I made the quantum leap from film to digital photography. While I spent untold hours happily toiling in the darkroom, refining my techniques and experimenting with media to create the perfect image, I now find the almost infinite flexibility of the “computer darkroom” to be not only challenging, but truly exhilarating. My camera and computer bring out the painter in me, allowing me to develop canvasses the way I want them. I would never go back!
My computer hosts a digital palette of about 400 programs (Photoshop-compatible filters) that can enhance my images in various ways. I combine a few to as many as 25 such techniques in layers to achieve my desired result. This often enables me to create a “painted” image of my original shot. I call this process photo-impressionism. Each image is treated individually—no two use the same combination of effects. I often lose myself during this creative process, and find that, on average, it takes about 5 hours between the opening of photograph in my computer to printing the finished result. Of course it can take longer, because I will occasionally scrap my work and start over several times before I am satisfied with the result.
My subject material is diverse. Resulting images can range from realistic to impressionistic to abstract. I am inspired by the interplay of color, mood, contrasts between warm & cold, textures, and the juxtaposition of opposites. I find there’s often more interest in the details when I work this way. Artistically, I am influenced by many of the French Impressionists as well as Canada’s Group of Seven. I also admire the dark, earthy tones and dramatic lighting in the paintings of Rembrandt and Caravaggio.
The “before” and “after” images shown here illustrate how a traditional, even poorly exposed, photo can be transformed into a more artistic interpretation; further examples of my work can be viewed on my website: www.pixelmorphics.com
I am also open most days year round.
