I love the photographic image but I'm far from being a purist. Art is the great language of emotion and I'll use any method or process to convey my inspiration. I sometimes create a single shot piece or I'll shoot through some fabric giving the impression it was produced on a computer. The viewer doesn't have to care how it's made...hopefully the viewer cares that it was made at all. I understand the need to submit to a single style for commercial conventions which is why I prefer to make art. I can access a larger part of the photographic spectrum. Although my work can be quite technical I use more of an emotional approach and allow the style to develop for each piece as I do. I prefer using a digital capture, as high quality as possible, but sometimes my trusty 10 megapixel Leica is usually the handiest. I use the computer to adjust color, contrast and layers. All textures are shot from the natural world. I then use Photoshop to layer those textures to create my work. I have a close personal connection to all of my images but when I see the "straight shot", I get really charged. You would be surprised which abstracts are simple, emotional, single shot moments. I create my works to be viewed in large scale so one can stand before them and have their field of view consumed. I also use different substrates to give life to my colors and textures. I get my inspiration from observation and my pursuit to lift the human spirit. It used to be that I had to go find my shot. Now, the shot finds me. After many years of "hearing a Vibration", the universe conspires to assist me in seeing the image before I ever lift my camera. I often see the image in my imagination before I see it in the natural world. It's a personal smile I share with the universe when I come upon a "scene" that I had "seen" before in my mind's eye. I believe that a picture does tell a thousand words but being there tells a thousand pictures. Each piece I create has a story and a message. A personal tale accompanies each art piece.