June of 2013 was my first solo show. I was at the beginning of my adventure in fine art photography and the following is the text that accompanied the exhibition. My geologist “nerdiness” clearly stands out, as does the painterly approach to my work. This approach has evolved from the manipulations afforded by photoshop filters (in my early years) into a concentration on what my eye and camera finds interesting and captures in the land or waterscape in front of me. Basically, I have maintained a painterly approach in most of my work without all the messing around in photoshop (see my “Stuck” exhibition).

“Orogenesis refers to the immense forces within the Earth that create remarkable yet ephemeral mountains. I have always been captivated by mountains and the elemental forces that both build them and subsequently carve them into the shapes, patterns, and textures surrounding us. Mountains, once formed, are constantly and continuously transformed by ice and snow, wind, and rain. A unique fusion of these forces of creation and destruction imprints each landscape.

My show encompasses the mountain realm, from the microscopic to the grand panorama. Through the digital deconstruction of details in the original photographic images, the fundamental forms, textures, colors, and light, emerge. Digital photopainting refers to the modifications made to the original photographic image. Virtually every portion of my work is altered by a combination of filters, followed by extensive digital brushing that creates the effect seen in the finished piece. Seeing patterns in the natural world is an offshoot of my geology background, and much of this exhibition captures the unusual and subtle patterns I find at every scale of my observation. Hiking in the mountains is where I truly come alive, and I endeavor to translate this feeling and the calm it brings directly into my work”.