I have been lucky to be surrounded by art my whole life. Both my parents were artistic, but as life with a family took over, neither kept up creating art. Growing up just outside of Manhattan, we often went to museums, The Met, the Guggenheim, were favorites for art.  As a teenager, my friends and I often visited our then favorite museum MOMA,

My background in art was in drawing and painting. I had art lessons starting when I was 6 years old and continuing through high school. I started university as a math major pre-law, but my parents, upon seeing my passion to create, allowed me to change majors, and I received a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of New Mexico in 1976.  All my work has been 2 dimensional. I began photography with black and white film in the 90's, printing in my dark room.  

I switched to digital about 12 years ago.  I plan to continue with digital photography as the basis for creating final work through software manipulation, but also hope to someday return,  to old school realm of film and darkroom printing. 

Now as I have become more and more interested in digital editing I see my camera as my canvas, my shot as my sketch and then using the tools in digital editing software, I "paint" my final image.

My approach is set-up and manipulate, rather than documenting what is already there. In much of my work, I am setting up as if for a theater production. Using props, costumes and directing the moods and expressions of people to achieve the scene that is floating around in my mind.  Or I create temporary “setups” to shoot, often with glass pieces to achieve the play of colors, the way light comes through, reflections created that will provide the basis for an end product of my liking.

I strive to match lighting, saturation, and colorization to the theme of the shoot. Is this a housewife in the 1950s? Is this cocktail setup from a 1920s speakeasy? What would a photograph taken in that time look like? Was there color film available at that time or only black and white?  Should my still life be black & white?  High key? Low key? Soft or hard light? 

I push my work to the dramatic using hard shadows or saturated colors. Perhaps adding light flares. Having the subject put on an intense or solemn facial expression.

My intention is the aesthetic rather than an underlying message. Based on their own experiences, what is the story the viewer sees, if any? 

Has an emotion, even just enjoyment been elicited from viewing the piece.