The Story

   In my early years, my family circled the world, courtesy of the US Air Force, learning and seeing first-hand, many of cultures and histories. My goal as an artist is to seek to share a sense of awe for the wonderful things in life that surround us, and to freeze them in time, for present and, hopefully, future generations to reflect upon.

    The journey began at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, where my father was the Weather Officer for the first U.S. rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, in July 1950. I watched it soar overhead from the beach in front of the 'O Club at Patrick. Since Mars Pathfinder, in 1996,  I have been out at the Cape, recording the USAF, NASA, and commercial launches.

     In between, I've been lucky to..... as that Air Force brat, travel the globe soaking up classical cultures and the art of Civilizations and Masters as we went… return to Florida to watch the first unimaginably brave warriors take dangerous rides atop huge firecrackers... cover the first (and, tragically, the last) mission of Columbia, the first shuttle Launched in 1981 ... be blessed to share a quiet dinner with Alan Shepard talking about an old watering hole, the (now lost) Tradewinds Hotel, in Indialantic, on the beach south of the Cape...

     Since 1996, and the Pathfinder launch, I have been capturing the launches at Cape Canaveral -- journeys as varied as the Mars Explorers, John Glenn's return to flight, and perhaps man's first permanent foothold in space. With still and video cameras, laptops and cell phones, we sculpt the record as humanity steps to reach for the stars.
 

The Vision

     I work to emulate several artists of the past, as well as create my own unique works.  My Space Launch Series follows the historical record of Matthew Brady during the Civil War, and my Wildlife Series pays heavy tribute to William Bartram, who catalogued flora and fauna on the St. Johns River (the studio is located in the St. Johns watershed) from 1783-1786 (and his father John Bartram a few years before), as well as John James Audubon, who did some of his famous avian art here in 1832.  Following their stunning examples, I spin off my own reflections, hundreds of years after those masters, and wonder what they will find here hundreds of years from now.  I thank the Good Lord (and my patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi), for each day that I am able to work on art. 

     Two of my series juxtaposed, Space Launch and Wildlife, combine to create a favorite exhibition - 'Birds of a Feather ...'.  a real-world example of the coexistence of man's most technologically advanced and challenging undertaking, with some of the most beautiful and endangered birds in the world,  within sight of the launch towers at the Cape.

     Other series include New York / Central Park, New Orleans / French Square , 356 Porsches, Sundance ,Vanishing Florida , Florida Groves, Maine Coast, Blue Ridge Mountains,  Washington D.C.,  Aphrodite, Port Canaveral Stewardship Series, and the Viera Stewardship Series.  Here and there, I manage to squeeze in what we used to call 'wild art', during my days as a photojournalist.  

     I am in the process of compiling a coffee-table book entitled ' Emerging Florida: a Portrait, or,  A Brief Illustrated History of the United States'.  Brevard County, where I have lived for over 5 decades, is the site of both the first recorded western footstep on the continental US   (http://www.newworldexplorersinc.org/FountainofYouth.pdf, page 15, footnote (4)), and the world's first and continuing space exploration effort.

     Collections: United States Air Force Permanent Collection, NASA, Jerry Seinfeld, Robert Redford, City of Orhangazi, Turkey, Lady Eleanor Kristensen, Melbourne /Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, Port Canaveral Stewardship Series, and the Viera Stewardship Series.

     Associations:   Member, Air Force Artists Program

The Medium: Oil on Silver Gelatin

    The choice of media for my artwork is likely the earliest form of color photography, better-known as ‘hand-colored’ photography. This technique uses a black and white photograph -- a gelatin silverprint ( that is, a silver-salts image on a durable backing) as a base for oil paints that are applied directly to the print surface.

    The oils used are the same as those used by painters who use traditional oils, but transparent oils are absent any titanium white. Titanium white is the filler that makes regular oil paints opaque, in order to obscure the sketch/canvas beneath the painting. The transparent oils me paint without obscuring the underlying image.

    In addition to the unusual look of this media, it offers great archival properties.  Silver gelatins resist fading and oil paints have been proven to hold up for hundreds of years. The look, while it can be quite contemporary, also lends itself to reflecting things from the past, especially history-related subjects.  The media also allows me fine opportunities to enhance depth.

    To create my art, I:

    * compose and shoot (still!)  B&W negatives --Tri X film -- with a Nikon F2/MD12 35mm single lens reflex camera

    * develop the film in total darkness

    * select, compose, print, and develop individual images as silver gelatins, using chemical processes, under very low safety-light conditions

    * touch-up imperfections  (dust, threads, eyelashes, etc. that were on the negative after cleaning -- they have a native static charge) on the surface

      of the silver gelatin image

    * apply the oils on the silver gelatin using human digits, not computer digits.
 

Epilog

  The serendipity that helped me develop this unusual method with this media results in finished work that approaches the appearance of a photo-realistic oil painting. It is modified by fully saturating the colors, rather than achieving the original pastel effect used from the late 1800's through the 1950's, (as color film effectively replaced the ‘hand-colored’ technique).  This amended technique:  full chroma oil on silver gelatin.  I trend towards softer images.  That makes the work itself trend a bit more to impressionism.

    I work to use methods that enhance creativity, that find their core in real hand work. 

  " In the (not too distant?) future, most hands will be tempted to touch nothing — artists will tell computers what to do to create their art (comment made 16th of October, 2006), and the computers will execute. (new note:  June 22nd, 2007 -- just today  an article on the internet heralded the ability to control a toy train with one's thoughts, without having to use an implanted chip.  This is the real beginning of 'bio-control' (my word). 

 An intimate, hands-on approach brings the artist up close and personal with the art.  I will continue as long as the materials I have been using over the last 30+ years still exist (they are rapidly disappearing, unfortunately) and my hands still work.
         

LFCB,  Blue Sawtooth Studio,   April, 2007