Debate Night I

Morning Magic, 2019, Archival Digital Print

What a strange experience to watch the Democratic Debates tonight and the flashy production of the set, more Jeopardy or a World Wide Wrestling match than the serious process of a debate for the highest office in our democracy.  We have become so accustomed to visual overload that few may have noticed.  It’s all part of our pinball-light-up-and-win world.

Here, though, I can bring a slow eye to what I see.  This photo, another fortuitous find, was shot in the hours of early light.

 

 

 

Light and Dark

Nasturtium, 2019, Archival Digital Print

The eternal dynamic between The Light and The Darkness gives us photography in its original form. What plays out in black and white is supple and ingenious given its limits.  It is the metaphor for being.  The life force, the death force.  One is either a cynic or has faith.  The cynic sees the darkness growing; those of faith celebrate the light of a single candle.  I have known many who only believe that the darkness will win.  They carry it in their very beings.  They find evidence of it everywhere and of course attract those experiences to them.  Those of faith, and here I don’t mean religious faith but faith in the good, the beautiful, the positive, see it differently. How we choose to make our own reality is the story of our lives.

 

 

Photography’s Grand Place

Bridge in the Mist, 2019, Archival Digital Print

The magic and miracle of photography, the camera, the eye into reality, never fails to intrigue me. It introduces all the questions about reality, position, place, and the documentation of time that Painting can only hint at.

As I frequently address, all photographs by their nature are in our history, situated absolutely in the past. Photography automatically arouses nostalgia that painting cannot do without seeming maudlin, cloying or merely illustrative.  The photograph holds this unique place as no other art form can.  I wonder why this feature is so rarely addressed.

 

Drawing Photography Painting

Snow Drawing with Twig, 2019, Archival Digital Print

Snow Drawing with Twig, 2, 2019, Archival Digital Print

 

The two photographs are part of my continued interest in images which merge drawing, photography and painting into one seamless medium which emphasizes the experience of seeing over the experience of naming.

The Artist’s Pleasure

Sunday Morning Convocation, 2018, Archival Digital Print

Photography as a valid member of the Fine Arts has always been problematic. What is there is there which means that the nuance and encapsulated time compression of Painting doesn’t hold the energy of a masterpiece or if it does, not in the same way. Photography is nonetheless a thrilling medium capable of both the outlandish and the sublime. The recent visit to my yard by a Bear set off ideas and potential events.  I was trying to get the feel of a Bruegel.

 

The heat has broken

The Front Porch, 2018, Archival Digital Print

and last night we had soft rains which freshened the air and made everything glisten this morning. I like to the watch the vines take over and cover everything especially the chair on the left which is almost unseen now covered in lush vines and flowers.  It is a good time to read Somerset Maugham’s short stories of the tropics and savor the generosity of Nature.

 

 

Pits to Plants

Avocado Starts, 2018, Archival Digital Print

Avocados have been tasting so good lately I’ve arranged to have one at every dinner. So the pits/potential plants are lining up. Yesterday I started them to sprouting. There is something about that plant in the window, the quality of the plant itself, the leaves, even the Scale they eventually contract that is pleasing to my eye.  Here’s to new life and the start of Spring!