About the Artist
I have been a wannabe artist my whole life. Lacking the courage, however, to starve while refining my limited creative talents, I decided to pursue a "real" profession and headed off to Colorado State University to become an engineer. A thoroughly undisciplined student, I dropped out after a year and was promptly drafted. Luckily, I avoided the infantry by testing into the Defense Language Institute, where I was sent to learn Russian. A tour of duty in Turkey and subsequent trips to Europe opened my eyes to a diversity of languages, cultures, belief systems , and cuisines I could never have imagined. After four years of Army service I returned with renewed interest - and the G.I. Bill - to the academic world.
My interest in languages, literature, and linguistics led to a bachelor's degree with majors in Russian, French, and English from the University of Montana. Following a year in France as a Fulbright Scholar, I returned to the U of M to complete an M.A. in French and marry my college sweetheart, Dee. After five years teaching high school English, French, journalism, and photography, I returned to college once more to earn an M.A. in Counseling. Dee and I retired in 2003 from Flagstaff High School with 30 years of public service and moved to the Village of Oak Creek, one of the world's true natural wonderlands.
Living in one of the most frequently photographed areas of the country is a special challenge, because everyone is taking pictures of the same old things. I seek different perspectives on familiar landscapes by trudging down muddy washes after rainstorms in search of unfamiliar reflections, combining macro views of wildflowers with touristic backdrops, and paying careful attention to the changing moods of the wonderful skies around Sedona to add interest to well-known scenes. In 2005 I won the Sedona Monthly Magazine's photo contest with my photograph "Old Man Tree."
A relative newcomer to the art world, I have a long way to go as an artist, but I have already learned one important lesson: an unsuccessful photo shoot is still a good hike with your dog. An occasional photo gem is an added bonus.
