My Inspiration
I was a frustrated artist trying to figure out how to create my visions! I was surrounded by talented relatives who could draw, paint, sculpt and design. I could barely draw a simple bowl of fruit without it looking like a 2 year old drew it! I was fortunate to have many talented, artistic family members around me and the arts have always been a big part of my life. Then I finally found my creative outlet, photography! My aunt who was a fantastic artist with her drawings and paintings was also a professional photographer. She was a top model in New York in her early years (sometime in the 1940’s) and then went behind the camera. When she moved back to Charlotte when I was teenager I was fascinated with what the camera could do. I was intrigued in the darkroom and saw her unbelievable creative eye in her photographs. My love for photography began…
The Beginning
My first camera was a 35 mm Pentax (film of course) and I still have it today. I’ve had other cameras in my life ... a Canon, Minolta and now a Nikon.I still have my first film camera but in today's world, digital is what I now shoot.
I was fortunate in high school to be part of a great program at the time of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System called the Multi-Media Center where students could go and learn photography, radio broadcasting, TV production and filming. I spent most of my last two years of high school at the center completing my credits incorporating my photography as part of my required credits and projects. (I graduated early because of my unique way of presenting my required work to finish high school.) In January 1976 I was beginning my formal photography training at the Art Institute of Atlanta. I really enjoyed attending this school and learned so much about photography. Unfortunately I was unable to complete the program but what I learned while I was there was life changing. I didn’t pursue photography as my career at that point but it has stayed with me throughout my life. I always have my camera with me to photograph my kids, family moments, travel and anything that inspires me.
Today
Today I am now able to spend more time with my photography and taking on photo gigs as I get them. My passions in life has always been travel, music and photography and of course, spending time with my children and now a wonderful grandson and grand-daughter!
I try today to incorporate all of my passions together as much as possible. After a 25 year career in the travel industry, I now own a music lessons studio with my sons who are all professional musicians. I am photographing more and more these days and working with musicians is becoming an area I really enjoy. I enjoy photographing people and travel photography/landscapes is also on top of my list.
One of my most memorable experiences was traveling to Paris, France (2012) with my sons who were performing in a Jazz Festival in Limoges. My passions all in one…traveling to a beautiful location, enjoying listening to music performed by my sons and photographing some spectacular spots on earth!
The Future
In 2015 I came upon a course in Photo Artistry which has completely changed my life and outlook on photo art offered by Sebastian Michaels. I have completed the PhotoArtistry Course, the Black and White Photo Artistry Course and now part of the exclusive AWAKE-Living the Photo-Artistic Life Course. In September 2016 I was accepted into Sebastian Michaels exclusive Kaizen Group which consists of 500 AWAKE artists. This ongoing training program keeps pushing me to learn and grow my artistic abilities and learn from amazing artists from around the world.
In 2018 I also became a part of the Shift Art Summit group. Andrei Tallent launched Shift Art in 2015 (also a student of Sebastian Michaels). The Summit Group focuses on training Photo Shop techniques specific to the needs of a Photo Artist.
Learning and studying among such talented people has been a huge inspiration and put me on the path to stay focused of pursuing a passion on a daily basis along with operating my own music business. Life is good right now and making time for your true passions is so important to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle and helps when life gives you challenges. I look forward to developing my Photo Art and seeing what I can create.