Seeing

I am fond of grabbing the digital camera and wandering my backyard looking for beautiful things to photograph. Sometimes it is difficult to get started, but usually if I let go and let my self be attracted to things, then the subjects present themselves. Often it is a contrast in color or shape that draws my attention and when I look closely, I see the most wonderful patterns.

All things in nature exist in relationship to everything else. Organic forms, while predisposed by genetics, reflect this association absolutely through their form. Their shape is altered by the light and the correlation of subtle influences. There are no two identical forms and yet patterns emerge, forms evolve and in this intimacy comes beauty.

It is this process that I seek to find in my work as well. While one must begin with a plan or conception, once the process begins, if you can let go, then what develops is an interaction with the material. It is possible to force yourself on the material, make it conform to your idea, but often what results is conceived and not experienced. It is difficult to learn something new if you only draw upon what you already know or think you know.

We each have learned to see in different ways based on how we were taught, how our individual minds work, and a myriad of subtle affects. This combination of influences alters our perceptions in much the same way that the leaf responds to the light. It is difficult to see ourselves. We are "self" contained. The trick to seeing is letting go of conceptual and to begin to look for the organic, the natural flow.

When I am working, it is with the goal of surrendering to the process. Letting go of the preconceptions allows us to become part of the fabric again. What we see and subsequently express flows from that continuum. There is an exhilaration of unity. We exist in the moment and the expression of that is beauty.