Artist’s Statement and Biography
 

A truly effective image is evocative for the viewer, just as the experience in the moment was for the photographer. As for many individuals, a sense of place and permanence is important to me. But we are all on a journey in this life, seeking and thirsting for what we do not understand, for spiritual meaning in our life and in our relationships with our families and friends, and with our Creator. Celtic peoples spoke of “thin places”, where the veil separating us from the other side is briefly transparent, and it is those places, on that Holy Ground, those experiences in the natural world, that compel me to photograph. And I hope that at least some of my images offer a glimpse through that veil for the viewer. No artist could wish for more.

I exhibit individually and with the Carlisle Art Association at several locations in Carlisle, the Carlisle Arts Learning Center, La Luz in Carlisle, The Arts Center School and Galleries of Mechanicsburg, the Downstairs Gallery at Country Market Nurseries and the Perry County Council for the Arts in Newport where I was the invited “Artist of the Month” for July, 2005. A one-person exhibit was held at Foulkeways in Gwynedd, PA. north of Philadelphia in 2006. One of my images received a “Sponsor’s Choice” award in the Susquehanna Art Museum’s “Photography as Fine Art” exhibit for 2005, and images have been accepted for the 2007 exhibit. Photographs also were accepted by the SAM in Doshi Gallery juried exhibits entitled “Ode to Summer II”, “East Meets West” and “Where I End and You Begin”. The Harrisburg Camera Club also provides fine opportunities for exhibiting and for professional stimulation, and in club competitions some of my prints and slides have received first place awards. A line of 5x7 note cards is available at the Whistlestop Bookshop and Pat Craig Studios in Carlisle, framed and unframed images and cards are available from CALC Sales Gallery the PCCA Gallery.

 I retired after 27 years practicing cardiology and internal medicine in Carlisle, PA in 2001.  That had been a rewarding career that combined both the art and science of medicine --- the creative challenges of people and their feelings with the technical challenges of modern equipment and pharmacology. But both my wife Jean, who is a physical therapist, and I welcomed the opportunity to retire from the professional stresses that characterize today’s health care climate. We both look forward to opportunities at the beach, wildlife refuges, the mountains, or just in the garden for photography and birding. It is a fine partnership --- Jean encourages my photography, and she has a fine sense of color and composition, and is both a helpful companion as well as a gentle critic. We have learned that medicine may heal the body but art nurtures the soul.