And…a little background…
I am a freelance artist entrepreneur living in the beautiful State of Arizona. I have been involved in aspects of art almost since I can remember. I grew up in a loving nurturing family and was encouraged to explore and develop avenues of experience whether it was learning to play a musical instrument, sailing a boat on the ocean or hiking and biking the desert foothills of Southern California.
While growing up there were cameras available to me and with encouragement to learn photography and darkroom techniques I watched my Dad in his home built photo lab in an upstairs water closet. I was only five and it seemed so magical watching images ghost like appearing on paper submerged in mysterious chemical baths. Of course today we have Photo Shop but I’m thankful to have received foundational experiences and fundamental principles of analogue photography before the digital age.
Growing up I began developing design and engineering skills hanging around in my dad’s machine shop. I mostly played in the office at the drafting board or out in the shop watching the machines as they produced precision parts for aerospace and other manufacturing industries. As a teen I began working there learning the skills and trade necessary to be productive in the realm of industrial manufacturing. Technology progressed and the digital world established itself with the development of CNC machining, laser machine centers, water jets and plasma cutting technologies. All of this to say that a whole new world of artistic expression opened up with the advent of digital technology and now AI. But my roots will always be in the analogue world with brush in hand or hands on direct control of the creative digital process.
After high school and with the advent of the Vietnam conflict I separated from the industrial manufacturing path and entered military service. This experience prompted me to pursue a more artistic direction for my future. On the GI bill I attended California Institute of the Arts and finished my GI bill studying Art, Physics, Lighting and Stage design at the University of Oregon and Lane Community College.
What I present on these pages represents a gathering of images, concepts, developments and accomplishments this creative and spiritual path has lead through. TEM
