Any reason to sling an axe

So I was working in the yard today when I noticed one of our cacti was dead. So I immediately knew that this was a great reason to use my axe and chop it out (anybody who owns an axe knows exactly what I'm talking about).



Dead cactus

So I chopped the cactus off at the base and it flipped over and I thought it looked really neat, like a flower almost. This led me to run in and get my camera and take some pictures and share it with you all. I guess the moral of the story here is that you can encounter beauty anywhere, you just have to keep your eyes open for it... and have an axe ready to chop up the rest!

Christmas in August?

It may seem like a strange time to be talking about Christmas, but the reality is that it's right around the corner. Why this is important to me is because a few years ago I decided that our Christmas cards needed to be something new and interesting and therefore I began the tradition of doing a special painting for each of our Christmas cards. This of course always has a way of being put off to the very last minute, getting my wife very upset at me, and turning our Christmas cards into New Years cards. Well no longer! I am actually already researching what our card will be for this year, and thought I would share one of our previous card images.

I wanted to design an image that included many of the things that my wife and daughter enjoy such as shopping, cookies and Disney while conveying the feeling of the holidays.

Blogging with technology

Isn't technology wonderful? Well that remains up for debate but technology certainly it has its advantages (such as 70" TV's, mini fridges and electronic cigars). Another piece of technology which has taken over our lives is the I Pad or many of the other tablets that have come along. So I decided to crate a post made entirely on my I Pad.  I visited Chicago and took this picture out the window of my hotel with my I Pad. I then used my Photoshop Touch app on my I Pad to alter the image, and now I am posting this using the Blogger app. While I don't find the I Pad to be as easy to use for much of my work, it is certainly convenient and with the zillions of apps available you can do quite a bit with a device that is really portable and convenient. Anyway, it's time for me to go eat some really awesome pizza at a pizza place that is almost 100 years old, so it just goes to show that technology isn't everything. 

Deb and Glenn Wedding Redux

So it's been a while since I have posted anything so I thought...well...now works. We just got back from a week long vacation on beautiful Coronado Island, near San Diego California. It is just so awesomely beautiful out there that I just cant stand it! Anyway, we were able to see some friends while we were there which made me think of a good image to share with you all.



Deb and Glenn, Torrey Pines, Ca.

I had the pleasure of taking the wedding photos of our good friends Deb and Glenn some 15 or so years ago at Torrey Pines and recently I went back and re-made one of the images I took and created a painting out of it. Anyway, I like it a lot better because it is more of what I envisioned at the time but was unable to create. Oh, and they still look the same as they did those many years ago!

Deb and Glenn original

My Favorite Works

One thing I want to do with my blog is share with the world (or at least that part of the world that looks at my blog) my favorite images, art or any other cool stuff that inspires me. So today since I am flying I thought it would be appropriate to talk about one of my favorite photographs called "En Route to New Orleans" by William Eggleston. I think the greatness in this image (as well as any other) is it creates a story and leaves the viewer wondering about the who what why and where or the image, as well as the spectacular composition and lighting (for which he was well known for). As I look at this image I always wonder did he know this woman and help her pose her hand, or did he just spontaneously take the picture when he saw it? I haven't done any research into this picture specifically because part of my enjoyment is the questions that it poses. Anyway, there you go I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! If you would like to know more about Mr. Eggleston you may visit the Eggleston trust website at http://www.egglestontrust.com/.

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The Tormented Artist?

People are asking me why I named my blog what I did. Actually, no one has but I know its coming so I thought now would be a good time to explain.

As an artist I have always felt it difficult to explain how and why I create my work. Since I studied

Girl Watching Ducks

photography as my "specialty" on my way to earning a BFA, I have always been thought of as a photographer, however that is not necessarily the case as I incorporate many other facets to my work, one of which is the use of photographic images. Much of my work also incorporates the use of digital media to create digitally designed and painted images (see image on the right). When people see my work, they like it but I feel it confuses them sometimes, as all they know is that it was"done with the computer" and don't realize the amount of work and vision that it took to create it.

It was thinking about all of this (as well as probably drinking a scotch) that led me to make my own famous quote;

"Artists are tormented because they have a vision no one else can see". 

I thought that quote was very appropriate (for myself anyway, as I'm sure other artists are tormented because they hear voices or whatever) as even though people look at my work and think it's nice, they don't see it in the terms I do, because if they did they would say "WOW!"

Anyway, I thought The Tormented Artist would make a great name for a blog, and lo and behold the URL was available, which I took as a sign from God, so here we are!

Welcome to my blog

Well, it's finally happened...I have officially become a blogger. I have fought becoming a blogger for some time, but I think that I have so much going on in my head that it might be good for me to write some of it down ( think that I read that somewhere anyway). So I will make this post short....because frankly it's late and I'm tired but couldn't handle my newly formed blog looking so empty. Oh and also because, well, no one is actually reading my blog yet...so there is that. Anyway, so off I go on this great blogging adventure and we'll see where it takes me.