Fine PhotoGraphics

“18” from my photos at various museums and junk shops. Swipe to see the components. I love modern abstract and contemporary art because expression doesn’t require perfect technique. This piece is about the rocky transition to adulthood and how even in our later years we long to know what we will be “when we grow up.”

“G is for George” digital collage from my recent photos and Grand Antique in Schoolcraft.

Another montage of photos I took in junk shops and stores around the country. This one reminds me of a pop art playing card.

Recently shot the Bottleworks Hotel after dark. Formerly a Coca-Cola bottling plant, this Art Deco gem from the early 1930s has been transformed into a trendy shopping and dining district. Shot in black and white to lean into the era and highlight the old industrial glamour still holding up nearly a century later.

As a child I spent hours looking at the illustrations in Richard Scarry’s “Busy, Busy Town” book for children. Theodor Groll’s “Washington Street, Indianapolis at Dusk” 1892-1895 is the fine art version. The enormous 6’x8’+ size pulls you into the scene. Swipe right to see the incredibly detailed storytelling in the painting. What are those men doing congregating outside the saloon? What are people shopping for in the barrels and looking at in store windows? Notice the two women whispering to each other on the trolley? Why is the dog beside the trolley giving the boy trouble? What are the two men in the foreground discussing? What is the African American man in the tent making for the market?

Hotel Lobby by Edward Hopper in 1943. Hopper wasn’t successful until his wife became his manager. She modeled for most of his paintings. But their marriage relationship was terrible and they were basically just business partners. Hopper also felt modernization and urbanization of the period allowed people to be in proximity but disconnected. Sound familiar in the mobile device age? No wonder so many of his paintings have a deep sense of isolation and melancholy. All the details of his paintings tell a story and that’s why Hopper is an art hero of mine. Photographed at

Hotel Lobby by Edward Hopper in 1943. Hopper wasn’t successful until his wife became his manager. She modeled for most of his paintings. But their marriage relationship was terrible and they were basically just business partners. Hopper also felt modernization and urbanization of the period allowed people to be in proximity but disconnected. Sound familiar in the mobile device age? No wonder so many of his paintings have a deep sense of isolation and melancholy.

No, those aren’t Mickey Mouse ears from . This is the Chinese “Noble Lady” from the Tang Dynasty during the 700’s. On display at . tourism

LOVE. What an iconic work of art by Robert Indiana seen here at Newfields / . I first saw the print version on a Valentine’s USPS postage stamp as a little kid. The work was inspired by the phrase “God is love.” Indeed and something we all need!

Original Apple Pencil drawing from a photo I took in a Michigan junk shop. It featured a fabulous wooden, hand carved fireplace mantle with this female face. Scroll for components that make up my final artwork.