I am a mixed media artist based in Leonardtown, Maryland that combines acrylics and oils with photography. I like to transform my black and white photographic images to artworks that evoke color, emotion, and texture resulting in a metamorphosis of the original photograph. The photographs I choose to overpaint must have a compelling theme, focal point, or composition. My paintings explore the possibilities of shifting, changing, or adding colors, shadows, backgrounds, shapes or highlighting a focal point that may differ from the original photograph. I enjoy the tactile and creative process of hand painting directly on black and white photographs with acrylics, oils, and other paint mediums. The resulting artwork is a combination of elements captured by a camera and the brushstrokes added by my hand. My artwork intentionally opens the possibilities of seeing things in a different way. A magnolia blossom is reimagined through overpainting on the photograph as the flowing movement of a Spanish Tapatio dancer.

 

I am often asked why don’t you just draw and paint what you see on the photograph and not incorporate the photograph? Maybe because it reminds me of the thrill when I first saw the movie “Wizard of Oz”, when Dorothy stepped out of her black and white world into the colorful world of OZ.  I simply love transforming my black and white photographs into a colorful and imaginative world.