ARTIST STATEMENT

I own a Panasonic FZ20 with a 12x optical zoom (I just recently upgraded from a Kodak Easyshare Zoom Digital Camera with a 10x optical zoom). When choosing a camera, the ability to get close-up shots was important to me because that's how I see the world: I notice the small details.

I live and work in downtown New Bedford, Mass., where it is a challenge to find natural subjects. Still, I have my favorite spots where I will go to photograph sunrises and sunsets. I also love the waterfront.

On the weekends, I will head out to Fairhaven, Dartmouth or Mattapoisett and just drive the back roads, looking for anything that catches my eye.

Photography is, to me, a spiritual exercise. I don't create the thing I photograph - the tree, the spider web, the butterfly. My only task is to find it. Once I have found my subject, I work on composition, lighting and focus to best capture its innate beauty and perfection.

My favorite subjects are mushrooms, because they are so wildly varied. The process of looking for mushrooms is therapeutic, because you are forced to slow down, be observant, use all of your senses. If at all possible, I try not to disturb or arrange anything in the immediate area. Every leaf, pine needle, blade of grass, contributes color and texture to the overall composition.

I have prints and notecards for sale at Collyer's Gallery in Mattapoisett, Mass., and Riverside Art in Somerset, Mass. I am also listed with www.artsnewbedford.org, a data base and registry of local artists.