My process

My collages are born out of my obsession with taking photographs, collecting found ephemera (old photographs, antique

documents, hand-written correspondence and notes, foreign envelopes, receipts, postage stamps, x-rays, cannibalized books,

and Victorian etchings) and years of experimenting with multiple exposures in camera.

I love seeing beauty in decay and evidence of the passage of time such as stains, tears, cracks, faded images, folds,

smudges, scratches and burns. I get a thrill at seeing context develop like visual poetry. People’s secrets and stories come

alive for me however leaving questions unanswered and relationships implied.

Traditional photographic processes such as over-printing, multiple exposures and sandwiched film can now be achieved in the

digital darkroom. I find the computer an amazing fine art tool for working with photos and ephemera. I output the finished

pieces on acid free watercolour paper using archival inks. Some pieces have been created to be printed up to 5 feet tall.

I begin a piece with a portrait or figure I find visually and emotionally interesting. I then look for an appropriate background

to use such as a card back, envelope, glass plate or object. This alone can be all that is needed to tell a simple story. The

space surrounding the portrait or person is where I begin experimenting with adding elements. I collect photos of textures,

clouds, water, flowers, to add. I have shoeboxes of snap shots. Whenever I go traveling I usually shoot images I can imagine

being added to a collage. Cracks in pond ice on or a broken window really give me a thrill. Peeling paint and wallpaper and

faded signs are fantastic elements.

I tend to add and subtract images until I find a certain visual relationship I’m looking for. It’s hard to put into words, but I

always know it when I see it. Sometimes I can look at where I’m at and know it would be wonderful if I were to add a certain

element. Then the hunt begins for finding where I last saw that item. Other times everything I need is within arms reach. I

love it when people who own my work write me months later because they just discovered another subtle hidden element.

My work is all combined digitally with the help of a good scanner and digital camera. In my studio I have glass cabinets of

antique objects such as doll’s heads, tins, tools, insect parts, bones, seed pods, etc.. My niece once mailed me a dried newt

she found on her farm along with a small animal’s jawbone. If I plan to use an object, I photograph it outside on a sheet of

cardboard or sometimes I scan it directly. I collect old illustrated books and etchings that are in the public domain. You never

know what you are going to find. I once found some very old pressed flowers in between some pages that found their way

into a piece.

I’m happiest with my work when the collage is odd enough to be interesting to me. My work is slowly becoming more complex

over time. My later work uses many more elements. I began making simple collages on old cards and envelopes with only a

few elements. I am experimenting more with colour recently too, leaving images more in their original state. I’m constantly

adding and subtracting until I find the feeling I am after. Psychological, mysterious and haunting are feelings I like to explore.

Sometimes just nostalgic and romantic.

The original prints are output digitally using gallery quality peizography with archival pigment UV inks (100+ years) on 100%

cotton, acid-free watercolour paper in signed limited editions of 5 to 50.