ABOUT US

Artist Statement:

    The purpose of this website is to showcase the art that I have pursued throughout my life.  From the earliest photographs that I started taking in high school, to the earliest writings that I began while in college, all the way until now - I have been passionate about the need to express what I have seen, learned and experienced throughout this short but wonderful journey through visualIzation and interpretation in the various media that I had learned to use.

    I have been very fortunate to develop some good living habits (I took up bicycle riding at age 35 when I was quiting smoking) and have adhered to a daily physical exercise regime.  It was also about this time that, at the incredibly constant push from my principal, I went to a National Science Foundaton summer session at the University of Delaware to learn about how to use these new fangled computers in the classroom.  These were Apple IIe's and I was smitten - seeing this as the way to truly individualize instruction.  Well that didn't happen, but computers became part of my instruction classroom from then in 1982 until I retired in 2006.

    Throughout all my life everything I have done has been to create more time to write.  After trying a writing job - and that didn't work - I thought teaching - summers off - plenty of time to write.  Well that also didn't work, what with divorces, vacations, worn out brain cells - much less beer - so I got into the photography business while teaching, thinking if I could make my self employed business fly, why I would have time to write!!  Well, that didn't work.  And of course I then got really excited about personal computers.  I spent thousands of dollars (that I did not have) and bought Atari, Commodore and TRS-80 computers (never heard of them? Thought so) and learned to program for them - writing math educational programs.

  Well this took a LOT of time and was motivated by the thought, if I could make a living from this self employed business, then I would have the time to write.  Right.  Well, that didn't work as all these systems obviously failed and the Apple and PC became the dominant personal computer systems.  And of course I went with PC's as they were cheaper, but of course PC's are run with Windows and we all know how much fun that is  :(

    So instead of trying to find another way to live with a small business I just retired and suddenly I found - hey I have all this time now.  So I closed down my Mainmath.com website, and started myjny.com.  I secured this domain name as I have for the past 41 years lived in Calvert County - which is bordered by the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River (thus Chespax) - a place I have learned to love almost as much as Maine.

     It is hoped you will take some time and tour the various sections to see, read and enjoy some of the art that I have created. 

About the Artist:

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      After graduating from Wilson High School in West Lawn, PA in 1960, I attended Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. Graduating in 1968 as a History major (after a short stint in the U.S. Army) I knew that more than anything I wanted to be a writer so I moved to NewYork City and began writing short stories and plays while making a living as magazine writer (Incentive Magazine).  Getting married sort of made decisions for me and I moved to Alexandria, VA where I got a job for the Construction Specifier magazine from which two months later I promptly got fired.  And that is how I ended up a teacher - back in Pennsylvania - but they wouldn't hire me full time so I ended up in Southern Maryland in Calvert County in 1969 where I taught for 35 years.

     All this while I was trying to write but also taking photographs of everything.  I started a photography business (North Light Studio) that I ran for 17 years to augment the salary I was making as a public school teacher.

I closed the photo business in 1986 as I had become interested in computers and their impact on education but always continuing to take photographs of family and for my own interest.

    Having been a professional film photographer, including having my own darkroom, I would process photographic "effects" such as Kodalith high contrast, sepia toned prints, solarization of developing images, etc. and these would still be classified as photographs.  I believe that images that are "processed" in the digital darkroom are also true photographs as the image is still the original image and has only been altered in the presentation.  I do not use Photoshop.  I believe that the cutting and pasting that this software allows alters the image in a way that makes the results "Digital Art" and not photography.

    I import, manage and process my photographs using ACDSee Pro Ultimate 2025 - an unbelievably powerful image processing program.  Then I print all my photographs through my Epson Photo R1800 printer to semi-glossy photographic paper in 13X19 inches size using archival inks that will last 200+ years.  They are then mounted and matted in acid free archival mats and then framed in simple but secure frames.  Each photograph in each series completed this way will be of the same quality and professional presentation, with color, density and quality assured for each print.

      As digital video became something that could be done on computers, I purchased a series of video camercorders culminating with a Canon GL2 and then a Sony HDV 1080i and have recently been making and editing  HD videos. 

     On retiring nineteen years ago from Calvert County Public Schools, after 35 years of wonderful teaching, I purchased professional level digital cameras, lenses and processing equipment to pursue one of my real loves - creating photographs that reflected what I call "The Magic of Light" - that and also finishing the three novels that I have started over the years.