Art has always been important to my essence. I love color, both subtle and loud. Abstract art always grabbed my attention. The analysis appealed to my brain. The expressiveness appealed to my soul. Even in school I was recognized as a gifted artist in various media as early as 4th grade. In 7th grade I began to be known as a portrait artist. In college I studied Fine Arts before eventually going to my money maker field of IT. Going to art galleries and dating artists were consistent aspects of my young life. I mostly went to the Hirschorn museum of modern art and the new East Wing of the National Gallery.

As I was framing the shot below of the car window reflection a Thai lady who owned the car came up to me believing that I was looking at something through the window rather than looking at the window itself. I was obsessed with the cloud reflection. I showed her the image I shot and she seemed satisfied that I was just a nut.

Photography was an expensive hobby so even when I visited Greece in 1975 I only took 11 pictures, none of them memorable. I experimented with B&W film development in college. I failed to get past Design II in art school before deciding to move to another course of study. I was not a salesman or even much of a talker in college, so I didn't see any future for me in art.

One of my best purchases of all time was a Leica M-3 I found in Goodwill for $9. I used that camera for 10 years and sold it for $750. With the advent of digital photography price became a lot less of a factor. I was also making more money by then. I didn't want to just be a representative photographer. I wanted to be an abstract artist.

These are some of the images I've accumulated in my work with photography. The pool reflections were addictive to me. There were so many shadows. I could watch the bars of the iron fence morph endlessly into interesting contrasts. I enjoy reflections in windows for their UV and sun treatment of the windows give interesting color effects. Thailand has a certain fascination with chrome and the metal work this entails when bent just the right amount adds interest to any scene reflected in it. It gives a good reflection on them.

Abstract reflections always catch my eye. I am also drawn to intense colors. The scenes of motorcycles reflected in chrome gave a Doctor Suess effect as you try to find what portion of the photo is bent and which is not. Abstraction meets reality.

In particular the motorbikes provided stark constrasts with the bright chrome and the black frame paint. Also their insect-like components when bent in the reflection made new insect forms that bend the mind.

The patterns of blurs in the photo of the pond produce endless variety. Many similar morphing shapes that contribute to a quilt-like pattern. The images give freedom to the eyes to dissemble and recreate the colors and shapes and patterns with your imagination. There is freedom being expressed in the insemination of ideas in photography. Originally photography was intent on capturing reality; now it can dispense surreality.

It becomes less important now to figure out what the object you're looking at is and more important to let the mind relax and the spirit take over. Don't worry so much about the identity of the composition components are. Concern your imagination with the joy of creating a world within the bounds of the finger painting I am presenting. My teachers used to tell me to blur your eyes. I say we can go a step or two further and blur the photo and blur the perception beyond that of the photo. The result can be an amalgam of finger painting freedom with the molding and firing of clay. You can work to place your self or your ideas in the bounds of the expression or include the expression within a larger space that you create.

Take the landscape for a spin. Feel the warmth or coolness of the climate. Enjoy the rhythms and the beat of the orchestration. It's a world and it's a meditation.

Color, lack of color, interaction of dark and light, focused and unfocused, confusion and frustration with organization... art reflects life. It reflects the soul. If our soul requires clear order or absolute definition you may not appreciate these images. If you can imagine and be free from expectations then you can accept an image for what it is. If you superimpose the definitions of your reality on the image you'll lose some of the enjoyment these pictures are trying to convey.