Artists Describing Their Art:

Ruth Zachary - My goal is to create striking images that touch the viewer emotionally. I try to capture the essence of a subject or scene, so that the viewer reacts with an immediate recognition, and immediate "click" of "Yes." I depend upon composition, simplicity, shape and contrast, as well as my own aesthetic sense and emotional responses. I love creating art through photography. For me it is an opportunity for self-expression, a means of capturing a moment in time and creating beauty, as well as am important means of communication. My education includes a Masters in Social Work and a BA in English Literature. I have done formal study in drawing and pastel, but my photographic study has been informal and self-taught. Since 1980, I have been a frequent visitor to Monhegan Island, 12 miles off the coast of Maine, a remote lobstering island with a summer artists' colony. On Monhegan, I became friends with a group of painters and photographers. I applied what I learned from them to my own work. (Those I am most grateful to include Frances Kornbluth, Leo Brooks, Robin Young, Judi Wagner, Josie Vargas and Nancy Stanich.) I show my art summers on Monhegan Island ...

Emilio Merlina - I was born in 1950 in the North East of Italy from a polish mother and a sicilian father. I toured the world until I was 35, then I returned to Italy and picked up again my old passion painting and sculpture. As for myself, I can only say thoughts and paintings, paintings and thoughts. Everything maybe useless, however everything is life. i?1/2The human being leaves its signs, graffiti, indian dreams and imagination. Now I only have left a few more possibilities to express the colors which are not. Only the sign, scratched, angry or brushed is the witness. The sign has passed from there and there it has lived.i?1/2 Emilio Merlina Some hear if a door opens Others hear a latch which opens or closes Others more they hear the Angel when he turns over a page of the Great Book From the novel Missa Sine Nomine By Ernst Wiechert I have words which relegate my hunger And the hunger which owns my body but which do not confine them I have words which are both my confined hunger and body By the Italian poetess Paola Lovisolo ...

C. A. Hoffman - For me, my artwork is very personal. It reflects a lot about how I am feeling at any given time and place. I feel that art has to be on this personal level to completely capture how the artist is feeling daily, or trying to convey a certain thought or emotion at that particular moment. We all, at one time or another try to express our thoughts or ideas, whether it is to others or just to ourselves, by words, actions, ideas or pictures. If we are sucessful in this attempt, I think it shows through in our everyday work or art. I believe that one is either born to create art naturally or by learning. For me, I feel that I was born with this wonderful gift, and I try to improve upon it every day. In my photos and art, I hope to show how everyday objects and nature can capture our imaginations and feelings. Sometimes I work with an image to improve it, inhance it, or just to fuel the imagination. I truly hope this shows in all of my art. ...

David Bechtol - Photography is an integral part of my life. Each image captured attempts to take the viewer on a journey, to transport them to that place of wonder and grandeur as I experienced it, to feel the sense of awe, beauty and peacefulness. As a boy growing up in rural Michigan, I had many chances to take long, slow walks in the forest, soaking in all the beauty a child sees in nature. Now I use photography to slow down life and try to take in all that nature has to offer as I once did those many years ago. I am a self-taught photographer and have studied the photographic process for over 40 years. My interest includes the digital realm where my technical background lets me exploit all that the camera can capture. Throughout my travels, I try to bring back and share a vision of some of the awe-inspiring vistas I encounter. No matter where you are in the world, natures extraordinary beauty is around every corner. I believe that great images are always around us. They are ours to capture with our vision and share with the world. ...