ARTIST MEMBER Marie Smith

As a child, one of my most treasured birthday presents was a Polaroid Swinger camera. I was captivated by the instantaneous photo that it printed. Fast forward 50 years and I am now using my cellphone camera to capture digital images with an artist’s eye.

I enjoy designing photos that range from a still life that feels like a painting to an abstract light pattern. And yes, I will admit to waiting an hour for a cloud to pass by or people to exit the field of view. My goal is to have a person strolling along an exhibit stop for more than a minute at my work….long enough to evoke questions such as “wow…how did she capture that detail?” or “hmm…what is that mysterious image?”

My most recent work stems from a series of digital photography classes with the philosophy of creating fine art images instead of just taking pictures. Through pre-visualization, my new set of eyes look for that unique angle, light reflection, sharper foreground, crisp texture, or definitive shadow.

My inspiration for color comes from my first box of Crayola crayons….for composition, my yen to exercise my right brain….for creativity, my quest for lifelong learning.