Whenever I visited my grandmother at her quaint octagonal house in Knoxville and saw many of these works, listened to her exquisitely detailed stories each night before falling asleep, and observed the beauty of the surrounding natural area, I felt compelled to draw incessantly and also capture images on film. My senses were regularly flooded with the myriad textures within the woods, as well as those upon the many fruits and vegetables within my grandfather's garden. I can still recall seeing an indigo bunting one spring in a small dogwood tree that grew near an area teeming with butterflies. There was also the winter frost, the fallen buckeyes, and the cottontails. The list is endless.
Nature has an enduring way of filling the heart and soul with lasting images of great value.
As the years passed, I did a lot of backpacking to remote wilderness areas and always took along a camera. Later, when computer graphics and 3D modelling finally blossomed, moving from straight photography into digital art was a natural. I have found that within every good photograph are many excellent interior photographs of smaller and smaller areas. At times, vast landscapes are appropriate. At other times, only the barest of detail is best.