Artist's Statement

Smart art. That's how my work has been described by others. through various digital processes, I use words to create images. Being a bit on the obsessive side, I pay great attention to detail and realism. My goal is to create pieces which are pleasing to the eye on a holistic level and intriguing to the mind upon closer inspection. A native of Northeastern Pennsylvania, I currently reside in Waverly, PA, with my daughter and an excessive number of cats.

Creative Process

I start with the words - what will I use? Project Gutenberg is a great resource for full texts of public domain classics. I also use sources such as the Department of Natural Resources.

Using Adobe Photoshop, I then create the digital image prompted by the text.

For books and plays, the complete text is put through a text analyzer to determine the most frequently occurring words. The number of words used in an image may range from a few hundred to thousands.

The words are fitted into the image using a computer program. Colors, word size, spacing, font, text orientation, etc. are all adjusted. New fonts are obtained when appropriate, such as the author's handwriting for my Poe works.

Often the final image is composed of many smaller pieces put together. Quixote's Giant, for example, is composed of 15 individual components, each with their own word set.

Adjustments to the original image are made, as needed, moving back and forth between the two programs.

Once a draft whole image is compiled, additional edits are then performed, such as changing colors of some words, removing and adding words, and adjusting saturation and contrast. 

The final images are then professionally printed by on archival matte paper which is acid-free, bright white, and heavy weight.  Using archival inks give the prints their deep blacks and vibrant, long-lasting colors.