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Movement, Trams, Amsterdam

amsterdam_girl_with_tram_web

Reflections, time, and speed are ideas that I am interested in that are elements in this photograph.  I saw the idea behind this image on my first day in the Netherlands last autumn.  I decided to attempt to capture this photograph the next time I saw it.  A few days later, I spent time waiting, watching, and shooting before events fell into place in order to obtain this result.  It is a picture of a young woman standing in front of a tram.  The tram passes by and she waits.  Perhaps the image would be better technically if someone had posed standing absolutely still, but this is a slice of busy life in a city.  This is life as it happens.

I have always been drawn to natural, organic objects and choose to portray them with oil on textured surfaces. Often, I present my subject in "dynamic still life" with a shift of time through movement or growth-decay. I am originally from the rust-belt city of Rockford, Illinois. I left the manufacturing town to study fine art at Asbury College and find inspiration among the rolling hills and forests of rural Kentucky. Although consistently representational, I strive to create subtlety layered visual and philosophical metaphors. In 2005, I returned to the country's heartland where I am active in the local art community of Indianapolis, Indiana. Next to oil painting, my greatest passion is helping others appreciate art by teaching private classes.