While we've been together for over 30 years, my husband Steve and I only just completed our first show together – “Water’s Edge”, and will have our second in August – “Scale of Wonder: Images of Intimacy and Awe.” I’m realizing that not only is it a great show (if I do say so!) but also a synthesis of our methods and mediums. Like two different but harmonious voices in a duet, it works because we are very different and yet complementary.
Steve and I share many attributes including our love of solitude, nature, and good food, but in some other weird and (mostly) wonderful ways we’re very different. For instance, while we both share a reverence for wild places, for Steve this leads to a lust for far-flung places like Madagascar and Namibia while I find it closer to home- in the Adirondacks, Acadia or along the Farmington River.
We watched the original version of the movie Twister and I woke up feeling blessed to live in New England where tornadoes are rare and I feel rooted and safe, not having to worry about the house blowing away. Steve woke up and announced he’d like to go on storm chasing photography trip (he’s now signed up)! We process things very differently.
I like order and Steve is a master at embracing the chaos. If I don’t need it, I want it "outta here." Steve wants to keep it “just in case.” I’m a morning person. He’s a night owl. You get the idea.
It’s the same with our art. While we share a love of nature, Steve’s photos are vast, panoramic and often otherworldly. If they contain people at all, it’s often in a way that shows us how small we really are. His images are beautiful and fill me with awe.
My own paintings tend to be much more intimate. I want you to feel the same connection I feel walking along a woodland path with a friend. I want to elicit the same feeling of reverence that Steve does, but on a more intimate level.As humans we can’t help but show ourselves in our art. Like our signatures, each artist expresses themselves uniquely. Steve and I share the desire to connect to the places and things that inspire awe in us, but our methods are as different as our mediums. And as with any happy relationship I love both the differences (ok most of them) and the things we share.
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