Trust is something that I have been thinking a lot about. Is it black or white? Or does it always exist in the gray area? Art making requires trust because it is an expression of an exchange between you and the material and you and the viewer. BUT..there are always choices in this process.

The choice to commit to the art or to abandon it. Mistakes will be made. Paths will be altered. The only way to know you’ll make it through is with trust.

Collaboration requires trust between artists. I’ve had the honor to collaborate with young art student for 17 years. We made countless works together. Seriously I think it is in the 100 of thousands.They trusted me to guide and provide and I trusted them to express their ideas with visual proficiency. When I think back to the most successful collaborations with students, our efforts changed us in the process. We learned to view the process of art making together as magical transformation.

I devoted most of my creative time with students up until a few years ago when a few of my passions collided. Sea swimming, performance, and art making.

I met photographer Dean Burke on the steps of a city plaza after only interacting with him online. Predicting his nature from what I sourced from the internet, I chose to trust him and said yes when he asked me if I’d be interested in doing some swim shoots. I had admired his adventurous images that inspired me to go swim in the Sound rather than the chlorine pools I was used to.

Siren’s Locker
2025
In collaboration with Dean Burke Art

We met and shot together shortly after our first meeting. The results showed potential for more compelling compositions if I were had more ease underwater, lost the goggles, and performed. I asked him to make art with me. To trust me. We shook hands and made the choice to commit. The only way was through.

Fast forward 3 years we have shot thousands of images together in challenging weather conditions and wild waters. He likes to compare us to a band, being that he was a musician for most of his life, but I see him more as a dance partner. The process we both go through to make these images is a performance. There are elements we can control, our bodies, our equipment, but the water, the turbidity, and the light are uncontrollable. We have grown to trust the “materials” and accept each time will be a bit of luck and a lot of preparation.

“Fall in the the Sea”
2025
In collaboration with Dean Burke Art

Light catcher
2025
In collaboration with Dean Burke Art

Hydromancer
2025
In collaboration with Dean Burke Art

I feel really fortunate to have met someone who feels the way I do about the sea and is able to meet me as a collaborator in expressing those feelings. Dean keeps me safe out there and knows my limits before I do. He has worked so hard to put these works out in the world for others to see and purchase. A select few are currently for sale at Proctor Art Gallery.