Ken Burns carried America to far-flung National Parks to demonstrate our country's remarkable wild beauty.
In my newest exhibition, "Distillations", I discovered that beauty awaits just around the corner - from a neighborhood Princeton park to North Jersey's stunning Ken Lockwood Gorge.
Heart-stopping splendor greeted me on my first pilgrimage to the well-known trout-filled waters. At first, it was enough just to photograph the autumn woods constantly renewed by its lively stream.
Then, the tree’s reflections took center stage. I focused my lens on the water surface only; mysterious pools appeared with freshly fallen leaves scattered lightly among stones ponderous as beached whales. I then zeroed in on individual reflections of trees distilling them into abstractions of gold, copper, rust and pale greens. Bright and inky blues complemented the palette. Light and dark distorted tree trunks showed up with wavy “skirts” of bright fall color. Copper ripples flowed around boulders trapping dark leaves.
Princeton's Barbara Smoyer Park, became my next gift. Its delicate fountain spawned ripples transforming these tree reflections into avant-garde abstract paintings. Giant brush strokes altered these placid waters creating magic in a pond.
While Ken Lockwood Gorge had proffered a gold rush, Smoyer Park exuded every Matisse red. My aim was to do justice to each distinct water surface by juxtaposing the natural form with its abstract distillation.