Richard McWherter
My goal as a visual artist is to lead the eye through an image with the same effect that a storyteller weaves a tale. With these images, the photograph, like all art, is a dream made tangible. It represents a physical extension of a memory for me. But I want to go beyond just recording a time and place; I want to capture that “moment” and how it makes me feel, and share it with others, so I’m always pushing conventions.
These expressionistic images offer me a unique way of sharing my passion for nature, as well as bringing a visceral response from others. They begin as my original photographs and are then painted on with an electronic stylus in a virtual space on a computer. People are often curious about what part of the image is photographic and what part is painted. But this play between what is physical and what is imagined is exactly why these photographs have that dream-like quality, which hopefully then engages the viewer further by becoming more interpretive and interactive.
I developed several techniques to make this part of my own unique creative process. I have always experimented with alternate processes and techniques, both old and new, and I have been embellishing my photographs by using virtual paint for almost ten years. To manipulate an image is to simply continue a tradition as old as photography itself; however, what is new is how the technology brings fresh eyes to both the artist and the public, which is exactly what the invention of the photograph did when it was born.
However, if the art is successful, the process disappears and the sublime is revealed. After I’ve worked with an image, it’s not enough to just be unique; it has to be better. It has to sing!
My images are deeply personal, but also offer me a unique way of sharing my passion for life, as well as bringing a visceral response from others. My work also champions the hidden treasures here in the US and around the world and challenges others to be actively engaged in protecting our environment. One of my intentions is to showcase these moments to national and international audiences to ensure this understanding of our world, and our place in it reaches generations to come.
— RS McWherter
