PRODUCKTION

Click picture for larger view | From Mats

Ducks, having a cosmopolitan distribution, are quite accessible to the nature photographer. I'm not sure exactly what kind of ducks these were, but they resided in one of my favorite places to visit: Lake George, NY.

IRON CROSS

Click picture for larger view | From Mats

The iron cross is the highest decoration given to the German military. Bikers also use it to promote a tough-guy image. But this design was an accident...I started drawing out random lines until an iron cross materialized.

SLOW CHILDREN PLAYING

Click picture for larger view | From Mats

Who spent all the money to put the U.S. in the hole? It's the gray haired mentally challenged clowns in DC. The mat says it all, and this was one of my earlier examples of decoupage, before I started using smaller circle punches.

RUSH HOUR

From Mats

I shot this in Amsterdam 10 years ago in the summer of 2001. I never saw so many bicycles before except when I was in the army stationed in Germany. I was in the armored division, in an engineer (E) company which builds bridges. We were in charge of 80 5-ton trucks, six tanks and six half tracks. Every month there was an alert (random drill) at usually 4 or 5 in the morning. So you had A, B, C, D, and E co, each with their own caravan of tanks and tractors and all this equipment which had to be mobilized. Imagine all the gasoline we needed in doing that.

HAIKU: Red Tulips #12

Click picture for larger view | From Mats

Amidst months of gloom
the clouds break and the sun shines
it's fucking springtime

SMOKING GUN

Click picture for larger view | From Mats

I took this shot from a moving car on the NJ Turnpike 22 years ago. I guess I was compelled because seeing this smoke spewing ceaselessly didn't sit right with me. And now all these nuclear plants in Japan are melting down and it reminds us how shortsighted we are and the risks we're exposing ourselves to.

Flamingo

Click picture for larger view | From Mats

The flamingo is the poster bird for the saying "You are what you eat".  Pink and orange flamingos eat algae that contain the same stuff that gives carrots their color.  I shot this is at Disneyworld exactly 30 years ago. 23 years later I punched circles in the from the same image to create its complementary mat.