Return

art·ist (ärtst) n. - One, such as a painter, photographer, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value.  A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill.

 

It was a long while before I could say these words.  I am a linear thinker with a circular soul.  My left brain is in constant struggle with my right.  It can be quite frustrating, but it is very possible that I have been gifted this, the battle that rages in my mind.  I have always had the capacity to see the beautiful things in life, but it is tempered by a practiced loathing of the things that are not or the individuals that would see beauty denied. 

There is nothing more joyous to me than to capture beauty when it is unaware.  To observe and record a perfect moment in time is a wonderful thing indeed.  A woman’s shoulder as the light caresses her profile, a puppy as it romps in the jade green grass, a sunset over jagged seaside rocks or a flower being kissed by a butterfly are all things that I seek to remember.  I remember these things in my photographs and my writings.  I remember them for me; I display them for all of you.

Born in Denver, Colorado, and living most of my young life in Phoenix, Arizona, I was fortunate to view the majesty of nature.  Between the stoic mountains and the stark desert, I was witness to the landscape’s extremes.  My studies took me elsewhere though as I enjoyed California’s coastline while attending Pepperdine University in Malibu.  Yet, even at this point, I was not a collector but an observer.  When I finished my college career I returned to my home in Arizona to pursue a legal/political career.  It was at this time that I began to feel the whispers of the artist.  Along with maintaining a position within the Arizona legislature, I opened a studio focusing on portraiture and fashion photography.  Alas, the studio and my passions had to be set aside for another calling was presented to me, but the energy lingered within.  My next stop was the unlikely town of Las Vegas, where I currently make my home.  For a person who admires the reality of beauty, Las Vegas is truly the polar opposite.  I have, however, used this neon desert flower to awaken something inside of me that I thought was long dead.  I, now, with the facade of Vegas in the background, capture each and every instance of beauty I see.  I photograph it, write about and document it so that I may enjoy it again.  The pages of this site are but a small part of my experiences.  In my short 36 years I have gathered in the stars, the moon and the sun and I present them each, in their grandeur , to you and all who visit here.  It has been and will be my pleasure to always be the storyteller. 

I am so thankful that you have visited my site.  Thankful not only for the opportunity to share my images with you but also the possibility of reintroducing you to the magnificent world in which we live.  If your enjoyment comes from just browsing through the world I have created then, by all means, enjoy and come back often to remember.  If it is my fortune that you wish to have one of my images or writings then it will be my extreme pleasure to present to you what I hope will be a lasting part of your life.

"I am the artist.  I believe in the beautiful.  I seek the uniqueness of this world so that I may record it, for it is fleeting.  I struggle to counteract the ugliness that I am and that I see.  I aspire to nothing more than the joy of beauty.  I am dedicated to the illustration of life, its darkness and its light.  I am the window to the soul of earth.  I am the artist."       -Jamey Kirklin