Fine Art, Luxury Framing, Impeccable Design.Subscribe Now

My Artistic Approach & Fire Road Flare

I recently updated my artist statement and suggest you read through it to understand more about my artistic approach, where I find inspiration, and how I add an emotional dimension into each fine art photograph.

Fire Road Flare

The Tourne in Boonton, New Jersey has wide, sweeping, fire road trails that get you to its peak. With the sun low in the sky, I opted to explore the fire road before dark; I was glad I had the time to see this gorgeous glow because the sunset was lackluster that day. Flare was inevitable here, but it only serves to enhance the golden tones along the rocky trail.

Also, notice the left side of the trail; you can see a patch of moss I photographed up close in an earlier blog post.

A gravel road leading up to the peak of the Tourne in Boonton, NJ is lit up with golden sunlight.

Valentine's Day Dinner Meets Cajun Chicken Pasta

I’ve made Valentine's Day dinner for two years in a row now, both with great success thanks to The Pioneer Woman and her amazingly delicious recipes. Guys, there is nothing sexier than cooking for your significant other so I recommend flexing your chef skills in the kitchen next year instead of opting for fancy restaurant plans.

Pioneer Woman’s braised short ribs over creamy mashed potatoes is nothing short of an execution meal if you can manage to block off 4+ hours for prep and cooking time. Last year’s dinner was served at 11:45 PM. Oops! It was sooo worth it though. Oh, and make sure you pick up the short ribs from a local butcher or Whole Foods. Opt for quality over quantity here.

Onto this years Valentine's Day dinner…

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I can sum this dish up in a few words. This. Dish. Wins. My. Heart. How fitting for Valentine’s Day.

I mean, how can you go wrong with heavy cream, butter, garlic, and white wine in the recipe. The Cajun Chicken Pasta was creamy, decadent, and had a spice that built upon itself throughout the meal. Mmmm.

Vampires stay away! Here’s a photo of the garlic prepped for this dish. Buon Appetit!

Minced garlic on a wooden cutting board with a Cuisinart knife next to the heaping mound.

The Artist Proofing Process and Autumn Water

Printing large allows the artist to detect color profiling anomalies from monitor to printer in addition to unveiling every detail possible. I’m a stickler for adhering to a rigorous artist proofing process to ensure that my art is reproduced to my standards and I will not tolerate imperfections. In addition, each proof is thoroughly inspected and will be reprinted till the final version meets my vision.

Autumn Water

Autumn Water proof one makes it way into an exotic frame mounted with 8-ply matting and museum quality glass. My art really must be seen in person to appreciate the contrast, tone, saturation, and luminescence. Water glistens and flows when viewed from different angles and lifelike tree textures pop out of the exotic frame.

Thomas M Thurston crouches beside a 24x36 artist proof of Autumn Waters.

Hiking at the Tourne – Sunkissed Moss Variation

The Tourne in Boonton, NJ is a great place to hike, bike, or enjoy a lazy day in the field with your dog. You can even get a quick game of baseball in if you’re into that sort of thing. Anyway, onto the trails…

I’ve been going to the Tourne sporadically for a few years now; the wide foot trails are great for hiking if you have kids and the twisty singletrack is gobs of fun for mountain biking. Cycle Craft in Parsippany actually does a weekly ride here (I think they meet on Wednesdays during the warmer months), but check with the store for exact details. Yep, that’s on my to-do list as well.

Sunkissed Moss Variation

Nature can be kinda boring during the colder months; scenery is grey and blah, and just doesn’t do much for me. That is until you find the right light.

It’s really remarkable how a bit of glowing sunlight low in the sky transforms nature. I was out scouting for a sunset location on one of the foot paths and stumbled upon some green moss. This stuff was actually glowing…

Moss on the side of a foot trail glows because it is kissed with golden sunlight.

Pine Trees and Snow Days

New Jersey is having an extremely dry 2012 winter with only a few dustings to date. I’m convinced the snow this winter is going to come with a vengeance late in the season. By late in the season, I mean it’s going to come so late that I’ll be sitting on the beach in June, then BAM, the next day is a full-on blizzard with lots of snow accumulation.

Probably not. Sorry for exaggerating…

I’m just hopeful that I will get to see a few more snow crusted pine trees and revel in a snow day.

This next snow photo is from the same snow storm I captured the snow covered branch.

White snow tops a pine tree branch in the middle of January.

Morristown – Red Church Doors

Morristown, New Jersey is the place to be for that small town charm with urban flair. Their booming nightlife is packed with diverse restaurant selections, eclectic and traditional bars, and shopping that is sure to please anyone looking for the latest trend on a budget.

A few important landmarks are The Morristown Green, the Morristown Train Station, and a wide selection of historic churches.

Morristown Charms with Red Church Doors

Night photography comes alive and these red church doors are illuminated with floodlight. The play on highlight and shadow is what caught my attention – one door has great highlights, while the other sits in darkness. I think the lighting was coincidental, but there’s a deeper meaning here; light vs. dark, or more abstractly represented, Good vs. Evil.

A Morristown historic church's doors are illuminated with a deeper meaning, Good Vs. Evil.

The Porterhouse at Fraunces Tavern

I was recently in NYC and visited The Porterhouse at Fraunces Tavern for a 30th birthday; the atmosphere was great, the drinks were delicious, and the french fries were light and crispy. Mmm. If I remember my first drink correctly, I ordered a Dark & Stormy – that’s Gosling’s Rum, bitters, and ginger beer. Yeah… it was served in a pint glass and was quite strong. All in all I’d say it’s a good starter beverage! For those colder nights, Winter Pimm’s Cup will warm your body from the core. Another winner.

The Porterhouse Brewing Company

Fraunces Tavern carries a fantastic lineup of beer as well! The Porterhouse Brewing Co. Oyster Stout reigned as beer of the night for its well rounded and smooth malt flavor. A beer with oysters sounds strange, but if you’re into stouts, the taste is nothing short of extraordinary.

For those that want to sample other draft beers outside the Porterhouse Brewing Co. lineup, that is possible as well. Drink up!

A draft beer lineup starting with Mad Elf.

Bathroom Renovations and Sunflower Fields

We’re in the last stages of a quick bathroom spruce up. We’ve already spackled, primed, painted (the color is called slightly aqua), wired up the vanity, installed the medicine cabinet, and mounted the towel hardware – the only few remaining details are to print a few photos, hang said photos, and run a few beads of caulk to seal up the sink and tub. It’s almost a job well done; reno photo coming soon.

Sunflower Fields Forever

I’m on a roll with rediscovering old photos from 2011 that were initially on the Do Not Show list. I’m not sure how I managed to let Sunflower Fields Forever slip through, but I’m constantly refining my workflow. Sifting and sorting gets better and more efficient each time I download a memory card. Note to self, keep being hard on yourself and really scrutinize your work; your photos will thank you later.

A sunflower maze path down the center of the frame is surrounded by sunflowers right and left with high noon light and blue skies with rays of light passing through a few clouds.

Analogous Colors – Daschund Naps

Nothing shows analogous colors like a Daschund enjoying the high life while taking a nap on a warm, cuddly Australian made Ugg boot. Tans and browns make up the majority of my analogous color scheme in the living room so it’s only fitting that our dogs are shade similar.

Who knew these super comfortable boots would appeal to dogs as well?!

A Daschund enjoys the high life while taking a nap on a warm, cuddly Australian made Ugg boot.

Post Processing and Sunflower Petals

Post processing photographs is synonymous with a master cook using salt in a gourmet dish. You need it as part of your workflow to help achieve your vision and more importantly, to grow as a photographer and artist.

I’m not just talking about modifying saturation, color balance, or contrast. I’m not even suggesting that you need to churn your photos through a HDR processor every single time. What I am suggesting, though, is to scrutinize your composition.

Crop That Photo Till You Drop

Chop it up, change the aspect ratio, and make sure you come away with at least five different variations of your original photograph. By completing this exercise, you will gain an understanding of how to approach your subjects from newly appreciated angles. You will also begin to possess a deeper creative mindset and that my friends, is the point I want to drive home.

The more you do in post with composition, the more you will develop your creative mind.

Sunflower Petals

I was digging through my photo library and wanted to find a photo that lacked focus and punch; I came across a photo series from last year of a Sunflower maze and knew this was the album to search. I remember feeling a bit disappointed with the outcome of this shoot.

Ah, always revisit your photos… you might surprise yourself. Speaking of surprising myself, I followed my own advice on post processing and chopped up the composition till I found a new angle that really added focus and depth. Intuition kicked in and I came away with a crop that I know I’ll be using for new work.

A sunflower is a sunflower is a sunflower until you chop off three quarters of the sunflower petals and let your viewer use his or her imagination to fill in the blanks. I did exactly that with the crop I’m sharing with you today.

A quarter of a sunflower fans out its petals from the bottom left of the frame while the rest of the scene blurs into beautiful yellow and green bokeh.