"Windows and Doors" F/8 Group Exhibition

Joseph Finkleman was born in Hollywood California. At age seventeen he entered Sacramento State University as a literature major with journalism minor. At age twenty-five with no degree yet he changed schools to the San Francisco Art Institute. There he obtained his BFA and MFA. He worked as a commercial photographer for over twenty years. He started and ran an advertising company specializing in niche marketing. For the next two decades he held various positions, including, executive and management responsibilities in business development, sales management, customer service and marketing in a variety of companies. He is credited with starting and running Gallery 1855 in Davis California and also designing the Davis Cemetery Arboretum. He started showing art in the late 1960's and has had numerous solo shows of both his paintings and photography. Additionally he has been in more than a hundred group shows. He has been collected both in Europe and the continental United States. Partnered with his wife Susan Finkleman, they have one book to their credit, Torn Silk Picture Cloud Quilt, along with two CD's of their two-voice poetry. He has been working with the composer Robert Vann on a chamber opera entitled “You Who Know” and also a song cycle entitled “The Blank Page”. His current opera “The Kaballah: Shanghai 1940” is unfinished.

Rob Floerke is a long-time resident of Davis and past President of the Photography Club of Davis. Rob began taking photographs during his teenage years and continues to do so to the present specializing in landscape, wildlife and travel photography. Rob joined Group f8 several years ago and with their help Rob has expanded his artistic interests to include a much wider range of subject matter and improve his ability to "see". Rob has taught photography classes for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and the Davis Art Center. Rob has attended the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Aspen Photo Workshops and many digital photography classes. Rob has also exhibited his work in gallery shows in Bistro 33, Gallery 1855, International House, View Point Gallery and the Presidio of San Francisco and has wildlife photos published in Outdoor California magazine; Crown Jewels: Five Great National Parks Around the World and the Challenges They Face; and various children’s books in the United Kingdom.

Ann Miller I like to take photographs that are not driven so much by a subject, but rather by the colors, shapes, textures, patterns and relationship of objects to each other. So I have a loose interpretation of the theme of this show, "Doors and Windows". I am looking at transparency, distortion, and looking through layers into another place... a window is transparent and provides a view into another space. Born in Los Angeles, Anne Miller moved to a small farm town in rural Iowa at the age of nine. The move sparked a lifelong interest in nature and the elements. After studying art and music in college, Miller taught music briefly at the University of California in Davis and played flute in the Tobrini Woodwind Quintet and as a soloist before becoming a software engineer. As a photographer Miller is largely self-taught, having started by shooting 35mm film and learning traditional printing methods in a home darkroom made from a converted bathroom. The development of increasingly powerful digital tools led her to combine her interests in computing and photography. She now works exclusively with digital SLR cameras and uses a variety of image editing software tools to realize her evolving artistic vision. Although influenced by numerous artists, including Wassily Kandinsky, Mark Rothko, Georgia O’Keefe, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, and Lee Friedlander, Anne believes that her own imagination and powers of observation are the strongest influences on her work. Photography is a means for her to explore and to share her view of the overlooked beauty and mystery that usually go unnoticed in our everyday world. Anne Miller’s photographs have been featured in several exhibits in the Sacramento area. Her work can be seen at The Artery of Davis, CA and The Viewpoint Photographic Art Center in Sacramento, CA. View Miller’s work online at http://www.annemillerphotography.com.

Tim Messick’sphotographic vision is inspired by diverse photographic and graphic design genres. He explores a wide range of subjects, styles, and techniques. Much of his work seeks to convey a "sense of place" — in mountain landscapes, old buildings, reflective windows, and starry night skies. He was a field botanist in his first career and is now a graphic designer/cartographer. Find him on the web at TimMessick.com and BodieHIllsPlants.com.

Michael Radin: Though I had spent much time in Paris over the past 45 years since meeting my in May 1968, I had never visited Le Pere Lachaise Cemetery until January 2001. My wife's mother suffered a mild stroke on New Year's Eve. I visited her at the Tenon Hospital near Place Gambetta the next day. When I left the hospital around noon, I found myself walking, head down, thinking about agin and dying and death. It was the first of January, New Year's Day, and the streets were practically empty. It was the first of January, New Year's Day, and the streets were practically empty. It was a cold gray overcast day. Everywhere moisture dripped from tree branches and awnings in front of cafes. I looked up and found I was standing in front of the Porte Gambetta entrance to the cemetery. While most tourists moved about the cemetery, guide in hand, searching for the famous sites of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edif Piaf, and Frederic Chopin, I was drawn to the sepulchers found everywhere. Some where in great shape. Some showed the signs of neglect and weathering. It was the sepulchers in a state of disrepair, their once proud and intact stained glass windows now broken and mangled, that fascinated me.

Dave Robertson: I began my photography career in 1968 and transitioned to digital in 2003. I have been a workshop instructor for the last six years, primarily for Lightroom and fine art printing. My work tends toward scenes conveying serenity and simplicity. I have exhibited in numerous juried shows, most recently in the 2015 International Juried Exhibition at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, California. www.dlrobertsonphotography.com.

Rick York: My photography is inspired primarily by local photographers I have met through my affiliation with the Viewpoint Photographic Art Center (http://www.viewpointgallery.org/) in Sacramento. My photo friends - Tim Messick, Gene Kennedy, Anne Miller, David Robertson, Henry Paine, Joe Finkleman, Rebecca Gregg, and many other excellent local photographers - inspire me to pay attention to everyday places and things, to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary, and help me find the beauty in a simple and purposeful image that is devoid of distractions. Most recently, I have been inspired by the stunning black and white prints of Oliver Gagliani, which I saw for the first time last year at Gallery 1855 in Davis. My images are not meant to be documentary; instead, I hope they inspire others to realize the interesting and beautiful images that are available to all if you just slow down and pay attention.