My all-consuming passion is art. It's very likely that it's in my DNA. I credit my Italian heritage for it, since my ancestry traces back through some of Italy's most noted artistic communities, primarily Florence, Tuscany, and Naples.
Obsessed with capturing the beauty of nature from an early age, I loved drawing, painting, and creating books about birds, flowers, and animals as a child. Encouraged by my parents and teachers, I expanded my skills over time, setting my sights on a career in publication design.
A defining moment in my life came in the form of a Pinhole Photography class I took while earning my BFA in Graphic Design at the University of Georgia's highly esteemed Lamar Dodd School of Fine Art. Through the process of making and using my own pinhole camera, I discovered the amazing power of photography as a fine art. The spontaneous joy and spiritual connection I found by 'painting with light' with this simple lens-less box was my creative epiphany.
After college, I eventually built an ad agency around my photographic and publication design skills. Encompassing everything from razor-sharp product shots to atmospheric conceptual ad images, my photos have appeared in several corporate publications and private collections. Although my equipment includes Hasselblad and Nikon cameras now, that simple pinhole camera I made in college long ago continues to influence my photographic style today.
I use an intuitive mix of ambient light, soft focus filters, selective focus, purposeful grain, and digital editing to express the surreal beauty that I see - the spiritual dance of light - in the natural world around us. I hope my photos bless the viewer as much as they bless the photographer!
Marie Hicks joined Fine Art America on January 5th, 2011.
