Photographer
Does creating art help you heal?
Creating art can be very uncomfortable at times, not knowing where the adventure will take you. I think when you are headed into new territory, there is that uncomfortableness.
We tend to fill in the darkness with thoughts in our heads. However, I just keep moving forward and trust in the process. When I am in that beautiful zone of the Now
I feel the happiest. Creating art is healing but not always so. That is what I love about it. Expressing all the emotions is also Art.
When did you realize you were an artist?
As a child, I was always writing poetry and painting watercolors. I was born an artist.
Tell us about a workflow quirk you have picked up over your artistic career
I usually come up with a conceptual idea. I then begin filming and as I move forward, I let the muse inside dictate the flow. This allows the magic to happen.
What motivates you to create?
I am the happiest when I am creating. It is a natural impulse for me, like walking. We humans were created to create. People look at artists as a separate category than the rest of the world. Whatever our occupation is, if we are operating from our soul, it is our natural ability to create.
Tell us about your background?
In my early twenties, I moved to Switzerland. While there, a friend lent me his camera, and I began to photograph. Another friend gave me their darkroom equipment and that was it. I basically fell in love with photography and worked day and night shooting and then playing in the darkroom till all hours. I remember after the first image I printed in the darkroom, I came out of the room and declared to myself and those around me, that no matter what, being a professional photographer and artist is what I want to do with my life. I then went to the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich, Switzerland and studied photography. I came back to the States and eventually opened my studio in San Francisco. In 2005, I came to the Miami Area and immersed myself into the world of fine art and filmmaking. I have never stopped since. Art has never been a hobby. It is who I am.
To learn more, please visit Cheryl Maeder’s ARTDEX Profile.
