The Artist - jacquie r. wagenschutz
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As an artist, jacquie believes the most important thing is “engaging in discussions with fellow artists of all media—do not limit your vision, take in all you can.” This philosophy has guided her throughout her varied art and business careers.
The art career started in the early ‘70s along the shores of Lake Michigan in Illinois and Indiana. She used art, and design as well as antiques as she restored 100+ year-old buildings. jacquie managed or owned several art-related businesses over those years, offering opportunities to artists who lived on the three southern shore states of the lake.
jacquie has been involved in various fine arts and/or crafts organizations, galleries or venues—organizing, or curating, or as publicist for over 40 years.
Her corporate careers took her to all parts of the US and finally her family moved to Florence, OR in 1997 where she decided to return to her love of art, this time her mode of expression would be photography.
jacquie attended photography workshops held by well-known Pacific Northwest photographers such as Rick Schafer and Allen Mandell—although she views herself as primarily self-taught. She has often talked to art groups about photography as art. “Yes, photography is art!”
jacquie continued with exterior color and feature consultation along with landscape design as her main focus point over the last few years while away from Oregon. 2011 brought her back to Florence, OR for the second time for renewal of her art and life.
The Work
The Work—so what is fine art photography? It is the presentation not the representation. It breaks rules; it emphasizes the elements of color, light, texture, form, mood, etc.. It is not simply a replica of what we see. Fine art Photography expresses a mood or a vision and, as such, Fine Art Photography is a presentation of how we feel about what we see.
As leading photographic artist and instructor Dan Burkholder remarked in his article, Improving on Reality Using Digital Tools in Photo Techniques Jan/Feb 2007, “...taking any and all steps to make the final print emotionally honest as opposed to literally honest...I can take these liberties because I fall into that least lucrative of all photographic realms: the fine-art photographer.”
jacquie’s portfolio comprises a wide representation of life—using both film and digital formats. Most images are printed on specially selected archival photographic art papers using only Epson archival inks, with the occasional use of an outside print lab. She does her own digital darkroom work. Image size is selected for impact and effect.
“Light, wind, humidity, time of day and season of the year all affect the shot. Change one of these factors and the scene transforms,” jacquie says. “Moods set the tone moments in time are captured forever.” Often her work is considered thought provoking, moody; especially her floral macro images.
For several years she written a series of writings called Wanderings of an Artist’s Mind and Photo Stories which she has published under the name of her web-based business The Gallery View (formerly jrmac Images).