Karen Grothe: Artist's Statement

I had never thought of myself as an artist. I was a mom, a wife, a friend; creative at times maybe, usually with words, and sometimes with a needle and embroidery thread.

My photography is self taught and raw. I am learning to define, refine and appreciate the process. When I discovered photography it seemed to me that it gave me a way to capture the intricacies and intimacies of God's creation. The joy in the laughter of a child, the elegance of a freshly unfurled rose bud, an old Italian lady doing the family wash, a full head of ripened winter wheat, wild and thunderous waves beating against a clean sandy shore, a tiny yellow finch nesting in an Arizonan prickly pear cactus . . . .