Michele Guzman
Digital Photography
Sherwood
Biography
Michele Guzman has been taking pictures for nearly 40 years. Her focus ranges from landscapes, flowers, and sky to buildings, urban areas, and abstract art. She is mostly self-taught, learning during the trips she and her father would take to the many nature centers and botanical gardens that were near their home. In high school, she finished 4 years of photography classes in 3 by giving up her lunch and study halls. She picked up painting, drawing, and jewelry during college, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication/TV Production and a Minor in Jewelry from Bradley University. In 2023 she opened her own art business, finally allowing her dream to become reality. Michele lives and works in Peoria, Illinois with her husband.
Artist Statement:
Have you ever been asleep, and awoken confused as to what is real and what is a dream? Sherwood takes on this juxtaposition in perception with its slightly offset purple forest blurring the edges of the solid forest. This was inspired by a bus trip I had taken while in England. I love stories of Robin Hood. I had been dozing when my half-asleep mind heard the tour guide mention Sherwood Forest. I opened my eyes, and for a split second I did not know what I was seeing, multiple images came to mind from many of the stories I’ve read through the years. Then reality set in, and I was looking at the real forest out the bus window. The trip had many memorable moments, but this one has always stuck in the front of my memory. I have tried to get that feeling on paper ever since. Recently, while visiting a friend at Timberlake Apartments by War Memorial and Allen right here in Peoria, I was able to catch this panoramic forest image. I knew this was the image to finally capture that memory from so many years ago. My camera, computer, and phone are my primary tools. I use my camera to capture the world both as it is, and as I see it. The editing brought my dreaming perception of the forest to that split second of time where it, and reality both exist in the mind.
I do this by capturing the mood and emotion in copies of the image using differences in style, color, contrast, and either adding forms or deleting them. Once I have several different copies, I use the editing programs to blend them together.