This month we are featuring Marilyn Saks-McMillion for the Capitol Hill Art League’s Mind of the Artist blog. Read Marilyn’s story and check out her artwork below.

1. How did you become an Artist and what is your medium?
   I suppose I’ve always liked taking pictures, but for much of my life, it was point-and-
   shoot, resulting in lopped feet and slanted horizons. As I began to travel more widely,
   especially in retirement, I wanted to become better at thinking first, before clicking.
   When I began thinking about how best to start, I didn’t rush out and buy expensive
   equipment. Instead, I bought a cellphone with the best camera features at the time,
   thinking a camera and equipment could come later on. Instead, I haven’t looked back,
   and all of my photos are taken with the phone. I edit with software that came installed
   on the phone and my computer.

2. What training, experiences, or encouragement have helped you in your art?
   I’ve remained prudent and cautious in expenditures and have avoided buying enhanced
   editing software or training courses, since I could find enough free, online options to get
   me started. I joined the online Digital Photography School https://digital-photography-
   school.com/about-digital-photography-school with a community of over 2 million and
   120,000 regular contributors worldwide. I began taking part in their weekly and monthly
   challenges, reading through their library of free articles and coursework, and I still value
   that initial immersion in sharpening my skills. I joined the Capitol Hill Art League (CHAL)
   to connect with and learn from this community of artists. I enjoy the monthly challenges,
   feedback, and opportunities to submit and show my photos locally. This helped me gain
   the courage and confidence to enter photography competitions and remember the thrill
   when I had my work accepted! This encouragement spurred me on to apply to more
   national competitions, focusing mainly in online exhibitions. Some of my most
   successful online gallery submissions are available online at the Naturalist Gallery of
   Contemporary Art, which has accepted 51 of my entries to date, spanning 3 pages.
   Here’s the link:
   https://naturalist.gallery/search?options%5Bprefix%5D=last&page=1&q=saks that will
   provide an overview of my photography, in all its diversity.

3. What subjects or themes are you drawn to and want to explore?
   After a long international career, my mind seeks intersections of time and events, and
   light and shadow. My eye seeks things that catch my eye or a fleeting moment or the
   beauty, solemnity or whimsy in the everyday. I enjoy sharing the best of these with
   others, and value using my photographic lens to share my discoveries and experiences.
   During COVID, I focused on things in and around the house yard: a clock face, a carved
   soapstone kitchen god, the breeze through lace curtains, playful quirky squirrels, or
   details of our beautiful old radiators. Travel provides unending opportunities to capture a
   memory with my cellphone and scenes I wish to remember. There are larger themes
   that attract me: the land, water and sky; flora and fauna; the built environment; other
   cultures; and what I call signs of the times. Thus I am drawn to landscapes, architecture, street scenes, social or political commentary, skyscapes, domestic and international travel for inspiration. As a photographer, I now look at things differently, through a different lens, and try to capture a certain moment in time or the spirit of a place. It may be a detail of something larger, like small intricate mosaics spiraling up a column on the façade of a centuries-old church, an architectural detail of a historic Capitol Hill rowhouse, or raindrops on petals. Flowers, insects (especially bees), and glass also inspire me to look for something fresh or unusual.

4. What do you want to say about art?  In general, in life.
   For me, photography has been a way to explore the world around me, and a way to
   keep my sanity when things seem to be going insane. It takes me Here, and There. It
   helps me focus on things that are real and tangible. Generally, my photos are
   representational and in color. They do not require deep thought or interpretation,
   although on closer inspection many do have a lot going on. I remember once visiting an
   ancient Roman site with my husband, and while he was focusing on the columns, I was
   focusing on the mosaic tiles of the floor. Different perspectives, but complementary.
   Creating the titles is also a creative process. They can be pretty straightforward and
   descriptive, or they can be evocative, like one I call Shangri-La, or one called A World
   Within, of a raindrop at the tip of a twig in early spring, inviting the viewer to look more
   closely into the raindrop. I hope to transport viewers to slow down and experience these
   slices of life. Hopefully they will see things they might otherwise overlook, like the pollen
   left on a petal by a pollen-laden bee, or a spider hanging like a proud architect in the
   center of an intricate web. Perhaps they can mind-travel to places they may never visit –
   but might be inspired to.
   

5. What are your social media links and how do you use social media to help people
discover your art?
I do have a Facebook page, but I have limited it to people I know. It is a place where I
can share my photos and celebrate achievements where I feel it is a safe social media
space. I can also refer my friends to links where my photos have been selected.

Photography helps me see myself as a lifelong learner who is very much still in the
learning phase and is eager to learn more. To paraphrase Pablo Picasso, I hope it
shakes off some of the dust of daily life from those who come and see my Here and
There.