Linda Ryan

Artist’s Statement

I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful - an endless prospect of magic and wonder. Ansel Adams

The cathartic effects of nature on one’s health have been well-documented. Opening our senses to the natural world around offers a pervasive calmness - palliative and healing for mind, body, and spirit.

In my photographs I have tried to capture the peace, awe, and gratitude I experience on walks with my beloved canine companion, Sophie. While dramatic vistas are breath-taking, the subtle wonder and silent beauty of the smaller gifts of nature are integral to the whole. I prefer focusing on the more understated aspects of our environment. A reflection in a puddle, a lone leaf on a path, or brilliant flowers along the river can be as lovely and rejuvenating as the “big picture.”

While some of my photographs have an abstract depiction, others are simple, and direct. I hope that they all create avenues for the viewer to examine the basics more closely. We are fortunate in Northeast Ohio to have such biodiversity reflected by our abundance of animals, plants, rivers, lakes, and changing seasons. We are even more fortunate to have a wealth of green space available to us to experience this natural beauty.

It is also my hope that the viewer can understand and perhaps experience the peace that I feel through nature and the solitude I enjoy in the woods. It is truly “magic and wonder.”

If we lose sight of what our environment offers us, we will lose a vital aspect of our lives. It is incumbent on each of us to preserve, protect, and most importantly, appreciate the gifts that have been given to us – right in our own back yard.