It's been a while since I've written here. I've decided to clear away many of my old posts and begin again.

For years I shared my work here (on my blog), until Instagram. I joined in the early days, when it was simpler. No reels, no AI. More than twenty thousand people found their way to my art and words, and it still amazes me. I'll always be grateful for them. 

But over time, the noise of it all became a distraction from the very thing I was there to do: share my work. It grew loud and fast. Post more, post faster, keep up, be the same as everyone else. Ads, algorithms, video.. and AI. More about "content" and "influence," and less about the photos, the sharing, the community.

I miss the old internet (I know, I know, but I do). I miss when photography was still photography, not “content creation,” and before everything got chopped into quick little clips too short to even remember.

I miss the patience. And the kindness. People took their time with their work and it showed.

Some people move quickly through the world. I am not one of them. I feel things deeply and I think about them for far too long.

I need time to process.

To think.

To create.

I am not built to perform. I need room to breathe.

My mom died in the summer of 2024 and nothing felt the same after. I've always been a bit preoccupied with time and how finite it is (a tad too much). But after she died, I felt it more than ever. I became very protective of my time, and Instagram, being what it's become, was the last place I wanted to spend it. So I stepped away.

I never did stop taking photos. If anything, I fell back in love with it.. picking up my camera just for the joy of it. To document. To get outside my head.

Which is the best way to remember why you picked up a camera in the first place.

These days, you’ll find me with my camera, walking the woods and the marshes, out on still water in my kayak, photographing all the moody, foggy glory that is Maine. Or at home, puttering around my gardens, meadows, and orchard, photographing birds and botanicals.

Birds, especially. What started as a curiosity after my mom died has become something I find myself returning to almost daily. 

(a female common eider, an osprey, and a great egret)

When I’m not out wandering, you’ll find me in my studio, painting or cozied up at my old desk, sorting through photos, editing, or writing.

I really just want to give more of my time to my art, with fewer distractions. A slower place of my own, where I can focus more on the work and less on the noise. Here I'll be sharing the photos I take, the things that light up my soul, the stories I wish to tell, and the work they've inspired.

It feels good to be sharing again :)

If you’ve found your way here, welcome.

Mel