Hiking above Artist Drive, Death Valley, October 2017
My earliest underwater experiences probably occurred in the womb, since my mom was scuba diving while carrying me. She later worked as an artist's model. I loved exploring the studios of our artist friends.
As a student I started doing silkscreen printing at 13, and continued with this medium through the first years of college in Santa Monica. I moved to Santa Cruz in 1978 to attend UCSC, where I followed my interest in marine sciences and graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies. I became involved in SCUBA diving, and used this to carry out research on sea otter feeding behavior, using underwater observations. At the same time, I took writing classes and became friends with one of my professors, George Hitchcock, who also was a small press editor and printmaker. Using his rubber rollers, water soluble ink and rubber stamps, I started to create a series of underwater landscapes, inspired by experiences diving and knowledge of marine biology. My intent was to convey the visceral and emotional experience of diving, facing the intense colors and beauty of the underwater world.
This led to a series of works on nautical charts, and a series of exhibits which strengthened my commitment to a life of art making. I have continued to work in series, expressing environmental themes.
Since 2002 I've journeyed to Death Valley every March and October for photography and inspiration, self-publishing books of photography on the themes of Surfaces, Canyon Walls, and Dried Mud.
After a desert wind storm inspired a poem, and later a re-examination of earlier work, I published a book of poetry:
Anemone Reef T.F. Mackey