The first major Making Wings creation was THE LEAP PROJECT.

From December 31st, 2007 until December 31st, 2008, I kept a daily record of my life and interests in words and images.  Using only my palm-sized 8 megapixel Olympus camera and Microsoft Digital Image Suite, I undertook to appreciate a little more deeply the world around me, specifically the often-small things that I encountered (or quite literally stumbled over) every day.  The project forced me to focus on my surroundings more deeply, to smell the proverbial coffee more fully. Suddenly, the beer can in the gutter, the cat in the store window, the velvet pattern on a movie theater seat all became art objects--I began to see potential photographs everywhere I turned and to experience generally taken-for-granted items in new ways.  So the title of the project--LEAP--refers both to the fact that 2008 had 366 days and to the exciting realities that opened up for me in the seemingly mundane. Not only was this an exercise in living one day at a time but also a spiritual awakening of sorts that made me appreciate the richness that surrounds me--and all of us.

The bulk of the pictures were taken on my daily morning bike rides through the Oakdale-Sayville area, on my frequent trips to Manhattan, and inside my house.  Other locales include vacation spots in the Adirondacks, New England, and Fire Island.

The accompanying words represent thoughts, beloved quotations, and impressions.

Enjoy...

...and think about doing something like this for yourself, something that will help you to zoom in on your day-to-day existence and facilitate your appreciation of that which you might have not even seen if you hadn't taken the time.

This project isn't about just looking--it's about SEEING.