Meet Phoenix SpiritDiva

We were lucky to catch up with Phoenix SpiritDiva recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Phoenix, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
For me risk-taking is the not so secret ingredient that has made all the difference in achieving anything worthwhile in my life and career. Although I never really think of myself this way, I find that others do and, in fact, many of my collectors call me “intrepid”. I am simply being me. Perhaps it is this essence of my being that allows me to connect with and capture the soul of animals and environments in my fine art photography.

Throughout my various careers as an educator, school system administrator, business coach, radio talk-show host, speaker and more and now as a professional photographer, a curiosity, sense of wonder and willingness to explore, perfect and master the “new” and unchartered path has always directed my actions. Not everything has always worked out as expected. As much as I have always cringed at the thought of failure, experience has taught me I have always fallen forward to a more perfect place. As Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “It’s better to have tried and failed than to live life wondering what would’ve happened if I tried”.

Persistence, fortitude, inner strength, positivity along with staying centered in the middle of life’s storms and creatively finding my way to the upside of uncertainty and upsets help define my character. A good dose of self-humor helps too, although often in retrospect.

Honed through adversity my inner core is guided by an unwavering belief in trusting my inner voice, intuition, God-voice, spirit, Universe or whatever word works for you. Regardless of my scholarly achievements, following pure logic has often tripped me up and been costly – physically, emotionally and fiscally. Life University has taught me there is a right balance and approach to achieving accomplishments. Whenever I follow this higher voice from a place of confidence, whatever I thought was supposed to materialize, that or something better happens.

This is pretty much a repeating pattern in my photography adventures. For example, one afternoon I thought I was being prompted to go to Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to capture the sunset. When I arrived and scouted the area it just wasn’t a spectacular sunset that evening. Then I turned around and couldn’t believe my eyes as I gazed up to a massive pink harvest supermoon. Quickly I found my location on a narrow berm between two lakes overlooking a marsh. Sunset shifted to the blue hour and I photographed as late as I could until the booming grunts of alligators told me it was time to call it a wrap. (See photograph “Moon Over the Marsh”)

Another time, one night before going to bed I was guided to photograph the sunrise at Everglades National Park the next day. I zeroed in on Long Pine Key. The next morning arriving before twilight with my camera gear in one hand and a flash light in the other I walked towards the lake to set up my shot of the sun rising between two pine islands. Then the light shined back. I froze. Intuitively I knew I was walking straight towards an alligator. I took a few steps back and waited. When the sun’s golden rays began to pass though the pine trees, I raced towards the lake’s edge as the alligator slid off the shore and glided across the lake in the morning fog. (See photograph “First Light”)

Most recently I spent a week in Cape Cod photographing dinghies, canoes and sail boats, high dunes, the ocean, bays and harbors, sunrise and sunsets, famed lighthouses and more. Captivated by the light, I sought out compositions that evoke solitude, peace and simplicity. I was up early and out late every day to capture the magic of Cape Cod.

Even with the best planning, sometimes things go awry. My last night resulted in being rescued by 911 Provincetown and the National Park Service. Research showed that it was a 20 minute walk from the parking sand lot to Race Point Light. For me it was about an hour on the unmarked trail through sand and marsh grass. By the time I found the lighthouse sunset was falling fast. I found my best composition and attempted to out race (no pun intended) the sun as it was blocked by the dunes to return to the sand lot. Not able to find my foot prints or anyone else’s I found a higher ground on the dunes and was guided to call 911. Miraculously the cell phone had reception and two hours later I was on the road home. (See photograph “Sunset at Race Point Light”)

So yes, in short, I’d say I’m a calculated risk-taker… One who follows higher wisdom, does my best planning, shows up, stays centered in love and flows with what is. And, although, it may not always feel or look that way at first, it always ends up on the upside.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
It has been said that the camera reflects both ways. As an artist, every vision I capture through my camera’s lens reflects my heart being touched by the soul of wild places and their inhabitants. Every time I go out to photograph nature I really find myself going within. I love the sacred opportunity to commune with the divine, transcendent essence of nature. For me the extraordinary beauty of nature and wilderness are a wonder. Attempting to fix them in time is my passion; photography is my art.

Though my subjects differ widely – from owls, egrets and flamingos to sacred trees and forests to the moon over marshes and the Milky Way over national parks to dramatic sunrises and sunsets to delicate flowers – my photographs all carry my signature style that inspires peace and serenity featuring subjects that are either endangered or threatened. Known for my painterly approach to photography, my great sense of oneness with the natural world and understanding of composition, light and timing comes through. More than a beautiful piece of fine art photography, with each of my pieces it’s always my intent to raise awareness of endangered and threatened species and habitats that we stand to lose in the natural world if we are not careful. I’m honored that so many collectors tell me they feel as if they are right there with me while I’m taking the photograph when viewing my art work.

My approach to photography and life is grounded in my philosophical belief that we are all one, we are all interconnected. In protecting the world’s nature and wildlife, the environment, we are really protecting the family of humanity. For me the importance of nature is more than a scientific necessity for creating quality air, clean water and producing food. It is a sacred necessity for healing and bringing peace to the human soul. And, I, for one, am a beneficiary every time I step out into nature.

In addition to 90+ collectors worldwide, I am honored to be the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including: two month-long Artist-In-Residence programs – Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Olive Stack Gallery in Ireland; the Virtual Artist-in-Residence for the Center for Great Apes Art4Apes Exhibition; the featured artist for the first Endangered Exhibit – United Kingdom; two public art grants, nine public art awards and many other prestigious awards, including the Julia Cameron International Women’s Photography Contest, winning Best Landscape and Seascape Series.

My fine art photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally in numerous juried and group exhibits as well as 23 museum, public and private solo exhibits. They have graced national magazine covers and I am regularly featured in newspapers, magazines, blog posts and video interviews worldwide – print and online. I was invited to be the first photographer to “takeover” the Instagram page for the Friends of Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Most recently, the Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Weston, Florida acquired 22 large works for their permanent collection in the Women’s Center.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Having been an inspirational speaker I’ve always been curious to learn how people from humble backgrounds overcame/broke through/rose above circumstances and obstacles in their life to achieve success, their dream, and live their best lives bigger, better and brighter than others could image possible. Over the years I’ve collected hundreds of meaningful pithy quotes that have shaped my thoughts and actions to do just that. Here are a few:

Be Bold – A quote attributed to Goethe (poet, playwright, diplomat and more) reminds us that “Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. BOLDNESS HAS GENIUS, POWER AND MAGIC IN IT”. As Nike’s tag line says “Just do it!”

Be Brave as in Delete and Release who or what no longer works or is meant to be in your life. – As the late American writer Joseph Campbell said: “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.PhotographsByPhoenix.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoenixspiritdiva/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phoenix.spiritdiva/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/spiritdiva
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrN6fTMKO8FqVqSmkGzBF1A

Image Credits
All photographed provided and copyrighted by PhotographsByPhoenix