The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Steven Spring
Steven Spring PhotographySouth Charleston Ohio 45368 United StatesHome Ohio United States Home Phone: 9374627381
Bio
In my previous life, I was a suit and tie audit supervisor with the Auditor of State of Ohio, having received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with a major in accounting from The Ohio State University in 1987. What little writing ability I possess was developed writing audit reports to be released to the public by the state of Ohio upon completion of each audit. That ability came in handy as I was writing lots of letters for about twenty-five years, as my members of Congress can attest. I was able to attend college via the G.I. Bill, having served four years in the Navy aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ranger (CV-61) in the late 1970s as a weatherman.
Due to a major mid-life crisis which ended life as I knew it in the mid 1990s, I am now pursuing my life-long dream of becoming a guitarist. Music has always been the love of my life, probably since watching The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in the early 1960s. Rock was my first love, but that soon gave way to the blues. This was a natural progression, as the most influential rock & roll bands during my teenage years leaned very heavily on the blues. The most influential guitarists in my life, in no particular order are: Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Michael Bloomfield, B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Chris Duarte, Walter Trout, Jimi Hendrix and of course, The Man, that being Stevie Ray.
In addition to my music, photography has been a life-long hobby. I was always the one who took the family photos as a child and purchased my first 35mm Canon camera (a fully manual AT-1), lenses and accessories while overseas in the Navy. During the summer of 2013, I replaced my Canon A-1 camera that I bought in 1980 not long after getting out of the service, finally going digital with a Canon EOS 60D. Since then, I have upgraded yet again with another Canon, this one a 6D Mark II, each loaded with 100mm macro lens. I have made up for lost time, however, by shooting slightly more than 300,000 photos, 99.999% of which are flowers. Becoming a grandfather for the very first time two years ago, recently, I now have a very beautiful granddaughter to photograph as well!!! Come December, I will have another grandbaby to photograph as well. When she turns two next month, I am giving my granddaughter a real digital camera as a present.
Though music is still my true love, at this stage in life, I am a far better photographer than guitarist; however, that is mainly due to digital photography now consumes my entire life. And, by consumes, I mean OCD consuming.
Steven H. Spring
Artist Statement
As a photographer, I’ve never been big on having my picture taken, as it’s hard for me to smile just by someone saying “cheese.” That being said, my profile picture might be the last time I did not mind having my picture taken, which was shot by my father, who was a photographer. That was all I knew of him, as my parents divorced when I was around two years old, and his name was never mentioned again.
Twenty years ago, at Grandpa’s funeral (my mother’s father), my father’s sister came to a viewing and after talking to her for five minutes, I learned their father had a darkroom in his basement.
What’s really weird is that I get my musical ability from Grandpa’s family. He was a casual picker (his 1942 Old Kraftman acoustic guitar sits three feet away from me), however his father was in a band one hundred years ago. One of my life’s biggest regrets is that I did not start playing until my fortieth birthday, when I bought my first guitar, one month after life as I knew it ended. My guitars saved my life.
355 Clifton Road Apt. 34 South Charleston Ohio 45368 United States