FERNDALE – For Mariuca Rofica, photography comes naturally.
"My father, uncle and great uncle were avid photographers when I was growing up," she said. "I always watched them and was interested."
But it's her husband, Carl Wilson, she credits with getting her started in her own right.
"When Carl and I got together I was fascinated with his artwork," said Rofica. "He encouraged me to try my hand at painting, pastels, drawing, etc. I didn't do very well at any of those things. I told him about my interest in photography and he encouraged it and bought me my first digital camera. He later encouraged me to enter my photos in shows. The first ones I submitted were accepted and I've been exhibiting ever since."
Rofica cites a couple of the greats as her inspiration.
"I love the work of Ansel Adams and Gordon Parks," Rofica said. "I like black and whites and architectural details and basically shoot images I want to take home with me."
As for her husband, Rofica speaks about his work with obvious admiration.
"Carl's style is very raw and emotional," she said. "It leans toward primitive but with an almost eerie intuitiveness that comes from deep wells of life experience and folksy wisdom passed forward from generations ago."
Together, they're quite a combination, and they're home is often bustling with artistic activity.
"It's fun and makes for lively discussions," Rofica admitted. "I think we have a deep respect for each other's creative process and we try not to interfere with it. I love to come home from my day job to a new piece by Carl. We are not too afraid to critique each other's work… gingerly, of course."
The couple is currently presenting their second joint exhibit in the Pittmann-Puckett Gallery of Affirmations. They call it the Twin Souls Exhibition.
"I took a photo a couple of years ago of a pair of peonies that looked (to me) so happy to be together that they seemed to be soul mates," Rofica explained. "I decided that they represented me and Carl. We have a symbiotic relationship; we're very different, but have enough in common to have a great relationship. So we called this exhibit 'Twin Souls' to say this is the work of soul mates, creatively and in all other ways."
