Celebration of Fine Art: Through the Artist’s Eyes
Through the Artist’s Eyes: Transforming Photography to Fine Art
The Celebration of Fine Art celebrates a diverse range of artists and artwork including photography. And there are a few artists at the show taking the medium to the next level through fine art. Two of which, have not only mastered the keen ability to find beauty in things most of us overlook, but also the challenging technique of photo transfer.
Tiffany Mulherin, who has worked as a professional photographer in Los Angeles and Denver, specializing in high-fashion and fine art photography for more than five years, found her way into fine art through a unique process – Polaroid emulsion and image transfers.
Tiffany Mulherin
“I taught myself how to do the Polaroid transfers in school for a project,” Tiffany said. From there a passion was born.
“What drives my passion is the final outcome, but it’s also being able to go out and shoot then turn the photography into something completely different through this process.”
Tiffany’s art is created using a dwindling and rare process of Polaroid emulsion and image transfer, a time-consuming technique that requires an adept touch because of the fragility of the medium. One misstep can mean the difference between a failed work and a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
“Collectors are drawn to my work because of the soft peaceful feeling that it gives,” she said. “I think it fits really nice in a home environment because it gives that soft feeling.”
Sondra Wampler, a 4-year-show veteran, is more than a storied professional photographer. As she sees it, and her collectors would agree, she is an artist who simply uses photography as her medium like a painter who uses oil or acrylic.
Sondra Wampler
“It’s the making of art, the process of creating original pieces that makes me excited about this,” Sondra said. “The process of photography can be a very technical thing, but I’m more about what can I create using photography as my tool?”
So Sondra began photographing botanicals and taking the time to study each of her subjects individually.
“I photograph them in black and white, because without the color you are left with the architecture of the plant,” she said. “I’m also looking for the personality in each plant, so they’re a lot like portraits. I spend a lot of time trying to find that personality and if it comes through then I photograph it. If not, I don’t.”
Sondra also recently began creating photomontages, using her original photographs and the photo transfer process to create the pieces.
“These montages are more in the realm of surrealism,” she said. “I’m able to create these fantasy-like places. A lot of these are inspired by my own dreams, fantasies or thoughts. I dream very vividly and I always have had very surreal dreams.”
“For my collectors, there is an emotional response to the work. They say the work has a lot of feeling in it. It stirs an emotional response in them.”
