Going Beyond Photography
"Digital art is the same as other more traditional art . . . it is just created with a different tool. Art is about the vision of the artist, not the tools that were used to create it."
Photography has always been my first love, having purchased my first camera when I was 11 years old from the proceeds of selling Christmas cards. Switching from darkroom photography to digital over ten years ago has enabled me to combine my love of photography with graphic art.
As a graduate from the School of Visual Arts at Florida State University, I have always felt fortunate to have had a 25 year career as an artist. The majority of those years were spent as a graphic designer and photographer in hospital public relations and marketing, with the balance working for local newspapers.
Now retired, I spend my days creating art from my extensive collection of photographs that I have taken over the years. Interacting with local artists, customers and visitors at the gallery where I am a working artist and participating in a few local art fairs makes for a happy "retirement". (And the extra money makes for great photo shoots like the trip I made to Africa and Istanbul in 2014!) I also taught a continuing education class at the University of North Florida on Photo Art Techniques.
The Process
Bradshaw begins with her own ORIGINAL photographs. Working in Photoshop, she often combines many photographs, creating her own backgrounds and textures then layers them using different filters and processes. For example, sea turtles and fish are photographed in tanks. She extracts the image from the background and layers them on a different background - often ending up with 20 or more layers. Then once everything is placed where she likes the overall image she uses various techniques, filters and programs to take her work “Beyond Photography” creating the finished digital painting.
