In 2005 I was experimenting with the
layers feature in PhotoShop for a class I was teaching. It was
then that I remembered the photos of the adding machine
tape. I dredged them out of the bottom of the dresser
drawer, scanned them into the computer and started
manipulating the image. I didn’t particularly care for
the results that I was seeing so I created another of
the adding machine tape shapes, photographed it with a
digital camera and tried again. This time I got more
than I bargained for. As I started blending different
layers of the image, changing the hues and saturation
and other manipulations I discovered that I could create
some amazing, highly symmetrical images. And the number
of permutations possible is virtually endless.
Each Stuck-Art piece is created individually. What makes
the process so intriguing is that I have no idea what I’m
going to end up with. I take one or two original
photographs of the tape and just start modifying the shapes
using any number of techniques available in the software I
am currently using. At some point the piece will reveal
itself to me at which time I may make one or two slight
alterations and then name and save the image. Naming the
images is almost as much fun as creating them. Occasionally
the image will name itself (see “Buddha” or “Bunny in a
Beaker”). At other times the underlying image or color
combination will evoke a more subtle title (see “Astral
Mariner” or Connemara”).
In September 2006 I opened my first photo-art exhibit at Studio Open on
Folly Beach
with 15 Stuck-Art pieces ranging in size from 16x20 up
to 24x36. The exhibit was scheduled to run for six weeks
but was extended for an additional two weeks. The pieces
are now being made available on this website.
