and the reasons are...
Suzanne Mears: "Photography is all about light, and the visual dynamic range of these glass pieces can be difficult to capture. They are so stunning in person; they have texture, depth and the colors glow, refract, distort, or reflect in amazing ways. Yet photographs of my work can't fully represent the way you perceive them with human eyes.
We use Photoshop to compensate for that when necessary, changing the contrast or brightness, perhaps even the color balance to communicate the intensity of certain colors. Sometimes the background of an image is "in the way." It's something you only notice in the captured two dimensional image and not when you are viewing the piece directly. Those backgrounds may be deliberately blurred a little, simulating depth of field – or a lot. The intent isn't to enhance the photographs beyond the natural beauty of the glass, but to convey as much as possible the vibrant and joyous reality of it."
Mears' training includes degrees from the University of Iowa, postgraduate work in both fine art and art education at the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin. Mears taught several years in the Iowa public school system before moving to Oklahoma City and devoting herself fulltime as a professional artist. |
Duane Garvin: "I've enjoyed working with Suzanne and Photoshop to represent in a two dimensional image the amazing beauty and visual depth of these glass pieces. She's taught me more than a little about art in general. She can't help it – she was (and is) a teacher! Though I attended a university (or two), it was a dead-end path of my own choosing, one that didn't play to my strengths. I'm currently revisiting earlier interests in photography, digital art (is that real?) and 3D design of metal sculptures and structures.
The link that probably brought you here is under the photograph of "Knight's Guardian." It represents a synthesis of technologies that have been of interest to me for some time, but lacked both direction and the new capabilities of Photoshop CS3 Extended. The other tools I use are Google SketchUp Pro 6 for quick 3D prototyping, Bryce 6, Hexagon 2 and the new IDX-Renditioner plugin for Google Sketchup.
The steel base model was actually created in December, 2006 to solicit quotes to build them in their basic form. Quotes were never obtained and it lay dormant until a Problem arose: Suzanne had glass to display, but no base available for it. "Knight's Guardian" therefore has a virtual base! A real one will follow in its own time.
When more time is available, we will perhaps design other bases that can showcase the inherent beauty of these pieces – without of course detracting from them. So enjoy! And check back from time to time to see what's new." May, 2007
April 16, 2008:
The TurboSketch Studio plugin was recently replaced by the enhanced IDX-Renditioner plugin. I've change the link to direct those who may be interested to its new site.