WHAT IS PHOTO FUSION?

Photo Fusion is the term I use for combining photographs with mixed media. For those of us who love art but can't draw to save our soul (c'mon, raise your hand with me!), it's the perfect way to satisfy those creative yearnings. Don't you just love going to the art store?  To me it's like going into a candy store...but healthier! I may not spend a lot on clothes, and I eat pretty simply, but I absolutely CANNOT resist indulging my appetite for art supplies. I love looking at the different materials and thinking about ways to work them into my photography. So that's what I do, and then I figure out how to share my ideas with you through books, articles, kits and workshops ...and soon, video workshops. That's next for 2010!

Here's an example of a mixed media work in progress I've been working on with my gifted artist friend Amadea Bailey . It started with a photo I took of her in her studio and evolved into a multi-paneled piece that now stands five feet tall. We used Bonny Lhotka 's process of transferring via Purell hand sanitizer. Bonny is a wizard...well, an alchemist really...mixing a little of this and a little of that to enable us to print our images on uncommon surfaces like very heavy watercolor paper, wood, metal, and even glass.  She co-authored one of my favorite how-to books, "Digital Art Studio: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials," and I'm just putting the finishing touches on an article I wrote about her, soon to be published in "AfterCapture Magazine." Will let you know when it comes out.