Sheila F. Crawford
Sheila F. Crawford has been a professional artist in competition since 1981 and a retired art instructor who taught drawing, painting and sculpture at Flagler-Palm Coast High School.
For almost twenty years, Sheila had been a painter, who specialized in a style she described as Photo-realistic collage, or a Surrealistic style, using acrylics and the airbrush as her tool of choice to execute the paintings. Today she is using the same style that she used in painting, and applying it to Digital Photography.
The Process
Each of Sheila’s digital photo collage or Surrealistic styled photographs starts out as a traditional photographic image, photographed with a traditional Nikon 35mm camera or with a Canon 10D digital SLR. When using film, she scans and downloads the photographic image into the computer using a Nikon 35mm Cool Scan III scanner.
In the case of photographic prints or 3-D objects, she uses a Microtek tabloid size (12”x17”) flatbed scanner. When 3-D objects are scanned on the flatbed of the scanner, it is referred to as “Camera-less Photography”. Once the images have been selected and down loaded into the “Digital Dark Room”, Sheila uses her many years as a painter to work out the composition, using Thumbnail sketches in order, to work out a visually interesting composition.
Having brought the images into the computer, she uses Photoshop CS2 to optimize each image, then selects photographic elements of those images to compose the composition. She also uses traditional photographic darkroom techniques such as solarization, cyanotypes, or selective colorization, just to name a few, when the effect is desired, to the image or composition.
Once the photographic composition is completed, it is time to print.
She prints all of her photographs using an Epson 7500 wide format printer, which uses 100 year, archival-pigmented inks and a variety of photograph papers of various surface qualities such as Epson Premium Luster or Epson Fine Art Paper by Crain.
Sheila choses to print the photographs herself rather than having them printed commercially so she can have complete control of the printing process.
Each large format photograph is printed as an Original Limited Edition Print of 50 prints or less and receives a Certificate of Authenticity.
Artist Mission Statement
Sheila’s mission as a Digital Photographer is to use this new technology and create images, which are a Visual Spiritual Journey, beyond the boundaries of traditional photography.
Education
B.A. In Art Education, Bethune – Cookman College 1974
The University Of Florida, Carnegie Program 1973
Individual or Group Exhibition
Art In Public Places Project -- Daytona Beach International Airport 1993
Florida Capitol Complex Exhibition Program “ From Surreal to Photo-Real 1996
“ Kindred Sprits “ Ormond Memorial Art Museum & Gardens 1998
Poster Artist: Mayfaire By The Lake 2004
Solo Exhibition, Café Da Vinci -- Deland Florida 2006
Art Center Manatee “ Fusion” Bradenton Fl 2007
Museum Of Arts and Science, Daytona Beach, Fl: Florida Artist 2007
Feathered Festival Artist: Deland Fall Festival 2008
Museum Collections
Deland Museum of Art, Deland Florida
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland Florida
The Harn Museum, Gainesville Florida
Other Collections
Daytona Beach Community College, Daytona Beach Florida
Central Florida Community College, Ocala Florida
The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton Ohio
http://www.crawforddigitalstudio.com/html/biography.html
