“ Summers Promise ” hotographer and multimedia artist , Gay
Waldman , is a soft-spoken woman with an adventurer ’ s spirit . She is smart , humble , unfailingly gracious , and has a wonderful selfdeprecating sense of humor . She is also a savvy businesswoman who has forged her own path in the world of art and helped others to do the same .
Her artistic journey began early on when her kindergarten teacher wrote on her report card , “ Gay might be a great artist one day !” Little did that teacher know just how right she was . Waldman ’ s journey was clear to her at the time , however , and with the encouragement of many , Gay eventually found her path — her parents were among the first to nudge her in that direction .
“ When I graduated high school my mom and dad gave me a Minolta SR-T 201 35mm camera . I used it for years and then I shifted to Canon gear . I read the manuals and took thousands of good and bad photos . Experimenting and making mistakes answered most of my questions .”
When Gay left for college , she didn ’ t think she would eventually go into the arts . Initially , she majored in Sociology , but in her junior year , her school counselor sat down with her to finalize her path to graduation . Only four credits from completing a Sociology major , Gay also declared herself an Art major and graduated with a double major in Sociology and Art .
Gay ’ s intention was to be a painter , but she dabbled with photography and learned darkroom techniques while enrolled in a journalism class taught by Del Lusk . This class moved her art in a new direction .
The expense of painting encouraged Gay to photograph more , with the intention of painting those images later . She set up her darkroom in the bathroom tub of every apartment she lived in and printed at night . After two years , she received an invitation to show her artwork at her college ’ s guest gallery and supplemented her paintings by also showing her photographs . The photos apparently went over well . Her next gallery show was all photography pieces , but photos to which she ’ d added her own twist .
“ I used colored pencils to add hints of color to my black and white images and I also cut and collaged my work . At that time , I didn ’ t realize photographs would be the foundation of all my future artwork .”
When asked what inspired her to embellish her photo work her answer made me smile . “ A show deadline ! I had photographs ready for a show , but not a strong enough selection . So , I used what I had — more photos , Prismacolor pencils , and an X-Acto knife . I cut out weak parts of the photos , added collage images , added color , and built them better .”
“ This led me to darkroom experiments , printing through textured glass , adding more color , using oil paint , and mounting multiple images together . I also set up three enlargers to print multiple negatives . I now occasionally add pencil extensions around my photos and use my painted canvases and pastel drawings as backdrops and integral components within my finished photo artwork .”
After graduation , Gay worked many different jobs until , in 1986 , she landed a job at a local frame shop , not only for employment but also to be able to afford to present her artwork professionally . She worked for two retail framing galleries for 16 years and has been a professional custom picture framer since then . During that time , she purchased her own equipment , built a custom frame shop , and has been independent since 2002 . All the while , she kept learning about and experimenting with her art .
“ Through the years I recognize I am always willing to adopt new technologies , to experiment and push my medium further .”
And push she did . Waldman leaped into the digital world in 1994 . She purchased a scanner and drawing tablet and educated herself on how to use Photoshop and Painter ,
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