Artist and Alumna Saybra Giles O’Brian Shares her Methods and Advice

Last Friday McMurry Art and Design hosted an interactive photo transfer workshop led by alumna Saybra Giles O’Brian! Inspired by her exhibit, ROOTS, featured in the Ryan Gallery, O’Brian instructed attendees to bring 2-3 laser printed photos to create beautiful gel transfers, like those featured in her work!

I attended the workshop and I had a blast! First, we started by receiving a warm greeting from O’Brian. Her upbeat and motivated attitude made it very easy to learn from her. She told us about different types of photo transfer, how long her typical photo transfer takes, and how the possibilities are endless to create art through photo transfer.

We were taught the method of gel photo transfer. Once you have an image ready (printed from a laser printer) you paint 2-3 layers of an acrylic gel medium directly on top. Your layers should be relatively thick, and once they are completely dry—no tackiness— you can move on to the next step: Erasing the paper. Yes, that’s right, erase the paper! The gel medium has now absorbed your image, and the paper needs to be withered down. You take a sponge soak the back of it with water, and slowly begin to rub the paper away. After this your image is ready to be adhered to any canvas of your choosing, once again using the gel medium!

O’Brian showed us the messy but fun process, cracking jokes and reacting positively to our progress. She was incredibly insightful and eager to answer questions. I have always been interested in photo collage but O’Brian’s workshop presented a new form of art that I can’t wait to keep observing.

O’Brian is the featured Alumni Artist for McMurry Homecoming this year. Her beautiful exhibit, ROOTS, is currently on display in the Ryan Gallery! It was a joy to work and learn under her, and I hope to heed her advice and inspiration to be a better artist! Thank you Saybra!