Local Talent

Everything’s better with glitter

Photographer adds a little bling to her pictures and makes them glow!

STORY: LEIGH NEELY // PHOTO: FRED LOPEZ

Carol Black is a crafter who enjoys making things with her hands. Before retiring, she was secretary for the school district near her home in Turnersville, New Jersey, and fi nished her career as secretary at a high school. She is now a snowbird fi ve to six months a year in this area.

Since her husband really enjoys golf, a game she’s never taken to, she began looking for a hobby to suit her interests. While strolling through a gallery one day, she decided she would like a picture much better if it had a little brightness to it—and maybe a little bling.

“I just started taking photos with my phone, and then I’d put glitter on different elements of the picture,” Carol says. “I tried all kinds of glitter, but it wasn’t until I began using glass glitter that I discovered what worked best for my photos.”

Glass glitter generally comes from Germany and is made from fi nely ground glass. “I just use a glue pen and put the glue wherever I want it and the glitter stays in place,” she says.

Unfortunately, glass glitter can be painful to work with. “I have proof of that all over my hands,” Carol says.

Carol’s photos are generally outdoor scenes. She especially loves taking photos in her New Jersey backyard when it snows. Putting the glitter on the snow makes it sparkle like snow in the moonlight. Her snow photos sell very well, and those photos are most often requested.

Recently she took a trip to Nashville and stayed at the Gaylord Hotel. A photo of the waterfall inside the hotel was one of her favorites. She wasn’t sure it would work well with the glitter, but after it was applied, the glitter brought the photo to life, making the water appear to be moving.

“I did research and experimented a lot before I got it down to the art form I love,” Carol says. “Now, with the glass glitter, I can do a lot of work in a short space of time.”

Carol’s photographs, aptly named “Puttin’ on the Glitz,” are available exclusively at Under the Cherry Blossoms, 443 N. Donnelly St., in Mount Dora. They are matted and framed and ready to hang.