From Memories to Masterpieces

Working in her studio nestled on a hillside overlooking Wears Valley, a border community of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, artist Kathryn Rutherford’s face takes on a radiance.

It’s created not only by the love of her work but by the ultraviolet lights, which allow her to transform old, damaged, or otherwise imperfect photographs into masterpieces. 

Under those lights, old photographs glow in the dark and, although they appear a royal blue color, all the original details captured the day the photograph was taken are revealed. 

“The issue is knowing how to capture the glowing blue photographs on film and print the reproduction from negatives that are so black one would think printing would be impossible,” she says. 

Rutherford is one of the few restoration artists trained to work on an original photograph and restore it whenever possible.

“Most everyone these days has access to some form of copy and restoration capabilities on their computer, but without historical knowledge, drawing, and technical skills, it’s usually impossible to do justice to some projects,” she says.

When it comes to quality, drawing capabilities, historical accuracy, and “lost causes,” Rutherford is ready to step in and provide a higher level of service.

Rutherford says it’s heartbreaking to meet people who have thrown away old damaged pictures thinking nothing could be done with them only to meet her and learn otherwise. 

“There are often tears of both joy and sorrow in my studio,” she says.

Cleaning, reconstructing and restoring an original photograph requires knowledge of the photographic history and materials used. 

“You would not believe how many people bring in large, convex, curved glass photographs on which they have used a wet cloth for cleaning and actually wiped off the artwork that was applied to these photographs when created,” Rutherford says. 

Many of these portraits, called Crayon Portraits, are lightly printed photographs with massive amounts of enhancement artwork applied. Others are entirely original hand-drawn portraits that look like photographs.

“You can imagine what happens when those without knowledge of historic restoration methods and materials attempt to wash a dirty photograph,” Rutherford says. “This is where knowledge and drawing skills must come into play and what I believe makes me unique in the restoration industry is that I am a classically-trained fine artist with knowledge of the history of photography, period clothing design and studio practices. My goal is not to make a copy, but to duplicate the detail, look, feel and texture of the original.”

Rutherford also restores old tintypes using a process she developed specifically for tintypes produced between 1852 and 1930 that were incorrectly exposed and darkened or damaged over time. 

The secret technique enables her to photograph an original tintype in a chemical bath and capture the metal image onto film that is then printed, restored, and reproduced either on fiber-base paper or aluminum as a “Simulated Tintype.” 

She was presented the Masterpiece Award from the Fujifilm Corporation for this achievement.

Both a fine artist and a restoration artisan, Rutherford also produces “Spirit Paintings,” storytelling paintings of historical events, locations, and family histories that include transparent figures of those who have passed on, but who are important to the story being told.

Rutherford started her professional career as an artist when she was fifteen painting watercolor portraits at an amusement park on an island in the Detroit River. 

In 1980, she began Heirloom Art Studio in Ontario, Canada, and relocated the company to the Smoky Mountains in 1997 when she moved there permanently with her husband and daughter.

At the last minute, Rutherford’s Heirloom Art Studio and her home were spared from the 2016 wildfires that burned in Sevier County when rain came and winds shifted flames and embers away from her property. 

She hopes when things settle down that she’ll be able to assist families affected by the fires in reconstructing memories and family histories when they eventually locate photos that require her talents and special touch.