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Description
I began painting in oils in 1969. I had just given up on my dream of becoming a mega rock star, and I needed a creative outlet. A few years later I opened my own Art Gallery. The gallery didn’t last very long, but, because of the gallery, I met an artist who was pouring enamel paint on Styrofoam.
The colors were more vibrant than any oils or acrylics available at the time. I began experimenting with Oil-Based Enamel Paint almost 50 years ago. I began working with enamel on Masonite. There are a lot of inherent limitations when using enamel paint. The painting surface had to be perfectly level or the paint would sag during the drying process. If the paint was too thick it would pucker and/or crack. The different colors have different specific gravities, so, as they dry, the lighter colors rose to the top and the heavier colors sank. The painting I ended up with only slightly resembled the painting as I had painted it. Still, they were interesting and colorful, and I sold several. At some point it occurred to me that if I pressed my freshly completed, but still wet, painting onto glass, it would hold its shape.
I experimented with that, made several enamels on glass paintings, and then let them sit for 30 years. I didn’t know if they would crack, fade, or peel. After 30 years of being mounted on a wall where they receive some direct sunlight every day they are still as vibrant as the day I painted them. So, I began painting in this medium again in 2002. Because of weight and flexibility, I now usually use Acrylic instead of Glass. Just this year I have done some Enamel on Canvas paintings. GALLERIES that have carried my paintings: Your Friendly Neighborhood Artist, Opa-Locka, FL - Running Creek Gallery, Elizabeth, CO - Canaan Gallery, Englewood, CO - Studio One, Frisco, CO - Gunnison Arts Center, Gunnison, CO - One of a Kind Gallery, Farmington, NM. - Art on the Street, Castle Rock, CO - Art Gallery of Viera, FL