ART TECHNOLOGY

One of my professors, Tyler Turkle, once said, “If you want to paint, you paint.” He was making the point that materials don’t and shouldn’t control one’s creative process. If an artist doesn’t have a canvas, he can paint on plywood (or cardboard). If he doesn’t have paint, he can use chalk, etc. The need to create controls…not the desire to do it “correctly.”

That having been said, I believe that an artist who has the resources to create work that can last should put forth the effort to do so. I’ve reached that point, and I’ve tried to be very particular in the way my paintings are created and displayed.

When an artist determines that his work is worth doing, it becomes necessary to provide a form and format that can endure. In my case, I have chosen oil on canvas. My canvases are hand crafted to insure that they will last long enough for them to stand the test of time.

The canvas is heavy duty, high quality cotton duck. The stretcher frames are carefully designed from kiln-dried cedar held together with glue and brass screws. They are tapered at the edges to provide a knife edge to the canvas. The intent is to have minimal contact with the canvas and allow it to float on the stretcher frame. The frames are carefully squared and braced at the corners to prevent warping that might distort the final image. Each joint is inset to prevent any possible interference with the viewer’s consideration of the image.

Once stretched, the canvas is primed with the highest quality acrylic gesso. The pigment is pressed into the fibers of the canvas to provide maximum protection against environmental deterioration.

The content of the paintings, their design, their hue…where pigment is applied to surface and why, etc.

These are issues for critics to ponder. Each of my paintings will be around long enough for anyone who cares to ponder and reflect. This page presents the technology that supports my art.