i’m a painter - so i paint ...
nearly every day - one way or another, since 1972 ...
with humility; i’ve had the opportunity to experiment and explore just about every genre and material out there to arrive at my own ‘voice’ ...
done it all - from gargantuan three dimensional installations, environmental, traditional, performance, collaborative, and conceptual ...
the common denominator - paint - has remained my primary vehicle of expression ...
for now, why is less important than that fact ...
during post graduate studies at the university of the arts [philadelphia, 1979], a colleague recommended that i contact a small paint manufacturer in upstate new york to seek resolve to a technical issue i was having with a series of drawing and xerox collages ...
i wanted the objects veiled in translucent color as though they were stain glass images - veils that would not interfere chemically with archival standards of paper ...
short of being encumbered by the weight of glass or the static limitations and color selections of plexiglas or acetate, there didn’t seem to be a product manufactured that provided a thin enough viscosity with consistent coverage and saturation -translucent consistency was the objective ...
quality acrylic paint and mediums for artists were still relatively limited by most manufacturers’ predisposition for emulating oil paints rather than exploring the virtues and potentials of plastic ...
[and to some extent - still is - but that has more to do with less progressive educational and artistic standards] ...
i made the call and surprisingly spoke to the owner/alchemist that understood my dilemma immediately and provided suggestions and samples to achieve solutions ...
this relationship resonated with my belief that “if you can think it, you can make it “ ...
the alchemist’s name was sam golden, and in the years that followed i found that there was rarely a technical or creative issue related to materials that couldn’t be solved with thoughtful expertise by calling the magic number ...
additionally, i was always kept in the loop of newly developed products i hadn’t considered ...
after many forays and sponsorships with other paint manufacturers, i began to use golden acrylic paint exclusively by 1988 ...
a material that has consistently provided me satisfaction over the years - if i was having a creative problem, i could rest assured that it didn’t have anything to do with the paint ... from the simplest things like the paint containers, lids, and bottles - designed to be user friendly with minimal or no waste ...
when you’re on a roll, you don’t have time to fuss with some package designers’ fetishes ...
even the smell of the paint is less offensive to my senses ... and i still have containers with usable paint remaining in them since 1990 ...
whenever i’ve gotten a shipment - [and its’ never cheap] - i feel like a gift arrives ...
i open each and every container under the auspices of inspecting the content - but actually to marvel at the creamy or fluid consistency, odor, magic, and possibilities of the product ...
i'm a difficult customer, as many will attest - but since that fateful day in 1979, i've not had a singular disappointment - quite the contrary - usually unexpectedly surprised by some nuance or innovation ...
even the shipping amazes me - double cardboard and padded with unrivaled care - [and i’m the kind of guy that expects my sliced cheese at the deli counter to not have overlapping edges before being wrapped] ...
needless to say, golden paints have provided me with a vehicle to realize my ‘voice’ and vision as a painter - like yo yo ma’s favorite cello, or keith jarrett’s piano - yeah, it could probably be done without them - but having them provides a confidence and freedom to explore other concerns ...
so it shouldn’t be any surprise that i’ve often dreamt about visiting the manufacturing facility [oz] in new berlin, new york - but somehow always thought that i shouldn’t violate the privacy or sanctity of the alchemist’s studio ...
this week, another dream comes true ...
