Beautiful Venetian plaster painting I acquired directly from the artist, Will Pope. It is signed by him. I do love it but need to liquidate some of my treasures. This one is called " Song of the Morning" and has a biblical theme based on Isaiah 65. It measures 24 x36, and is beautifully colored with lots of aqua and a redheaded girl. His artwork is collected by some very famous people- Willem Defoe, Barack Obama, Dodie Fayed..and normally sells for in the 10-30K range. ..It is done in his special method he describes here:
In terms of process, the use of Venetian plaster is the result of testing and trying myriad materials for ground. Immediately prior to this personal discovery, I had developed a recipe for concrete panels that were organic and yet formal, which resembled stone and marble, but were obviously a man-made surface. I literally had been looking for fifteen years, as I have an automatic bristling when it comes to canvas. For years I attached thick Arches watercolor paper to canvas, but even that was only a compromise. The plaster is workable in several directions, which can be made to look like flat stone or cracking paint, and can be colored in almost any shade or tint. On many works I add patches of dyed glycerin, essentially the basis for candles and soap. It is applied in a hot liquid state, poured into foam core cut-outs as molds. The surface of the paintings is of paramount importance, and moves in the direction of a three-dimensional bas-relief.
The works are hand-painted, and also made with use of templates, much the same as a multi-layered block print. I use Photoshop to separate out the individual color layers in a photograph, and those separate layers are printed on card stock, and then cut out. I lay them in with a broad-knife in oil - producing an image much like a posterized screenprint. The works utilize photography, printmaking, and painting, and although the final works are referred to as paintings, the various processes are satisfying in all three areas, and make a more complex final image, providing layered information and texture.
I use the highest quality materials available, in hopes that the works will survive for generations. The panels I use are hand-made to withstand warping or degrading, and I use high quality oils and pigments. After the paintings are made, I sometimes stain them with olive oil and crushed Italian dry pigment. They are then coated with ultra-hard, non-yellowing marine urethane, and finally with a mixture of Damar varnish and beeswax, which is heated and applied by hand, and buffed to just above matte (a subtle shine.)
Here is some information on him, and you can look him up on facebook, pinterest, and his name on google will show you all the galleries he is in.
Will Pope, born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1965, is a third-generation painter. He began his painting career while working at the Bedford Schoolhouse in New York in 1989, working in the company of artist Stephanie Clifton and cartoon film artist Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat).
From 1990-1996 he lived and painted amidst a host of Taos, New Mexico artists, to include Agnes Martin, Larry Bell, Ron Cooper, R.C. Gorman, Jim Wagner, and his longtime friend and roommate, Wes Mills. Will went on to earn a Fine Arts degree at the University of New Mexico, focusing on painting and photography, and participated in two solo and 16 group exhibitions from 1990-1996.
He made his first films with writer/director Ian McCrudden in Taos, New Mexico (Baptizumseen, Trailer-The Movie) from 1991-1994, and was hired as a writer/producer in Hollywood. He worked with several "A-List" actors as a screenwriter until 1999 when he returned to Santa Fe for a one-man show of paintings entitled "Train to Nairobi" at the Santa Fe Armory. Will continued to paint and show with the Skeleton Art Gallery in Santa Fe and produced work for another single-person exhibition (Horse With Bather Series) in 2002.
After publishing the children's book "A Horse Called Jupiter", Will wrote, produced and directed a children's feature production by the same name which featured 17 hand-carved puppets.
Currently Will works as a painter and filmmaker in Bozeman, Montana and showcased 26 paintings in June 2006 under the title, "Maps for Matadors" also a one-man exhibition. He is also represented by galleries in Park City, Utah and Denver, Colorado.
Will's artwork has been widely acclaimed throughout North America and acquired by institutions such as The University of New Mexico to be a part of their permanent print collection and by the National Gallery of Mexico at Queretaro.
In addition to being a full-time painter, Will also recently completed an original screenplay for a major motion picture to be produced in 2006-07 in Cuba and maintains other works-in-progress.
TERMS & POLICIES