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'the birds that flew north sang mexican songs' 24X24. oil, varnish on italian plaster 2009

ten o'clock at night in tornado alley 36x36 oil, varnish on italian plaster 2006

right in the middle of ray creek ranch 48 X 48 oil, varnish on italian plaster 2007

'100 Years of Progress' 48X84 oil, marble dust, hard resin on venetian plaster. 2007

100 Years of Progress 48 X 84, mixed media on panel. $24,000 Media: The piece is composed of six media elements:

1) Oil (with Gamblin and Damar varnishes as painting mediums 2) Venetian Plaster (burnished and waxed) 3) Marble Dust/Concrete. Mixed with Lime and Plaster, and applied in a micro-thin layer, and then waxed.4) Hard-Casting resin. Molds are made and applied to the painting surface, and then hard resin is colored in both translucent and opaque dyes,and then poured into the molds. 5) Glycerin. This type of soft glycerin is much like wax, and is the basis for some soaps and candles. Melted, dyed and poured (hot) into molds onto the canvas. In this case, the opaque hard resin pieces in bright red have an orange glycerin center. 6) Encaustic. Beeswax is melted and then mixed with Mineral Spirits, Damar Varnish, and Venetian Turpentine. The new mixture is much more malleable than the original beeswax, and is mixed with oil paint and stand oil (cold) or can be re-heated and applied in a semi-liquid state. After all of the elements are complete on the painting, the piece is coated with an ultra-hard marine urethane, which seals the wax and glycerin elements. It protects the piece from ultra-violet light, temperature, and any chemical agents in the environment.The final coat is a coat of beeswax, damar, and Venetian Turpentine, heated and applied with the hand (literally hand-rubbed) to avoids evidence of brush strokes from a brush. Buffed with cotton. This piece took thirty days to complete. It is one of five in a grouping this size to be completed by September 2007, for Visions West Galleries. The imagery and title relate to both the Art Deco movement, and the Cowgirl theme; the title speaks to progress for women as a whole, described and encapsulated in the Western Deco style. It celebrates the American West, the Woman as free, strong, and independent, and the important implications of Deco in Art and Architecture. (Diego Rivera's murals, for instance, entirely socialist/communist, and whose art is part and parcel of the Art Deco expression of his time. Architecturally, Ayn Rand and the Deco skyscrapers of her period invoke an entirely different set of politics, but important social themes nevertheless.) I mused over all of this for the month while I was painting this work, and it has spurred a whole new set of conversations and inspiration for new paintings. (Will Pope)

some animals

'Some of the Animals You're Likely to See in the Park Today' 48X85, oil on venetian plaster. 2007

(visions west galleries)

Some of the Animals You’re Likely to See in the Park Today
48 X 85, mixed media on panel. $15,500
Media: Oil (with Gamblin and Damar varnishes as painting mediums) on Venetian Plaster, burnished and waxed.

After all of the elements are complete on the painting, the piece is coated with an ultra-hard marine urethane, which seals the oil paint and plaster base. It protects the piece from ultra-violet light, temperature, and any chemical agents in the environment. The final coat is a coat of beeswax, Damar Varnish, and Venetian Turpentine, heated and applied as a liquid with the hand (literally hand-rubbed) to avoid evidence of brush strokes from a brush. The piece is then hand buffed with cotton.

This piece celebrates Yellowstone National Park, and the wildlife I experience on our family excursions there, a little over an hours’ drive from our home. I very much relate to these animals as a part of our everyday life in Montana. I feel that painting them brings them closer, that somehow I become a part of them, and them a part of me. I feel an ongoing and ever-increasing relationship as an artist, and as a human being, and it helps to posit myself in the scheme of things. I’m a third-generation painter of animals in the landscape; my father still does this and my grandfather did before us. So while these are landscapes, they more and more become not only self-portraits, but family portraits as well. That’s a pretty tremendous statement when you stop and think about it. (Will Pope)

tenthings

'Ten Things To Do in Denver When You're Dreaming' 48X84, oil on venetian plaster. 2008

(visions west galleries)

1) Oil (with Gamblin and Damar varnishes as painting mediums 2) Venetian Plaster (burnished and waxed) 3) Marble Dust/Concrete. Mixed with Lime and Plaster, and applied in a micro-thin layer, and then waxed. 4) Glycerin. This type of soft glycerin is much like wax, and is the basis for some soaps and candles. Melted, dyed and poured (hot) into molds onto the canvas. 5) Encaustic. Beeswax is melted and then mixed with Mineral Spirits, Damar Varnish, and Venetian Turpentine. The new mixture is much more malleable than the original beeswax, and is mixed with oil paint and stand oil (cold) or can be re-heated and applied in a semi-liquid state. After all of the elements are complete on the painting, the piece is coated with an ultra-hard marine urethane, which seals the wax and glycerin elements. It protects the piece from ultra-violet light, temperature, and any chemical agents in the environment. The final coat is a coat of beeswax, damar, and Venetian Turpentine, heated and applied with the hand (literally hand-rubbed) to avoid evidence of brush strokes from a brush. Buffed with cotton. This piece is the largest in a continuing series of American Bison images. The western animal imagery I use are usually horses, deer, bear, Canadian geese, and bison, with bison being the most common choice for me, and the one that I identify with the most. In the latest series (July-August '07) I've been incorporating some deco elements, motifs and paintings of architecture, and also steering the pallet toward earthy themes, muted deco color schemes. All of that is evident in this piece I think. (Will Pope)

'The Secret Life of Pablo Picasso' (pane 1) 24 X 36 oil, marble dust, encaustic on venetian plaster. 2007

The Secret Life of Pablo Picasso 24 X 36, mixed media on panel. (dyptich, panes 1 & 2) $4,200 each, or $6,500 together.

1) Oil (with Gamblin and Damar varnishes as painting mediums 2) Venetian Plaster (burnished and waxed) 3) Marble Dust/Concrete. Mixed with Lime and Plaster, and applied in a micro-thin layer, and then waxed. 4) Glycerin. This type of soft glycerin is much like wax, and is the basis for some soaps and candles. Melted, dyed and poured (hot) into molds onto the canvas. 5) Encaustic. Beeswax is melted and then mixed with Mineral Spirits, Damar Varnish, and Venetian Turpentine. The new mixture is much more malleable than the original beeswax, and is mixed with oil paint and stand oil (cold) or can be re-heated and applied in a semi-liquid state. 6) Fabriano paper. Dated 1589, this extremely rare bifolia is the oldest blank paper (gilded edges) to come available through exhaustive search methods. I used one page of the bifolia to insert ‘clues’ in glycerin on the paintings – in one case a typewritten list, in another a poem written by Picasso and copy of part of his ‘Guernica’ painting. The clues relate to hidden imagery in his paintings (specifically one painting entitled ‘The Black Picasso,’ or ‘The Unknown Masterpiece.” It is believed by some that images used by Picasso relate to the world of alchemy, and that the use of these images brought literal magic into his life, and into his paintings. The clues I offer point to Picasso and his paintings, and suggest that if the clues are followed, a treasure can be found within the works of Picasso. (This is an extension of my ‘Maps for Matadors’ series; in this case the paintings are of matadors, and are literally, ‘maps for matadors.’) After all of the elements are complete on the painting, the piece is coated with an ultra-hard marine urethane, which seals the wax and glycerin elements. It protects the piece from ultra-violet light, temperature, and any chemical agents in the environment. The final coat is a coat of beeswax, damar, and Venetian Turpentine, heated and applied with the hand (literally hand-rubbed) to avoid evidence of brush strokes from a brush.

'The Secret Life of Pablo Picasso' (pane 2) 24 X 36 oil, marble dust, encaustic on venetian plaster. 2007

'Whose Farms, Whose Spires are Those?' 24 X 36 oil, marble dust, damar on venetian plaster. 2007

'my pony on my boat' (for lyle lovett) 48X48 oil, concrete on venetian plaster. may, 2007

'Full of Possibilities' Article by Michele Corriel for At Home Magazine....

'Making It Home' Article by Ben Mitchell, Senior Curator of Art at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture ....

'Full of Possibilities' Article by Michele Corriel for At Home Magazine....