DAVID GRAFF, Spring 2008, Tutt Art Galleries, Kelowna

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"Morning Light"

David Graff, "Morning Light," 2007, mixed media/wood, 30" X 60".

DAVID GRAFF 

Tutt Art Galleries, Kelowna

Spring 2008

By Jill Sawyer

David Graff came to art-making through craft, and has applied the techniques learned as an artisan to create a thoroughly unique painting style. Beginning as a singer-songwriter with a lengthy career behind him, in 1994 Graff took up the craft of faux-finishing, working on residential and commercial interiors in Canada and the U.S. Through that, he began to incorporate the old-world artisan technique of gilding — hammering metal leaf onto surfaces, and it transformed his work. In 2000, he began showing a series of paintings that combined gilded metals with standard paints, dyes, and chemical effects, etching into the surfaces of his artworks to create unique effects. Originally from the Alberta foothills town of Edson, Graff’s creative work, both in music and painting, has given him an international career. The success of his gold-leaf and gilded paintings has drawn collectors from around the world. He continues to experiment in a studio in Bowen Island, BC, where he works with his wife, Holly Graff, an artisan who has incorporated many similar gilding and burnishing techniques to a series of bowls, urns and other vessels.

Represented by: Tutt Art Galleries, Kelowna; Stephen Lowe Art Gallery, Calgry; Whistler Village Art Gallery, Whistler, BC.