Master Marbelizer

I am very admiring of true master, decorative painters and even more so when they have an association with the National Gallery of Art, my favorite museum, old stopping ground and where I used to work.

Glen Perry was interviewed recently by John Pancake of the Washington Post. He was asked about his ability to render faux marble for the Pompeii exhibit. It’s an enlightening article into his creative process. I can’t wait to see his work in person. Funny, I am so enthusiastic about these major art exhibits but once there I get just as enthralled in the exhibition design and production. (Well, it was the field I was heading toward before life took over…) The Venetian plaster wall in the Spy Museum, for instance, stops me in my tracks and I always get distracted by its beauty.

I’ve tried to render faux Carrara marble columns and even though they came out fine, they still look like they could have been done better. (I’m my work’s worst critic.) They weren’t easy and it took a lot of work, particularly working in the round. I got a lot of up-and-down-ladder exercise that week. Making the end result and illusion work is a great reward for any decorative painter or any artist for that matter.