A Careful Burn
Steven Spazuk’s artwork is pretty remarkable considering it is a slow and steady process that takes a careful burn.
He creates incredible images through the process of burning paper and the smoke it creates. His portraits are collages assembled with many different burned smokey-square pieces of paper. They give the illusion of a photo-realistic, “Chuck Close-like” painting but with an alternative flare that you just “can’t put your finger on” — at first — until you know it actually is smoke that creates the effect.
Chuck Close uses non-traditional methods to create his artwork as well. Fanny Fingerpainting is one of my favorites, originally created with his fingerprints!
Spazuk has done his own painting of Chuck Close (far left in this image below).
Even Spazuk’s single images have a smokey, ethereal, diaphanous quality.
Here’s a fabulous video on KSL.com that shows his process and technique called fumage.
With November already here and the cold weather approaching, this makes me want to light a fire…;)
casart
I'm an artist, wife and mother of two boys. I started my illustration business, The Occasional Palette over 35 years ago, when my oldest son was an infant. Once my children were in school, I began painting decorative, faux finishes and murals through my second business, Casart, now over 30 years old. My third business, Casart Coverings, is a springboard from my second. Click on the link on the sidebar to see innovative, custom, designer wallcovering, removable and reusable wallpaper and coordinating decor.
