"Aqua"
34"h x 24"w
Oils, acrylics, powdered pigments, modeling paste, diatomaceous earth, gold, copper & silver leaf, up to six layers of resin mounted on aluminum.
"Aquarel 2"
24'h x 20"w
Oils, acrylics, powdered pigments, modeling paste, diatomaceous earth, gold, copper & silver leaf, up to six layers of resin mounted on aluminum.
"Indigo"
24"h x 20"w
Oils, acrylics, powdered pigments, modeling paste, diatomaceous earth, gold, copper & silver leaf, up to six layers of resin mounted on aluminum.
"Flight"
24"h x 46"w
Oils, acrylics, powdered pigments, modeling paste, diatomaceous earth, gold, copper & silver leaf, up to six layers of resin mounted on aluminum.
"Kiluea"
Oils, acrylics, powdered pigments, modeling paste, diatomaceous earth, gold, copper & silver leaf, up to six layers of resin mounted on aluminum.
"Reflections"
25"h x 55"w
Oils, acrylics, powdered pigments, modeling paste, diatomaceous earth, gold, copper & silver leaf, up to six layers of resin mounted on aluminum.
Life is a creative process and art is an extension of that process.
Michael Protiva was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1947. At the age of nine he moved with his family to Venezuela where his interest in art arose. His creative aspiration was inspired by nature and it’s vast array of colors.
He began his professional artist career in his mid-20’s. In the 1970’s, after a stint in the US Navy, he found a studio loft on the Sausalito waterfront of San Francisco Bay. His studio neighbor was abstract expressionist, Walter Kuhlman. Walter became a mentor to Michael in those early formative years of his career. It was a learning and rewarding period. His paintings during this period were representational.
In 2001 Michael left Sausalito and moved to the southwest desert where he eventually settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Inspired by a new world of color, light, shapes and forms he shifted to an abstract style by means of a unique mixed media technique of his individual making.
His technique is a result of nearly 50 years of painting experience. Oils, acrylics, powdered pigments, modeling paste, diatomaceous earth, gold, copper & silver leaf, airbrush and sometimes texture elements of macro photography in digital form. He applies these media in layers of epoxy resin over an aluminum plate background. The finished piece can have up to six layers of resin, giving the art a dimensional quality. The colors used are transparent and the substrate surface is visible through the colors.
The finished art piece is then sanded, clear coated, wet sanded and polished. This protects the art from UV exposure. The art piece is luminous, dimensional and elegant.
Michael's art is in many private and public collections.
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E-Mail: AGalleryFineArt@gmail.com