Scraping Up Something Cool. (Where Are All The Spatulas?)

I am transfixed with gunpowder.  And high speed fuses.

I love pushing the boundaries of the power of expression that is contained within the explosions and burning.  The blacks and the grays form the compositions and give the paintings an energy that can change dramatically.  

I love black. I love gray. I love white.

On my recent work I am putting on layers of paint.  Many layers of dense paint.  Then the blast and burning creates gouges.  Then I will use a brushes, and vacuum, scrapers, a chisel, or even a screwdriver to remove some of the debris and manipulate.  

I dig in.

I etch.

I love texture.  It's cool.

Using a whole range of tools I hope to form interesting and dramatic work.

Then I might paint a bit  more.  

Light the fuse.  Whoosh!

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. 

This time with a spatula.  

Uh-oh!  

Renee just asked me where all the spatulas are...

Stick Vega is the American Gunpowder Artist.  He creates explosive pop art and blogs from The Blast Factory in Madison, WI and Bucktown, Chicago, IL.  Follow Stick on Facebook and/or Twitter.