The featured artist at Raven House gallery for May is Brad Goodell, an artist whose background is in illustrating, but he uses his talent for a variety of media.
Right now hes working on glass etching, an art form that he learned while he was in a studio in Santa Fe, N.M.
They were doing a lot of architectural work, and I learned from that, he said.
Much of his etching has been done on home restorations, which came from his desire to build combined with his talent for illustration.
I started out about 10 years ago, doing this sort of thing for friends. It made a nice diversion from illustrating, he said. The nice thing about it, too, is that once I craft a design, I can do it again and again.
His most popular design has been the peacocks, which he puts on champagne flutes, wine glasses, or anything that the customer wants.
Its become a popular theme for weddings these days, he said.
He can etch on any glass object, whether its a plate, glasses, a vase, coffee mugs or jewelry.
Part of his incentive for doing this kind of work was to make an income, but he likes coming up with different and distinctive designs, and getting into the fine-art part of it. He will custom-design anything, and he etches names and quotes on things.
I like doing murals, too, Goodell said.
He is perhaps best known for a mural that he painted on the wall outside of Blondies in Cortez. His favorite style is the 1930s painting, a very bold and graphic historical style.
I liked that style when I was illustrating, Goodell said.
He also hopes to paint another mural on the Rent-a-Center building in Cortez, which will be a depiction of peach harvesting.
Painting a mural is very physical, he said, and you have to deal with weather situations.
You get lots of attention and press when you paint a mural, Goodell said.
His art can be seen at the Raven House Gallery, and is also part of the art show celebrating the Ute Mountain/Mesa Verde Birding Festival at the Cortez Cultural Center, 25 N. Market St., Cortez.
