Oilcloth never looked so good

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Oilcloth is a vinyl material backed with cotton mesh.  It is commonly used as table coverings for outdoor furniture, although the women in my family have found more uses for it indoors. Because oilcloth cleans up rather easily and is available in a variety of patterns, it is wildly popular with moms of young children.  And since it's been around forever (well, this century), most all of us have grown up with it in the home.


Today, there is a growing popularity of retro items like oilcloth.  Whenever I'm in the fabric store, I like to browse through the oilcloth section.  I love the bright colors and the fun patterns, and my mind always races with new project ideas I'd like to tackle but realistically have no time to complete.


So, you can imagine my sheer delight when I found the oilcloth art of New York based artist, Kevin Baker.  He paints right on top of floral motif oilcloth, creating beautiful works of art that intrigue and seduce.  His paintings shower the viewer with layers of dynamic colors and dancing dots and patterns. I'm normally not one to fall for floral designs, but these I'm crazy about!


Fish, acrylic and enamel on oilcloth, 24" x 24", 2006.



Love, acrylic and enamel on oilcloth, 24" x 19", 2008.



Blue Ice, acrylic and enamel on oilcloth, 40" x 40", 2007.



La Fiesta, arcylic and enamel on oilcloth, 24" x 24", 2006.

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