The French word “giclée” is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The term “giclée print” connotes an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans of the original painting or a photographic transparency of the painting; which are then printed with archival quality inks onto various substrates including canvas, fine art and photo-base paper. The Giclée printing process provides better color accuracy than other means of production. The printed image has all the tonalities and hues of the original painting.

Giclée prints are created using professional 8-color to 12-color ink-jet printers. Among the manufacturers of these printers are vanguards such as Epson, MacDermid Colorspan and Hewlett-Packard. These modern technology printers are capable of producing incredibly detailed prints for both the fine art and photographic markets.

It is becoming more widely acknowledged that Giclée prints offer richness, detail and depth that sets them apart from traditional offset lithography. These prints rival traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and are commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.

Another tremendous advantage of Giclée printing is that digital images can be reproduced to almost any size and onto various media, giving the artist the ability to customize prints for a specific client.

From photographic documentation and scanning of the original through printing and curation, Kevin’s exacting standards are always apparent. This assures editions of the highest Quality.

I was introduced to Reverse Painting on Glass by nationally recognized glass artist Judy Jensen, while attending Pilchuck School for Glass in 1995.  Over the past 11 years I have been developing that process to suit my own artistic direction.

The process requires little equipment and no firing time.  I cut the glass into many different shapes an sizes depending on the mood of the piece.  The paintings are very unique with a richness of color and amazing sense of depth created as light is reflected off the color through the glass.

People often look at the work in amazement, not really understanding the process involved.  Generally, paintings are created by working from the background to the detail on the front surface of the canvas, or other medium used.  With this process, I paint on the backside of the glass, starting with detail and working, in layers, toward the background.  I use a variety of medium, such as oil pastel, wax oil pencils, acrylics, gold leaf, glitter glue, paper, etc...  I am always looking for whatever I can find to get the feeling I want.

The first step is laying out a detailed drawing, as mistakes in the painting process are very difficult to correct since thy cannot be painted over.  Keep in mind that the first things applied to the glass are the first things seen in the finished work.  Next, I will cut the glass and finish the edges, making the glass safer to handle.  Then, one side of the glass is cleaned and a layer of clear contact paper is applied to protect what will be the front of the finished piece against scratching during the painting process.

Painting begins with the detail.  Each layer is fixed to the glass by spraying on a thin coat of dull lacquer.  This adds in creating depth as I work toward a background, and keeps the finished areas from being disturbed.  Once the image is finished, several layers of opaque spray enamel are applied and the three to four coats of gloss lacquer are applied to seal and protect the image.

To further protect the image, the painted glass is mounted on a high-grade plywood using an adhesive silicone.  The wood is then sanded and sealed, and sanded and sealed until smooth.  Any cracks or irregularities in the sides or back of the backboard are filled with a vinyl spackling compound and sanded until smooth, then sealed again and sanded and sprayed with paint.  Finally, a gloss lacquer is applied and the contact paper is removed from the front and the glass is cleaned.

I do all of the work myself and take great care in every step to achieve a high-quality finished product.    

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