What Makes Mineral Based Paintings Unique?
An Ancient Future Painted Into the Present
Mineral-based paintings are not just about color—they’re about memory, transformation, and the continuity of time. My work is built from the same materials that built civilizations: limestone, copper, marble dust, mica, and earth pigments. To paint with them is to excavate the ground itself, fusing ancient matter with modern life.
I call it an ancient future painted into the present. Each surface holds history, but also something new—textures and tones that shift with light, reminding us that nothing is fixed.
Where Minerals Become Memory
Painting for me is excavation. I layer earth pigments, iron oxides, mica, and copper into plaster-like grounds, then stabilize them with contemporary acrylic polymers to ensure archival strength. The result is a fusion: surfaces that breathe with the depth of minerals yet endure with the longevity of modern materials.
These works are not static objects but living surfaces. They shimmer, change, and reveal themselves differently with every angle—like people, they hold multiple truths at once.
This is painting as transformation: where minerals become memory, and memory becomes transformation.
The Alchemy of Time, Light, and Color
Step into the alchemy of time, light, and color. My paintings are light- reactive, meaning they shift throughout the day. Copper greens deepen, iron reds glow, mica flashes, marble dust softens.
Standing before them is a threshold experience. You don’t just look at a mineral painting—you step into dialogue with it. Each piece is a map of change, decay, and rebirth. Like walking through a canyon wall or standing at the edge of a ruin, you feel both grounded in the past and opened toward possibility.
Why Mineral-Based Paintings Are Different
While synthetic paints often sit flatly on the surface, mineral-based paintings fuse with it. They age, shift, and develop character. Their qualities include:
Authenticity: Made with natural minerals and pigments that connect to earth and place.
Durability: Stabilized with polymers, these works are archival and built to last.
Depth: Light refracts across textured mineral layers, creating surfaces that feel alive.
Transformation: Each painting is a portal—a continuum of earth, time, and self. This is not about decoration. It’s about stepping into something enduring, elemental, and alive.
A Threshold Experience
Visitors often describe my gallery as stepping into another world— where surfaces shimmer like stone and colors glow from within. These paintings are made from the minerals and stones of New Mexico itself. They are not abstract ideas of transformation; they are transformation, embodied in matter.
For seekers of renewal, each painting is a portal: a way to step across, to feel both rooted and expanded. Like a map, they guide you through layers of earth and memory toward a future that is already here.
Conclusion
Mineral-based paintings are unique because they carry the endurance of stone, the shimmer of light, and the alchemy of time itself. They are ancient and modern, stable yet alive.
They remind us that art is not only about beauty—it’s about connection. To stand before one is to step into a continuum: of earth, of memory, of yourself.
FAQs
What are mineral-based paintings made of?
They are created with earth pigments, minerals such as iron oxides, mica, copper, and marble dust, stabilized with archival polymers. This fusion creates durable, light-reactive surfaces that shimmer and shift over time.
How are mineral-based paintings different from traditional acrylic or oil paintings?
Unlike flat synthetic surfaces, mineral-based works carry depth and texture. They refract light, change with perspective, and age gracefully, much like stone or earth itself.
Are mineral-based paintings durable?
Yes. By combining ancient materials with modern binders, these paintings are archival. The minerals themselves are stable for centuries, and the polymer fusion ensures the surfaces remain intact over time.
What is the experience of viewing mineral-based painting?
It’s immersive. The works shift as you move, shimmering with layers of mineral memory. Many describe it as stepping into a dialogue with time, place, and self—a threshold experience.