Dave Roos and his artwork named “Flying Home.”
The Sunrise Festival of the Arts Committee has selected Dave Roos, East Fork Designs, Scobey, as this year’s featured artist. Roos produces metal pictures and signs and will have many of his creations on display and for sale during the festival, scheduled for Saturday, July 9 at Veteran’ Memorial Park.
“We’ll have a variety of pictures on sale ranging from $25-$1100 and everything in between,” Roos says. “This way we can satisfy everyone, price wise.”
A retired industrial arts teacher, Roos has worked with wood and metal for years. Six years ago he began working on metal art and he now works exclusively with metal. Roos has developed his own process, which he calls metarsia, and he produces amazing pictures using this method.
“I make pictures from metal pieces, with each piece cut out and set separately, like a jigsaw puzzle,” he remarks. “I call the process metarsia. Each piece is cut from a pattern, then polished and lines ground into it for depth. I then use a torch for heat to produce color, and then I put everything back together again to make the picture, just like a puzzle. I finish it with a clear coating over the top to protect it.”
Roos uses a variety of themes for his pictures, but prefers landscapes and animal designs. He may draw his own pattern or he may make a pattern using a picture of someone else’s. “I see something people may like or that I like,” Roos says. “Some patterns I draw by hand and other patterns I have taken from others. I’ll also do repetitious work such as wheat heads. I enjoy the challenge of producing a picture.”
The creative process ensures that all pictures are one-of-a-kind even if Roos uses the same pattern repeatedly. “I may reuse the same pattern, but no two pictures are alike,” he comments. “The color is always different and the grinding is different, so no picture is exactly like any other.”
Producing his pictures requires a lot of time, effort and concentration from start to finish. “It can take 10-12 hours just to design a pattern,” Roos says. “During the heating process the pieces have to cool, so during the color process I have to walk away from the project and work on something else.”
He continues, “It takes 24 hours for the adhesive to cure. I’ll put a few pieces in place and then have to walk again while it dries. I sometimes can put the entire picture together, but often I have to do pieces of it at a time. It is a lengthy process to produce each picture; it is time consuming and slow going.”
Roos doesn’t mind the time factor, however, as he loves creating these works of art. “This is a challenge, and I enjoy a challenge,” he concludes. “That’s what makes life fun.”
Stop by and visit Roos during the Sunrise Festival of the Arts, scheduled for Saturday, July 9 at Veterans Memorial Park, Sidney.
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