Justin Gaffrey enjoyed a variety of successful careers prior to turning to art in 2001. Indeed, it was as a renowned chef and restaurant owner that Justin first expressed his creative drive. The love he felt for the act of creating was what ultimately drove him from the daily grind of the restaurant business to the purely creative life of the visual Artist.
Beginning with primitive, “folk art” style works, Justin soon moved to a much more textured, classically impressionistic style of work. He credits a viewing of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” as the epiphany that sent him searching for a medium and a technique that would allow him to achieve the deeply textured, multi-dimensional work he crafts today.
Working now exclusively with pure acrylic paints (no fillers are used) and using mostly the palette knife, he produces works of breathtaking beauty and complexity. His technique might best be described as “sculpting with paint.” Most works utilize colors that are extraordinarily vibrant, but he also produces wonderful soft palettes of muted tones, sometimes working entirely in white.