Sparks of inspiration Artist supercharged about melding traditional techniques and technological skill The Creators
By: AV Kitching Posted: 3:00 AM CST Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025

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This article was published 22/02/2025 (244 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

David Russell paints with electricity.

Using a tool modelled on a paintbrush that is connected to a low-voltage power supply, he applies 24-carat gold to the pincers and stinging tail of his scorpion sculpture.

It’s a form of electroplating, called brush plating, and is just one of the many methods he employs to make art.

Russell has had a hectic week preparing for his first market of the year. He went to bed at a quarter past one and was up at six in the morning, taking the children to school before heading back to The Crypt (a.k.a. his basement workshop) to continue “hustling and juggling.”

There are armies of copper creatures everywhere — spiders, scorpions and cicadas alongside miniature skulls and beautifully detailed, macabre chess pieces — pawns and knights and queens and bishops — all of which he needs to apply patina and polish before he can pack them.

A giant horned owl presides over this controlled chaos.

“I am burning the candles at both ends for this show,” Russell admits.

“I wanted to start some new pieces last night before bed and, when I’m growing copper, I have to wait. I use electricity and I have to be there to tweak the voltage. I can’t just program something to make the perfect piece. I really have to work at it.”

Growing copper… painting with electricity… this might all sound rather otherworldly but Russell’s methods are rooted in science.

Fascinated to the point of obsession — “I love physics and chemistry and have logbooks for everything I read” — he studies 100-year-old books on electroplating and goes down “rabbit holes” when researching new methods.

“I know I can get bored of things,” he laughs, “but as a whole process from start to finish, there are so many layers of art to keep me busy and keep my mind happy.”

As comfortable with lost-wax casting — an ancient and elaborate technique from the Bronze Age — as he is with 3D scanning, Russell is passionate about combining traditional techniques with technological skills.

“It’s about how it was originally done — taking processes that may have taken weeks or months before — and turning them around in a couple of days. Anything that is on the verge of being forgotten, I am instantly interested in,” he shares.

His 3D scanner will be there with him at the market, ready to scan faces, tattoos and body parts. He will take the images back to his workshop to create pendants and sculptures.

“Faces are super quick and the scanner is a good way to capture that moment. You are eternalizing somebody, you can get them to do a facial expression and scan it and you can solidify it,” he says.

Markets are one way for the family man to make a living from his art.

The former technical director — he used to work on movies — went on a blitz last year, setting up his wares almost every other weekend at 30 different markets.

This year he’s trimming it down to a more manageable figure, with two booked for the first two weekends in May, one in July, and one more in November. There’s one specific market he’d very much like to get into but they keep turning him down, he shares.

“They told me not to apply anymore,” he laughs. “They see the skulls and they think it looks like the devil. I am kind of niche. I want to do what I love no matter what, but I’m also going to expand and create pieces which have a broader appeal.

“I work to make sales and to bring treasure. When I do enough of the stuff that sells then I get to do the art projects. It lets me go into this whole other world.”

Russell accepts commissions via his Instagram account (@madebyrasa), where he also posts details of upcoming shows and markets. He will be at Manitoba Tattoo Expo at Assiniboia Downs until 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23.

av.kitching@freepress.mb.ca