Here’s a short film we made about one of our favorite artists. Justin Gaffrey creates art in Blue Mountain Beach, Florida. His studio is located on scenic highway 30-A. We’ve camped in this area more times than we can count. We love it so much, we made it our home away from home. When our Walkabout Production Group isn’t roaming on a walkabout, we can often be found here along the Florida / Alabama Gulf Coast.
We discovered Justin’s work a couple of years ago.
While walking past an art store, Kristy stopped in her tracks. A painting hanging in the storefront window caught her eye. She was so smitten with Justin’s art, she immediately called me on the phone to tell me about it.
“You have to come see this painting,” she said. “It’s looks 3D!”
What’s more, the studio was closed! She could just see the art by peering through the storefront window.
We later went back to the store. But alas! The art was gone. So we asked the store owner about the cool painting that Kristy saw. Who was the artist?
“Oh, that’s Justin Gaffrey,” she said. “He’s local. His studio is in Blue Mountain Beach.”
If you watch the video, you’ll see what makes Justin’s work so unique. His style of painting involves using a LOT of paint. In the painting featured in the video, he uses about FIVE GALLONS of acrylic paint. That’s like forty pounds of paint on one canvas.
The results speak for themselves. If you like the impasto style of Vincent Van Gogh, you will like Justin’s work. Justin’s painting have a depth and dimensionality that is really powerful and unique. The paint is applied thick — it’s so thick and durable you can freely touch the dried paintings all you want.
All too often, great artists go unappreciated. Van Gogh, it is famously said, never sold a painting in his lifetime. Think about it! Arguably the greatest painter of the past century died having never sold a painting.
So it’s refreshing to see an artist like Justin Gaffrey whose work is appreciated. Unlike Van Gogh, Justin sells plenty of paintings, and it’s easy to see why. He has developed his own signature style, and it’s spectacular. He found his niche and is producing wonderful art that makes people happy.
So, all of you Florida / Alabama Gulf Coast snowbirds… If you ever go camping in Grayton Beach, Topsail, or Camping on the Gulf, you’re just a stone’s throw away from Justin’s studio! For more details about Justin check out his website (JustinGaffrey.com).
Long Long Honeymoon is now available on DVD.