ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Studio Yates is a collaboration between husband and wife. Artists Robert and Elizabeth Yates have been working with copper as their primary medium for over 25 years. Robert received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1993, Elizabeth received her Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture in 1998. Since moving to NY state in 2000, the Yates’ have exhibited at over 300 art shows and galleries as well as numerous commercial installations. Their current work, Copper Fire Paintings, are created by heating copper with a torch, revealing those beautiful iridescent colors.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Our nature inspired work is an evolution of exploring copper. Intrigued by the versatility of the material, we have spent the last 25 years discovering multiple ways to color copper using patinas and heat reduction techniques. More recently, we have focused solely on coloring copper with a torch, creating what we call Fire Paintings. Beautiful iridescent colors appear when flaming copper. The slight unpredictability and flow of the torch lends to their ethereal feeling. Due to the fleeting nature of achieving colors, we are still learning and perfecting. We love the non traditional aspects of making art this way.