Michael Croman was previously the Executive Director of the Washington State Arts Commission where he travelled extensively through the state gathering visual images of the landscapes and painting when he could. Originally focused on Action Painting, or Abstract Expressionism, when Croman retired, he started painting full time and began experimenting. His technique of pressing turpentine-saturated oil paint onto the canvas with cloth creates fractal patterns that can’t be achieved with brushes. Told by a gallery that this technique was developed by Max Ernst and other Surrealist artists, this faux texture has become a signature of his work.
