My name is Dean Young. I started Glass Design in 1985. I got interested in etching right after high school. My father started a concrete company and we started doing commercial sandblasting. Then we started sandblasting tomb stones for a monument company in Oak Grove. The man we were blasting monuments for gave me a book on glass etching and I started experimenting with it. I was hooked. I've never been able to get it out of my blood since then.
I went to work for Pat Tucker at Images and learned all I could from her. Gary Tucker of Oaken Images was making oak oval frames and taught me how to make them. That explains the mix between ovals and etchings. The rest I've picked up from people that have helped along the way. I have sandblasted just about everything you can sandblast. Stones,wood,signs,metal,tiles,cars, concrete,plastic,glass and mirror.
I have taken drawing class's at the Art Institute of Kansas City. My art education has been informal. I have spent the last year taking classes online at lynda.com. I am learning the adobe creative suite 4. It is amazing software. It turns out that my art is going to be based more on computers than drawing. It is awesome to see what kind of electronic art work is out there. If you have seen a animated movie lately, you have seen some really cutting edge computer art.
I am very interested in creating etched portraits. Not just of people but of everything. Using photographs as the basis of my work. Creating vector based graphics and using them for stencils. The modern age has given us many different tools to create with. The modern techniques for photo resist is unbelievable. I can etch the tiniest of designs with emulsion.
The bigger the design becomes the less I like the photo resist{based on dots from the pixels} and the more I like the computer based vector art. It gives me the same quality of design that the photo resist does. Only I can make the artwork larger without loosing any thing.
I have learned a great deal from the glass company's and the people I have had the privilege of working with over the years. The more I learn about glass and etching the more I like it. The mirrors and custom etchings that I produce are made by hand to very high standards. I take pride in my art and my goal is to produce works of art that touch people's hearts and souls.Thank you for your consideration. Dean