David Cass
David Cass is an artist who first studied at BTEC level art and design and then went on to study at the Edinburgh college of art. Cass uses gouache in his works (mainly onto wood) but also uses found objects such as; old coffee grinders, match boxes, postcards, inside cupboards, on walls and farm tables etc. as the surface that he paints on. An interesting fact that I learned was that he uses sea water from places that he has visited to mix paints and things, instead of tap water. When he came into college to do a talk for us he told us how he would go to flea markets (his favourite - in Paris) to find objects that he could paint on. He said that he only ever buys things that he could actually picture with a final outcome. He pretty much gives a new life to things that have already had a life and died. 
Before giving his works away to buyers they are treated for woodworm (occasionally sands it back) but tries to interfere as little as possible saying that he wants the piece to be as natural as possible. He likes the fragile feel of his works, the fading paint, the crumbling. The fact of turning something quite sturdy (like a farm table) into something so fragile and delicate.
Last year he was in Spain and the Almeria Alpine-Desert. I really liked what he done there. Basically its a very hot place and the ground is all dried up. He made a small hole in the ground and poured the toxic type of resin into the hole, this forms a puddle like form in the landscape. I guess the fact that its quite toxic isn't exactly ideal but it does create a beautiful outcome!
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