MEET DAVE

1. Located behind my home in Englewood, Colorado my studio began life as a one-car garage. Some time later a former owner expanded the size of the garage to include room for a workbench and additional storage areas that were only accessible from small outside doors. When my wife and I purchased this home we built a real garage next to the old garage and then set about making the old garage into a studio.

2. Here you can see the former workbench area that I converted to office/computer use. The remodeling included oak flooring over an insulated sub-floor, lots of insulation, dry-wall, new windows, gas heater and all new electrical service. The ceiling was left open to create a larger sense of space and to highlight the original roof that was made from twenty-foot long 1x12’s. (The roof insulation is on the outside under a second layer of roofing material.) A shelf was installed all the way around the room to include display space for oils cans and small collectibles. The old exterior storage area was modified to include an interior door with it’s own stained glass window.

3. Panning across the room you can see my easel and my Martin-Schwartz gas pump restored with Gilmore dress. The display case is full of die-cast cars, mostly 1/43 scale.

4. Here I am at me easel putting the finishing touches on “Rachel Rides With The Winner”. My easel is a one of a kind unit that was custom built for me by a very dear friend. Its most unique feature is the fact that the working surface can be rotated 360 degrees. This feature is an incredible aid when doing wheel and complicated curves because I can rotate the painting to get my hand in the most comfortable and natural position for each new task.

5. Continuing around the room we are looking at the backdoor to the studio. The large drafting table is used for pen and ink pieces, layout work and for framing.

6. Finishing our tour back at the “office” area you can see that I modified the back storage area to accommodate my 36’ deep flat file which houses prints ready to be shipped. The office area is also a convenient place to park my red wagon full of sample prints for visitors to browse through.

7. Here is a photo of the studio "shop truck". I was only thirteen years old when I first saw this truck in the July 1965 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. I cut the full color article out and kept it in a file folder all these years. Forty years later the truck showed up in Denver - for sale. The delivery had been in California since 1965 and remains in great condition, largely unchanged from its 1965 feature.

8. Thanks for stopping by! If you’re in the Denver area feel free to call and make an appointment for a personal tour.

MEET DAVE

NO FORMAL TRAINING PRIOR TO 1992
PRODUCED NO ARTWORK FROM 1980 TO 1993
DID NOT BEGIN TO WORK IN COLOR UNTIL 1993

As a boy, Dave Kurz dreamed of being a professional artist and he consistently produced work, which confirmed and supported his desires. In High School he took every available art class while earning credit for working 1/2 days at an architectural firm where he learned basic drafting and architectural illustration. Upon graduation from High School, Dave attended Moody Bible Institute for one year, with plans to go on to art school. While at Moody, Dave continued his career path by working as a layout artist for Moody Press and Moody Monthly magazine.

In 1974, Dave's artistic career came to an end when circumstances prevented art school from becoming a reality. It was then, that Dave's second passion, automobiles led him to a career as an automobile salesman. Dave sold Corvettes and specialty cars for 11 years and Mercedes-Benz/BMW's for five years. By 1980 Dave no longer referred to himself as an artist because his artistic production had been nil for several years.

Ten more years passed and finally in 1990, Dave excavated his old art supplies to begin to evaluate his degree of artistic atrophy with the hope that he could eliminate his donation of brain cells to a business, which he never really enjoyed. Pen and ink illustration had always been a specialty and to his surprise his initial efforts surpassed work he had completed twenty years earlier. In December 1992 Dave became a member of Denver's Art Students League and began to take some art classes. He also began to work in color for the first time.

In March of 1993, public demand for his work allowed Dave to quit his full time job to devote full time to painting. Dave now specializes in pastel paintings on sandpaper. His work ranges from photo-realistic automobiles and portraits to impressionistic landscapes and florals. His work has been featured in Road & Track, Hot Rod, Rod & Custom, Street & Custom Rodding Illustrated, Automobile Magazine, Big Twin, American Iron, Vintage Motors Sports, US Art, The Artists Magazine. His work has also appeared on the cover of the following magazines: of Mobilia Magazine, Old Cars Weekly, Sports Car Market, Apex Magazine and the Sangre De Cristo Art Center catalog. Dave's work is available from dealers throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

While Dave describes himself as "your basic hot rodder,” his automotive interests have been quite varied. Julie, Dave's wife of 30 years says; "If it's got wheels, he likes it!" Dave has owned some 60 vehicles including two 1955 Chevies, five Corvettes from 1957 to 1972, fifteen customized Chevrolet pickups from 1935 to 1976, a 1946 Ford pickup, a 1949 Studebaker pickup, a Bug-Eyed Sprite and numerous other vehicles too weird to mention.