Matthew Runfola

In 2003 I was in my second year teaching sculpture at a community art school outside of Chicago, Illinois. Our Metal Sculpture Department had a rebirth of sorts, and we were looking to expand the courses we offered our students. Most in our shop were working with fabricated steel and looking for finishing alternatives to rust, paint, or bare metal. I brought in Ron Young to teach a ferrous metal finishing workshop at the school. This is how I became involved in the world of metal patination. For me, patination is the right balance of science and art and it satisfies my dual-minded persona. Though I trained as a mechanical engineer I decided to delve into art full-time to better fulfill my creative ambitions. I enjoyed playing "mad" chemist with the various colorants while applying them in a meaningful, artistic manner to my objects. I immersed myself in the field: reading, sharing with other artists, and experimenting. For a time, metal patination was the most important part of my work. My fabricated forms were merely a vehicle or surface to display the colorations on. I became, and still am, a painter with chemicals. I love the ability to be expressive not just with the form, but with the finish as well. In 2004 I launched Runfola Studios, which focuses on patinated contemporary metal furnishings and accessories. Today, I continue to teach, create, exhibit, and sell both sculptural and functional objects and perform metal finishing services for other artists and artisans. I teach metal finishing workshops that focus on the fundamentals of the patination process, with methods to personalize the colorations to the object at hand. I hope I have achieved those same goals in this book. Happy patinating to you all!