Archer

Dave & Forrester Archer

Dave Archer

Dave Archer was born in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1941. After graduating from high school, he received a scholarship to study art at the California Watercolor School. Archer began painting under the name Dave Archer in San Francisco during the Beat Generation when nonconformist artists and writers were all the rage. To fuel his passion, Archer also worked as a doorman at a coffeehouse between odd jobs.

In 1970, Archer was introduced to Ron Russell and the world of reverse glass painting. Together, they created the ‘reclusive’ painter Russell Archer—a combination of their middle names that allowed them to create art together. Their work was met with great success at festivals and exhibitions. In 1991, the duo came together again to showcase their evocative Russell Archer exhibit. The reunion was met with great enthusiasm and support by fans.

What kickstarted such a profound series of events between Ron Russell and Dave Archer was a meeting with Lee Bryd. He had been experimenting with electricity and built a Tesla coil of his own. This ‘sparked’ the artists’ imagination. They invited Bryd to perform experiments with their glass paintings. After several trials and failed attempts, the trio developed an art process that Archer relies on to this day.

Later, Archer required larger and finer Tesla coils to create his works. It was the late Mr. Bill Wysock (a Tesla coil engineer) who helped build and design Archer’s painting machines. Wysock is known for his notable work in creating special lighting effects for many Hollywood movies.

Archer’s method of painting involves using a handheld wand that generates a million volts of electrically charged arcs onto conductive water paints and glass. Much like a magician who’s about to perform a great magic trick, Archer’s process reveals what he calls ‘art storms’. Unreal, abstract cloudy forms appear on the glass that he develops by hand into comets, planets, and other celestial objects. Archer describes his work as ‘21st century, high-tech folk art’.

Dave Archer is no longer with us as of 2023 and the artist has passed on his legacy to his son Forrester, to continue his work.

Forrester Archer

While some artists come into the art world later in life, Forrester Archer was raised in it. Working in Dave’s studio throughout his life Forrester did his first paintings when he was 8 years old. He painted the things every boy loves like tanks, helicopters, and of course paintings for his mom for her birthdays(Which still hang in her house to this day.)

When Dave saw his son’s early ambitions in the art world, he began to stoke the flames of inspiration by getting Forrester into things like glass art, leather craft, and woodworking. All of which are still things he does today along with lamp work, a style of glass art involving molding glass with the help of a torch. Eventually, this would lead to Forrester managing Dave’s massive art studio for more than 20 years and even living in it for a time.

About 25 years ago when Dave had an impromptu show at the studio, Forrester brought 13 of his own originals to sell. To Forrester’s surprise, all 13 had flown off the walls by the end of the night. This was his awakening that he could make something of himself in the world of art and from this point on began apprenticing under Dave to further understand the intricacies of the work that he had perfected over a lifetime.

Through not only the apprenticeship but also from the vast collection of knowledge he had gained from growing up in the art world and being surrounded by Dave’s library of art history books, Forrester began to bring the electrifying glass paintings to new horizons. You can often tell a Forrester Archer original, by the mystifying shine created by Alpha Jewels added to the galaxies, the cryptic silhouettes in the foreground, and the use of hidden UV paint that changes the entire perspective of the painting. We invite you to join in on this elevation of the space work you have all come to know and love, and embrace the experimentation that will become the future of Archer works.