Beat Urfer's cloisonné paintings in tropical Queensland amaze!
Its leading exponent, North Queensland artist, Beat Urfer, is a brilliant technician, unequalled in my experience. With a background as an industrial chemist, he understands his material well. 
Here, "Tropical Journey" on the left shows the composition of the whole. Move closer and examine the inserts and you will see that there are "pictures within pictures" - a jewel of a surprise! Have you ever seen a brilliant blue Ulysseys butterfly flitting high in the jungle canopy or darting low into your garden bed of penta flowers? The jewel-like flash of its unfolded wings is memorable but incredibly difficult to reproduce in paint. This is where Beat's transparent yet reflective layers of glass enamel reign supreme! 
Sounds easy? Just wait! Powdered glass on metal is held in place with gum tragacanth then fired perhaps seven or eight times in a special enamelling kiln, with levels of enamel patiently being built up between each firing. The whole is then ground back level, re-fired to bring back its gloss and inserted into the main acrylic painting – hence the description “cloisonné painting”. 
Beat and his wife, Monique, live in the house that they built themselves, surrounded by tall trees and bush, in the Tablelands region, inland from Cairns, in North Queensland. Monique (also an artist) and Beat live comfortably and happily, removed from many of the distractions of city life. For that particular “fix” they visit their homeland of Switzerland for periodic exhibitions of Beat’s cloisonné work. In Europe their visits are eagerly awaited, clients appreciating the “painting within a painting” nature of his jewel-like compositions. Beat was one of the top artists shown at our old gallery, Port Douglas Gallery of Fine Art and held several exhibitions there, to great acclaim. To top of Cloisonné Paintings
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