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After the last run.
I learned to ski at Mary Jane. C Lot is where the day kept going after the lifts stopped—the people, old wagons, skis, and stories.
Three times up the same trail.
No place has pulled me back like the Maroon Bells: a sky full of stars in 2019, rising like royalty in 2023, quiet under winter light in 2024. The first went quickly — the 45″ × 90″ and the 30″ × 60″ are gone, and a couple are still to be had at 36″ × 72″.
National Sports Center for the DisabledLimbs for LibertyAmerican Alpine ClubBoulder Museum of Contemporary ArtDenver Center for the Performing ArtsColorado SymphonyBravo! VailBoulder BalletAh Haa School for the Performing ArtsGrand Lake Arts CommunityConservation ColoradoRaise the FutureAspen Buddy ProgramBGoldnFood Bank of the RockiesThe Jamie Beck FoundationWings of Hope for Pancreatic Cancer Research
Since 2020, more than $200,000.
For adaptive athletics, for the land, for arts access, and for the communities I live in. This is the Boulder Ballet gala, with the people who keep the company running.
Transfer sheetAluminum
80years and moreno glass · no paper · no ink on top
2026It goes up on your wall.
2046Your children grow up under it.
2066It is handed down, certificate and all.
2086The colour is still holding.
It is not canvas.
There is no stretcher, no glass, no frame. A painting of mine is a sheet of recycled aluminum with its edges painted black, so it hangs clean, edge to edge. That is one of them seen sideways, at Maroon Lake.
Morning
Afternoon
Lamplight
A sample of the exact paintingA mock-up on a photograph of your wallThe studio in Golden, by appointment
“…in the reflection you can see off the shiny bright surface, you too, are a part of the art.”
“The painting delivered on time and the quality far exceeds expectations after seeing it in person.”
“Our only regret was not deciding sooner.”
“We hung our ‘Duet’ and it is even more beautiful than we anticipated.”
“His vision of the Rocky Mountain National Park has now brought the focal point to our living room we’ve been looking for for years.”
A screen shows you the color.
Each painting is sublimated onto a high-gloss aluminum panel, so it reflects the room around it and changes with the light through the day. A screen shows you the composition and the color. It cannot show you that.
I am doing two things at once.
I learned at Mary Jane with the Eskimo Ski Club. Now, when I am on the slopes, I am having a great time snowboarding and immersing myself in the landscape at the same time, working out the parts of it I want to paint.
“The sublimation process bonds dye to the aluminum on a molecular level, creating an archival quality work that is ready to hang.”
“Given the high-tech methods and the semi-gloss surfaces, the result could be too slick and commercial, but the expressionistic handlings of the outlined forms prevents that.”
“Topher’s “Tetons National Park” painting will be on permanent exhibit at the Grand Tetons National Park visitor’s center in Wyoming.”
“Straus is a New York-trained fine artist, known for his raw playfulness and imaginative concepts.”
“In some significant way, Straus isn’t just depicting what’s beautiful to his eye and heart — he’s representing home.”
Archival, and ready to hang.
Wren Bova in the Vail Daily, on what the heat actually does to the dye and the metal.