Twenty-five Years of Collaboration

In our first issue of Just Paint in 1987, I shared the following story:

A new employee was hired on a construction crew to paint the yellow line in the center of the road. On the first day, with great zeal, he painted 10 miles of line. On the second day he managed to paint only 6 miles of line. And by the time the third day was over, only two additional miles of line were painted.

The Foreman, noticeably upset, came over and demanded, “What’s going on, you started off with such great drive and energy, what happened to you?” The painter replied, “Oh, I still have the same enthusiasm – even more – but, every day, the run got longer back to that can of paint!”

I wrote in our first newsletter about the struggle to continue to grow Golden Artist Colors, Inc. and in my belief that we could be “one of those special businesses that gets better as it gets bigger” — that we could provide even greater access to Technical Support and education and to continue to improve and develop new materials for the professional artist — that we could be a resource of truly meaningful support to artists.
Well, it has not been easy, but through the work of an incredibly dedicated staff, who are now owners of Golden Artist Colors, Inc., we have made every effort to remain true to that commitment to grow a better business — a business committed to all the employee owners, one committed to our local community and environment and one significantly committed to artists around the world.

Our mission statement shares the desire to provide tools and support and to be the assistants for those visual artists that have inspired us for 25 years now.

“To grow a sustainable company dedicated to creating and sharing the most imaginative and innovative tools of color, line and texture for inspiring those who turn their vision into reality.”

This company is the sum total of so many people through the years who, with their talent, drive and heart have taken this mission to be their own. They are people who truly delight in making art materials that have contributed in some small measure to the history of painting in our times. They enjoy making this a company they can be proud of. This company is the product of so many talented artists who have become friends and mentors for us and have been willing to speak out and continue to guide us during all the twists and turns in this journey.

To this point, I have not yet learned to carry the pail with me as I paint the line; I am as eager and excited as ever about the future. Thankfully, for me, the road I’ve been painting is a circular one; a road that takes me back to a very familiar role in this company. I remain as committed as ever to guiding the vision of this company, but I will also be taking on a new responsibility in leading the GOLDEN Custom Lab — our company making and designing unique products to meet the needs of individual artists, artisans and conservators. Nothing is more exciting to me than to get back to the origins of this company and to share in that incredibly unique collaboration that is our Custom Lab.

During the next few months we are creating new processes to be able to meet the custom requests of customers. We hope to be in full operation by late fall of 2005. I look forward to this new twist in our journey together.

Sincerely,

Mark Golden