Talented Technician's Abstract Art

Lab Owner Robert Carnell has long dabbled in artistic pursuits, taking art classes as a child and creating sketches and posters for friends. But after seeing an abstract painting of Elvis Presley at a state fair, he was inspired to take his talents to new heights.

During the pandemic, when his lab, Robert’s Dental Lab in Spokane, WA, was shut down and he had ample free time, he began to focus on pop-abstract-style art, mainly painting celebrities. “I like art that’s different, that catches people’s attention and makes them stop and stare,” says Carnell.

In addition to working with oil and acrylic paints and all-cotton canvases, he uses tools and materials from his lab as well as his talents as a technician. Carnell, who sometimes works on commissioned projects for friends, believes the skills required to be a technician and an artist go hand in hand. “To stain teeth and make the gingiva look as realistic as possible,...