Ştefan Pelmuş is a contemporary Romanian painter born August 19, 1949, in Valea Calugareasca. Pelmus studied under Ion Salisteanu si Ilie Pavel and is a graduate of the Nicolae Grigorescu Fine Arts Institute in Bucharest where he currently lives and works. A member of the Romanian Artists Association since 1980, Pelmus' latest exhibition was in October 2006 at the Vernescu House in Bucharest. Pelmuş works primarily in oils, and prefers canvas and cardboard as a medium. Notable is an Orthodox influence, namely in the rigidity of composition, high intensity of often primary color and backgrounds in silver or gold foil. His technique is traditional for icon painting, starting with foil glued to the canvas and excess removed. A solid coloured background is then added in, after which Pelmuş adds in layers of increasingly detailed elements. Many works also feature Cyrillic signs. In this, his paintings bear a high resemblance to an iconostasis, with a similar attention to placement and hierarchy. Graal - oil on canvas 2002 47.5x79.5cm Signed on the back