My First Art Show

Seven months back now, I finally made the effort to participate in an art show, which has always been a goal of mine. I have loved art my whole life, beginning by drawing dinosaurs as a kid. I continued art while growing up drawing lots of sports figures, skiers, and cowboys, or pretty much anything I was really passionate about at the time. Through high school I took a few classes which increased my skills in drawing and painting, but focused on realism. At the time, I hated abstract art and didn't understand it. After I got to college and started to become more intellectual, I started to like abstract art and used it as sort of a rebellious escape from my left-brained engineering studies. It was in these years that impressionism and abstract art became my favorite. I started to create whimsical art full of passion and developed my own techniques. Then, during graduate school, as seems to always happen, my art side went by the wayside for a few years always begging to be brought to the surface again.

Finally, after returning from Europe last year, I found the enthusiasm and time to once again get back into it. An old friend of mine from high school art class, Jay Crider, and I created an art club here in Helena which we called the Illuminarti. Since high school, Jay had pursued art as a career and developed a style all to his own. He has since become one of my favorite painters and inspirations because his painting are AMAZING! He combines the subject matter of Picasso with the painting style of Van Gogh, which are my two favorite classic painters. Please check out Jay's website here.

Our group had some great times together, all having the similar motive to regularly keep art in our lives. We entered the Spring Art Walk here in Helena last April and it was quite a push for us to actually have a deadline. I sort of enjoyed the pressure and was thankful for all the support I got from my art club friends.

The day of the show was awesome. What a different experience to put something on the wall that you created for everyone to see! It was like singing or acting on stage because you are putting yourself out there. You are putting things on the wall from your mind, which can be a daunting feeling--things that came from your experiences, your interpretations, your subconscious. It was truly satisfying to achieve a personal goal of being in an art show at least once. It was also neat to be a part of the art world and to interact as an artist, even if it was for a short time.

A few months after the art walk, I got to participate in another show at my coffee shop. This time, I actually sold one of my paintings to one of the judges! I guess that makes me a real artist now? As promised, here's a few pictures of my art for you to see. Enjoy!

(Rocket Science: Getting back in touch with my left-brain. There is actually a lot of true science to this cartoon-like drawing. The rocket plume colors are what they use to measure temperature during testing and the curly vortex shapes in the plume are called vortex mixing. The fins on the rocket and the nozzle are there to mitigate heat.)


(Violin: I love musical instruments and how they have such sleek curves. I started this painting back in 2004 and finally finished it for the show here in 2009)


(Colossal with Key: one of my colossal characters. The look on his face could be one of innocence and asking forgiveness, or one of greed and evasiveness)


(Guitar Planko: another beautiful instrument)


(Nurture: to represent dreams and passions in life, if they are given the proper nurturing and support, they will grow, just like a plant)


(Clock Tower in Spokane, WA)


(Caught in a Dream: this is the one I sold to a Pediatrician. He said the shapes reminded him of vertebrae in your back, and the colors and friendly faces on the horses would be good for the kids.)


(Biological Father: influenced in part by the artwork with Pearl Jam's album Vitalogy)

Awakening the Blog again

After nearly a year, I have found the time and inspiration to post again. I know that I probably have lost most of my audience during my leave of absence, but I suppose that's how themed blogs go: If you don't have any relevant information worth posting, you pass on writing it. During the last few months, I have just not been inspired enough to post anything of substance as plans for going to Italy got postponed due to finances. Thus, I've just been working and doing projects around the house. I am writing now to say that plans for more travel are in my near future once again. I will continue to use this blog again and hopefully provide some insight for any overly-curious readers. I also hope to post on some cool things that did happen for me this summer, including my first art show.

Last I wrote, plans were in the works to save money here in Helena, MT in order to make it back to Italy. I am sorry to report that I have still not made it back to Italy, primarily due to finances. After returning from Italy, I saw first hand the effects of the economy as I had trouble finding a decent job. I found a part-time job as a barista at minimum wage, which was completely humbling and made saving money difficult. Plans for Italy were painfully put off and put off. During this period, I tried to find the bright side: this was the lowest paying job I've ever had in life, about 1/4 of the money I made as an engineer, but it's good for a person to see this, as it makes you grateful that you are able to do better thanks to education.

Summer here in Montana was fairly short as we had a more rainy than usual year, and winter came early seeing temperatures around zero F as early as a month ago. I did get some neat projects done this summer like putting in an underground sprinkler system for my mom. This spring, I also fulfilled a personal goal to be in an art show. I actually entered two shows and ended up selling one piece! I hope to post more on that another time.

So you ask, what is in store for the future? Well this has been a difficult question for me to answer and for the first time in my life, I am so unsure of the future, it is scaring me. Since I have returned from NZ, I confess that I have been increasingly feeling numb, lacking inspiration and motivation--that fire I once had.

Part of me is pushing to get back on a career track and rekindle the remnants of a career in science. Another part of me is still interested in opening a cocktail bar, or starting some sort of business of my own. All confusion aside, I have figured that moving away from the USA again is imminent. The USA and Montana are great places, but I've decided they are not the right place for me right now. So where do I go?

I still dream about NZ about 2 times a week and this would be the most logical place to go, but I want to try something different. NZ is a great back up, but I would like to find a place a little less isolated from the world, but still laid-back, stable and easy to get into. I came up with Australia. They rank really high on the livability scale, are close to beautiful NZ and also South Asia for traveling. Their economy is good and they do a lot of scientific research. I also have a few friends there trying to make a life. So I guess currently, Australia is my new goal.

In slang, they call Australia Oz. Hah, perfect. The wizard of Oz, what a fitting dream to think about: Going to Oz. So this is my new plan to date, at least for now, because you know how plans can change, especially for me! More later.