99 Weeks – Luke Warm

Working an office job, I found myself talking on the phone with clients for the better part of my day. I always ended up pen in hand, drawing on pieces of mail while discussing the monotonous details of loans. Once I ran out of loose mail to sketch on, I moved on to my next medium: a brown paper bag from Walmart. I have never taken any formal art classes but I just drew, painted and burned the bag until it looked interesting and unique. Spending thirteen years working in the culinary arts, I know which vibrant colors mesh well together for creating and plating food, and I’ve used my eye for color pallets to transition into traditional artwork. I’ve long been an art lover, following trailblazing artist such as Android Jones, J. Garcia and Love Pusher. When I finally felt the brown paper Walmart bag was complete, I ended up framing and hanging it in my apartment. One day, my roommate’s friend saw this framed paper bag and offered to buy it. That was the first piece I ever sold, and thus the birth of Luke Warm. That was only 99 weeks ago today.

Art is a reflection of life. One morning I opened my eyes to see the sun peaking through the blinds and as I attempted to get out of bed I realized I couldn’t move my legs. Panic set in. The rest of that day is still a blur to me. I spent it visiting two doctors trying to figure out how I became immobile. First I visited my acupuncturist, then my MD. The diagnosis was Gout. The doctor told me I had to make a lifestyle change, which included removing meat from my diet completely and starting to live a cleaner lifestyle. I became a vegan and 45 days later I was able to walk again. This event in my life made me realize how much we take for granted. Now everyday, I am grateful for the ability to get up and walk to the paint can at the other side of the table. The switch to a vegan lifestyle gave me more energy to get up and create. Eating cleaner made me feel less lethargic and happier. My art is a pure reflection of that.

To create my pieces, I use vibrant colors and geometric shapes. Mother Nature is my muse, so I prefer to create outdoors where I am influenced by my surroundings using canvas, tape and spray paint. What I appreciate in other’s art, and try to implement in my own works, is attention to detail and symmetry. If a piece is not symmetrically lined up in the middle of a canvas, it’s off-putting and almost makes me want to walk away. My artwork is evenly distributed across the canvas as to draw in the gaze. The first images someone viewing my art recognizes are the shapes and colors used. Then they realize every shape is its own individually detailed painting. The audience can draw emotion and see my past memories from each unique shape. Art is objective and every one can see things in a different perspective and think it’s beautiful.

I have learned that the convenience of life shouldn’t be taken for granted. Some of my canvases have a painful aspect because working from any type of agony, which in my case was losing the ability to walk, will show up in your work. Everything I create now is about light and brightness. I have two different styles: The first is complete abstract paintings that seem to come from a lot of dark areas into bright colors. The second style is having a character on a structured background with uniform colors, which work to make the characters in the forefront pop. I sketch the characters from real images and use pointillism to create the characters in my pieces.

Just to wake up and create art every day would be the dream. The act of creation allows and permits escapism from our current reality. I don’t have to be connected to Wi-Fi or a landline. It’s just nature, my materials and me. I belong to two organizations where my artwork is displayed, RAW and NWO. RAWartist.org is an art show collective that happens in sixty cities across the U.S., Australia, the U.K and Canada. It is an independent art organization by artists, for artists. NWO is an art gallery which is based out of California. My art is rotationally showcased at their gallery on 5009 Hollywood Blvd.

PLEASE Visit LUKEWARM Website for prints,originals, and commission work. Mention this article and receive 20% off your entire print order.

Human Diaries is an amazing way to educate others about things they wouldn’t normally be drawn towards. It places them in front of you, letting you experience something new and refreshing, which is really what life’s about.