• about me
Leonardo Da Vinci has always held a special fascination with me ever since I was a boy. Drawings of flying machines and weapons brought to life with beautiful paints had a particular magnetic power over me. Da Vinci was a true genius whose open mind changed the image of his day and into the future. His incredible talent was a mix of engineering and art, which built him into a legend.
Michael Angelo had pure passion and consistently worked hard with an almost super-human ability to produce some of the most amazing masterpieces of art today. Unpredictable in his private life, he created precise and colorful artworks. His unbelievable advanced approach in sculpture has endured for many centuries.
I think these two my heroes had the biggest influence in my artistic and intellectual development. After studying them, I have discovered a whole army of those who were my mutual teachers. Just to mention a few; Caravaggio and Vermeer both taught me about color. The ancient Greeks and the Romans laid brick at my private school of academy of art, and built respect for the past generations. French impressionists like Matisse, Toulouse Lautrec, Antoine Villard, Cezanne and hundreds of modern and ancient artists have influenced my path. I cannot even recall all of them from my memory.
Later on I started to discover writers, movie directors, poets, composers; with that exposure, I began to open my mind to other forms of art. My adventure with visual art began about 1975. I was five at that time. I remember watching the Flintstones TV show which was on black and white TV in Poland. I remember trying to copy Dino – the Flintstone’s pet. I found real pleasure in drawing, so I started to draw more. I spent a few hours drawing almost every day. I wasn’t too interested in sports like most of my friends so it was easier for me to dedicate my time to paints and drawings.
I grew up in a communist country where fortunately for me, there was not much to do except play soccer, drink vodka or read books (some of them were illegal – like Orwell’s Citizen Kane) or play some instrument. A few years later I started to draw comics (or so I called them) and tried to improve my skills drawing and painting fruits, glasses, dishes – everything and anything I could see, I wanted to draw.
About the time I was 12, I started to win my first prizes from national and international kid’s art competitions. In most cases I didn’t even know my works were sent to the competitions. My art teacher was sending them in secrecy because she new I wouldn’t be happy if I knew she was entering my work in competitions. You see, I was one of the cool and tough guys at school. It was embarrassing for me to receive those prizes in front of the whole school, and of course in front of my buddies that would tease me about how proud the school and the community were of me.
About age 14 I had to make my first life decision. I had to decide what the next step would be in my life. I had two choices –to work in the carbon mines around the city I lived or become an artist. I chose art. An unsecured, strange profession - nobody (except my mom) could understand why I chose it. “What are you going to do to make a living?” I was asked. “Stickers”. I said. I found an answer and they left me alone. I made the decision, but it was just the first step. I had to pass an interview at art school and present my art works – after that I would be allowed to take the exam. This was not an easy exam. It included painting, drawing and history of art, then language and math. Somehow I made it. Soon after I entered the school of graphical arts, which was a five year program, I realized I had entered into a totally different world; a very tough and competitive world, but a magical world. That is how it all began.
Michael Angelo had pure passion and consistently worked hard with an almost super-human ability to produce some of the most amazing masterpieces of art today. Unpredictable in his private life, he created precise and colorful artworks. His unbelievable advanced approach in sculpture has endured for many centuries.
I think these two my heroes had the biggest influence in my artistic and intellectual development. After studying them, I have discovered a whole army of those who were my mutual teachers. Just to mention a few; Caravaggio and Vermeer both taught me about color. The ancient Greeks and the Romans laid brick at my private school of academy of art, and built respect for the past generations. French impressionists like Matisse, Toulouse Lautrec, Antoine Villard, Cezanne and hundreds of modern and ancient artists have influenced my path. I cannot even recall all of them from my memory.
Later on I started to discover writers, movie directors, poets, composers; with that exposure, I began to open my mind to other forms of art. My adventure with visual art began about 1975. I was five at that time. I remember watching the Flintstones TV show which was on black and white TV in Poland. I remember trying to copy Dino – the Flintstone’s pet. I found real pleasure in drawing, so I started to draw more. I spent a few hours drawing almost every day. I wasn’t too interested in sports like most of my friends so it was easier for me to dedicate my time to paints and drawings.
I grew up in a communist country where fortunately for me, there was not much to do except play soccer, drink vodka or read books (some of them were illegal – like Orwell’s Citizen Kane) or play some instrument. A few years later I started to draw comics (or so I called them) and tried to improve my skills drawing and painting fruits, glasses, dishes – everything and anything I could see, I wanted to draw.
About the time I was 12, I started to win my first prizes from national and international kid’s art competitions. In most cases I didn’t even know my works were sent to the competitions. My art teacher was sending them in secrecy because she new I wouldn’t be happy if I knew she was entering my work in competitions. You see, I was one of the cool and tough guys at school. It was embarrassing for me to receive those prizes in front of the whole school, and of course in front of my buddies that would tease me about how proud the school and the community were of me.
About age 14 I had to make my first life decision. I had to decide what the next step would be in my life. I had two choices –to work in the carbon mines around the city I lived or become an artist. I chose art. An unsecured, strange profession - nobody (except my mom) could understand why I chose it. “What are you going to do to make a living?” I was asked. “Stickers”. I said. I found an answer and they left me alone. I made the decision, but it was just the first step. I had to pass an interview at art school and present my art works – after that I would be allowed to take the exam. This was not an easy exam. It included painting, drawing and history of art, then language and math. Somehow I made it. Soon after I entered the school of graphical arts, which was a five year program, I realized I had entered into a totally different world; a very tough and competitive world, but a magical world. That is how it all began.