Jay Favorite

I became interested in art because of the influence of three people; my mother, a good friend, and my art teacher.  My first actual memory of drawing was at 7 years old.  I would usually draw race cars on notebook paper with my Crayola markers.  I also remember my mother drawing cartoons and painting pictures of animals while I watched.  But during the holidays she would let me help her paint plaster Christmas trees.  Growing up I seemed to get into a bit of trouble and was sent to my room often where I would draw out of sheer boredom.  I began taking art class in elementary school and in 6th grade met another kid who liked to draw as much as I did. He became one of my best friends and greatest influences. 

We were not the most attentive students and would draw pictures or write in our own made up calligraphy during class.  Classmates requested their names written in "cool lettering" and girls wanted the popular " I love so in so" drawn on their notebooks.  Matt and I were happy to entertain friends and would compete by drawing the most attention-grabbing pictures, which usually led to disrupting class.  We also contributed  in high school by drawing and painting posters and fliers for pep assemblies, games, dances and graduations.  We kept in touch after graduation and continued creating art in some form or another.  I worked for a local jacket shop where I designed and learned silk screening.  I also drew fliers and painted signs for local businesses such as car dealerships, restaurants, club's, local schools and children's nurseries.  Matt was so talented in lettering and did this for local car dealerships and got a job doing custom auto paint.  He was an extremely gifted artist and was one of those people who made it look so easy.  We enjoyed talking about cars and music and appreciated each others art.  We were inspired by the same strangely paired artists, Picasso and Andy Warhol.  Matt had a great sense of humor and I valued his friendship.  I have dedicated this website in his memory and have included a painting and a drawing of his work and his photo on the memorial link.

 Art has always been a release for me.  I could always express whatever emotion I was feeling through my art.  I can look back on old drawings and remember exactly how I felt by my choice of color selection or just by the content of the picture.  I could always draw to clear my mind and focus, which was particularly helpful in high school, where I was very involved in sports. Sports were always my top priority and were great for my competitive personality as well as my restlessness behavior.  I developed some confidence through competing, but still needed art as an outlet to express myself. 

Another influence was Mrs. Watts, my high school art teacher, who kept me interested in art and introduced me to Computer Graphics and Air Brush.  She always encouraged me to take risks to develop my skill and improve my work habits.  She really boosted my confidence when she asked me to enter my art work in a contest.  I had drawn a disturbing looking man who had chased me in a nightmare and incorporated it into a linoleum block print for a class room assignment.  Mrs. Watts insisted that I enter it into the "Artistic Discovery" contest.  My work received first place and was displayed in the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. for a year.  Mrs. Watts was such a positive influence for me and many other students who were fortunate enough to be in her class room.  She is now retired after 30 years of teaching but continues her work as a Bronze Sculptor.  Her website www.anitawatts.com displays her extraordinary sculptures of people and pets.  She has entrusted me to create some of her armatures for her creations. 

I now enjoy creating through metal fabrication.  I have always been mechanically inclined, but in combination with my art, I can now benefit from my work.  The first time I welded was 15 years ago for my girlfriend's dad, now father-in-law, who had restored a 1940 Ford and needed some welding done.  He had been painting cars for about 20 years and I learned to paint them from spending a lot of time watching him in his garage.  He has since retired from General Motors and we have been fortunate enough to collaborate on many projects. 

I decided to buy my first welder when I needed some repairs done on my old truck.  Having the welder got me tinkering a lot with metal and my fascination grew.  Since then I have acquired a C.N.C plasma cutter and a tube bender.  Having all of these tools has made it possible for my work to be extremely diverse.  I can be doing trailer repair or exhaust work one minute and then metal sculpting and custom fabricating the next.  I have also made metal signs for businesses and my most recent challenge was building my mid size chopper. Since I was 10 years old I have loved bikes and also enjoyed  BMX  racing.  Then as a teenager I purchased a GS750.   I soon hope to build a full size chopper from the ground up.