Today we’d like to introduce you to Shane Mesquit.
Shane, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was Born 1986 in cathedral city California. Growing up my parents always encouraged my brothers and I to draw, paint and make things, creative time was a regular thing in our home. I remember having how to draw books and learning how to use a hot glue gun putting together small cardboard dioramas of shops like video stores or comic book shops.
In the mid-nineties, we relocated to Huntington Beach in Orange County and the skate, surf and art culture at that time blew my mind and changed me forever. I was primarily attracted to Skateboarding and Immediately emerged myself into that world. Found a group of friends in the neighborhood to skate with and explore common interests together. It all started with skateboarding, I 100% credit skateboarding to opening the door to art, music, friends I also learned to keep trying and to not give up on anything I’m working towards. Skateboarding is all I wanted to do in my younger years. My brother Devin, my dad and I had to move to Carlsbad San Diego for about 4 or 5 months; my dad had work out there. For about two months straight all Devin and I got to do was skate Carlsbad skatepark and occasionally Oceanside park. It was a blast!
I’ve been making art since I was a kid and thought it was just something you did, didn’t really take it seriously or think any more about it until 2005 when I was senior in high school It dawned on me that it was exactly what I wanted to do with my life, I realized I was an artist and that it was my passion, I fell in love with making art. I attended the golden west and orange coast college right after high school to further my studies in the fine arts.
For the past five years me and my wife having been running a beautiful little salon in Garden Grove called Mint Salon she’s a hairstylist, and I’m a barber, which I love doing. We throw an art show once a year full of different artists, mixed mediums, and performance art.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I draw with ballpoint pens and paint in oils. I would say my style is cartoonish and surrealistic. I enjoy the look of incorporating both together. I draw a lot of silly looking characters with long eyeballs exploding out of there faces and multiple eyes or mouths doing regular things. I really enjoy digging into my subconscious and letting that take over in a freestyle way. I look at art as a way to translate Daily life, A way to express anything if it be humor, sadness, frustration, happiness, fun or to explore a different feeling. I really enjoy showing those feelings in an abstract sometimes Subtle way. To where the viewer has to really look and read what I’m trying to say I don’t like to just give it away that easily. I think it makes it more interesting at least for me. And sometimes I like to be straight forward with a topic. It’s all mood and feeling for me. I am mostly inspired by music I see music as a way to help me explore my mind more — the same way any form of art can do that writing, painting, dancing, movies. I take a lot from music and use it for my work through relating and feeling. I’m always looking for a new feeling and idea; to me, the world is so vast and full of material you could never run out of ideas. Through drawing and painting My goal is to continue to get out my ideas and feelings about life in Original ways every time and make something real. I hope to inspire other artists to do what they want and to be true to themselves and what I really hope my work does if anything is make people feel something real. I think that’s my biggest mission is to provoke a feeling.
How can artists connect with other artists?
There’s a ton of important new information about the world out there. I believe the artists have so much more material to be inspired by today more than ever before especially with social media being the new way to discover artists so easily. Like any other time you keep doing what you do and you do it well, and you put yourself out there, and you work hard you’re bound to get somewhere. And more importantly, just have fun and enjoy it.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Currently, I only show my work and the projects I am working on through Instagram. My main goal and focus now is to refine my craft in oil paintings. Im approaching them the same way I draw, Which will be the first time I have done this. I have a self-published book called the Uncanny Alphabet and can be purchased through me on Instagram along with screen prints and T-shirts. I am continuously working on new projects and many new exciting things to come for the future.
Contact Info:
- Email: shanemesquit@gmail.com
- Instagram: @shanemesquit
Image Credit:
Photos are taken by Me and wife.
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