Hi, I’m Guyus

Thank you for visiting my website!
Here you can learn a little bit about me and my background in the studies of art.

My training and interest in art began at the early age of seven. I was first inspired by drawings made by my father, who demonstrated an artistic flare–a right side thinker like me. For several years, I sketched and doodled on any paper I could find, even the disposable paper covers of my elementary school books during lectures. I would trace, copy, and invent things to draw, constantly trying to exercise my imagination and strengthen my skills as an artist. I learned early on that my favorite subject-matter was the human figure, especially faces. Around the age of 8, my mother and father bought me my first art box holding a little bit of everything such as pencils, chalk pastels, clay, water colors, and tubes of oil paints. Talk about encouragement!

I’ve always had an interest in fine arts (drawing, painting, sculpting, writing, photography). During high school, I took all the available art courses I could, and I am happy to report that I won several art contests and received many awards. After high school, I grew desperate to learn as much as I could about all the latest computer programs used to aid artists in creating digital artwork. It was a relatively new medium artists were using at the time, so I decided to go to college to major in Graphic Design.

In 1999, I started attending Montana State University-Northern. I was required to familiarize myself with some of the leading graphic design software used by professionals in the digital arts field, such as 3D StudioMax, AutoCad, PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, and several others. With hard work and determination, I was able to maintain a 4.0 GPA and was awarded with Departmental Distinction upon graduating.

In 2003, I started up my own online portrait art business, back when very few were doing this and way before all the drag-and-drop, ready-made, website templates were so good and available, in hopes of beginning a promising career as a freelance artist. My business began to flourish right away and was doing quite well for several years, but then sadly I was struck down by a mysterious digestive illness (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) that lasted for many years. It eventually forced me to put my business on hold. After many years of struggling with it and years of researching my illness, I discovered that I had developed several food sensitivities, food intolerances, and food allergies, mainly thanks to the typical American diet which is making most of us sick. I’m now a major health nut. I try to only put things into my body that will only do it good. So I now try to stay away from harmful sugars, grains, preservatives, emulsifiers and all highly processed foods and would like to start growing my own foods someday soon.  In 2017, I became a vegan (I no longer consume animal-based foods like meat, dairy, and eggs) and have been getting better ever since. Now that my health has dramatically improved, I have relaunched my art business and I am exited to be providing my artistic services once again!

More Personal Stuff About Me and Some Pictures Below

I’m a very introverted person. I’m also very shy, especially at first when meeting new people. But once I get to know them, I can become the life of the party. I have a good sense of humor and tend to laugh a lot. I’m also known to make others laugh quite a bit–often harder and longer than I do. Somewhat surprisingly, I used to be extremely social when I was much younger. Now I’m the exact opposite–by choice–because I hate drama, loud noises, and flashing lights. I easily get sensory overload. So I never go bar hopping, clubbing, or to high profile music concerts. I prefer peace and quite and stillness. I also love to go on walks and long bike rides, as long as it is on a relatively nice day, where there aren’t too many steep hills, and I love to play Frisbee.

I’m very family oriented. Family is very important to me. They are my world. They are my best friends. I have three brothers and one sister. We all really like each other and really get along–most of the time–and we all really love our parents who have always tried to be there for us. While growing up, my family moved around a lot, which had its pros and cons and its ups and downs. It’s my dream to find that one special place to settle down, hopefully a really nice area close to family and friends, where I could enjoyably live out my years.

I’m currently single and may prefer to remain so, but I’m also open to the possibility of finding that one special person to share my life with and perhaps to raise a family. I can see myself being content and somewhat regretful either way. I tend to like nerdy, creative girls with big hearts, girls that can be graceful but also playful, not high maintenance but not a messy slob either. I don’t really like to dance, but I don’t mind slow dancing with a girl.

I really hate to travel–there’s no place like home–but if Scotty, the teleportation engineer on Star Trek, could safely beam me to a far away, exotic location like Egypt to visit the pyramids, I would go. I have a huge phobia of driving on the highway. Tons of metal passing closely by at 60 to 70 miles per hour just doesn’t seem logical or safe to me, especially at night in the rain.

I’m not religious, but I am a very spiritual person. Philosophically speaking, I’m a pantheist. Personally, I believe the universe is one, ultimately connected and endless, self-perpetuating and self-sustaining entity of positive and negative forces that has always existed and always will and is constantly responsible for our existence. I’m a very optimistic person but not to the point of being naïve with a false sense of security. I question everything, as we all should. I love to examine the world, philosophize, and think deep thoughts. I try to prepare for the worst, yet hope for the best. So I guess I’m cautiously optimistic.

I love science and have a deep appreciation for the Scientific Method. I believe it’s one of the best ways to learn about the world, along side philosophical examination. I have a strong interest in rockets and in lighter-than-air airships (balloons, dirigibles, blimps) and I’m a major space travel enthusiast. I hope to live long enough to witness our first official contact with extraterrestrials and to see huge centrifugal space stations in Earth orbit, where I may travel to visit someday within my lifetime. I love to think and theorize about Relativity, time travel, gravity, black holes,  quantum mechanics, and the nature of light. I enjoy analyzing theories offered by theoretical physicists and contemplating interesting concepts written about by science fiction writers. I also enjoy thinking about future technology and potential advancements that could help improve the world we live in.

I like all kinds of music, but my favorite kind is Classical and New Age. I think Vangelis is one of the greatest composers of all time, and I think Enya has created some of the most beautiful music ever produced by the human soul. I love the sound of wooden flutes, stringed instruments, and giant church bells. I also enjoy the sounds of a light rain and of distant thunder.

I love to watch movies, especially old epic films, but the era of great movie making and great story telling seems to have passed, at least for now. Though, there are still a few good ones from time-to-time. My all time favorite movie is the original 1981 “Clash of The Titans.” Another favorite is the 2002 version of “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Some of my favorite classic sitcoms or shows to watch–and guilty pleasures–are The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Kung-Fu, Wings, Columbo, Threes Company, The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Growing Pains, Little House on The Prairie,  Land of The Lost, Leave It To Beaver, and Gilligan’s Island. I also really enjoy reading classic novels.

My favorite seasons are the two transitional ones, spring and autumn. I’m absolutely terrified of tornadoes! I’m afraid of bees, wasps, hornets, and yellow-jackets. Insects in general seem to always flock towards me and fly into my face and towards my eyes; I learned they are attracted to dark colors like my eyes and hair. I’m really creeped out by large tree roaches, grasshoppers, and of course spiders.

I’m a moderate Democrat or, rather, a Centrist who advocates a delicate balance between big government and small government, between rules and freedom, and between independence and dependence. It’s best to avoid all the extremes.  I try to apply balance to every aspect of my life.

PICTURES OF ME

 

Below, are pictures of me when I was sculpting Johnnie Guilbert’s head bust.