Blonde ambition (2006) Digital Arts by Steven Willey

STEVEN WILLEY

By Megan Thomas


Steven Willey was born in Sacramento, CA January 1974. Though-out his childhood he expressed his creative impression through many mediums. At the age of 10 he was given a paint box from a deceased relative. The paint box was sitting in his grand-mother’s attic for many years, but was filled with all the materials needed to paint. Even though the tubes of paint and brushes were almost antiques, they were still usable and he was able to create many paintings.



In 1992 – 1994 he studied art and fashion at Sacramento Collage. During this time Steven studied a range of art courses. Women in Art, World Art history, Basic Illustration, Intermediate Oil Painting, Sculpture 101, Color Theory, History of Fashion, Fashion Illustration, Clothing Construction, Fabrics and Textiles.



At the age of 20 he got the courage and took several of his paintings and drawings to local art galleries, only to be turned away. Discouraged, he put down his paint brush and decided to give it up. In 1994 he moved to the San Fransico and worked in the apparel industry and began making clothes. In 1997 after personal tragedies caused a mental breakdown he went back to painting as a part of his rehabilitation.



1998 was an extremely prolific year for Steven and jumpstarted a renewed creative insight. After many months of yoga, therapy and painting he created 3 small paintings. Steven asked a coffee shop to display his paintings and soon there after he was offered 2 commissions from Bay Area business owners.



In 1999 he moved back to Sacramento and continued to paint and create clothes. Steven again took his work to local business owners and asked to display his work. It didn’t take long before he was picked up by the local Sacramento art scene and was a participating artist for a few galleries. During the next few years he participated in many group shows in Sacramento, from the “TOWER Show” to “BACK IN THE BOX SHOW”. In 2003 Steven arranged and organized a successful group art show “WEE ART”. For the “Wee” show he painted approx 50 small canvases of various subjects and sold all but 3.



Steven currently is involved in several creative ventures in the Spring and Fall he creates limited edition tee-shirts and small fashion accessories. He also has art shows scheduled well into 2006. He even finds time write a fashion column for a community magazine. Steven feels he is very lucky to have the abilities and means to create his art, he hopes his legacy will live on through his paintings.

• Nationality: UNITED STATES
• Date of birth : unknown date
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary American Artists