Timothy Blasiman

I was always interested in art, especially in high school. All my elective classes were art classes, and I spent a lot of my study hall time in the art room. My art teacher, whom I really liked, believed in her students and submitted a lot of our works to art shows and galleries. She also helped me enroll in the National Art Honor Society and encouraged me to go to college for art, but I knew me, nor my parents could afford college. So, after I graduated, I enlisted in the United States Air Force. My plan was to enlist for 4 years and get my GI Bill money so I could go to college and get a degree in art. Well, all good plans always go haywire after the first couple of months in. I ended up staying in for 25 years and deployed to Afghanistan twice in that time. After a couple of years of retirement, my wife got sick and ended up passing away. I was broken because we just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. The Wounded Warrior Project reached out to me and invited me to go on a Project Odyssey with them. Project Odyssey is s program designed to help wounded warrior with their mental health by presenting activities and challenges to them. I got to go hiking in the mountains, and other outdoor activities, but the one that really hit home is the painting activity. We got to use acrylic paint and paint a picture as art therapy. I was in love again! I found my calling! Painting with the Wounded Warrior Project brought back all the memories of my childhood. After that week-long trip, I wanted to do more, so I went and bought some canvases and acrylic paints. I was painting anything I could find. I started to get better with acrylics, but I remembered I loved working with pastels in high school, so I bought a cheap set of soft pastels. I found them so hard to work with at first, but after a few bad pictures, I was starting to get the hang of them. I was doing pet portraits for friends and family, all the while working on perfecting my style. My art is a lot of realism art and focuses on animals. I find them to be so genuine in their looks and mannerisms. I love dogs and birds, as you will see in my portfolio. Pet Portraits are my favorites because when the owners see their loved pet on the picture, their eyes light up and the appreciation they show makes me feel so good inside.