Zachary Ray, Pine Bluff
Zac was born in Little Rock in 1971 but moved all over the country as a child. Raised by his single mother, a teacher and artist, he gained an early appreciation for creative thinking and application in many different art forms. His professional career began in the 6th grade, drawing Smurfs and Garfields on the arms of classmates with markers for a dollar apiece.
Recently, Zac has begun to create a series of acrylic landscape paintings from various locations around Arkansas. He commented, “I've never painted before so I introduced myself to the medium by reproducing some of my wife's favorite works by Monet. This lead to my decision to continue the Impressionist style in my own personal landscape series. I am really excited about entering the Arkansas art scene.” He has also done some commissioned T-shirt designs, tattoos, mapping and artwork for online games, and webpage graphics. Although proud of maintaining an 'outside the box' mindset, he has begun to develop a body of work more suited towards public consumption. He is also an administrator for a psychedelic club at deviantArt. Married with 2 children, he currently resides in Pine Bluff and is working towards an education degree to teach art at the high school level.
Zac's artistic direction was initially defined by artists such as Crumb, Griffin, Escher, Dali, and other artists of the surrealist/fantasy/psychedelic genre. He spent most of his life drawing simply for personal enjoyment. At the age of 19, he worked in a sign shop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In high school, Zac attended the inaugural Aegis program hosted at UAPB. Largely self-taught, he has experimented with many mediums including 2d and 3d digital graphics that have been used in internet games. He has been most widely known for his guitar playing and music production, with over 20 years experience.
