My Latin American origins heavily influence my work. I pay homage in all my paintings to the diversity of the women in the world, including indigenous people, artists, and the everyday fighter. My work is colorful and often includes hidden words, messages, and poems I wrote to give each piece a unique feel and a deeper meaning. My goal is that every piece brings color and history to their future forever home.
Love of art has always been a major part of my life. Growing up in a remote area in Lebanon, I spent my childhood on hillsides entertaining myself by using natural environment to make art, creating miniature villages using twigs, mud, pebbles, seashells and other flotsam. Bullet casings and exploded shrapnel afforded excellent miniature construction material. I started my career as a molecular biologist, but I never gave up art, filling up any free time creating something. After taking my first class in ceramics 10+ years ago, I fell in love and decided to give it 100% of my attention. Turning mud into a mug involves physics, chemistry, and cognitive constructional abilities, yet is ultimately controlled by the unpredictable whims of the kiln gods, … and playing with clay is cheaper than psychotherapy. I replaced scientific experimentation with experimentation with clay. I am constantly trying new techniques, materials, and glazes, giving rise to my eclectic style. There will always be something new and different in my collection. You can view current works by following me on Instagram or my website.
Jeff’s funny Instagram stories came on my radar long before he came to 1st Saturday in 2023. Jeff has turned his obsession with “doodling” into an artform and that in itself makes a great story. Sit back for the rest, Jeff has a fascinating and inspiring backstory!
One could call Jeff Lung’s art figurative abstract art but he often just calls it “doodle art.” “I love to doodle! So I’ve made it my thing!” ~ Jeff Lung
Tell us about yourself outside of the art world.
I am a self-taught artist interested in figurative abstract expression and obsessive doodling. All my life I have been obsessed with filling empty spaces with shapes, and my doodle-scribbled notebooks collected over the years document this quest. I find great satisfaction in finding relationships among forms and expressing them through emotion. In my free time, I enjoys being outdoors: running, hiking and cycling. I also love comic books and live stand-up comedy. Born and raised in Quincy, Illinois, since leaving home at 18 years old I have lived in big cities like Madrid, Beijing, Los Angeles and Chicago. Now I’m a Texan. Texan for life.
How did your art journey begin?
Initially it was a coping mechanism for dealing with the chaos of my early childhood. I found that drawing and doodling helped me escape from the drama that was otherwise holding me down.
What are you doing with your art right now?
I continue to experiment by combining my deep interest in traditional portraiture and figure drawing alongside my incessant need to be doodling all the time. In doing so, I also explore themes that are at the forefront of my mind: dynamic movement, faith, love, hope, peace, calm.
Do you have big plans/goals for the future?
Heck yes! I plan to see the world through my art and subsequent messaging. I’ve overcome a lot of adversity in my life and I want to share that triumph while also helping others get through trials of their own.
What guidance would you offer to a budding or novice artist?
Ask questions, of course, but realize too that we are all an experiment of one. What works for one person may not work for you. I ask a lot of questions and pick a lot of brains and then filter that through my own journey and experience to get the most out of it.
If you didn’t work in your medium, what would you choose?
Probably something similar like gouache.
Tell us a surprising thing or story about yourself!
I have a lot of interesting life experiences. I speak fluent Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. I lived in China for four years. I also did some dumb stuff and got arrested and sent to prison at 24 years old for selling Ecstasy. I served 26 months in prison and while incarcerated started my first successful entrepreneurial endeavor by drawing portraits for my fellow inmates in graphite. I became known as the portrait guy in the joint and made a good living (for being locked up that is). I got out in 2007 and never went back to my stupid days.
I was also a competitive boxer with 13 fights, winning the 2015 Chicago Golden Gloves in the Masters Division lightweight class. I have run hundreds of races: half marathons, marathons, ultramarathons. My crowning achievements are a 3:03 PR in the 2012 Chicago Marathon. I ran the Boston Marathon twice (2013, 2014). I also ran the coveted and highly selective Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in 2017. While I still do run often, I also enjoy riding my bike for short and long distances.
His was hard rock and heavy metal. Hers was the classic sound of the East Texas piney woods. Theirs was a fiery collision, bearing forth a sound that was at once novel and instantly familiar–high lonesome harmonies with a rock and roll soul.
I am an artist who is also a singer, songwriter, and award-winning writer and producer in the entertainment industry. I love the canvas because to me it represents a clean slate for inner expression.
I work with acrylics, oils, or gouache and create works pulled from emotions and thoughts from my love of the world we live on and the Universe we live within.
I believe the Universe is an ever-expanding colorful force of life and I try to allow the thoughts and feelings of mindful, passionate creativity to flow into my canvases. While visiting my gallery at First Saturday Arts Market or my online profile, I hope that you can sit, breathe, look at my paintings and see what emotions/moods it inspires in you.
Tim landed at the market in June 2012 and I remember him telling me he’d left his job in TV to work his photography biz full-time. From day one he raised the bar for both photographers and other artists. Tim’s professionalism and easy going manner stand out in the crowd. Enjoy his story!
Tell us about yourself outside of the art world.
I grew up in Oklahoma and have been living in the Houston area for 18 years. I’ve also been married for 18 years and we have three kids, 4, 6, and 8. I love Jesus, metal detecting, pc gaming, and most recently have gotten into 3D design and 3D-printing parts for various projects I’ve got going on, one of which is a motion cockpit seat for use in a virtual reality flight simulator, which I built from the ground up. I’ve also been an amateur visual astronomer for a few years and am currently working on completing the Messier and Herschel deep-sky-object certifications.
How did your art journey begin?
I’ve enjoyed drawing since Junior High and took nature and landscape painting lessons in high school. I chose a Minolta SLR as my high school graduation gift and did some shooting with it. Not much artistic though, mostly of friends, vacations, and such. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Geography degree, I decided to do something completely different and went back to school at Rose State, a small community college near Oklahoma City, and graduated 18 months later with an Associates in Television Broadcast. My curriculum was focused on shooting and editing video for news stories, although it encompassed many aspects of the television broadcast industry.
Unlike my time at OU, I felt like I’d finally found something that felt natural to me. I worked at a few different places for a year and a half, but finally landed a great job at KPRC, the NBC affiliate in Houston, as a production operator. This mostly involved running robotic cameras in the studio (a first for me), switching graphics, and floor directing. After three years, I got the itch to learn more about IT and I picked up a massive book and started studying for the CompTIA A+ certification just to see where that would lead me. I happened to ask my boss if our IT director needed an assistant, and within a week, I was the new IT assistant and had moved from production to engineering.
I loved my new position and learned so much over the next three years. Most of my work was waiting for something to break (printers were the most common in case you were wondering) so I had plenty of down time. I spent this time scratching yet a new itch, photography. Yes, I’d dabbled a bit before, but I really wanted to learn how to make a great photograph consistently. I read books, and used my downtime to read photography forums, searching for the common denominators between great photographs. I found a used Canon DSLR system on Craigslist and spent the next few years learning photography as a serious hobby.
A few years later, I sold my first few photographs at the Sugar Land Farmer’s Market in July 2012. A year later, I made the difficult decision to leave KPRC and set out on my own as a professional fine art landscape photographer.
Where are you now with your art?
I’m currently focused on photographing the “Great American West” with my Fujifilm medium format camera system. My most recent expedition was through Olympic and Mt Rainier National Parks in Washington. I’m releasing these photographs each month in my email newsletter.
Do you have big plans/goals for the future?
Right now, I just seem to be taking it one day at a time. The kids are a handful and that’s where most of my energy is spent it seems. It’s a real treat when I manage to get away to photograph for a week. Once the kids are older and better at taking care of themselves, I hope to be able to take photography trips more often.
Starting this fall, all three kids will be in school so I’m considering doing some local landscape/cityscape work during the daytime. This would most likely be a monochrome collection of images.
Tell us what’s next and where to find you.
I’ll be at First Saturday Arts Market on March 2nd, Bayou City Arts Fest on March 23rd-24th, Sugar Land Arts Fest on April 27th-28th, and Cottonwood Arts Fest (Richardson, TX) on May 4th-5th.
What guidance would you offer to a budding or novice artist?
Read, listen, learn. Try new things. Don’t get stuck in the rut of doing the same things. Maybe you’re doing something the best way possible, but you’ll still learn something new by doing it differently.
Tell us that one crazy story about yourself!
I’ve scuba’d with sharks on several occasions, but the most memorable time was in the Bahamas, off Nassau. This was specifically a “shark dive” and when I stepped off the boat and dropped into the water, I have to admit I felt very vulnerable when I looked around through the clearing bubbles to see I was surrounded by circling gray sharks with black, soul-less eyes. That was quite an experience and I’d definitely do it again.
Above: “Playing my Native American Flute for the horses. I purchased this flute from an artist near my booth at a San Antonio art festival. I loved the sound so much, I had to have one. I brought it along with me on this trip through Arizona and Utah, and actually played it while watching the sun set over the Grand Canyon!”
Sharks! “Diving with sharks in the Bahamas, off the coast of Nassau. There were dozens more like this one all around us.”
There are few things more satisfying than meeting someone so excited about your art, that they BUY IT and take it home! Don’t let what you don’t know about booths, set up and how to accept credit cards prevent you from trying & succeeding at events.
The best tips are going to be from other artists. At First Saturday Arts Market, you’ll find many are happy to share their stories and ideas. I highly recommend visiting us before investing your time and money.
Suggestions – I have some product suggestions on a Pinterest page, linked below.
Ready to join us? CLICK HERE!
Lauren has always exemplified a successful independant artist. Her “other” profession is teaching, and as you’re about to read, Lauren definitely practices what she teaches. Keep an eye on her, if you can keep up!
Armed with just a palette knife and some oil paint, Lauren Luna explores the urban center of Houston. Capturing the hustle and bustle of the city, well-known landmarks, and hidden gems; its vibrancy and it’s energy. A regular overheard comment is, “You make the city, pretty!”
Tell us about yourself outside of the art world.
I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio; moved to New York City after graduating from Kent State University with a bachelors in Fine Arts. I worked briefly at Bloomingdales in Visual Design, before starting my 20+ year teaching career. While teaching I went back to school and earned a Masters of Science in Special Education, had a son, moved back to Ohio, got married, got divorced, started a second Master’s degree program, moved to Houston, and completed my degree program to earn a Masters of Fine Arts. I’ve lived in a lot of places, I speak Spanish, I don’t like rude people. I’ve been told I have a “loud face”, meaning what I don’t say, is written all over my face. I’m back to working out and losing weight. Art is my life!
How did your art journey begin?
My earliest memories of art involve my mother and her garden. In Ohio, where I’m from, the soil is heavy with clay. My mom would landscape our yard, and in doing so, would dig up clumps of clay, which I would then sculpt into different things. Thankfully my parents were very supportive in my artistic inclinations, and signed me up for art classes, camps, etc, and by the age of nine, I knew I wanted to be a professional artist.
What are you doing with your art right now?
Working on a couple of commission projects. One of which is a 22′ x 14′ glass mural that will be installed outside Dallas. I am also giving talks about being a professional artist and all the many things it includes.
Do you have big plans/goals for the future?
I believe I may be doing some traveling this summer. Basically all my goals are art related and being self- sufficient with it. Once you work for yourself, it’s very hard to go back to working for someone else.
Do have you any big art plans?
I’m working on getting more of my work and merchandise mainstreamed.
If you didn’t work in your medium, what would you choose?
Maybe clay. I took several classes in high school and college sculpting clay.
What guidance would you offer to a budding or novice artist?
Do not give up. Make sure you have a way to support yourself, but keep making art at the same time.
Bonus Question! Anything wild and crazy that would raise eyebrows?
When I had a custom shoe line, I had a lot of celebrity clientele. LL Cool J, Pherrell Williams, Raekwon from Wu Tang Clan, Angela Simmons, just to name a few.
