Timmytats
At 6 years of age
Tim Sellers knew that all he ever wanted was to draw. Over the
years, most of his teachers discouraged him from "doodling"
but it only made him want to paint and draw even more.
That is why he
taught himself art. As a child without a family television, he
and his brother would each start drawings every evening as "entertainment."
Then they would each show the other their personal "take"
on the world around them, usually falling on the floor laughing
at the others hilarious illustrations of teachers, pets, family,
friends, and mythical creatures of their own invention. That set
the groundwork for what later became his signature style of art
on canvas, board, or what ever he could find. His is a kind of
long-hand 'doodling' bordering on fine art but with a folksy accessibility.
Timmy wanted to
perfect what he loved. He took inspiration from- pulp comic book
art, vintage advertising, cartoons and supermarket tabloid illustration,
as well as classical Japanese art of the Edo period found in books.
To him, art could be found everywhere and belonged everywhere.
Even on the human body.
Fascinated by traditional
Japanese and Asian body art, Timmy began tattooing in 1994, an
event that forever changed his life and his name. TimmyTats was
born. Making art became Tim's life and livelihood and started
him on a life-long journey of discovery.
Timmy simply knew
that answering the challenge of making art was to be his calling,
claiming that nothing ever gave him such personal fulfillment.
"Growing up, I never had much but this is all I could ever
hope for" says the talented but self-effacing artist about
his true passion. "I strive to be the best I can be and never
stop learning."
Timmy's "take"
on art still takes edgy delight of the absurdity of life and what
might be described as the so-called "real art" practiced
by followers of "Art Academia." No subject is too arcane
for his keen wit. An angry, blue-faced "Kommissar" with
his errant kitty in cameo holds its place among a pantheon of
other weird and wonderful paintings. His first work, a large canvas
depicting "The Queen of the County Fair" shows a cartoon-esk
babe holding a bottle of booze and a questionable corn dog thinking
about the "Koolist Kat" around while the smitten but
rejected corndog salesman smashes his inventory in lonely frustration.
Sometimes cryptic, there is always "back story" to his
art and it is a tale usually spun by a cheeky narrator. So much
the luckier we all are for it.
In "Creepy
Crawly," a perversity of Dr. Suess, the not-too-menacing
arachnid spokes his web against a blood-red sky. For what or for
Whom does it lurk? we wonder.
Other works still
hold an edge but are more straight-up imagery. A simple detail
of a koy-illustrated silk komono (of the Edo period perhaps?)
takes us to a far away place and time. The folds of the precious
garment become the still waves of a Zen pool. Perhaps the kimono
belongs to the moon-faced geisha in another Asian-inspired painting,
homage to an exotic life unlived.
Then there are
true Tatoo Art pieces on canvas pretending to be advertisements
for a Parlor decades long past exampled by the "Cherry Bomb"
babe or one simply named "No Drunks," a title that says
it all.
The works of Timmytats
are found exclusively at RaZoO GaLLeRy of Fort Lauderdale. For more
information, availability or pricing contact webmaster@razoogallery.com
or call 954.663.3888 (eastern time zone).
webmaster@razoogallery.com
Click
painting to enlarge
Kommassar's Skat
No drunks
Queen of Fair
contact
RaZoO
GaLLeRy
(954)
663-3888
