The works of the Surreal & Contemporary Artist.
After walking through the many artists’s showcasing their work on Union Square, I came across Henry Minata. His vivid colors and surreal pieces of art are astonishing. After speaking with him for a brief few minutes we were interrupted by a group of tourist browsing through the various pieces. Several weeks later I reached out to Henry, who is an incredibly approachable person. In our conversation, I asked him the following: What inspires your art? My Inspiration was and always is Salvador Dali; more recently I am inspired by Banksy (an England based graffiti artist and political activist), Junko
Mizuno (Japanese Manga Artist), and James Dean. Any particular books or people help you develop your technique? In 3rd
grade I learned how to mix the paint and created my first watercolor painting; I was taught by the TV program when I was a kid. How long does it take to complete one piece of art? The fastest piece I completed was in 30 minutes, a small painting; larger works could take a month to finish (3-4 hours a day) What’s the best thing to happen regarding your art? 4 years ago I sold my very first original painting, since then I keep selling out. I have had several shows: RAW Arts, BK Public Assembly Art Party, and more recently ComicCon which was a huge success. To learn more about Henry, please find him online… on Facebook or do a google search and all his links pop-up… however if you’d like to see a video by RAW visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmiu-urkaea Henry Minata - Artist
My trip started with a two hour drive to St. Petersburg. My partner in crime for the day was my eight year old niece. Like me, Jalene has a natural knack for art and a creative spirit uniquely her own. My plan was to expose her to a new art form, Surrealism. Having given her a lesson on what attributes make an art piece surreal, and attempting to have her create her own master piece; it was best to take this lesson on the road. The best place to go is Salvador Dali’s “The Dali Museum”. Especially since it has a whole new façade; the glass dome-like exterior, the spiral staircase (a sight to see), and the glass encased overlook showed spectacular views of Tampa Bay. The first room we entered was filled with sketches and drawings; each and every piece was examined, some pieces Jalene could clearly identify and appreciate, others left her scratching her head. As we continued our gallery viewing, she asked why Dali’s museum was not located in New York. I explained that the original owners of Dali’s art had showcased from their home. When their collection overgrew their home, they opened a museum in Ohio. It quickly overgrew that location, and after some national museums made their bid, the owners felt it was best their collection have a permanent home. So after an ambitious lawyer read about the issue in the Wall Street Journal, he pooled over 3 million dollars and brought the museum to St. Petersburg.
As I explained the history, a young man started to follow us, Jalene thought it was funny. “I think he thinks you’re a tour guide.” With our tail behind us, we ventured into the great room. Fascinated with the religious pieces, Jalene asked if “The Ecumenical Council” was his version of heaven. Unable to answer, I asked her what she saw. “The naked man is Adam and the two ladies in the front of him are his guardian angels that’s why their fuzzy.” I asked her what the woman in the center bottom signifies; she exclaimed “that’s his wife, duh; I think he wanted to show how she is important!” So to get her to dig deeper I asked her why is “Adam” covering his face. “I guess he doesn’t want to be in the picture”, simply priceless. As I took a few more minutes to appreciate the giant piece, I noticed the dove swooping towards us. The many small details that depict the bishops, priest, and men in robes that filled the center of clouds; the large crosses and columns have such a visual impact, simply a magnificent piece of work. Jalene’s favorite part of the museum was the car that gave the illusion it was raining from the inside. The mannequin in the back was completely dry and even though she knew it was an illusion she still needed to make sure. The security guard let her press her face against the car door and with a sigh her investigation was over. Unfortunately, during our visit, we were unable to take any pictures. The guards made sure everyone complied. The maze kept us busy for about 20 minutes, round and round we went. Make a wrong turn and your facing a
hedge with a sign. As Jalene ran past the group of older women, she was stopped and asked how much farther. Her answer “depends on which way you turn�, and off she ran in search of the next turn. At the end of the maze is a tree with patron’s bracelets. Some have names written on them, others inspirational quotes. Fascinated by over 1,000 bracelets hanging, Jalene needed to make sure she was apart of them. The young man that followed us inside surprisingly was at the tree before us, kindly he provided her a pen. Trying to find the right thing to write took her a few minutes; finally she decided to right the date and her full name. On the other side of her bracelet I wrote my name. By far, the day was wonderful and a great learning experience for Jalene!
I come to you today in the hopes of sharing some valuable information; information that can change your life if you implement what you learn here today. My background is in Sales and Education; I have a degree in Psychology. In the early 90′s I trained with AT&T in sales and marketing, and was very successful selling their telecom products. I ran an entire department for several years, developed an entire uncharted territory (Harlem, Washington Heights, and the Bronx to name a few areas), trained sales professionals, and then the inevitable happened; AT&T went through a downsizing phase. I returned to work and promised myself that I would return to school and get my degree. Year after year, always, something derailed my intentions; the work schedule, my children, my personal life. So in my mid 40′s I decided that I could not wait any longer, I bit the bullet and enrolled in school. Like most of you here today I returned to school in an effort to improve my marketable skills. It was not easy. I had to juggle 2 jobs (one overnight), going to class from 8am to 1pm, coming home to cook, do homework, wait for my twins to come home, and then help them with their homework. One thing that I did was make sure we had dinner time together. On many occasions I fell asleep during our time together, and then at 10:30pm I was headed to my overnight job.
I know what it is to struggle with your intentions and your commitment. Understand that commitment is your intentions on fire. When you reach the point that you say to yourself, “no matter what, this has to get done”, you have committed to yourself your intentions. Because you see, when you decide that your goal is more important than the T.V. programs, the Movies, the Nightclubs, or staying out late with friends; your path becomes very clear. Now prepare yourselves because when you commit to your goals not everyone around you will support your effort, in fact there will be many people who will tell you not to do this because you are not smart enough, or you don’t understand the language, or you lack the experience, or your too fat, or too skinny, or to short, etc. the list of excuses goes on. Human nature dictates that we internalize all that negative feedback. DON’T LISTEN…because you are on a mission to accomplish your goals. It is just a matter of Mindset. How willing are you to be taught. How committed are you to learning new things and implementing them in your life in order to reach your goals. Many of you here today come from other countries where you have achieved success in your chosen fields and find yourself in a new country where your degrees and experience are not marketable. Your mindset has shifted and you might find yourself in a rut; stuck behind a language barrier. Most of you speak another language and are learning English as a stepping stone to improve your ability to secure admittance to school and/or new employment. Staying positive during this transitional period of your life is vitally important.
So in keeping with the idea of Mindset, I would like all of you to use a plain sheet of paper and join me in a brief training. Everyone has a pen, or something to write with? I want you to write 1 to 7 on your paper, let’s begin: 1. What is your goal? (Going back to school, getting a new job…) 2. Write down why you want to return to school, start a new business, move to another state, lose weight, etc. 3. Write a reason “why” this reason is important (ex: make more money, for my children, a better life, a new home.) 4. Fine, so now tell me why you want this money, why is it for your children, why is it for a better life, why is it for a new home. (So we all want to be able to offer our children a better quality of life, for example that they grow up living in a house rather than in an apartment, that our Parents can retire and not worry about their care, that we can drive around in a car that we don’t have to worry about braking down on us.) 5. Dig deeper and answer WHY that is important to you. 6. But WHY? (Because we want to have a sense of feeling like we matter and we can achieve our dreams…) 7. Now I want you to have a strong vision of why, ask yourself again, one last time. It is critical that we know our why. As we ask the question why, we come up with the mindset necessary for us to move forward and accomplish our dreams.
I want you to keep asking why until your answer to yourself is so emotional that you connect the mindset with the why and the action necessary for you to accomplish your why… Know that obstacles will come, expect them, and don’t allow them to derail your dreams. When an emergency happens deal with it and get back on track as quickly as possible, always remembering your why! No matter what field you go into, do the very best that you can do; soon you will feel the confidence and comfort level you seek. I spoke recently at a local college and after doing this exercise I asked the crowd of 90ppl who wanted to share their why…”The lady back there with the red sweater and blonde hair. Share your why. Why do you want to go back to school?” Her answer is similar to many of yours. “For your kids, so how many kids do you have, boy or girl?” She stated she has one of each. So again I asked her why, she paused and then stated “So I can take care of them”. I smiled and asked again, her next answer “because I need to learn”. Again I asked her WHY, although she took a few moments she finally said “BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO FEEL IGNORANT ANY MORE.” OK, YOU SEE THAT’S IT. That’s the emotional reason that will motivate her to move ahead. THAT’S “W H Y”! Did you READ what she said? THAT’S HER REASON, NOW WHAT IS YOURS… Contributed by: Carmen Quintana www.msfinalanswer.com