Jon Stine is living an artist's dream. He has his own art studioin a newly purchased home where 25 paintings are scattered around.He also works at a local camera store to help feed his artistichunger.
However, when the local artist enrolled at Ball State 11 yearsago as an architecture major, he had no artistic training and hadnot yet developed the craving to explore every aspect of art, as hedoes now.
"I think I've always been interested (in art)," Stine said. "Ialways would draw ever since I was little. I started to go beyondthe average child, taking stuff apart and building things."
Stine said architecture seemed to be a fitting occupationbecause he was always doing something with his hands. His outlookchanged when he took a drawing class at his freshman advisor'ssuggestion.
"I liked (the class) so much that I switched my major after asemester or two," he said. "After that I took studio courses."
Stine said while he was enthusiastic about his new occupation,he lacked experience.
"I started with drawing because it was easiest," he said. "I'vealways been a tech geek with new gadgets and new tools so I startedgetting into print making, which involves all these presses.
"I became attached to all this technical work rather than justthe final outcome. When I was in college, it was about learning todo something. After college, I took that knowledge and applied thatto my own ideas."
Stine's ideas span a multitude of mediums. The artist paints,draws, sculpts, photographs and works with print making.
"A lot of people do the same thing over and over for their wholelives and get bored real easy. I don't want to do that," Stinesaid.
"I like to switch it up or I get bored with it. I'll dophotography for six months then go to painting for a while."
Kelsi Nielsen, Stine's girlfriend, said he never goes more thana couple days without working on his art.
"I am sure one day he will get too old to do (art), when he's90-years-old or something," Nielsen said.
Stine is currently in a painting phase that is readily fed byhis job at Jack's Camera Shop, where he is in charge of managingthe store's eBay account. Stine acquires merchandise, deals withused items and handles eBay transactions.
While Stine is currently working with photography, the paintingcanvas is beckoning him, he said.
"There's nothing like (painting). It's not about process, it'smore about idea," he said.
Stine added that his paintings aren't of actual objects so muchas they are about color fields and texture. He draws a lot of hispainting inspiration from his travels to Japan.
"Traveling is important to me, I've been all over the world, "Stine said. "It's frustrating that people here aren't as educatedin the arts as they are in other countries. You don't have theculture here. I don't mean to sound like I'm bashing the UnitedStates or anything; it's just different."
However, Stine said he is happy where he is and uses his Website, www.taduh.com, to promote his work. He has also beenaffiliated with the 4 Star Gallery in Indianapolis for more thanthree years but is currently searching for a new gallery to displayand sell his art.
Nielsen said they probably won't stay put, though.
"I see us eventually outgrowing Muncie; there's so many placesto see and to live," she said.
No matter what the future brings for this artist, as long as hecan continue down the path of creativity he'll be happy, hesaid.
"Right now I'm happy at Jack's. Of course, I'd always love tomake artwork full time . . . but right now I have to pay thebills," Stine said. "I've always had this passion to do somethingwith my hands so I've fulfilled that desire.
"I guess you could say I have adult ADD or something, I have todo something all the time. (Art) is just something I feel I have todo."
What form that art will take is unknown, Nielsen said.
"Professionally, I definitely see him always producing art,"Nielsen said. "To predict where he will go in his career wouldreally be up to anybody."
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