T-shirts

I thought it would be cool to create t-shirts to wear during art show. My wife Mary and I got such a huge response from them, we decided to order a bunch and sell them. Various colors and sizing are coming soon. Want one?

Card holder

I didn't like Bonefido anymore. He was not worthy of a gallery showing. Instead of negating him to a closet I decided to honor him by decapitated him and make him into a business card holder:

Gallery show

Was nerve wracking and fun to be in a gallery show. People looking and commenting on my art.

Newly created artist statement

With all the work going into the dogs I knew I couldn't get an artist statement done. Mary created this for me and surprised me with a new and improved version when I got home from work.

Bad Dawg Art

Sculpture and Drawings by Tino Montoya

Art has been a part of me all my life. I would create murals and drawings for fun, for friends or just because I had free time. I see the world with an artist’s eye, always seeing the beauty in everything.

I take unusual photos. Getting people to pose in a Charlie’s Angels pose but just shoot their shadows in a river. Finding a tree with branches that looked like antlers and getting friends to “wear” the antlers. For over twenty years I have shot many photos with my feet in the foreground with fun and amazing locations in the background.  

I started drawing skulls because my wife wanted a shirt and couldn’t find what she wanted in any store. I hand painted a skull with butterfly wings for her and was surprised by how many people commented on it. This was just for fun, why so much interest?

I decided to draw a portrait of a family member as a gift. He is a very talented guitarist. I drew him as a skeleton, playing the guitar. This wasn’t a generic drawing. I had to make it look like the person I knew and loved. Giving bones personality was fun and intriguing. I realized this was the path I was meant to follow.

While creating drawings was fun I felt the need to do more. I wanted to create something no one else ever done before. A few years ago I was on vacation visiting family. My wife’s aunt is a very successful artist and her home is like a gallery. I was very intrigued by a papier-mâché dog that was purchased in Mexico for Dia De Los Muertos (day of the dead). I liked it but thought, “I can do better.”

I went home and couldn’t get that dog off my mind. I decided to create my own, my way. Instead of a likeness of a dog I wanted mine to be real. They had to be active and have personality. The process of creating a skeleton dog that is alive was energizing. So many ideas flooded my mind.

Soon I had my first dog. I created it for me, to keep in my home never dreaming of taking it any further. Then the opportunity came to get a piece in Foot in the Door at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I worked like a mad man to get a dog created in only two weeks. I never thought my art would or could be displayed. Bonefido became my fist piece to make a public appearance.

I thought that was the end of the adventure but it was only the beginning. I created cats playing as my first commissioned work. The owners were shocked and impressed by how alive these skeleton cats looked.

I create my sculptures using mostly recycled materials; newspaper, hangers, flour and water. I am creating dogs and cats that are mere skeletons but are alive. They play, they fight, growl, have attitude. This is what I was meant to do. This is not work, it is life affirming and a gift I am happy to accept.

If you enjoy my work but would like a skeleton of your own pet, I would be happy to create a one of kind piece for you. 

Delivering to the studio

Took the finish art work to the studio today. I was shocked, the place was huge. More than twenty artist will be showing. There is a lot of media attention. Here is the finish pieces.

This is Play With Me. This is an update version of the very first dog I ever created.

Here is a close up of the face. Do you wanna play?

This is Pit Stop. It is a pit bull taking a wizz.

Vet Visit. How many of your dogs acted this way? Alive or dead, they are terrified. 

Show details

Want to come see my work and the work of other great local artists?
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101932419870946
Here are the details of the show. I will be there during the Saturday show.

Getting ready for the big show

Unbeknowst to me my wife submitted my work to a local gallery. I was shocked when they accepted me for an upcoming show. Now I had a deadline. I added two more ideas for dogs and got to work.

Gracie was not happy being a model.

Decided to name this one Pit Stop.

The next dog is an updated version of my first dog.

This will be named Play With Me.

I have to turn in my projects tomorrow. Spending the day today finish up on the paint.