Born in 1956, my earliest involvement with art was at the age of two. That's what my mother Eleanor told me. Both she and my father Robert (Bob) were casual artists like my grandmothers and great-grandmother before us.

A realization I had in my youth was that in this tech new age, I could not compete head-on with advanced technologies in the art business. So, before the advent of 3D scanners and printers for the retail market, I used computers, printers, and photography to my benefit. My advantage over most people in my field is that I can sculpt, paint, and draw anything with the highest accuracy expected of a person. Imagination, natural ability, work ethic, and opportunity are essential for an individual to be among the best in whatever their endeavor. The problem that I struggle with has been opportunity. Sometimes opportunity is too expensive. One example is my favorite art medium is sculpting White Carrara marble. For me, marble is too expensive to purchase and transport, and that is why I do not have the opportunity to sculpt larger-than-life-size marble statues.

This paragraph lists a brief timeline of my art history. My earliest exposure to art outside of my home was in 1961, with the Los Angeles Unified School District at Roscoe Elementary School in Sun Valley, California. Like all children, I was exposed to art classes throughout my public school education. In the summer of 1967, my aunt Marjorie exchanged English lessons for my oil painting lessons with her friend, Los Angeles artist Shizue Yamashiro. Shizue showed me how to do Japanese painting (Sumi-e). "Sumi" means "black ink", and "e" means "painting." In the summer of 1973, my parents paid for an oil painting class, organized by the City of Burbank Parks and Recreation Department in California. I was offered by my painting instructor the possibility of attending Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County, presently named (Otis College of Art and Design). The City of Burbank awarded two Bachelor of Fine Arts degree scholarship opportunities each year to Burbank youth. At seventeen years of age, I did not think through the possibilities, nor did I tell my parents, and I promptly declined the offer. In 1974, I attended Los Angeles Valley Junior College, with my intention of being a school teacher. My education included an art class as part of my studies. In 1976, my art was publicly exhibited for the first time. In the late 1970s and 1980s, I exhibited my art in California galleries and shows. In 1978, at the age of twenty-one and without a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, I was the sixth employee hired at a new start-up company named Two's Company Inc. In 1984, concurrently with my employment, I enrolled in a lost wax casting class at California State University Northridge. After eight years as Art Department Manager, I went to another company named The Bad Company Inc., where I continued as Art Department Manager for twelve years. Both companies' specialties were automotive special effects, and related services for television, film, print ads, and later the internet as well as graphic design for corporate, and private racing teams.

In 1998, I went back to college. After passing the national board exams I received my Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer (RDCS) license.

I concurrently performed my art and medical careers until retiring from the medical profession in 2021.

As an employee of Two's Company, Bad Company, and as an independent artist, I participated in projects from 1978 to 2004. Prominent advertising agencies that we worked for are listed here in alphabetic order: Ammirati & Puris, Batten Barton Durstine & Osborn (BBD&O), Bozell, Buckley/DeCerchio, Campbell-Ewald, Carmichael Lynch, Chiat-Day-Mojo, Clemenger BBDO, Collet Dickenson Pearce (CDP), Crispin Porter+Bogusky (CPB Group), Della Femina-Travisiano & Partners, Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), Grey, Hal Riney & Partners, Hill-Holliday-Connors-Cosmopulos, J. Walter Thompson, Kenyon & Eckhardt, Ketchum, McCann-Erickson, Ogilvy, Rubin Postaer & Associates (RPA), Saatchi & Saatchi, Team One, The Designory, Wieden+Kennedy, William Esty, Young & Rubicam, and other smaller regional agencies. Not all of the preceding advertising agencies' names are the same or in business today.

We participated in projects with the institutions listed below in alphabetic order, through their advertising agencies listed in the paragraph above: Acura, American Motors, American Motors-Canada, ArmorAll, Audi-America, BFGoodrich Tire, BMW, Bridgestone Tire, Buick, Chevrolet, Continental Tire, Chrysler, Datsun, Dodge, Dunlap Tire, Fiat, Firestone Tire, Ford, Ford-Mexico, General Motors Company (1996, Electric Vehicle One), GMC-Mexico, Goodyear Tire, Honda, Honda-Motorcycles, Infiniti, Interscope Pathology, Isuzu, Jaguar, Jeep, Kelly Springfield Tire, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, MGB, Midas, Mitsubishi, Monroe, Nissan, Opel, Painted in Oils, Plymouth, Porsche, Renault, Saab, Saturn, Sears, SpinTek, Subaru, Suzuki, Texaco, Toyota, Toyota-Saudi Arabia, Triumph, U.S. Department of Transportation, Valvoline, Volkswagen, Volvo, Yamaha-America Outboard, Yamaha-Motorcycles, Yokohama Tire, and Yugo. We also provided services directly to companies that were without advertising agency representation. Not all of the preceding institution's names are the same or in business today.

Bata Mataja, who co-founded Two's Company and founded The Bad Company, sponsored my art activities from 1991 to 1992. Bata Mataja and Kieth Collins were my art agents during this period where I had marble automotive sculptures exhibited at the Black Hawk Museum in Danville, California, and the San Diego Automotive Museum in San Diego, California. These sculptures were also displayed at large venues such as the Barrett Jackson Car Show in Scottsdale, Arizona the Citadel Automotive Art Show in Commerce, California, the Los Angeles Auto Show, and Art Galleries, as well as magazine publications.

Some race cars and automotive venues where I had airbrush, pinstripe, and graphics on view include Formula One, celebrity race cars, the Nissan pace car at the Caesar's Palace Grand Prix in Nevada, the Long Beach Grand Prix in California, and Laguna Seca Raceway in California, as well as other racing venues, books, and magazine publications.

In 1992, Mr. Mataja founded and financed the making of the "BADAUTO" Half-Scale Porsche project, and in 1995 the first driveable prototype was made. The first Half-Scale Ivory Porsche Speedster prototype and a second Half-Scale Red Porsche Speedster prototype have been showcased in many locations throughout the United States, and international magazine publications. In 2024, the third Half-Scale Aqua Blue metallic Porsche Carrera prototype was made. In early 2025, The assembly of the fourth and final Half-Scale Graffiti Porsche Carrera prototype will be completed. In early 2025, BADAUTO will start to produce these mixed-medium sculptures for customers.

In 1994, I established Osborn Illustration. Beginning in 1997, Osborn Illustration was represented by Michael Powditch and Associates, a California-based agency. My specialty was illustrations made with acrylic paint, airbrush, brush, pen, and ink on illustration board, or clear Mylar film. In 1998, I transitioned to digital illustration using an Apple-licensed Macintosh clone named Power Computing (Macintosh Operating System 8.5/PowerPC 603e processor) with Adobe Illustrator 8, and Adobe Photoshop 5.0.

In 2021, I rejoined the "BADAUTO" Half-Scale Porsche project. One of these automotive artworks is to be placed in the permanent collection of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, in 2025. In 2022, I had several art pieces represented at the Petersen Automotive Garage Tour in Malibu, California. This event was sponsored by the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, in association with Mr. Mataja and the "Ghost Drivers in the Sky...!" exhibit, and Mr. Blue's Garage Tour. The third Half-Scale Aqua Blue metallic Porsche prototype was exhibited at RETROAUTO in Pebble Beach CONCOURS d'ELEGANCE 73rd Celebration in 2024.

In the art world there is no longer an original style of art with one characteristic contributed to an artist at a glance, such as Rembrandt or Van Gogh. Today, with a world population of over eight billion people, and at any moment there are millions of people around the world working with computers and other mediums, trying to produce their own, original art. We can see why an artist needs multiple characteristics combined to create their original style. I use six characteristics to create my original style: Hyperreal or Technical, with Original illustration of optical illusion that can not be found in nature (surrealism), Dots and lines replacing brush strokes, Morphing geometric shapes, Background with assorted abstract techniques of vivid colors, and Oil paint on very fine gessoed cotton canvas stretched on a wood frame.

 

Similar art to what is seen in the "CURRENT ART PROJECTS GALLERY" is for sale.

Art in the "SIXTY-SIX YEARS OF ART GALLERY" is not for sale.

 

Updated 2024