JosephAGarcia

Montana artist Joseph Garcia began his professional career as a Museum Curator for Natural History, and in educational outreach.  He holds a bachelors of fine art and a masters of Inter-Disciplinary studies (Geochemistry, Paleoecology, and Fine Art) from the University of Montana. Joseph takes his experiences in nature, and expertise in art and science, to create artwork that brings the beauty of the natural world indoors to your home.

Well I splurged and before Adobe does the rent by month deal, got Adobe Creative Suite.  Thank goodness for an educators discount!  It is fantastic to have all of the bridges so MAYA and Photoshop finally easily integrate.  I already have a lighthouse designed in three-d and will paint it into a historical based illustration later.  Before that I found a Wacom Pen, where you draw on paper and it transfers it digitally for $40.00.  Now I can go fix some old works (are we ever really finished), and have a digital workshop even when on the Field.   There is a free version of Z-Brush I downloaded today, I have wanted Z-Brush for years, but don't have a day-to-day need of it to justify the expense.  Now I just have to figure out how to get the cat from taking my chair.  

I have been making educational diagrams for work, use in PowerPoint's, handouts, Posters etc.  Finally figured out what weird setting I changed in MAYA when I needed more sleep or coffee so it is working as it should again, so I used it to make a molecule in my latest diagram on Vernal Pools.  I have been printing out the diagrams for the lectures to the public at work, and guest lectures at Universities and K-12 schools it is fun to see people really learn from them, and taking notes, makes me know I made them right.  Received Corel Sketch as a gift, it really does make things easier, and easily transfers to Photoshop or Illustrator used it to draw plants in minutes.  Found Poser 8 on Amazon for $20.00, not the latest version, but it works well too, I can finally transfer my DAZ files to Photoshop at the resolution I want.  Taught one of the interns at work how to use an airbrush while painting water for a display, was nice to use them again.  Made Tulle Reeds for another display, carved them out of quarter round and used my home iron to steam them to a have a natural bend.  Used the last of my molding rubber on a long toed Santa Cruz Salamander I had made from wax, turned out perfect.  As with anyone who has no room for error I was nervous with that pour more so than the first I ever made.  Also found some duck decoys at an estate sale, cleaned them up and repainted them for a hands on visual display for kids during lectures.   They turned out well, layering different blacks for the Coot, and dry-brushing detail on the female Teal made those faded plastic decoys look like the real deal.  Couldn't resist a sale before Christmas and bought a new SLR Nixon, a friend found an adaptor and all the old lenses from my film Canon fit, and I have been able to take some great wildlife/landscape photos.  I was really glad to be able to use them again, they are great lenses and the one thing I regretted when going digital.  I certainly have been keeping busy, need to work on the Farallon Island images next, and the my docents programs fliers so I am keeping busy and still learning with every project.

As a scientist and artist my goal is to design factually accurate and visually stimulating exhibits, tours, and presentations for professionals and the general public. I have experience in museum curation, teaching, and developing scientific displays and illustrations. I hope to use my education (Master in MIS from University of Montana), skills, and experience within a career to assist the public to gain a richer understanding of science, and maintain museum collections at the highest standards.

Just loading things up as I find them.