Articles

BACK BEHIND THE PALETTE Most of my good friends know that I am a trained visual artist as well as an actor, having studied oil painting and drawing in Santa Cruz and in Spain during my university years, and having worked as a designer and illustrator in New York. I set this career aside in the late eighties when I was busy doing TV and radio commercials and no longer had the time or necessity to take on illustration clients. While working on Ron Howard's film "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" in 2000, I awoke to the fact that I still had deep reserves of passion about painting which have been lying dormant all these years. It was the extraordinary creative environment, and being surrounded by a lot of professional sculptors, painters and makeup artists, that helped me regain my passion. It was a very inspirational experience. Since that time I have avidly resumed oil painting, and have also trained myself on the modern tool of today's visual artists, the computer. I'm continually amazed by what can be done on a laptop with modern painting programs, and with what speed and ease. If I'd had one as a kid, I never would have gone to school at all. Today I find I have no real excuse anymore not to produce art every week, and that is what I am doing. If you'd like to see some examples of my work, old and new, you can find it on the gallery pages of our website. (Tamra's very fine etchings can be seen there too, and her gorgeous recent photography will also soon be up.) And I wanted to let you know that if you need a painting, drawing, or an illustration for your personal or business needs, give me a call ; I really don't have any excuse anymore not to provide you with what you may desire, be it portraits, cartoons, illustration's for web, business or gifts. And since I've squandered away most of the last two decades merely acting, I'm still an unknown in the art world, and therefore very inexpensive. For more information, email me at 2minds@appliedsilliness.com. Jim        © 2002 Meskimen Applied Silliness Article Archives: Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible III (Spring 2006) THE ULTIMATE SPECIAL EFFECT (Winter 2002) RECYCLING CRITICS (Fall 2002) RENAISSANCE FOLKS (Spring 2002) MESKI-WHAT WHAT? (Winter 2002) A STAR IS BORN (Fall 2001) PAINTING BY NUMBER (Summer 2001) IMPORTANT HOAX ALERT! (Spring 2001) THIS MUCH WE DO KNOW... (Winter 2001) GENERALLY UNRELIABLE (Fall 2000) SHOULD YOU SAY "YES"? (Summer 2000) NOTES FROM "WHOVILLE" (Spring 2000) BATTLEFIELD EARTH IS HERE! (Winter 2000) NEW YORKERS, LOVERS OF MANKIND (Fall 1999) THE ART CURE (Summer 1999)