After I read Donna's wonderful piece about Steve, that appeared in today's, The Kerrville Daily Times, I sent Donna and Steve e-mails to let them know just how much I loved the story. Then I called Kinky to let him know about it. He was thrilled about our friend, Donna Gabel Hatch, writing the story about Steve.
Then I sent Steve another e-mail:
"Steve! Donna just sent me the article that she wrote about you and it is totally awesome! Congrats! It's so funny how thinks work out! Last week at Chet's In Dining Hall Concert, out here, I introduced Carol to Donna and later on, Carol introduces you to Donna. I love serendipity and how things just seem to work out. I am so thrilled for you. Nancy
P.S. Thanks for
using Tony's picture. Donna told me that they were and that the paper was
giving Tony credit for his picture of you. Tomorrow I will definitely be
blogging about all of this. Cheers!"
Then Steve immediately shot me back an e-mail agreeing with me. So, I guess you could say, "Chet O'Keefe's In Dining Hall Concert was magical in many ways."
Now Fast forward to this afternoon. Around 1:30, while Tony was gone to Medina to buy us a copy of The Kerrville Daily Times, I had just met Gabriele, from Germany, and her lovely daughter Xenia, who lives in Texas and was showing them our trailer when Kinky calls me. "Nance, Sean Rima is over here and would it be okay for us to come over for a visit?"
Ten minutes later, Tony returned home, about five minutes earlier than Kinky and Sean and his daughters arrived. When I showed Kinky the newspaper article he immediately sat down and began reading it. And to say the least, "He loved Donna's article and was thrilled for Steve." In fact, Kinky said, "As soon as I get back to the Lodge—I'm calling Steve."
Kinky, Sean, Gabriele, Xenia, Tony and I had a great visit and we also did a lot of laughing. And before Kinky, Sean and his girls left, I played them Chet's song Ode To Cousin Nancy, which they thought was beautiful.
Tony and I had a wonderful time visiting with Gabby and her daughter and discovered that we had so much in common. About an hour later, the women followed me over to Kinky's, because he had invited them to come over for a visit on his front porch. It was a good time for all and here's a picture that I took of them.
Now enjoy reading Donna Gable Hatch's article, in The Kerrville Daily Times, about Steve Pietzsch, because Kinky just called me to invite me to come over for a visit.
A twist of fate leads artist Steve Pietzsch to his home on
the hill
By Donna Gable Hatch
Features Editor
Standing on the deck
of his small teal green cabin overlooking the valley below — 10 acres of which
belongs to him — Steve Pietzsch is a happy man. “This is my slice of heaven on
earth,” Pietzsch said. “It took me awhile to get here, but I’m here.”
To the outside world,
Steve Pietzsch’s life was picture perfect. For nearly three decades, he was an
in-demand illustrator working for high-profile clients, including Texas
Monthly, Rolling Stone magazine and Disney. But to Pietzsch, “something was
missing.”
That something became
clearer to him when he and a drunken driver crossed paths in 2003.
“I was walking on a
sidewalk on Congress Avenue in Austin, when a drunk guy on a motorcycle veered
into me,” Pietzsch said from his artist’s retreat near the Medina County
border.
The collision resulted
in a fractured humerus — the long, tubular bone that makes up the upper arm —
that required surgical placement of a metal plate, a fractured left leg with
lacerations and a skin graft.
“I spent 10 days in
Brackenridge Hospital and then a few months of rehab.”
While in
rehabilitation-mode, Pietzsch began to re-evaluate his life.
“The experience
changed my perspective about waiting much longer to retire,” he said.
At the age of 57, he
took the money he was awarded as a result of the accident and put a down
payment on a piece of property that fell into his lap.
“It was time. This
was yet another clear choice.”
One corner of his
property line is marked by a 3 ½-foot tall sculpture of an angel, which stands
watch over the valley.
“I have now realized
my dream of becoming a starving artist,” Pietzsch said. “No assignments, no
deadlines, no ideas other than my own, and, of course, no money — yet.”
Respected in his
field
D.J. Stout, the
former art director at Texas Monthly, with whom Pietzsch worked, said
Pietzsch’s talent is as big as the Lone Star State.
“Steve is such an
amazing artist and a true artist, and he has that rare gift: the Texas state of
mind. He understands the Texas myths, the Texas brag, all the things that make
Texas what it is — and his art reflects that.”
The two met through
Fred Woodward, Stout’s predecessor at Texas Monthly.
“What I really like
about Steve’s work is that his work is playful, original and he has great
concepts. He’d sent me this painting of the Earth, and the only state on the
planet,” Stout said. “I knew right away that it would be perfect for the 20th
anniversary of the magazine.”
The cover was so
popular, he said, “that we had T-shirts made, and people everywhere were
wearing them.”
An artist in training
Pietzsch graduated
from the University of North Texas, formerly North Texas State University, in
1973, with a degree in advertising art. After graduation, he took a job as a
junior art director at the Bloom Agency in Dallas.
Two years later, he
began a two-year apprenticeship at The SketchPad Studio, an illustration,
graphic design and writing studio in Arlington. It was in this den of
creativity and experimentation that his star began to shine.
“I owe everything of
my illustration career to my two years working in The SketchPad,” he said. “I
left my junior art director job for the chance to get into that special place;
probably the most important and lucky things to happen to me.”
His mentor was the
late Don Ivan Punchatz, who founded SketchPad in 1970. Dubbed the
Godfather of Dallas Illustration, Punchatz was internationally regarded as one
of the best in the business. His surreal art graced the covers of popular
horror and science-fiction paperbacks, National Geographic, Esquire, National
Lampoon and Rolling Stone magazines and the first “Star Wars” film poster. His
painting of American psychologist and behaviorist B.F. Skinner is in the
permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
It was at Punchatz’s
side that Pietzsch honed his craft and found his niche.
“I came out of there
with a portfolio that set me off on 15 years of freelance illustrating.”
Pietzsch’s freelance
lifestyle afforded him the kind of freedom that allowed him to work and play
whenever he wanted.
Clients included
American Airlines, Avon Books, Bantam Books, Atlantic Monthly, New England
Monthly, Texas Monthly, D magazine, Omni magazine, Neiman-Marcus,
Greyhound, Boy Scouts of America, Hyatt Hotels, Dr Pepper and Rolling Stone
magazine, among others.
Working for Rolling
Stone, he said, was surreal.
“It was exhilarating
for an old hippie like me to have the good fortune to have been able to work
for that icon.”
But 15 years later,
the solitary life of a freelance artist was growing stale.
“Alone at home in my
studio, the thrill was slowing down, as well as the business, and I was nearing
burnout,” he recalled. “Then, out of the blue, some artist friends called to
let me know they were all taking jobs at a video game company that was in need
of artists.”
The company was
Origin Systems, a video game developer most famous for the Wing Commander, a
groundbreaking space combat simulation computer game, and Ultima, a fantasy
role-playing series, considered the seminal games of the genre.
“The company realized
that games in the future were going to be loaded with art and animation and
that they needed to hire and train real artists to do the work, rather than
programmers with limited artistic skills.”
Pietzsch was offered
a full-time position.
“It was mind-blowing
at the time. Here, I would be creating objects in 3D space and putting them in
motion," he said. "After working on a 2D surface in static time all
these years, this looked like an opportunity to begin a new creative endeavor.
I couldn’t sleep that night and again it became clear that this was something I
couldn’t pass up.”
It was, as Star
Trek’s Captain Kirk would say, a new world, “where no one has gone before,” and
Pietzsch loved every minute of it.
“It’s fascinating to
think that millions of people have seen my art, even though they didn’t know —
or care — that it was I who did it,” he said.
For the next 15
years, he stayed in the video game industry, working for several studios in
Austin, including ones owned by Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Disney.
He was proficient in
Photoshop, built and textured 3D models, created 3D environments and did some
animation.
“It was exciting to
work on a team with brilliant young minds and ride the wave of the future with
2D and 3D technology,” he said.
But the winds within
shifted, and he began to feel it was time for yet another change.
“I was becoming a bit
weary of work in general, and I started thinking about getting back to doing
art with traditional tools,” he said.
Little did he know
that an evening stroll on a sidewalk in downtown Austin “in the wrong place at
the wrong time,” and an out-of-control motorcyclist who would veer into his
path, would set the course of the rest of his life.
But he has no
regrets, and standing on the deck of his country cabin on his “slice of
heaven,” Pietzsch spoke contentedly about his art and his new life.
“I am trying to
assemble about 20 pieces or so for a one-man show, probably within the next
year,” he said. “Most of the subject matter will be related to this area.”
The title of his
one-man show is clear: “Hill Country Surrealism,” because that’s what his
life’s ride has been. Surreal.
His favorite quote,
he said, is from American painter Robert Henri, and it is through Henri’s
perspective that he lives his life, Pietzsch said: “After all, the goal is not
making art. It is living a life. Those who live their lives will leave the
stuff that is really art. Art is a result. It is the trace of those who have
led their lives.”
If you want to check out more of Steve' Pietzsch's fabulous art click here.
Y'all have a great evening!
1 comment:
I love this man he is the most talented person I have ever met. Peace&love zoey
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