Inspired Mon--oh, crap.

For this Inspired Monday, I was all set to do a post about an artist whose work I had been following for several years now.  I went to his webpage to decide which paintings I would feature...and it's gone.  Looks like he's stopped renewing it.  It was here in January...and now, not.

Well...crap!

Still, I love the work, so I'm not going to let a little thing like that get in the way of making it my Inspired Monday pick.  So, ladies and germs, here is...Juan Vela!

I was on a trip to visit my dad in Corpus Christi almost six years ago, and I saw one of Juan Vela's paintings in the Art Center of Corpus Christi.  I was blown away and almost wanted to buy one right then, except I knew it wouldn't fit in my suitcase (also, I was an intern at the time and had no money).

"Flood of Spirituality"

 I loved the style, the crazy geometric shapes and patterns, the colors, the way he renders people, the symbolism, everything.  

"Conspiracy on an Elegant Landscape"

When I saw his site was gone, I googled around and didn't find much...although I did find another artist named Juan Vela, but I assume not the same one, since the style is way different.  But then, I checked the Internet Archive and was able to find his old site - you can still view it here.  That's where I re-discovered the wonderful pieces like this:

"Cracking Under Pressure"

So let this be a lesson to you: if you like an artist, support them while they're still around and reachable on the web!  Buy prints, or originals, while they're still available - I don't know what happened to Juan's site, or if he's still doing art, but I kinda wish I'd at least tried to get a painting of his while I could.  At the very least, if you like an artist, tell them you're a fan - trust me, it means the world to us.