Steam 33 Art Studio

"Steam 33" represents a  portal of changes.  “Steam” is one of these dynamic changes of elements as water is turned into vapour when heated. This vapour becomes a white mist, or fog. that is often found floating in the dreams of the ancients.   It is a symbol of personal transformation,  inner alchemy, similar to the metamorphosis of caterpillars as their imaginal cells mix in a genetic soup.   

The number "33" was chosen as the portal to this dream life. Here is where we enter and become who we had always imagined and hoped we could one day be.

Biography

As a child Johnnie had ventured through the giant labyrinth of tunnels that lay out underneath his city, San Diego. He explored them endlessly and discovered that many of the neighborhood’s were connected by side tunnels which could be accessed through the manhole covers. After spending his days exploring these landscapes, his nights would be filled by sketching fantastic worlds and writing short fiction that he imagined would be through the unexplored side tunnels of this maze-like realm. Later, as a teenager he began to grind up the concrete of these massive pipe systems on his skateboard and eventually grinding up the waves as a surfer. Later he headed to U.C. Berkeley to study English literature and Anthropology while continuing to fill his sketchbooks and journals. This led him into studying altered states of consciousness through several trance workshops. Eventually after working on a short film about Buddhist monks in the Bay Area, Johnnie headed on a grand journey to Asia. Here he was able to pursue his art while soaking up visual imagery from more than 180 cities around the world. Later Johnnie pursued his M.F.A. in the animation workshop at U.C.L.A. After spending nearly every waking moment working on his dream worlds, Johnnie eventually stepped back and began applying his artwork to the canvas and to murals. He painted murals in Prague, Czech Republic, Taipei, Taiwan, and Siem Reap, Cambodia. Eventually he met the artist Orange Li, who encouraged Johnnie to share his art with the world. This led to the completion of Johnnie's first book, "The Tunnels of the Mind". While in Asia Johnnie created Nomadic Artist Tours that would take students on travel art tours which were in essence a boot camp for artistic adventurers. Recently after living abroad for more than 13 years, Johnnie and Orange returned on a Nomadic Artist Tour of their own to the USA where after a four month van tour of the USA they opened a studio/gallery in the historic town of St. Helens, Oregon in a year. This was followed by a venture to the magical land of Brooklyn, New York in 2017. Johnnie now lives and works with Orange Li in Jersey City.