To start off, I wanted to talk about my name: Minervalus Art. Where does “minervalus” come from? Well, back in High School, I took Latin and we had to pick a Latin name. For various reasons, I chose Minerva as my name. This is the Roman name of the goddess Athena, who is the goddess of war, wisdom, and weaving. I worked with another person during that class, who’s name was Pseudolus, so whenever we teamed up for a game of Kahoot, our team name was Minervalus.

I adopted this name as my business name, because it was unique like I hoped my art would be, it brought to mind skill which I hoped to continue to gain as I practiced, and it represented a combination of people and ideas, and my art is a combination of all the experiences and influences that created me.

I have been taking traditional art classes since I was fairly young, but I did not go to school for art. I went to college for architectural engineering, which I enjoy because it is engineering but with a bit of design thrown in. I also did a lot of theatrical design in college, mainly set design with a bit of lighting design thrown in. I directed a show once, which I found really fulfilling. I love cats (I have a cat named Halo), mythology, theater, Dungeons and Dragons, and fantasy and I think they come through in my artwork.

I enjoy jumping headfirst into different kinds of art and trying different styles and mediums out. I typically lean into traditional art and mainly do black and white pen art, but I also love realistic flower and abstract paintings. I basically go wherever my whims take me, so I don’t entirely have an art style yet, but I think it’s starting to form. It’s really funny, because when I was younger, I absolutely hated abstract art, but now I do so much of it. I like doing abstract geometric, which is really intricate and technical, but I also like doing more scribbly ones which are based entirely on how I’m feeling. I do a bit of digital art as well. I can translate sketches and designs on paper into digital versions and I use Fresco and Illustrator fairly well. I also have some experience animating, but you won’t see a lot of that here.

My goal for this newsletter is to share my art in a more personal format. Genuinely, posting on Instagram is exhausting and I wanted to try a different format that feels more approachable and a little less formal. I want to be able to share what I’m currently working on, what I’m experimenting with, what I’m proud of, and what’s available for sale. I also enjoy writing essays and such, so I think this mix of written and visual media will work better for me.

My plan is to post around once a month and to share more about what I’m doing in a more casual way. I’ll send what I’m working on, but also maybe what things are exciting to me, and if there’s anything I’m experimenting with or planning to try doing. I also want to give anecdotes about myself a little bit more and talk about what I’m thinking as I make different pieces or what I’m learning from them.

Here are some pieces that I believe reflect my skills, values, and various art styles. They’re also some of my favorites!

This has been my first newsletter! We talked about where the name Minervalus Art comes from, as well as who I am, what to expect from future letters, and I showed you some of my favorite pieces! In future editions, you can expect to see a similar format, but with more pictures of what I’m working on and explanations of the thought behind them. If this is something that interests you, I hope you’ll subscribe!

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this letter!