Meet Justin

YACster Justin

Justin, an 18 year old who just finished his freshmen year at CSU Monterey Bay, has been a YACster for two years and considers it his number one inspiration.Since joining YAC, which he finds “nurturing, open and happy” Justin has loved meeting and being around much more open people; Peers, staff, mentors and community members who are willing to include everyone and who are unbiased in just about every facet of life. His proudest moment of being an artist, thus far, was while painting at YAC, when Mentor Andrew Jackson casually mentioned how far Justin and his work would go.Justin’s first memory of doing art was as a toddler when he repeatedly sketched Christmas trees. Not surprising for a man who describes himself as “curious, busy and collected”. In addition to art, Justin is passionate about writing, hiking and traversing to and through interesting places both outdoors and in urban settings.His favorite medium to work in is charcoal and acrylics and he is inspired by an awareness of duality.  Justin labels his artwork as “exploritative, non sacred and practiced”. He is most attracted to subject matters in which he does not excel because then he forces himself to improve. Having his work on display at a YAC show was not as stressful as Justin expected and he even found himself more skilled at “humoring” people then he thought he would be.Justin hopes to get to a point with his work wherein he can be as confident as others are on his behalf and in ten years would love to be doing digital commissions and being able to travel, for leisure especially. He would also like to work in clay. He was recently accepted to study art at Santa Fe University of Art & Design and will be moving to New Mexico beginning in the fall.See Justin’s work here: www.justinthorntonart.weebly.com