Artists Profile

he profoundly spiritual work of Arian is a combination of natural artistic talent and a sense of deep passion and sensitivity that is immediately apparent to those who meet him.

Born in the Midwest, Arian's talent began at an early age. He carefully drew pictures in free hand, keeping the images in a portfolio that he treasured and kept by his side. He soon began drawing charcoal portraits of family and also painted still lifes on an easel set up in the basement of his family's home. His first experience with realism (drawing a rowboat in perspective in the third grade) launched him toward what would become his greatest artistic passion.

A visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art at age 14 was a turning point in his artistic life. He viewed a portrait of a woman's profile painted by Rembrandt.

"Something opened within me that day that is still a primary influence in all my work," Arian says. "It was 'chiaroscuro'-the interplay of light and shadow. It evoked a sense of a transcendent, uncanny presence that I had never witnessed before in a work of art. Rembrandt captured the souls of his subjects in a way few have ever done. The imprint of spirit clearly painted through him as a heavenly muse. It brought a whole new dimension to art and life for me."

At age 21, Arian dedicated himself to his art full time. He took the vows of a monk and was granted the same rare opportunity to create art as Michelangelo had once received-as both were sponsored by a religious organization to cultivate their artistic genius.

Arian had discovered earlier in his life that painting alone wasn't enough.

"I was always interested in spirituality, and I thought that art would be a way for me to access my spiritual awareness," Arian explains. "I was able to paint full time, as the artists in the organization are supported by the church."

For almost two decades, Arian painted for 10 hours a day, seven days a week. Meditating daily, his level of spiritual awareness and creativity were raised to a new dimension. Many of his works were used as illustrations for scripture, and he painted murals for temples all over the world.

Arian received a scholarship at the New York Academy of Art after presenting only one impromptu charcoal drawing. Although it is a very prestigious school, he didn't sense that the teacher would influence his artwork to the level he felt confident that he could achieve.

creative expression to escalate. He wanted to move further into fine art and be more expressive with line, color, harmony, balance and rhythm while still maintaining the integrity of realism.

His movement into this new genre of amazing mahjongg artifacts 2 art required drawing from live models several times a zetaclear spray week and taking great care in developing his compositions through preliminary conceptual sketches. "Eternal Mystery", his first painting in the genre of romantic realism, depicted a beautiful woman in classical Roman garments. The piece quickly resulted in a new contract with Masterpiece Publishing Inc., a publisher of fine-art limited editions. The paintings that followed were equally compelling with a spiritual quality that express what Arian calls lucid submission. "Working directly from life I experienced times of losing self consciousness...allowing my ego or personality self to step aside and just observe the pencil move in response to the life in front of me. In those rare moments of ‘being in the zone’, if you will, magic happens and something is created that is greater than what I thought I could do. Those are the moments I live for as an artist."

In designing his work, Arian employs Sacred Geometry, defined quite literally as "geometry that is sacred to the observer." It can be described as attributing a religious or cultural value to the graphical representation of the mathematical relationships and the design of man-made objects that symbolize or represent these mathematical relationships. The golden ratio was often used in the design of Greek and Roman architecture in addition to architecture applied to the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge.

Arian chooses the title of each piece when the painting is complete. He never knows which direction a piece will go until it's finished. Because of Arians spiritual experiences and realizations, the creation of art touches him in a way he cannot describe. "I am an instrument, and I'm grateful to bring about something that other people find beautiful and meaningful."

Arian's mission: To provide fine art that celebrates life and fulfills a purpose greater than he knows.

And for all of those who admire, collect and celebrate his art: mission accomplished. ABN

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Arian then traveled to Philadelphia where he met master sculptor Angelo Frudakis. Upon meeting the renowned artist, it was clear to Arian that he could refine his own gift of painting by sculpting and drawing the live models at the Frudakis Academy of Classic Realism. Later, at Barnstone Studios, Arian continued to study drawing, color theory and classical composition using the golden mean, or divine geometry, as the basic technique of his work.

Arian traveled and studied in Europe for several months at a time over a period of several years, creating paintings for the order, studying the great masters, visiting magnificent museums and marveling at the beauty of the sweeping countryside. He settled at a private art academy outside Florence, Italy in the villa of 15th-century writer and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. During his travels abroad, Arian became strongly influenced by several well known European artists and was captivated by the work of J.W.Waterhouse, a romantic classicist with a love for legend and mystery.

Arian's most important and enduring influence, however, has been the work of John Singer Sargent, the American realist born in Florence in 1856. "I have great admiration for Sargent's faultless draftsmanship, his amazing economy of strokes and virtuoso brushwork,” he says.

After careful thought in regard to his long commitment to the church, Arian decided it was time to move on so his art could reach a broader audience.

Arian returned to America and spent the next several years as art director for the Palace of Gold in Wheeling, W.V. It was a wonderful period in his life, and he supervised the creation of paintings, stained-glass windows, tapestries and murals, including several large ceiling murals at this "Taj Mahal of the West." Seven years in the making, the imposing edifice of inlaid marble walls and floors contains 230 tons of 50 types of marble from around the world. The Palace was featured in articles in Time, Life and The Washington Post. Its' crystal chandeliers, 80 stained-glass windows, and 8,000 square feet of 22-karat gold-leaf adornments attract more than half a million visitors each year.

When his work at the palace was completed, Arian moved to Southern California, finding the magnificent coastline conducive to his artistic expression. During this period, he frequently made pilgrimages to the beautiful Hawaiian island of Maui where he experienced a world "dripping with unearthly beauty." These visuals would later influence his emerging phase of romantic realism.

Until the late 1990's, Arian focused on painting scenes of nostalgia. At the height of his success in this genre, he experienced an overwhelming urgency to move on from nostalgia to allow his