Fort Bend Lifestyles and Homes Magazine Mar 2010: Bayou City Art Fesitval Memorial Park

Vic Lee is part athlete, part cartoon artist, part dreamer, part rebel and part religious scholar —which equates to one seriously talented artist. His paintings reflect his life altering experiences through his quest to challenge his own deeply ingrained religious beliefs. Each painting has an accompanying “diary” that has helped Lee convey to his fans the meaning behind each work and his personal journey through life. This unique perspective and his stunning artistic capability has led him to be honored as featured artist of the nationally ranked Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park on March 26-28.

“Vic’s work is striking,” said Richard Fluhr, notable Houston

artist and art collector who served on the Bayou City Art Festival artist selection jury. “We are thrilled with the featured artwork he created specifically for the upcoming Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park. ”

Lee’s painting Waiting To Fly is the Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park’s featured artwork and will be displayed among his series of hauntingly beautiful acrylic and oil paintings at the festival alongside a juried selection of 300 top galleried local, national and international visual artists at this outdoor art festival.

A returning artist to Bayou City Art Festival, Lee has a special place in his heart for Houston. “Everything about the Bayou City Art Festival at Memorial Park has made it my favorite show of the year, from the gorgeous park setting, the staff, the talent of the artists showing, the educated and qualified collectors that attend to the city itself, and the adrenaline rush of the city ’s unpredictable weather,” says Lee. “To be featured at this festival is something I’m not just ecstatic about—but humbled by.”

Waiting To Fly was created specifically for

this festival and is the final piece in a series Lee has titled, Diaries of an Evolution. Each element in the painting symbolizes attributes we possess as humans. The main focus of the work, the bull, represents beliefs we have held on to closely for various personal reasons. The title of the piece comes from the concept that everyone is searching for their own truth from different positions and that we ’re all “Waiting To Fly” at the right time for our lives. The Houston downtown skyline painted in the artwork ’s background brings this piece close to home as a truly one-of-a-kind piece.

After a career-ending injury while playing professional soccer, Lee ventured out with a few business partners to open up a series of athletic clubs in San Diego. With no previous art training, Lee began drawing cartoons to advertise the health clubs in a non-traditional way. These cartoon advertisements gained popularity and within a matter of months, Lee began producing his own personal daily comic strip called “Pardon My Planet” that became syndicated and now runs in more than 150 newspapers across the U.S.

Lee’s work has been featured in numerous national and international publications, from Juxtapoz and Vision magazines to Santa Fe’s weekly arts magazine Pasatiempo, and from Architectural Digest to Art Buyer Magazine. In 2006, New York Arts Magazine and World Arts Media included Lee on the prestigious list of “Top 500 Artists Worldwide.” His work can be seen at www.stvictordiaries.com.

Ranked No. 3 art festival in the U.S. by the readers of AmericanStyle Magazine, 13th Annual Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park is an award-winning one-of-a-kind outdoor art gallery that showcases local, international, and top galleried artists from all over the country. Juried fine art, representing 17 media formats, including clay, drawing/pastel,

fiber/textiles, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and wood will be available.

In addition to this visual art feast, the festival will feature multicultural music and dance performances, international food and wine, interactive art at the Capital One Bank Creative Zone, and much more.

The festival is located in Houston’s beautiful Memorial Park located at S. Picnic Lane. There is no public parking in Memorial Park; however, the festival provides a free, convenient shuttle service from 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Northwest Mall located at the 610 North Loop at 18th Street and shuttle service located at the Downtown Theatre District parking lot from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday only. Parking at the Northwest Mall is free and parking at the Downtown Theatre District parking lot will be at the standard rate.

Admission is $10 for adults and free for children 12 and under. Festival hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m.