Think of the most insane combination of industrial grit and refined beauty you can imagine – This is what you experience the first time you see Trevor Mezak’s art. Materials like reclaimed wood, concrete slabs, rusty metal, nails, screws, roofing tar, and paint, are applied to his canvas with a palette knife, Dremel, surf wax comb, blow torch, paint brush, or burning gunpowder. His creative process transforms the canvas into and impressionistic abstract painting of pure organic textures that become a veil over his subject, such as a lovely figurative drawing, a buffalo, a locomotive or, maybe, the King of Hearts. Once you see Mezak’s art it will capture your stare and you will feel compelled to touch it, to experience it. It’s okay, feel the textures and the raw beauty; take it all in. As Trevor explains, “My art is meant to be experienced, for you to feel time, temperature, motion, beauty, love, and awe. After all, isn’t this what art and life are all about.” Mezak is a Southern California artist whose work has been exhibited nationally and is a Disney Fine Art featured artist. As a child, Trevor would channel this energy into sketch pads where he would draw army men blowing up things. He spent much of his twenties as a professional surfer but found it challenging to make a living in the sport, so he would paint in the back alleys of San Clemente. It was during this time that he reconnected with Heather, his third-grade sweetheart, who would later become his wife and best friend. Trevor and Heather still live in Southern California with their dog Finn, and you will often find Trevor surfing a local break most mornings before he heads for his studio.