Jeff Quiros Artist

I did some work with the SF Mission Food Hub, a great organization that feeds 9000 families weekly. Visiting the Mission District put me in mind of the Latinx community and culture and this drawing popped out. Though I’m a native San Franciscan, my father was born in Guadalajara and the culture sings to me.

Sometimes my message is quite blunt and direct. “Caring” is one of those. The salvation of this world and our individual happiness depends completely on how fully we can care for and help one another.

I recently began offering some of my work as non-fungible tokens (NFT). An NFT is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. NFTs can be used to represent items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files. The NFT is unique and transferable so, therefore, valuable. Collecting these has become extremely popular and it has hit the art world like a tidal wave with works selling for millions.

As a computer programmer, I have been intrigued by the blockchain technology and its antecedents for decades so I am embracing it and eager to see where this game leads.

Here is a link to my NFT offerings: https://opensea.io/collection/jeff-quiros-minimal-art. A shot of one of these, “Sensing”, is presented below.

Here is another favorite drawn from a photograph taken on New York streets by Sam Norry. These seem to be a departure from my usual style, but, from my perspective, my style is still there. Most people who have familiarity with my work can look at any one of them and know it’s mine. That is an achievement I think.

Dick Zimmerman is a highly successful contemporary artist. I am delighted that we are friends and thrilled that we recently completed this collaboration and are in discussions for more. The original is 17” x 24” mixed media on paper and is available from the artists as are prints in a limited edition of 100.

Sam Norry is a New York photographer I got to know on Instagram … @snny2000 and @snny2000_color. He captures incredible images of people on New York streets from all social strata, with and without homes. With Sam’s blessings, I have used a number of his photos as reference for drawings. This is one such work – a homeless woman who seemed to pose with pride for Sam.

Friend and Fine Art expert, Philip DeClare, suggested I do some celebrity portraits. I started with another friend, Jenna Elfman. Given my style, you pretty much have to know who you’re looking at for it to make sense. Still, it’s a good exercise for me and I am gratified to report the celebrities I have attempted, who have seen their portraits, have given very positive reviews. There is now a celebrity section on my gallery site at www.jeffquiros.com.

A friend noted that I’m usually drawing human faces and forms and wondered if I did animals. I explained that my wife is the portraitist of the family and sent him some pictures of her pet oils (she does people too). He was impressed with her talent but said he wanted to see a pet portrait in my style. I accepted the challenge and did this from a great snapshot he took of his dog “Blue”. So, yes, I am open to commissions.

Growing up in the San Francisco area in the sixties, I was an avid admirer of the rock art posters of the day, and I still am. In addition to the “Big Five” SF poster artists, there were maybe a hundred others who produced thousands of posters – many of them quite good – and I have enjoyed discovering these on line. I even did one of these posters myself in 1967 for a concert at the University of California at Davis with Quicksilver Messenger Service and Loading Zone. I have regretted that I didn’t do more of these and recently decided there’s no reason I can’t make more now … so here’s the first, promoting my own work.

I am really happy when I get the quality of line and form working so well together. There is no background; every shape is an integral part of the composition.