.jpg)
After graduating from Bossier High School (Louisiana) in 1964, he attended Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado and Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Following his marriage to Jennifer in 1968, he completed his undergraduate degree at the Art Institute of Dallas, and later obtained hisMaster of Fine Arts degree (MFA) at Syracuse University.
His first "real" job was working for a Yellow Pages-type company as an illustrator ... yes, someone actually draws those things in the YP. A couple of years later he became Art Director for what was then the Skaggs-Albertson chain, then worked for five years as Corporate Art Director for Packaging Corporation of America (a division of Tenneco). Yes, someone designs all those retail boxes and displays that go into stores. Among his national clients were Coppertone, Plough Inc., Jolly Rancher Candies, Montgomery Ward, American Beauty macaroni products, Fisher-Price toys, and others. In the summer of 1980, after an enlightening discussion with a clown and a wizard (see Jennifer's comment to "The Unexpected: The Miracle of the Blog", December 19, 2007), he began teaching at the Art Institute of Denver (one of the EDMC schools located all across the country). In September 1983 he transferred to the Art Institute of Houston, where he retired in 2003 as Chairman of both the Graphic Design and Animation Departments, having been with the schools 23 years.
For those who are new to the blog, Yahn and Jennifer live in Las Vegas. They have two daughters, Shannon and Chiara, and five grandchildren.
Along with the short biograpy of Yahn are two of his posters. one for a Mardi Gras in Houston and one for a Black and White Ball in 1982. Accompanying the posters is half of a HUGE mural done for a department store.
3 comments:
Yahn, I have seen these before, but it is wonderful to see them again and to have my own copy now. I love that mural, as you well know! You are truly an awesome artist...and that is a very mild statement. Thanks for sharing with us.
Yahn,
Once again I thank you for sharing by letting us publish your work. I am looking forward to meeting you in person when we get to Las Vegas. Thanks, also, for sharing Jennifer with us on the blog!!!
Thank you guys for all the nice words about some of my old artwork. After 40 years in the "art" business and twenty years teaching others "how to", it's still good to hear that people like what you do.
I haven't done any artwork in some time... mostly just lazy I guess. I still think about doing some work just for me. During my professional life I always had a client and had to consider their needs (selfish brutes that they were) over my own preferences. I was luckier than most commercial artists and a lot more of me showed through in the illustrations. I really don't think you'd find much of me in any of the toy boxes or drugstore displays that I designed ... even though I made A LOT more money off of them. Go figure. At one point in the late '70s you literally could not have gone into almost any retail store in this country without seeing one of my packages or display designs.
As a small aside, there was one Jolly Rancher Candy countertop display that sat right by the cash register in convenience stores all over the country. I hated that design and the cowboy illustration I had to whip out overnight, but it was the design that the customer liked. I was in a store with our older daughter, Shannon, and she piped up with, "My Daddy drew that" pointing at the cowboy illustration I hated. As I practically screamed "Shut up" she'll never know how close she came to getting bopped on the nose that day. I joke, but she was always doing that in those days. Her elementary school teacher once took me aside and told me how worried they were about Shannon. "Oh?" said I. "Yes, the other day she brought in the YELLOW PAGES for Show and Tell. She told the WHOLE CLASS that her Daddy drew the pictures in the Yellow Pages." Just imagine.
Thanks again....
Post a Comment