My name is Patrick Lyons and a man in his 40's who dares to grow up. I work as an IT Coordinator Environmental Consulting firm in FL and freelance as a graphic artist, web developer, and online marketer. I am myself an avid collector as I started collecting prints and toys about ten years ago. Now I have amassed a collection of what some may consider time for an intervention for the next episode of Art Hoarders. But I love my collection and every piece in it. I just need more room.
One of the first pieces I ever bought was the orange flocked bust of Ludwig Van by Frank Kozik. I thought it was so cool because it came with a print that was signed not only by Kozik but also by Malcolm McDowell. A good friend helped me get it as I didn't understand the game. I just wanted it and thought it was cool.
I continue to collect art toys, but now I tend to be more particular of my collecting as my collection has grown rather large. I love the search to find toys of my youth that my parents couldn't afford but now I can. I spent months trying to find a metal Voltron, AT-AT, as well as Millennium Falcon. I see toys and art as a creative influence for what I do and want to surround myself with as much as I can.
As a child of the 80's and remember seeing Star Wars at a drive-in theater in '77 from the passenger seat of my mom's VW Bug in Hollywood, FL. Collecting bootleg Star Wars figures, as well as original figures, are a passion. I dig the bootlegs of Urban Medium, Sket-One, Sucklord, Killer Bootlegs, Healeymade and much more. But one of the coolest is the charred remains of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru by TD 5491 Phenix Customs. Check him out and find him on Facebook.
Aside from toys I also collect art. Now mainly paintings but I started collecting prints as it was all that I could afford. I'm fortunate enough now to have paintings on my walls of Frank Kozik, Skinner, Luke Chueh, Alex Pardee and Chet Zar to name a few. I found a connection with the artist through social media. The contact with them is something I find unique. These men and women are people like you, and they and I make a living creating beautiful art. It is something else being able to hang a piece on the wall and not only admiring the work but the memory that I have when purchasing it. It is something else, it really is.
As for what I would like to bring to the readers of Go Figure News is to share pieces in my collection with the story of them. Also, I like to help those either new to collecting or have been for some time with some insight on the processes I may go through to acquiring art. Lastly, I hopefully look to bring interviews from some of the artists I collect so they can share their stories and we all can learn something new together.