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Local Artist Stauffer & his Copious talents

Tiffany Tuell

(Updated: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 7:56 PM)

"Art has always been in the back of my head."

Fish Camp artist Guido Stauffer's creative journey has taken him from tattoo-parlor art to intricate pen and ink drawings, some of which are now on display at Sugar Pine Mountain Railroad.

Stauffer was born in Switzerland to a Swiss mother and a Hungarian father.

The family moved to Wisconsin when he was 4 and later moved to Fish Camp, north of Oakhurst, where he grew up.

Stauffer became interested in art in seventh grade when he was asked to draw a picture of a car. He took out a pencil, sketching a picture of his parents' station wagon, surprising himself.

"It came out a lot better than I thought it would," he said. "Art has always been in the back of my head."

He took a general art class in high school, then went to Fresno City College where he took a freehand-drawing class.

But, Stauffer said, he didn't like following the "methods" the teacher taught, so he didn't finish the class and never took an art class again. He kept his artistic talents stored away for years.

In the mid-1990s Stauffer took a trip to Brazil where he became interested in and inspired by Brazilian tattoo art.

He returned to the United States -- infatuated with art once again -- and about five years ago opened a tattoo parlor, where he drew custom tattoos.

From then on, he said, it seemed he was addicted to art.

Stauffer draws inspiration from things he sees in his daily life, even in his everyday job as a construction worker.

"I see art in construction, and I see building as art, too," Stauffer said. "I think I see it different than most builders, because I see it as an art form. Inspiration is just there. Some things catch my eye and stick with me or I dream and draw whatever I dreamed of."

He begins working on art at 2:30 a.m. every day, inspired by the world around him and ready for the next early morning of artistic adventure until it's time to go to work building homes.

"Art is my life," Stauffer said. "It consumes me. It wakes me up in the morning."

He said he does all his artwork while listening to music, mainly hard rock. His favorite band is Tool.

"Music is inspiring," Stauffer said. "It keeps the art flowing, keeps it exciting. Drawing would be much more dull without music."

Stauffer said art cannot be labeled "good" or "bad." Because it comes from inside a person, he said, it can't be judged.

Stauffer considers his work experimental because he didn't go to a classroom and learn from instructors. Instead, he learns from his own mistakes.

"Sometimes mistakes are good," he said.

Stauffer said he doesn't throw his "mistakes" away. He sets them aside, keeping them like textbooks and learning tools to look back on later.

"I wing it, and it's constant learning," Stauffer said. "To me, that's part of the art -- not knowing what's going to happen."

Sugar Pine Mountain Railroad, where Stauffer's work is on display, is owned by his brother, Max Stauffer.