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Artist Brian Weaver feels that we must pay close attention to the world around us, and his manatee sends a message that we are all in this together. “Everything we humans do affects our planet, and the decrease in these animals is a sign. Change needs to first start with us. Mother Nature deserves our respect,” says Brian.

The son of art-obsessed hippies (his mother was a teacher; his father a photographer), Brian grew up traveling the world. He’s so grateful that they didn’t own a television and he wasn’t allowed to play video games. Instead, he grew up with a sketch pad for company, spending hours letting his imagination
loose on paper. When he wasn’t drawing, Brian was an avid skater and surfer.

These twin passions introduced him to the Street Art scene with its lush swaths of graffiti. (Spray paint remains his favorite medium to this day.) Brian loves the imagination and freedom of graffiti. “The paint just flows out. There is no blending, mixing, brushing. You lose yourself in the feeling of creation,” he describes.

As an adult, he believes that art should always tell a story. Love it or hate it, he hopes people have an emotional reaction to his work. “It’s not all pretty pictures. I want people to really feel.” He appreciates that art can be interpreted in many different ways. There’s no right way to feel, he explains. Experiencing art is an intensely personal experience.