Daniel Ortega

Recognized with a talent for art in Jr. High School. I was invited to attend Otis Parsons Art Institute in Los Angeles, California. His summer scholarship programs in 1967 & 1968 exposed him to various types of professional art media. Life drawing classes and recycling art projects inspired me to pursue fine art as a major in High School. My college curriculum included graphic design, architecture, technical illustration, electronic drafting, ceramics, and photography. I learned about the funeral industry working part time for Kiefer & Eyerick mortuary in Glendale, California while attending Glendale Community College. On November 2, 2001 I offered Stone of Light memorial art, Z-Urn alternative as fine art, with or without cremains.

Education in drafting continued with Cherokee International, a computer power supply company in Orange County, California. I was the Senior Draftsman for a utility planning company in San Clemente, California for 9 years and lived in Laguna Beach, California. I relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and worked for Salt River Project & Arizona Public Service engineering departments as a professional draftsman. Working in the drafting field until manual drafting became obsolete and was replaced by computer aided drafting. I learned Traditional Thailand massage  in San Diego, California at Muller School of Holistic Studies after my manual drafting career ended.

Presently I create hand sculpted bas-relief designs from sustainable byproduct plant fibers. My eco friendly plant medium dries hard and feels like tree bark, it has the appearance of carved stone. I paint the finished work with acrylic, or bio “green seal” paints. Sometimes leaving it earth, plant or spiced colored and sealed with a clear fixative. Enhancing the medium with a collage of sand, glass, stones, metal, wood and shells. Personal items and photos are given to me for SOL memorial artwork. Visit www.earthwerks.us to see my artwork and read the mission statement.