Iain Stewart of Opelika may not look like the most artistic guy, but don't be fooled by his appearance.
Stewart raised $1,200 with his watercolor paintings for the Japanese Disaster Relief fund.
Stewart recently auctioned off five of his paintings, and he hopes to raise $1,800 more by the time he finishes auctioning all his pieces.
A local architectural illustrator, watercolorist and Auburn grad, Stewart said he was inspired to help the relief efforts by his friend and fellow artist Keiko Tanabe.
"A friend of mine, Keiko Tanabe, who is a Japanese watercolorist in San Diego, started an auction shortly after the disaster," Stewart said. "While looking through her images I thought to myself, 'This is something I could do as well.' I got in touch with Keiko and told her what I was planning here, and shortly thereafter a small group of us joined together to create Art Auctions for Japanese Disaster Relief."
Stewart said a number of artists from across the country contributed their time and work to help raise money.
"The contributing members include some of the top watercolorists in the country, and the member list reads like the table of contents of any recent Watercolor publication," Stewart said. "A majority of the auctions are now ended, but a few members still have active ones. To date those auctions have raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $9,000 to help the people of Japan."
But the artists are not done. Many have set up Daily Paintworks accounts where they can showcase and sell their works. The website set up a "Help Japan Challenge," documenting how much money the artists have raised to help Japanese tsunami victims.
"Combined, the auctions via Daily Paintworks and Art Auctions for Japanese Disaster Relief have raised in the neighborhood of $30,000 with many auctions still active," Stewart said.
"This is a chance for a collector to acquire works by some of the best artists working today at a greatly reduced cost while knowing that their bids are going to help where it's needed."
Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, Stewart's family moved to America in the 1970s and later to Auburn where his father, Muir Stewart, worked as an architecture professor.
Stewart graduated from Auburn with a degree in architecture and soon began working as an architectural illustrator in Montgomery.
Stewart said his time working as an illustrator is what sparked his passion for painting.
"It's at that time that painting as a career started to take shape," Stewart said. "Shortly thereafter I took a job with a major D.C. firm as their in-house renderer. The jump to running my own illustration firm seemed a natural progression from there."
Stewart opened his firm in Washington, D.C., in 2001 before moving it to Atlanta and finally Opelika in 2005.
Stewart said he works for clients across the country, but rarely does he get the chance to meet them face-to-face.
"As just about any architectural illustrator will tell you, it's can be a very isolating career," Stewart said.
Stewart's father is an architect, but that is not the only passion these two share.
"My father is a painter, and I grew up watching him in his studio," Stewart said. "Watercolor has been something I've seen my entire life."
Because he has been around watercolors so much, Stewart said he is very comfortable with them and painting them seems to come naturally.
"I suppose there's a natural comfort with them for me," Stewart said.
"You paint from light to dark, and it's difficult to correct mistakes so there's a long dream stage where you have to try and visualize the image in your head."
While his work as an architectural illustrator aims to help create something appealing and useful, Stewart said his passion for watercolors stems from his desire to recognize the beauty in everyday things.
"I tend to paint scenes that we see every day, but don't notice," Stewart said. "Taking a somewhat mundane setting and trying to find the beauty just below the surface is something that has always intrigued me."
Stewart said he doesn't have a certain criteria he sticks to when choosing which subjects he wants to paint.
"I try to keep my eyes open, and anything that strikes me can be a subject," Stewart said. "I don't adhere to any rules about suitability or creating grand paintings."
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