We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ray Gatica a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ray, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

I have never considered myself a traditional artist in the sense that I sat around and simply painted. I consider myself an “Artrepreneur”. I define artreprenur’ as a creative artistic individual who has the same business sense, drive and determination of an ‘entrepreneur.’. Two reasons why the term ‘artrepreneur; came to mind: One is when, Semina DeLarentes, from the Waterbury Arts Council, once wrote on my behalf: ”Ray makes his artwork for him”.. Secondly: What made me realize I was not a typical artist was when a friend of mine’s mother pointed out that I was an entrepreneur, because she heard me tell her daughter (my friend), that I had gotten a job by approaching a passerby, in public, about painting a portrait of his Porsche. And that stuck with me. That was when I began seeing myself not only as an artist but a ‘business artist’.
After 35 years of making a living as an artist – I am slowing down, semi-retiring, especially these after the two years of the pandemic But I have one last project to bring to fruition, “The Official Baby Watcher”. according to my vision. The OBW is a multifaceted concept toy and novelty idea for babies and small children. You can see the concepts assorted facets and read more on this at www.TheOBW.net. Ultimately, the goal is to license the overall concept’s products to a larger toy novelty entity to market and distribute the products. This is where the ‘artrepreneur’ part. becomes clearer and more obvious.
I believe Artist, creatives should see the value behind their creative endeavors as intellectual properties be it, art, music, or other artistic creations as NFTs that have value behind them and can be sold, traded and invested in.

Currently we have a gofundme account that fund will be used to promote the character and it special Purpose and Mission. Fundraiser by Ray Gatica : Help artist Ray Gatica share his art with babies (gofundme.com)
We are also in the initial stages of putting The Official Baby Watcher story for children presentation as an e-book. The printed storybook will follow. You can read the story as is, at: www.theobw.net.

Ray, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have never considered myself a traditional artist in the sense that I sat around and simply painted. Things were a lot different for artist back in my early days, more artist were able to make a comfortable living painting signage, billboards, etc. Non, of those opportunities exist now for artist. My art business started by me being an airbrush artist in the early seventies. During this time, I created and painted airbrush graphics and signage on trucks, cars and sign metal boards for sign shops and private clients. From there I was called to do airbrush photo-retouching for printers, and photographers, etc.
While living in Connecticut, in the eighties, I started to get calls for painting art and murals in my New Deco style. The themes included various art forms, i.e., Jazz, Music, Architecture, Haute Couture/Fashion stylized, exaggerated male and female forms distinctively, Gatica.
http://gaticaart.com/Art-Deco-style-Murals%20Samples.htm
My personal style is considered what I call “New Deco” – a cross of Art Deco and my personal impressionistic, modern and Avant-Garde styles. Being heavily influenced by the Art Deco period of the 1920s and 30s. Some of my influences have been Erte, Vargas, and Warhol.
Having been a freelance commercial artist for over 35 years, has afforded me the ability to experiment with assorted unconventional mediums and techniques, with the emphasis on creating original works. to suit my personal taste.
My personal eclectic ouevre consists of modern Jazzy Digital Art, http://gaticaart.com/Computer%20Digital%20Art%20Pg1.htm.
airbrush Art on paper and metal; stylized figurative 2-D and 3-D art and sculptures. I have continued my art journey collecting art, stones sculptures and other artist’s works. The collection further consists of various concepts and ideas that have been developed to various degrees. (www.gaticaart.com
Along with painting over the years, I go off on tangents to develop multi-disciplinary conceptual children’s characters. “The Official Baby Watcher” (www.TheOBW.net is one of these creations. It was a side project that I have been developing for over 30 years. By development, I mean writing and illustrating a children’s story and defining, and putting a concept behind it.
Other examples include,’ Officer Luv child’ and ‘Dr. Peti-Luv child’. Now as I reach retirement stage, I am putting my energies into trying to license the overall property behind the concept to a toy novelty manufacturer. Doing this will wrap up my 40-something year art career.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I define “Artreprenur” as a creative artistic individual who has the same business sense, drive and determination of an entrepreneur

After 35 years of making a living as an Artrepreneur creating, designing, and painting for commercial and private clients – I am slowing down especially with the past two years of the pandemic. BUT I have one last project to bring to fruition titled: “The Official Baby Watcher”. The OBW is a multifaceted concept
toy and novelty idea for babies and small children. You can see the concept and its various facets and read more on this at www.TheOBW.net. This is where the ‘artrepreneur’ part. becomes more obvious. Ultimately, I am attempting to license the overall concept to a larger toy novelty entity to market and distribute the overall property’s’. products.

This is where the concept’s special character gets to spread its warm caring purpose and mission worldwide, and my creative journey come to an end.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I see NFTs as Intellectual Properties that have value behind them and can be sold and traded . Artist, creatives should see the value behind their creative endeavors be it, art, music, or other artistic creations as Non-Fungible Tokens. Artist should see their creations as intellectual properties as NFTs.

Contact Info:

• Website: GaticaArt.com TheOBW.net
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/raygatica
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ray-gatica-11606428
• Other: Currently we have a gofundme account that fund will be used to promote the character and it special Purpose and Mission. Fundraiser by Ray Gatica : Help artist Ray Gatica share his art with babies (gofundme.com) We are also in the initial stages of putting The Official Baby Watcher story for children presentation as an e-book. The printed storybook will follow. You can read the story as is, at: www.theobw.net.

Image Credits
Ray Gatica