The Artist

Hyatt Moore with The Last Supper

Long an occasional painter, began in earnest in 1996, first focusing on international peoples, then to full time occupation in 2004, with an ever-broadening array of subjects and approaches.

Background:

  • Moore & Moore Art, 2004-present, Painter
  • The Seed Company, California, 2001-2003, Creative Director
  • Canada Institute of Linguistics, British Columbia, Canada, 1997-2001, Director of Development
  • Wycliffe Bible Translators, USA, California, 1992-1997, President
  • SIL International and WBT International, Dallas, 1987-1992, Vice President for Public Affairs
  • Summer Institute of Linguistics, Papua New Guinea, 1984-1986, Media Director and Public Events
  • WBT, USA, 1975-1984, Director of Communications, Publications Editor, Art Director
  • Summer Institute of Linguistics, Guatemala, 1972-1974, Director of Printing
  • Surfer Magazine, California, 1969-1972, 1978-1984, Art Director
  • Rapid Blue Print Company, California, 1966-1969, Graphic Designer, Manager
  • Lockheed Aircraft, Georgia, 1966, Technical Illustrator
  • Shelby American (Cobra sports car), California, 1964-1965, Draftsman, Automotive Design Assistant

Authored Publications:

  • The Beatitudes, Nine Paintings and the Process of their Making
  • Sketches of Holland and Spain
  • Barns of Iowa, Heritage of a Bountiful Land
  • Sketches of France, Impressions in Graphite and Ink, with Haiku
  • Our Lives Together, The Early Years
  • Sketches of Italy, Impressions from Rome, Florence and Venice
  • Art Under Pressure, Creativity, Discovery, and Evocative Layers of Ink on Paper
  • Mom and Dad, A Rememberance in Their Own Words
  • The Art of Recovery, Art and Soul of Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center, with Dean Dalbury
  • People of the Earth, A tribute to the Beauty and Dignity of People of Many Lands
  • It's About Life, A Philosophical Reverie Pointing to the Source of All
  • In the Image of God, Faces and Souls that Reflect their Creator
  • In Search of the Source, with Neil Anderson

Education:

  • Master of Arts, Leadership, Azusa Pacific University
  • Bachelor of Arts, Interdisciplinary, Dallas Baptist University
  • Ongoing education in various subjects-particularly art and history

Speaker

  • Seminar and presentation speaker on various subjects

World Citizen

  • Primarily a Californian, have also lived in Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, British Columbia, Canada, Texas, Georgia, and Wisconsin (as a child).
  • Have traveled in: Alaska, Australia, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Cameroon, China (Hong Kong), Colombia, England, Germany, Hawaii, Holland, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Sudan, Suriname, Thailand, Zaire.

Family

  • Married to Anne (1966), father of five children, all married, living in distant places, and making their marks

Collections

Work collected by various individuals and organizations, domestically and internationally

Nationally:

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Florida
  • Illinois
  • Kentucky
  • Maryland
  • Minnesota
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Washington
  • Washington D.C.
  • Wisconsin

Internationally:

  • Alberta, Canada
  • British Columbia, Canada
  • Cameroon
  • Cape Town, South Africa
  • Dominican Republic
  • England
  • France
  • Guatemala
  • India
  • Kenya
  • Malaysia
  • Manitoba, Canada
  • Mexico
  • Mongolia
  • Myanmar
  • Nepal
  • Nigeria
  • Norway
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Peru
  • Tonga

How it Started:

It was in 1996 that the vision came over me that I would become a painter. It happened in a moment in time.

I was driving home from work and, waiting for a light to change in Laguna Beach, my eyes wandered over to a gallery window and a large landscape painting. Suddenly a light went on in my mind, "I could do that," I thought, and then immediately, "I'm going to do that . . . I'm going to become a painter!"

This was all before the light changed. As I moved off with the traffic the other voices sounded, my practical, down-to-earth self, "You can't do that, you still have kids at home, what about the risk? your position in the kingdom? You already have a job, responsibilities, a role." But to all that I just said, "I know, I know, but it's going to happen!" and my energy and enthusiasm soared above every thought that could get in the way.

I didn't tell Anne about it, not right away. But I remember it because the following day was Thanksgiving. With that I had four days off from work; we traveled to my sister's in San Luis Obispo (half a day away) and for those four days I nurtured that new idea and let it settle deep within me. I was going to become a painter.

That lasted until Monday morning; then reality hit. The responsibilities of my job and role were full time and then some. What I couldn't get done during the day I took home and worked on in the evening. That's the way it was in those days; it was not something I minded . . . I loved my job. That was part of the mystery of this new idea: It wasn't that I'd been looking for something, I was completely content and growing in my field, I was the leader of a team . . . this other would be completely independent, or at least a good deal more so. Would I leave the mission I was part of? I had no plans to (and didn't for another eight years). But it looked like, for lack of time, I would not be able to pursue this new idea. It began to die . . . and I grieved it.

In time it came to me that I could find an hour a day, if I put the practice into my schedule at a regular time (after dinner) and at a regular place (a card table in the corner of a room) and leave the work out so that I didn't have to deal with all the setting up and putting away. I could basically just play with the paint. Though I'd long been an artist in other ways, this was something new I had to learn. I was intimidated by a blank canvas; I painted on paper, on pages of a sketchbook, assigning myself exercises to learn one thing at a time. I wished I could go back to school, get another degree, in art (my M.A, was in "leadership") but there was no time. So I looked at the work of other painters and analyzed their steps. I told myself to not bog down, to not be discouraged by slow progress, or no progress. I told myself to have fun with it. I told myself, "Don't make paintings, just paint."

I was doing all this faithfully and loving all I was discovering, including a new sense of the beauty of all things all around us all the time, when my life changed. I was relieved of my position of leadership at my job. That was a shock. I accepted it, though not without an emotional recovery that lingered a long time. One consolation during it all was the thought, "Now maybe I can become a painter."

But I was still too new at it, I still had much to learn. Friends were impressed when they'd see some painting I'd made, having no idea that was in me at all, and not something they could do; but I knew my level was still low. I could not land a role as a painter in my organization, or anywhere else. Besides, there are no such roles. This field, generally speaking, is populated only by independents.

Like I said, it was eight years before I saw clearly that it was time for the next step of faith and move into painting as a way of life. This was for Anne, too, as she was nurturing her own art at the same time. During those years I was making a lot of paintings, getting better by degrees, selling a little (very little), giving work away. After Anne and I moved back to California (we'd been in British Columbia, Canada for four years) we went to the county office and got a business license. The name, "Moore & Moore Art," seemed perfectly fitting. And that's the "business" we've been active in, along with all the rest of living, ever since.

For me it's a third career. (I know nothing about "retirement.") There's nothing regular about the income, but sales are sufficient; something always happens. It's a life of faith. And works. It's both an income and a ministry, sales and contributions.

For Anne, she's found a voice that is unique to her, admired and respected in her field. For me, I paint every day, at least part of it, attempting all subjects and all sizes. I expect it to be this way from here on out, and still always learning. In that regard, it's a gift.

I'm grateful, for all things.