Utah's Unexpected Artist and Art Genre Inventor / Creator: Introducing Steve Bohls and "Bohlsean Art"

When you actually start digging into the data, it's fascinating to discover how many world-renowned artists actually started out doing something else before they began creating their art.

This reality is not limited to painters or sculptors, but apparently crosses all genres of art and creativity.

Cases in Point ...

• Although born in 1853 into what was then middle-class life in The Netherlands, Vincent Van Gogh was actually an art dealer before he began painting in his late 20s, less than a decade before he took his life at the age of 37.

• Paul Gaugin (nee, Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin) is a now famous French artist who lived from the mid-1800s until the early 1900s who actually began his professional life as a stockbroker.

• More recently, the first job for abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock (after leaving high school) was that of a babysitter, what might today be called a nanny or an au pair.

But it's not just painters or other artists who started out in other professions before discovering their respective callings.

For example ...

• Danny DeVito was a hairdresser before he became a household name for his uncanny television and movie roles, as well as his skills as a Hollywood producer and director. {Awesome hair, by the way!}

• Before she became the first recording artist to ever win Grammy Awards for Record of the Year in back-to-back years — 1973 and 1974, respectively, for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Killing Me Softly with His Song — Roberta Flack was a schoolteacher and a music teacher.

• Last of all, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in Education from Richmond College on Staten Island, none other than Gene Simmons (of KISS fame) began his professional career as an assistant to an editor at Vogue, as well as a sixth grade instructor at an elementary school on the Upper East Side in New York City.

I could go on, but I suspect I've made my point: Not all careers are linear.

Or obvious.

Which brings me to Steve Bohls.

A Creative Genius Hiding in Plain Sight in My Neighborhood

I don't know about you, but as I think back on my life, I find it fascinating to consider the different people who I thought I knew who turned out to have lives I knew nothing about.

For example,

• The two senior executives for major regional energy companies (both of 'em living in the same congregation/ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Northern California where I grew-up, but working for different companies), or
• The paid President / Lobbyist of a major nonprofit organization, or
• Several founders of companies generating tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, or
• Famous social media influencers, or
• Actors and actresses, or (in the case of Steve Bohls),
• The low-key, unassuming software developer, successful Fantasy/SciFi author, and now artist and art genre inventor / creator.

Today, Steve and I live three blocks apart in the same quiet neighborhood in South Jordan, Utah, brought together primarily by proximity and our participation in the local LDS ward.

He's a nice guy, a good husband and father of four great kids, but a relatively quiet, keep-to-himself kind of dude.

Over the past few years, Steve and I have gotten to know each other a bit more as first I was asked to be one of the lay priesthood ministers assigned to his family, and then he was later assigned as one of our family's ministers as well.

Through these and other experiences, I've learned some things about

1. Steve's time as a software developer for Adobe in Lehi, Utah, and then
2. His transition to Science Fiction and Fantasy author of his own books, as well as Co-Author with Utah's own mega-author, Brandon Sanderson, for Lux, Book 4 in Sanderson's best-selling Texas Reckoners series.

But what I didn't know about Steve (until recently) was discovered on a quiet evening walk through the neighborhood that was shattered by the near-deafening sounds of a CNC machine drilling in the Bohls family garage.

The Inventive Minds of Creators

In my experience, everyone who is a creator, of any sort, is also an inventor at heart.

That sentiment clearly defines my wife, Allisha.

Educated in Clothing & Textiles (Fashion Design) at Brigham Young University, she has gone on to become an award-winning quilter (on a national scale), a multi-time published book author, a designer/creator/publisher/seller of scores of doll clothing patterns sold online, and many other creative accomplishments (not the least of which has been helping guide and support me to my own success).

It also defines Allisha's dad, Ray, a Civil Engineering grad from the University of Utah who became the top startup engineer for Chicago Bridge & Iron Company and travelled the world as the final inspector for CBI before it handed-over-the-keys to the owners of the brand-spanking-new plants and facilities CBI had built for them.

But Ray was also an inventor, as shown by Patent No. 4,425,145 issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1984 for Pressure Swing Adoption Cycle for Natural Gas Pretreatment for Liquefaction.

And, as I now understand, not only is my friend, Steve, a creator, he's also an inventor too.

But in the case of Steve Bohls, it wasn't enough for him to invent a new way of accomplishing a task using 1's and 0's in lines of software code.

Rather he had to invent an entirely new artform, a patentable genre that I've named Bohlsean Art.

{Yes, he hates that term, but I'm the marketing guy, so, oh well.}

This new art genre, this Bohlsean Art, involves an Engineering-Meets-Art-Mashup where this computer programmer / fantasy and SiFi author has combined CNC machining, sheets of acrylic, CAD/CAM software, personally blended resins, and his own vision to literally invent a new approach to three-dimensional art created within a two-dimensional plane.

Let me explain.

Bohlsean Art: What it Is, and What it Isn't

In simplest terms, what Steve does in creating each new piece of Bohlsean Art is perhaps best outlined this way:

1. He begins with an initial sense of the type of image he wants to portray, whether from a personalized image he creates in his mind or from a foundational image that someone else has captured / created (often for a commissioned piece).
2. Steve then creates a multi-layered, CAD/CAM vector image of this new art he has envisioned, determining along the way the precise colors (up to nine, so far) for each sector and layer he will create. {This also includes deciding the size of each art piece, which today, can be up to 4x8-feet.}
3. Once this is done, Steve affixes the properly sized acrylic sheet to a CNC machine and applies a layer of colored resin to the back of the entire acrylic base.
4. After this base layer dries and the necessary preparations made, the CNC machine is engaged to begin precisely drilling-out the first layer of negative spaces within the now coated acrylic piece.
5. After the first layer of negative spaces have been created and the acrylic platform has been cleaned, Steve hand-applies colorized resin to fill the negative spaces. 
6. After drying, this process is repeated numerous times to create up to nine levels of now filled layers of negative space, each containing its own precisely mixed colorized resin.
7. The final magic of Bohlsean Art occurs when the newly completed piece is revealed after it is flipped over and the protective sheet is removed to show the layers-upon-layers of now filled negative spaces that have been built essentially in reverse, unlike any other type of art imagined, built, or created, today or ever.

In some ways, some might consider Bohlsean Art like a new take on the creation of stained glass windows, but that would be inaccurate, in multiple ways.

No, in fact,

Bohlsean Art is a new approach to mind-blowingly unique three-dimensional art, one where engineering crashes headlong into mentally envisioned and painstakingly built pieces never before imagined or seen.

Examples of Bohlsean Art are currently showcased on the website Veiled Resin, the business created to support Steve's approach to art.

Unfortunately, the only challenge with Bohlsean Art is attempting to visualize it when shown in a 2D media, such as the photo below taken from a recent Meat & Potatoes podcast where Steve joined with host Garrett Clark on set.

Challenging or not, I've enclosed below just a few photos that showcase some of my favorite pieces of Bohlsean Art, namely

Princess Leia Reimagined

Kobe Bryant (backlit)

{NOTE: Yes, certain pieces of Bohlsean Art can, in fact, be backlit with a single or multiple LED light sources.}

The Joker

Aspen Forest (backlit)

Woman in Aqua & Red

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Additionally, although not the same thing as experiencing for yourself the head-shaking, knock-you-on-your-butt experience of seeing Steve's art in real-life, I've enclosed below a relatively short YouTube video that highlights both the creation and first time unveiling of a custom art piece Steve created for his sister-in-law and brother.

See for Yourself: Two Upcoming Exhibits for Bohlsean Art

To help Steve reach a larger audience and help him unveil Bohlsean Art to prospective professional and personal buyers (and their representatives), I've helped arrange two upcoming evening exhibits to showcase his new take on art that each take place later this month.

The first free showing will be held on Saturday, October 19 from 5:30pm to 8pm at Bad Bet Productions in Sandy, Utah (8730 South 700 East).

The second free showing will be held on Friday, October 25 from 5:30pm to 8pm at the Silicon Slopes headquarters in Lehi, Utah (2600 Executive Parkway #140).

Each exhibition will feature over three dozen pieces of original Bohlsean Art, with light hors d'oeuvres, finger foods, and beverages served to guests who have RSVP'd in advance.

As such, reservations are required as attendance will be limited to 150 individuals for each showing.

{NOTE: Reservations to attend either exhibit can be made by clicking on the highlighted links above.}

To be clear, retail prices for pre-made, single-sheet, 2x4-foot pieces start at $3,500 (depending upon the complexity and number of layers per piece), whereas retail prices for pre-made, single-sheet, 4x8-foot pieces start at $25,000 (again depending upon the complexity and number of layers per piece).

And for individuals or organizations interested in working directly with Steve to capture their unique visions for a one-of-a-kind pieces of Bohlsean Art, prices are at least doubled, with a deposit of one-third required up-front before work begins.

For these reasons, Steve explained to me that although any and all guests are welcome to attend either or both showings, in reality, the exhibited art will mostly appeal to serious art aficionados, whether

1. Personal collectors,
2. Executives looking for unique showcase pieces for their offices and/or facilities, and/or
3. Interior designers looking for the perfect statement piece for their corporate or residential clients.

So, for readers who fit the above categories, I invite you to RSVP and come see for yourself what I believe to be the most mind-blowing creations to come out of Utah in a long, long time.

The hyperbole above notwithstanding, I'm actually quite confident you'll agree with me that not only is Bohlsean Art something you've never seen before.

Chances are you'll tell your friends, "You just need to experience it for yourself."

Disclosure

Please note that I will receive a fee for any art sold by Steve as a result of my marketing / promotional efforts on his behalf. That said, neither Steve or anyone associated with Veiled Resin saw or reviewed this article in advance of its publication.

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