Introduction

 Hello everyone!

My name is Ezekial Mendoza, I am 24 years old, and I was born and raised in the beautiful desert of Nevada. I am an U.S. Army Critical Care Flight Paramedic for the Arctic DUSTOFF here on Ft. Wainwright, providing medical coverage along with search-and-rescue for the interior of Alaska; additionally, I have had the chance to do civilian critical care transport with LifeMed Alaska here in Fairbanks. Some academic background on me: I have an Associate of Science in Health Science and I am just about to finish my second Associates, this one being in Emergency Care. I am attending UAF so that I may earn my Bachelors in Biology and apply for the USUHS School of Medicine in the hopes of becoming an Army Flight Surgeon.

I used to be very artistic growing up, owing much of that to my grandmother and great-grandmother. I sadly never got to meet my great-grandmother, but I was told stories of her craftsmanship and even got to see some of her works – she concentrated most of her work on bronze sculpting and oil painting. To date I still have in my childhood bedroom a small sunflower she painted decades ago, while my father has some of her original bronze casts. I chose to draw, taking much of my inspiration from comic books and graphic novels, and overtime incorporated charcoal and pastels into some of my work. Once I graduated high school, I packed my pens and paper away so that I may focus on my career in the military, pushing myself to perfect my art as a Combat Medic. I sometimes get back to doodling, but it is disheartening not being able to flow on a sheet of paper like I once could. My wife always encourages me – if not harasses – me to commit more to my art and “get back on the horse,” which I appreciate from her. Truly, any drawing I do now is for my wife because it just makes her face light up with so much joy, something I love to see every time!

As you can tell my wife appreciates art and she is much more knowledgeable in the subject than I am; however, we do enjoy visits together to art museums. When I was stationed in Washington D.C., we practically lived at the Smithsonian’s, always visiting them at any chance. We frequented the American Art and History Museums quite often, and since moving here, have been to the Museum of the North multiple times. Being a massive history buff, two art-styles that I have always found appealing is American Impressionism and Photojournalism, which are in all of our museums, history books, and documentaries/historical films. American Impressionism has beautiful colors and strokes that paint the landscape of our country so elegantly, along with capturing scenes throughout our country’s history. Photojournalism, my favorite, captures those historic moments that we all can not be present to see, and allows us to look through the eyes of those who experienced those moments firsthand.

            It might be cliché, but the art attached connects heavily with me, as my childhood hero was my great-grandfather; he fought on the beaches of Iwo Jima and would continue to serve with the Marine Corps until the early 1960’s. I always aspire to have the grit and fortitude he had, always ready for any situation that I may find myself in – no matter the challenge.

If you would like to read more about these two art-styles or any other American art-styles, check out this page from The Art Story!