Categories
Art/Design blog Design europa Personal Spain/France '22 The American Game The American Game Deck

Christmas Miracle turned Mirage

I was so happy during the week of Christmas last month when I thought my father, Timothy Szal, had finally gone to the police about how he had to lie under duress because of threats by the Bufano gang. I called my Schenectady County probation officer, Katie Soule and left her several emails. I naturally think the case has finally been declared a mistrial, or I have turned over a new leaf with my father due to the suspicious and unsolved murder of my Aunt Nancy (his younger sister). I emailed the court coordinator for the 485th District Court, the court for both cases I caught on Nov. 7th, 2023. I asked for a status update on my case since I emailed several requests regarding the court proceedings at different times in the last few months with my civil case versus Tim. I stated I had not been able to contact my probation officer. I still have not heard back from either of them, and I am very worried a plot has been worked out to pay members of the court/probation departments of Tarrant & Schenectady Counties to disenfranchise me by nefarious means. I decided to change my plea from no contest probation to not guilty and request a new court-appointed attorney since my previous one is no longer available. This change in plea assumes that the reconciliation that I discussed with Officer Adams of the Southlake Police Department would no longer be honored.
I moved to New York to be closer to my mother and help her with things around her place. She is getting more advanced in years, and my parents are divorced, so Tim is not there to help her. Tim pretends I have a terrible memory, I do not know what is going on, and I am lying about my diverse mix of creative plus mechanic skill trees that could make a renaissance orchard Titian or Galileo would adore. These factors make a pretty rare bird when put together and it is easy to make them seem fake or contrived, which Tim plays on. I literally had a co-worker tell me that Tim called and said I stole The American Game deck I gave them for Christmas, and I was lying about my mechanic skills on my resume. Tim also pretended I was a delusional person with a mental illness who is a felon. Thankfully, I have been able to validate my mechanic and graphic design skills to everyone’s satisfaction at my job at Adirondack Tire Corporate. Additionally, I am not a convicted felon. I have my passport and I can obviously leave the State of Texas since I am in New York.
I offered to start a weekly Zelle or Cash App transfer to Cheyenne (Roman’s Mother) since I am making a good salary now. I wanted to use this as a way to cement our out-of-court agreement for the next five years until Roman is 18, thus securing more extended summer visits plus additional holiday slots. I was very good friends with Scott (Roman’s Stepdad) and Cheyenne until last year. They mysteriously stopped letting me stay at their house when I visited Tennessee. We no longer coordinated Roman’s birthday gifts or socialized, which is not uncommon for co-parents, yet it just seemed so strange with our previous modus operandi. I knew Cheyenne disapproved of my long absence in Europe during 2022, which she did not think I would return. I thought I would be treated very well by my friends and family if I did return to the United States, yet this has not been my experience. I have done all I can to negotiate without going to family court over Roman. I want to use my time to make more money for Roman’s college fund. It is unfair to me to fight a proxy war with Tim Szal and Frank Bufano in Family Court with Cheyenne, yet here we are.
Another reason Tim pretends I have a mental illness, aside from the part that he does not want people to look into what happened in Europe (May 2022), is that it is much easier to brainwash people into helping with a flagrant crime if they think the victim is “easy prey.” Unfortunately, Tim was very likely involved in the death of Nancy, one of my dearest relatives who did not want to pretend I was mentally ill. I pray every night now for her soul to go to heaven since taking your own life is a mortal sin. She was one of the most positive and fun-loving people you ever would have had the pleasure to meet, like many people whose profession involves music, especially dance. I do not believe she would have wanted to hurt herself, and I do not think her getting run over by an unidentified driver was an accident. I was so happy thinking I could talk to Tim after so many years, and perhaps we could put our adverse history behind us. Yet his silence speaks volumes, especially after blocking my company number for Magick Mechanic when I tried to offer a “Merry Christmas” text message during the holiday. I have my spiritual Father in Heaven, whom I can always pray to in my hour of peril or distress. I suppose I was not good enough to receive the present of talking with my earthly father on Christmas this year. I yearn to hear my dad’s voice again someday, as I am sure there is some explanation as to why it looks like he stole from me and did all these bad things. I try to tell myself that he will call and explain how he still loves me and why someone framed him for these occurrences. I have waited for years, and I assume I may have to wait many more….
I have also decided to do a redesign of The American Game. The cards will no longer feature text and will be emblems with small symbols for the zodiac signs, plus some completely new redesigns of the additional royal cards. Some cards will retain their color schemes, which might evoke an indirect connection with certain national teams. I am not a big sports fan, and I have found the cards to resonate more with the spiritually developing crowd than the sports arena crowd. Yet, many will not, and I shall elaborate more in the book I am writing on the deck. The old-style cards will no longer be available for sale on my website. The cards will now be sold for $49.99 with upgraded material quality and packaging.

My zodiac sign that I share with Robert E. Lee and Martin Luther King Jr. – we may seem different, yet we are all very perseverant to a fault
The message that appeared on my computer two weeks before the appeal deadline for a court case with Timothy – My pet rabbit, Mugs Bunny, has not been returned and is believed to be held still as a pawn in Southlake.
Categories
Art/Design blog Design The American Game The American Game Deck

Final ‘American Game’ Designs finished!

Categories
Art/Design blog Design The American Game The American Game Deck

The American Game – Suit of Hearts

The above image is a highlight reel of the 13 cards encompassing the entire hearts suit. I have decided to go back to the original design for the suit symbols (the previous version had outlines for each symbol instead of solid-filled). I made my first deck more than five years ago, using a plain bicycle deck and spending a lot of time drawing and painting directly on each card. After the ink and watercolor dried, I laminated the cards so the colors/images would not deteriorate with excess shuffling.

It is refreshing to work on a large design project with such a fascinating concept for the entire deck. Yet, each card is designed one at a time and requires a lot of dancing with compositions and colors. I have been looking at different printing companies, yet since the deck has a spiritual/metaphysical component, it is essential to use the best materials. The use of such old emblems from 5 centuries ago was to give the deck a timeless and mystical quality that seems to contain some ancient, forgotten truth or wisdom. The images felt very familiar when I first looked at the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck. After reading ‘The Pictorial Key to the Tarot‘ by Waite, I started to appreciate how much deeper each card could be dissected and the deck’s use of symbols/visual metaphors. I am considering writing a booklet to include with each deck that explains which card represents which thing beyond the surface level place or zodiac sign.

Even if the decks take a while to sell, they have a long shelf life. The residual income will help support my creative projects and eventually fund my philanthropic aspirations. After the deck is sent to the printers, I plan to start a series of oil portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, from Trump to Washington.

Categories
Art/Design blog Home Studio Personal The American Game The American Game Deck

The American Game Deck for sale!

All sales of “The American Game” cards are on hold until the new redesign is finished and the new designs have arrived from the printers. We apologies for any inconvenience.

I have changed the cards several times, and I am on 5 different redesigns for the entire deck. The deck was officially released on Thanksgiving, which is when all pre-sale orders shipped. Thank you so much to everyone for supporting my artwork and designs; if you have any thoughts or comments on the designs, please email me at mattszal@gmail.com.

Categories
Art/Design Professional The Flying Dutchess

New backdrop portfolio

Check out my newest portfolio of backgrounds and backdrops for animation (mostly for The Flying Dutchess).

Categories
Art/Design

Invisible Cities

This is a series of intaglio etchings I did with some Spiderman collage variants.

Categories
blog watercolor

Pershing Square Watercolors

I was blessed to move to Los Angeles last year at the end of September 2022. As many of the Old Masters once painted the buildings and sculptures in the parks and squares of cities they lived, I have endeavored to do so in reverence to them.

Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building – watercolor on paper, Oct. 2022

In an attempt to cure my insatiable love of Art Deco buildings, I visited Pershing Square. The Title & Trust building is an Art Deco gem situated off the square, named after prestigious WW1 General Pershing himself, mastermind of the Argonne Forest Campaign. In this watercolor, I did not do any underdrawing with pencil or pen and painted this with the brush from observation with no reference photographs. This process increases dexterity with the brush and better economy of line with each brush stroke.

View from Pershing Square Two – watercolor on paper, Oct. 2022

Pershing Square was redesigned by Ricardo Legorreta in the 1990s and these elegant, orange spheres feature prominently in the square vibrant new look.

A photograph of the Title Guarantee and Trust Building with Orange Sphere in foreground
Categories
blog Home Studio Personal Studio

Zen Deco Bungalow Remodel

I recently finished remodeling my +650 sq. ft. bungalow with a new style I created called “Zen Deco”, which combines the art deco style of 1920s &30s with a Zen Shinto shrine aesthetic. These are a few preparation drawings and floor plans I drew during the project.

My artsist studio with final sealer/varnish on floors – Aug. 2022
Categories
blog europa Sketchbook watercolor

Some watercolors & drawings done in France this April, rendered from life