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KEVIN HOSSEINI began painting in 2003, when he was nine years old. He was introduced to painting by Colin Zimbleman, his clinician through the University of California Santa Barbara Koegel Autism Center. He quickly advanced from watercolors, to acrylic, to oil painting. Oil is his preferred medium and he has a talent for mixing colors, and adding elements such as liquen impasto and liquen original to give depth and texture to his paintings. He also likes to use natural elements, such as sticks and dirt in his paintings. Kevin has sold many of his paintings and has given many to local charities for auction. His work is on display in private, governmental and nonprofit offices in Santa Barbara and Sacramento, California. His drawings and art has been used in promotion for a number of nonprofit organizations. Kevin has been featured in newspaper articles across the United States and was featured in the Normal Films documentary ARTS (2009). His work is on the cover of the ARTS film and also on the cover of the book ‘Raising Brendan - Creating Independence for Adult Kids with Autism & Special Needs.’ His art is featured in two books on art and autism released in 2009, including the Mark Batty publication Drawing Autism. Painting has given Kevin confidence and allowed him to express himself. He is influenced by a number of artists including Gerhard Richert, David Hocking, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Pablo Picasso. In 2006, when he was only eleven years old, Kevin won a scholarship from the John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts. His paintings have won honorable mention in juried art shows in his hometown of Carpinteria and he has won many student art contests. Kevin’s art has been supported by his local community and he has enjoyed working with a number of local mentor artists including J. Dan Gibbs who taught Kevin how to paint BIG paintings and use texture in his paintings. His current mentor artist is Steve Richardson. In 2009, Kevin won the CVS VSA Arts Award for young artists in California and was flown to Washington DC as the California representative for VSA Arts. His painting Train was on display at Union Station in Washington DC and has been on tour on the Eastern coast.
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