Part of it is the economics," Bayoc said. "We always want our kids to make a living, not be a 'starving artist' on the street. I understand that. I wanted to be a truck driver.
Instead, Bayoc has made a name for himself painting about his two favorite subjects: African-American music and family life. And this month, Aisle 1 Gallery is hosting a solo show that explores another one of Bayoc's passions: birds. Some of the paintings feature birds nesting in branches that spell out uplifting messages. Those are Bayoc's "Birds & Words." Other works boast birds with human characteristics.
"To me, they look like little kids," Bayoc said. "For some reason, I just enjoy painting them."
Birds are all the rage today. So much so that hipster sketch comedy show "Portlandia" mocked the trend in its debut episode ("In Portland, you can put a bird on something and just call it art") and has created the website putabirdonit.com that superimposes a bird on any Web page. Bayoc admits he's stumped by their appeal.
"I don't know why that is," he said. "I know we have the tweeting and the 'Angry Birds' and all of these bird-centered businesses."
Bayoc's popularity is easier to understand. Since Jan. 1, Bayoc has produced a painting a day about fatherhood for his "365 Days With Dad" project. Fans love Bayoc's depictions of the small moments fathers and children share: reading a bedtime story, taking a nap.
Bayoc's real genius, however, has been his use of Facebook and social media to find new buyers, many of whom have never bought art before. Bayoc has presold paintings through May. The paintings cost $215. He also will make 100, $20 prints of each work. Bayoc already has raised $9,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to help cover printing costs. He also plans to print posters to give to schoolchildren.
"The idea behind it was to test the social media market and see if I could post something every night and sell it," Bayoc said. "As a full-time artist, I need to always think about ways to sell art."
