~~RALPH~ ~StarHawk~

I'd like to meet:

I am an early middle-aged (yeah, right) Bohemian (really!) artist (fat, old hippie dude), designer, and dreamer, trying to make the best of my short journey on this Third Rock from the Sun.

I have a generally happy disposition, blended with just enough sarcasim to flavor most situations. I am also creative, young at heart, spiritual, and positive, with a slightly off kilter sense of humor & style. I have been told that I have a thirst for knowledge, a heart for romance, an eye for beauty and art and a fairly open mind.

I am especially interested in Native American art, crafts, culture, and spirituality, and have always been drawn to nature (the woods) and touching the Earth. Photography is one of the ways I express myself, as well as art. It's really great having a special friend, confidant, accomplice, lover, kindred spirit, and soulmate, to help me pass the time while waiting for paint to dry and to explore and see where the rest of this journey leads.

~ART IS MY LIFE~ ~LIFE IS GOOD!~
Most of the time, I tend to think with my heart, and have a passion for nature, music (sorry, can't do a whole lot of 'twangy' Country or rap), life, and love. I try to be 'down to Earth' while keeping one foot planted firmly in the air!

I try to enjoy life to it's fullest through the beauty of nature, music, art, and special friends. My Zest for life provides me pleasure out of most of the things that I do, a quality I've learned directly from my late father's up beat personality.

I believe that "Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in our own sunshine." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
Every once in a great while, if you are lucky, someone touches your life in a way that is so familar, comfortable, and inspiring that you want to learn everything about them, and share the ups and downs of life, as well as discovering each other. I hope you all have the good fortune, to find someone you have always dreamed about and get to spend time walking thru this life, discovering and enjoying what dreams may come your way.
~Peace, Love, Blessings & Balance~
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"The most wonderful of all things in life, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing, it cannot be found by looking for it, or by passionately wishing for it... It is a sort of divine accident." ~Sr Hugh Walpoe~
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~GIFTS WE GIVE OURSELVES~ ~FRIENDS~
Good friends enrich our lives in so many ways. Through a magical combination of similarities and differences, friends offer us the opportunity to know ourselves as we are and help us grow into who we want to be. Our similarities attract us to each other, comforting us with familiarity when we see ourselves in them. When we are drawn to those we admire, the same recognition is at work, unconsciously acknowledging that these people possess qualities that we ourselves possess. By acting as mirrors, friends help us define who we are by reflecting our selves back to us.
Friends also help us know ourselves through our differences. Differences allow us to see other options and make choices about who we want to be. Sometimes we are drawn to those who appear to be our opposites, and we learn to accept the parts of them we love and the parts of them that don’t resonate with us, thus allowing us a valuable learning experience. By expanding our understanding to include others’ experiences, friends help us accept others. By understanding when someone’s life differs from our own, we can learn about ourselves in contrast. There are times when we see in friends what we don’t like about ourselves. That mirror reflection may be hard to take, but a good friend helps us find ways we can change and supports us in that choice.
Part of the joy of friendship is the feeling that we are accepted just the way we are, with no need to change. It is a gift they give us, and one we can give back every day. Ultimately, we choose friends because they make us feel good about ourselves and life. Through tears and difficulties, friends help us find the laughter. When we find those special people who offer us that perfect combination of comfort and stimulus to grow, we are very fortunate. Friends, those wonderful companions that walk with us through life, help us define and refine who we are and who we choose to be every day.
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According to a popular news columnist from Traverse City, an upscale lakefront resort town in Northern Michigan from where he originally hails, STAREK needs only one name  -  and his work speaks volumns.

His work ranges from finely detailed etched glass and gold leaf to bold brilliantly colored graphics with hot, sexy imagery for cars, trucks and boats.  STAREK'S designs are as diverse as the surfaces on which they appear;  glass, metal, wood, walls, doors, and floors.  Whether it's huge murals in commercial buildings, charming whimsical scenes in a baby's nursery, or delicately filigreed vignettes on bed and breakfast signs, each project receives the same attention to detail and creative invention.  His designs grace building fronts, signposts and even shop interiors.

His custom-designed hand-lettered boats of every size and description decorate bodies of water from Michigan to Florida and his bold and sassy graphics travel as 'rolling billboards' on giant rigs cruising highways across the U.S.   STAREK'S tongue-in-cheek humor, yet tender and romantic spirit render him an artist much in demand for his amazing versatility.  If you can imagine it, he can design it!

Winning awards comes easily to this artist.  In 1999, STAREK'S vehicle design entry into the International Police Vehicle Design Competition for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program  (D.A.R.E.)  garnered Grand Prize, beating out 400 entries from 14 countries, and received recognition in 'Law & Order' magazine.  His classic rendition of a 1931 Ford took First Place in its class, at the Detriot Woodward Cruise, and a Corvette LT1-powered S-10 pickup, representing Ferris State University's Automotive Program, won 1st Prize in its class at Autorama.

STAREK'S graphic auto design work garnered 12 pages in the industry standard book, Tom Brownell's, "The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Custom Painting" and it is a must read for the serious automotive novice or professional.  His cache of jewels includes brilliantly executed competition paint schemes, featuring one of ESPN's "Top Ten" favorites  -  the Krumm Brothers' 1800 HP nitrous and alcohol-powered S-10 "Black Widow" and the crowd pleasing 12,000 HP Banshee training jet-powered 1955 Chevy exhibition dragster.

A creative perfectionist, STAREK is himself a living testimony to his passion for art.  He sports magnificently rendered tattoos of his own design from shoulder-to-wrist on both arms, a thick mane of hair and well manicured Van Dyke beard, both silvery white; and an occasional small gold earring.  Yet beneath this dramatic exterior is the heart of a poet and the wonderment of a child.  He has been recognized as Educator-Of-The-Year for his work with children, creating contests and incentives to inspire youth to appreciate and participate in artistic pursuits.

Having spent nearly three years in Charlotte and Mooresville North Carolina, STAREK spiced his love of custom vehicle art, by painting motorcycles, recreational trailers, street rods, and offshore powerboats for several NASCAR drivers.

STAREK has returned to his home in Northern Michigan to be closer to his friends and family, but still finds time to involve himself in enough vehicle work, murals, and other graphic projects to keep him busy.
His adage is, as always . . . . "IF IT PACKS A WALLOP, IT'S ART. . . IF IT DON'T, IT AIN'T!"

~CLICK ON GRAPHICS BELOW FOR "SHORT-CUT" TO STAREK'S WEBSITE~

~CHECK OUT STARHAWK AND MOONBEAR'S MEDICINE BAGS ~ FEATHER FANS ~ DREAM CATCHERS ~ TALKING STICKS ~NATIVE AND NATURE INSPIRED~ ART ~ GIFTS ~ CREATIONS