What Do You Want to Know About Matty Byloos?
Hi. It’s me. Matty Byloos here. For those of you who already know this stuff, skip on. Or skip around, off this silly page where I’m forced to talk about myself for those who have no idea because we’ve never met. I insist. Go….
If we’ve never met, then here are some trivia tidbits. I spent a little more than five years teaching English at East Los Angeles City College before, as is the case with many teachers, I got tired of the bureaucracy and tedium of going through the same course material, semester after semester. Sure, in the beginning, it was wonderful. Loved my kids. Loved teaching. Then, things changed. And working part time wasn’t helping much either, with inconsistent money and too much free time.
Over a period of a few months, I took a lot of lunches with friends who had other careers going. Advertising people. Lawyers. Marketing demons. Publishing world hoo-ha’s. After exploring various avenues and gathering advice from professionals in business, I narrowed my fields of interest to publishing, editing and maybe Internet marketing as viable offshoots of my teaching foundation. I just didn’t want to feel like I’d wasted my time in the classroom. I wanted to know my skills would translate somewhere.
I got lucky and found a job off of Craig’s List that spring (2007) and quit teaching after that semester, to begin my work as an online marketer specializing in SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. In one way or another, I’ve been doing project management ever since. And it’s quite nice to be rewarded financially, basically just for being organized.
I received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Santa Clara University (BA 1996) where I studied Literature and Creative Writing. After a few years off, I went back to get a Master of Fine Arts from the Art Center College of Design (MFA 2001) in Pasadena, California.
So now I write fiction, work at building a career in the art world as a painter, and exhibit my work at Sandroni.Rey Gallery in Culver City, the new gallery district in Los Angeles. Interested readers can also check out my exhibition resume / CV.
Matty Byloos in the Long Beach Studio 2005
Photo copyright and courtesy of my good friend, Andre Vippolis.
love the painting in this photo (LB Studio 2005). you still have it?
Comment by Anela! — April 9, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
That painting was abandoned, painted over and became the dark blue piece on the miscellaneous paintings page on this site.
Comment by Matty — April 9, 2009 @ 3:48 pm
Hi Matty,
I cam across your web site after reading a blog you wrote in response to “Attention, Artists!” on the New York Times website. And I can not agree with you more! ART IS ON THE RISE! And it isn’t stopping with just art, but art of all genres is coming back. I’m not saying that American Idol is the hottest thing since sliced bread; what I am saying that people are returning to their true passion. A passion that has been stored and locked away for years. And I am excited to see what people are putting out there!
-S
http://www.talenttrove.com
Comment by S. — April 28, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Thanks for finding the site, S.!
Comment by Matty — April 28, 2009 @ 12:44 pm
Matt, so glad you seem to have found your calling. Your paintings are incredible!!! Good luck with everything.
Comment by Claudia Funari — April 29, 2009 @ 8:42 pm
Claudia! Always great to see old faces coming back around. It’s exactly what I hoped would happen when I started this site. Thanks very much for the compliments.
Comment by Matty — April 30, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
Hi Matt!
It’s Bridget here. I had to write given the coincidence of coming across your name again. I’m house sitting right now in the East Bay of SF and picked up the mail yesterday to find the Orion magazine. I liked the photo on the cover and the tag line for the magazine so I opened it and found you in there!
Go you for doing your art. That’s awesome! It’d be great to catch up.
Hope all is well for you,
Bridget
Comment by Bridget McCarthy — October 30, 2009 @ 7:16 am
[...] Comments The subtitle of Don’t Smell the Floss says it all: “amazing short stories by matty byloos.” Though it’s tempting to read this as a bit of snarky self-promotion along the lines [...]
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