I’m Tyler G. Mower

Welcome! I’m glad you’re taking a moment to get to know me a little. Here is my elevator blurb! Of course we’re taking the service elevator up Burj Khalifa.

As an Author

Wanting a Journal

When I was seven I took a bundle of lined paper, stapled it together and wrote “My Journal” on the front. Since then I have filled over twelve volumes of personal journals. Those entries are in official bound books, but sadly I have not been able to find that very first journal that I made myself.

My First Short Story

In elementary school I wrote a story about a boy and his dog that participated in a youth wilderness survival competition. Fraught with danger from the elements, carnivorous animals, and rugged terrain the story gripped the attention of my teacher who selected it to be nominated in an elementary author competition. I never saw my manuscript again. Oddly a few years later a very similar story was produced by Hollywood.

Improving Penmanship

I learned how to write in cursive in third grade and never gave it up. Over the years I sought to embellish and improve my penmanship. It went through some interesting transformations. Yet, by High School I had begun receiving compliments on how good my writing appeared. My english teacher even declared to the class, “everyone is required to submit their papers in a Word document. Except for Tyler, you can hand write them if you wish.”

Historical Thesis

After changing my degree a few times I eventually landed in History. The program required a historical thesis in order to graduate. I had become fascinated with the age of exploration and particularly with Captain James T. Cook. After reading Capt. Cook’s journals, the printed manuscripts of his officers, and modern analysis of Cook’s three voyages I realized there was a gap in the narrative. Very little was written about the men who comprised the crew of those epic voyages. My thesis was born, I would give a voice to those who had been left speechless for a couple centuries.

My First Historical Fiction

After college I was inspired to write a story about Simon of Cyrene. This was my first true endeavor to write a novel. The journey to publication lasted seven years. I found the process of character creation, scene description, and composition of the story captivating. I discovered the never ending edits burdensome. I enjoyed learning how to design and layout both a book cover and the interior of the book. Most fulfilling was holding a completed physical copy in my hands, the fruit of the labor. Through all the bumps and turns down the road of writing this first novel I gained a stronger desire to write more. I will continue to do so.

As an Artist

First Drawing Memory

My first memory of drawing has me sitting at a desk, a spiral bound notepad of lined paper laid out before me, and a small collector flag next to the notepad. Growing up I was intrigued with the world and the nations around it. I collected state flags, national flags, and historical flags. The little ones that were on a seven inch stick with a 4x6 flag on it. My grandpa even made me an eight foot four sided pole upon which to display the banners of the world. At some point I undertook a challenge to draw them. I remember meticulously trying to get the details right. Not so hard for Italy. Quite a challenge for Mexico and Spain.

Of Calendars & Spelling

The short waist-high counter in my elementary school art classroom was lined with categorized bins. Travel, Animals, Trees, Landscapes, Buildings, etc. Within each bin were dozens of photographs taken from who knows how many calendars. “Find an image that interests you and draw that image,” said our teacher. We did this exercise over and over with pencil, watercolor, and chalk. Not sure if that is effective, but it was very memorable. I drew a lot of beaches & palm trees!

My core class teacher provided a creative way to improve our spelling. Rather than writing words out over and over, we were to draw a picture using the words assigned each week. Most did very basic designs, obviously in an effort to complete the task as quickly as possible. On the other hand, I went through colored pencils and filled page with scenes of imagination: a pirate ship sailing to the horizon, a skier descending a step mountain slope, a train chugging across wide open plains. I strengthened my creative concepts but my spelling capacity did not improve much!

I’ll Pay the Fee

“I noticed you are not registered for an art class next term.”

“Yeah, I’m taking a drafting class instead,” I responded.

My teacher looked disappointed, then said, “You have too much talent to not stay with art.”

Then she asked me to follow her. Through the halls we went until we arrived at the school offices. I was led to one of the councilors and my teacher declared, “Tyler needs to transfer from the Drafting class to my art class.”

The surprised councilor pulled up my information and said to me, “Okay, there is a $5 fee for transferring this late.”

My teacher pulled out her own five dollar bill and handed it to the councilor.

I took her classes the rest of my time in Junior high and achieved a number of art awards in both school and local events.

Adjusting the Art Brief

Did you have have one of those students who always seemed to push the lines of what a teacher expected on assignments? That was me in my high school art classes and it drove my teacher nuts.

“Creative, but that’s not what this assignment was about,” was a common response to what I had drawn. Given, the teachers focus was on realistic drawings of humans. He was very good at it and did get me to improve my ability in that regard. However, as one who never had a big interest in that, I sought creative adaptions that made it more enjoyable.

Across the Years to Now

Somewhere along the line pen became my favorite medium. I found that I really enjoy creating designs that are made up of symbols or depictions of individual elements that when combined create a larger narrative. For me this makes art far more meaningful. I am compelled to visualize concepts which in turn requires me to take a journey into the heart of the topic.

In parallel with that type of artwork, in a weird twist of fate, I have returned to an even more elaborate form of the spelling art from elementary school. This is currently the style that is occupying my drawing time. I am enjoying seeking new ways to use words to create more meaningful and customizable artwork! Can’t wait to see where this road leads.