Local artist reflects on his craft

Armando Villarreal is a local artist in Imperial who has been painting stylized designs on football helmets and even had one of his painted motorcycles given to a 24-year military veteran as a sign of appreciation from his favorite team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Imperial Republican sat down with Mr. Villarreal to discuss the development of his craft and his hopes for the future.
The interview took place within Villarreal’s art studio which is situated inside of his garage. He took a moment to show off the workbench with the pedestal to hold the football helmets in place as he paints them. He then reminisced on how, when he was in first grade, he submitted a crayon drawing for the Dallas Cowboys which then became a display at the state’s art show. Ever since then, art has been his calling in life.
A veteran himself, Villarreal took to his art when he could while on tour, even taking to photography. Although he still intends to customize helmets, he also hopes to branch out into art pieces about wildlife, the military and fine art. His parting words to the readers were:
“Talent can only take you so far. There’s a lot of effort in it. You can chase your dreams, but you’ll need to work for it.”