Banash originally came to Durango five months ago with plans to open the shop in about two weeks with his business partner and studio co-owner, Owen Dake, who also owns Durango\u2019s Skywalker Construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n But COVID-19 and the complications of opening the business have drawn out the opening process, and Banash said he still doesn\u2019t consider the studio to be officially open.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the longest soft opening in history,\u201d he said. \u201cWe still need a point-of-sale system and to hire some employees, but if people want to come in and look around and buy something, our doors are open.\u201d<\/p>\n His art emerged first from his passion for surfing.<\/p>\n \u201cI started with my pioneers of the surf series, my surf art,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all my art from the coast of California to Hawaii, and now the surf art has progressed into Durango local illustrations. Owen and I have been working on this idea for the last year. It\u2019s 20 years\u2019 worth of my art.\u201d<\/p>\n Hayley Kirkman, executive director of the Durango Creative Arts District, is encouraged to see a new art gallery opening.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see new arts businesses emerging out of the pandemic in Durango, especially ones that provide a unique viewing and shopping experience for locals and visitors alike,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m excited and encouraged to see artists boldly moving forward and finding advantageous outlets for their creative expression.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the main factors bringing Banash to Durango, he said, is the crazy pace of life and the increasing population growth in his Southern California hub, Encinitas, in north San Diego County.<\/p>\n He\u2019s always dreamed of having his own studio and shop to operate his related Banash Illustrations graphic art business, and Durango proved the right locale to make his dream a reality.<\/p>\n \u201cIt still seems surreal I have my own place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His art will remain on sale in a half dozen or so restaurants along the coast of Southern California from Cardiff to Leucadia.<\/p>\n His work featuring blues and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll stars originally began after he began getting requests for them from customers at the Southern California restaurants showing his art. Illustration of musical legends are now proving popular with Southwest Coloradans.<\/p>\n Some of his most popular local landscape scenes are his take on El Rancho, the Olde Schoolhouse pizzeria and The Durango Diner.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst it\u2019s just something you feel, you feel it in your soul, and you\u2019ve just got to capture it,\u201d Banash said. \u201cI draw a lot to preserve things. These are my interpretations of places. Sometimes it\u2019s artists.\u201d<\/p>\n Banash first sketches his idea out with pencil, then adds colors using ink and scans it to digital \u2013 creating a vector file he can scale up without the image pixelating. He can then apply his image to canvas, wood, metal, ceramic, cloth or other mediums.<\/p>\n \u201cBut everything starts with a simple sketch,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people go straight to the computer. But I like drawing stuff. I\u2019ve always drawn.\u201d<\/p>\n Banash Illustrations, his graphic art firm, will take commissions and do custom pieces.<\/p>\n Besides the various sizes of canvas illustrations, Banash\u2019s artwork is available on hoodies, stickers, T-shirts and other items.<\/p>\n