Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1254473
and mysterious, and they reminded me of the European ar tists I'd seen as a child. That brought two worlds together for me, and I fell in love with it." Obviously, this discovery made a lasting impression. While at PG High, Turner pro- duced a few landscapes, but at that time he was more interest- ed in fantasy paintings. He defi- nitely had an eye on art as a career. "I would tell friends and teachers that I wanted to be a professional artist," he recalls. "They would say, 'That's like wanting to be a rock star. Not going to happen.' That broke my heart." Caving to that pressure, he enrolled at the Masters Institute of Technology in San Jose to study graphic design. "This was the period when computers were just beginning to be widely used in graphic design," he recalls. "After graduation, I worked for a few dot com companies in San Francisco, mostly doing web site and advertising design." This was not what he had in mind as an art career. "It got to the point where I was staring at a computer screen for nine hours a day. I real- ized that I had to follow my passion." The time spent in the world of commercial art wasn't wasted, however. "I learned a lot about composition and color theory through that work." In his late 20s, Turner was newly married and living in Alameda. "I was painting on weekends and in my spare time," he says. Encouraged that his work was selling, the young couple decided that he should start painting full time. "From the begin- ning, I chose to paint what I am passionate about and tried not to think too much about Today, Turner is a respected member of the Monterey Peninsula art community and the Carmel Art Association, and operates his own Carmel gallery. True to the work of the early California painters he admires and derives inspiration from, Turner's moody "Valley Eucalyptus" depicts a windbreak on a Salinas Valley farm. Mount Toro looms in the background, lit by the rising sun. 116 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 0