Ray Yano knew from kindergarten that he would become an artist. He remembers his elementary school teachers asking how he was able to paint the way he did. Unexplainable at the time it took a few years before he realized that his images were more than just paintings, but personal expressions. Ray was born on July 22, 1942, in Puyallup, Washington, on the County Race Track Fair Grounds near Seattle. At this time, the fair ground was a World War II assembly center for persons of Japanese descent.  Ray jokes that he could have been born in a stable rather than in the infirmary. Soon after his birth his family was relocated to an internment camp in Idaho. The war ended when he was three, and the family moved to Chicago.

Ray grew up on the north side of Chicago, attended public schools, and received high school art awards for after school art classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. He pursued an art and design education and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in Design, from Southern Illinois University. The design school was taught by second generation Bauhaus descended instructors, along with the design philosophy of then design research professor, R. Buckminister Fuller. In 1966, Ray moved to Southern California where he utilized his design training as an urban designer/planner, for the City of San Diego, and later the City of Los Angeles, City Planning Departments. 

While working for the Los Angeles City Planning Department, Ray took classes at Otis Art Institute, where he developed interest in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting.  Over the years, Ray has found his most creative freedom as a fine art painter. He now resides in Calabasas, California where his studio is located.  Ray considers himself a Southern California artist influenced by the coast of Southern California and islands in the Pacific Ocean.  

Ray's paintings are usually large oversize canvases. Many of his seascapes have a sense of solitude with respect for the power and ever changing conditions of the sea. 

Artist's Statement

I want my seascape collection to have universal images that can span cultures, and be timeless, current 100 years from now, as today.
My seascapes do not need verbal or written explanations for meaning.  Once started, my seascapes evolve, born like infants they mature with freedom to a life of their own. They have a soul with depth and speak for themselves. They are not meant to be decorative pieces, but rather an excursion into the minds eye.  

I am fascinated with the ever changing dynamics of the sea. I try to capture mood and conditions, what is seen and what is sensed. My images range from sunny to overcast, from dead calm to stormy, and from safe to dangerous.