Danny Sodos has some unusual requirements for his art:

Ladders, a large bucket of water, spray paint, watercolors, acrylic paints, markers, a paint roller, a variety of brushes – and music ranging from heavy metal to Frank Sinatra.

Then he looks at the blank canvas until it shows him what to paint. He gets an idea and builds on it until the picture takes over. He combines different types of paint with markers and pencil to get a special effect that one type of paint won’t give.

Brush leads him

He says he does his best work that way, the pictures others respond to and buy.

When he tries to paint what he wants, it just

doesn’t come out right.

Sodos also needs comfortable clothes, old shoes and a locked door to his room. He says he is very stubborn about doing his art his way.

He has been painting seriously for about 11/2 years. As for his style, he paints what he likes, solid bold objects and bright colors. He says his art represents how he sees the world and himself.

Attending college

Sodos moved to Sequim at 16 with his mother, attended Sequim High School for a year, then returned to

California to finish high school. He tried to live there but could not make a living.

Now he now lives in

Sequim with his family and attends Peninsula College. While he’d like to make his living as a painter, he realizes that might take some time. Until then he is interested in becoming a tattoo artist or a massage therapist.

His favorite painting is a large canvas done for a college art class. He’d been trying to paint something for his final project, but nothing worked. Then one day he locked himself in his room and just started putting color on the canvas until the picture took over.

The result is a flock of birds flying across a sky of bright, bold colors. He says it represents freedom to him, freedom from trying to paint to satisfy someone else.

Sodos calls himself the free spirit in his family. He has two older brothers who have good jobs and a twin at Western Washington University who always follows the rules, he says.

Sodos’ art will be on display at The Buzz, 130 N. Sequim Ave., during April.

The Buzz is open 7 a.m.-

6 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday,

7 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday.

Reach Dana Casey at dcasey@sequimgazette.com.