Chaz Letzkus

Artist

Chaz is often asked how he got into this style of art. While searching for a job after graduating college, he did a lot of drawing to pass the time. Chaz was working on a gazelle drawing and the ears reminded him of a bird's wings so he drew a bird swooping down and he made the eye a fish. He added a lot of other animals and some people in the body of the gazelle. And thus Chazmania was born in 1973.
There were a lot of early influences that contributed to this hidden image style. Chaz is a puzzle person and someone who sees images or faces in clouds or the grain of wood. Find the Hidden Objects page in Highlights Magazine was an early favorite.
Santana's first album cover with the lion head made up of 9 faces and a native woman made a deep impression. M.C. Escher is Chaz's favorite artist and his work requires you to look closer.
Even more current examples like Where's Waldo?, Magic Eye, and
1 Spy continue to provide inspiration.
The idea of hiding a "Chaz face" in each drawing came about at an art show while showing some kids a drawing he was working on.
To amuse them, Chaz drew his face in the drawing and had them find it. They had fun with it and Where's Waldo? became Where's Chaz? There's a playful quality to his drawings and Chaz enjoys creating them and joking with people he encounters. He's reminded of a quote by George Bernard Shaw, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."