Can you find a relationship among cereal in a bowl, leafless autumn trees, the display on a laptop and hypertext buttons on the Internet? Local artist Bob Atwell says the connection between the living and the nonliving is the influence in his work.

“A Day In The Life,” an exhibition at the Memorial Union featuring Atwell’s work, is on display in the Pioneer Room until Aug. 16. Featuring his most current works, Atwell blends traditional media with electronic media to compose block panels, prints and paintings from his sketches.

The titles of his artworks are dates of when he finishes particular pieces.

“The dates are to reflect the individual instances,” Atwell says. “I try to capture that specific time and place in the artwork and show the continuous evolution of how things change.”

Some of the traditional media Atwell uses are pencil, ink and various types of paint. For electronic media, he uses Flash, Illustrator and Photoshop on a regular basis.

“I start out by sketching a number of little squares,” Atwell says. “From the sketches, I pick out ones I like, rework them and scan them in to a computer.”

On the computer, the drawings are then worked and reworked until complete. It takes a few days to a week to produce a finished product, Atwell says.

One of the hardest steps in painting, Atwell says, is achieving a harmonious balance of colors. He says getting the right color combination often takes the longest time.

Another factor Atwell tries to learn more about is the role of the viewer.

“This was my research work in grad school,” Atwell says. “I have experimented with various ways to involve the viewer more and to have them take part in making the artwork.”

Some of the things he experimented with include motion sensors that randomly generate artwork, giving viewers a chance to create random artwork through choices, adding individual soundtracks to each artwork and even giving away artwork.

Atwell derives inspiration from almost everything, he says, such as the relationships of things and how they are connected to each other, to life in motion and even the Internet.

Atwell also says it’s important to visit art galleries.

“Keep looking at fresh works,” Atwell says. “Local venues and art hubs such as New York, Chicago and Europe. Look at what people are producing right now.”

Atwell is also a lecturer in the College of Design at Iowa State. His area of teaching is in visual foundations. This is his last semester teaching at Iowa State.

“I love teaching,” Atwell says. “It affords me time to work on my paintings, and it gives me a chance to see and be influenced by other people’s art.”

Among Atwell’s plans for the future are developing his Flash arts further and rendering the connections of his paintings to one another more clearly. He also wants to secure a permanent position in teaching.

“Art is an important part of expression,” Atwell says. “Still, it can be both a blessing and a burden sometimes.”