“Do you want to know how I got these scars?”

Looking at one of Miles Gallegos’ paintings, “Joker,” one can feel that question from the infamous villain come through as his wide, surly smile curves all too high up his face.

Gallegos, a junior at Boise State University in Idaho, has been painting and drawing since he was a child, brought into art by his mother, an art teacher at the same high school he attended. It was during his senior year when he received his first art prize, “The Fine Arts Award.” From Nov. 6 through Nov. 17, his painting “Joker,” based on the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the iconic DC Comics nemesis to Batman in the film “The Dark Knight,” was in the Sedona Visual Artists’ Coalition gallery at Tlaquepaque, “Shadows … A Mystery In Art.”

“I get inspired by movies or popular things I do, like golf,” Gallegos said. Most of his work is based off these themes, showing emotional figures caught in a heated moment.

For the full story, see the Friday, Dec. 6, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.