By Rob Hoffman
Freshman Moeun Yoeun discovered his passion for art at the age of 6, watching his older brother Thy drawing.
By that time, Yoeun had lived in Thailand, where he was born in 1982, Laos, Vietnam, Japan, and finally, the U.S. His parents, Yim and Thach Yoeun, were Cambodian refugees, similar to those portrayed in the movie "The Killing Fields."
Yoeun's favorite artists are Leonardo DaVinci and Pablo Picasso.
But the person who has had the most influence on him is Tim Trumbo, who supervises Yoeum at the Ottawa YMCA, where Yoeum is the maintenance director.
"(Trumbo) is a great artist and not only offers his critique, but he helps me with some of my flaws," Yoeun said.
Yoeun, who lost his father to Parkinson's disease and kidney failure in 1995, said he also has a close relationship with his mother, and he credits that relationship with helping him become a strong individual.
His family includes four sisters and three brothers: Rose (31 years old), Touch (29), Chhy (25), Thy (22), Phat (18), Chandra (15), and Mikey (13). Phat is also enrolled at IVCC.
Still primarily interested in drawing and design, Yoeun prefers still life pictures.
"Right now, I am drawing a picture of my ideal woman, my dream girl so to speak," he said.
Just beginning in drawing and design classes at IVCC, Yoeun's major artistic achievement so far has been winning first place in the Ottawa Township High School Fine Arts Gallery in 2000.
In two years he hopes to transfer to the Art Institute of Chicago and to be either an artist or art teacher.
"I want to develop my own style and eventually open up my own art gallery," he said.
"Art is a talent, and a talent isn't something you should waste," he continued. "It's something you should use."