OFF HOURS: Geoff Surrette, senior academic secretary, artist

Chopsticks, toothpicks, bottle caps and sponges are not relegated to Geoff Surrette's kitchen cabinet - they are among his painting supplies.

Surrette uses the objects in conjunction with brushes, dipping them into paint and pressing them to canvas. The chopsticks, toothpicks and bottle caps create dots in a variety of sizes, and a mosaic effect; sponges provide a textured look.

"I end up with lots of odds and ends in my art kit," said Surrette, a senior academic secretary in the sociology department and an artist in his spare time. "I just like to experiment...and it's a lot less expensive than going out and buying a lot of brushes."

His experimentation takes place both on canvas and the computer screen. Surrette uses acrylic paint to produce images on canvas. He also uses a mouse to manipulate a paint brush on the computer screen and produce digital images.

This year for the first time, Surrette will exhibit a variety his work at the World Science Fiction Convention Aug. 31 through Sept. 4 in Chicago. In the past, his art has been displayed at the Sarah Doyle Women's Center as part of a University staff art exhibit and online in virtual galleries.

Surrette starts with simplistic images and builds stories around them using bold colors. One of his favorite works shows a human hand rising from chaos (right), depicted by wild swirls, into order, depicted by a circuit board.

His digital images rely on a strong "cyber" look with some tribal and mythical elements. "Friends say the digital images tend to be a little more eerie," he said. Those images are transferred to paper using watercolor inks, a process done by a professional printer at a cost of about $500 per image.

One of Surrette's digital images has found its way onto the cover of "Hong Kong as a Global Metropolis," a book recently released by sociology Professor David Meyer. The picture depicts the city's skyline and an airplane taking off.

Surrette would like to do more work for publishers, and hopes to learn more about such opportunities at the World Science Fiction Convention.

Art "is a way to express myself," said Surrette. "Everything in my head sort of works its way out."

However, none of his pieces is ever entirely finished, he said. Surrette frequently returns to a painting or digital image to add or change major components. "They tend to mutate over time," said Surrette. "Your skills get better, you feel more confident, and can go back."

One advantage to the digital art over the paintings: Making changes is much easier. "You can always hit `undo' if you don't like something." - Kristen Cole