Artist Feels 'Gratitude' While Showcasing His Work At Cherry Creek Arts Festival

DENVER (CBS4) - Nearly 300 national and international artists are showcasing their work at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival this week. Inspired by the surrealist and whimsical styles of Salvador Dali and Tim Burton, Tyler Voorhees uses acrylic and paper on wood to take jobs from the past and bring them to the present.

"It's a great way for generations to connect. It's a grandmother walking into my booth and showing her granddaughter, 'Oh this is a switchboard operation, this is what I used to do when I was your age.'"

Within each painting is an allusion to the technology which will eventually make that job obsolete.

"In my image of the lamplighter I have a little power outlet that just hints at that little evolution  of our source of power and how that changed many industries, notably the lamp lighting."

Recently, Tyler embarked on the Jobs Project.

"Anywhere in the world, in any community, there's a worker, there's an industry that was really central in shaping that community."

In Morocco he created a public mural at a high school, illustrating the men whose life's work was weaving.

"These old men that sit in this dilapidated building and weave these beautiful tapestries and beautiful blankets by hand and they have been doing that for centuries."

Using his distinct long-limbed figures, Tyler hopes highlighting these giants of the past will serve as a thank you.

"The main feeling that I feel when I'm painting these is gratitude for the workers of the past that worked so hard to build up what I have now."

To see more of Tyler's art and learn more about the Jobs Project, you can visit his website www.tylervoorheesart.com

For more information about the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, you can visit, www.cherryarts.org