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Featuring the new California Vintage range by Rufskin

RYAN – WHEN WE WERE SOLDIERS

(THESE IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT OF PAUL GUNN AND ARE NOT TO BE REPOSTED OR USED WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION BY PAUL GUNN)

Where are you from?

I was born and raised in Marysville, California, but the last couple of years of my life before the Marine Corps were spent where my family moved in Arkansas. Now obviously I am here in San Diego.

Why did you join the military?

I joined the military because it looks good on a resume. So it was pretty much the life experience I wanted. My college was paid for either way because I had scholarships. The job market is competitive nowadays and I think my time in the service will help put me ahead of other people for sure.

What would you do if you were not a marine?

I would still be in school. Two years from now I would be graduating med school with my PHD in Pharmacology.

I think suffering is a strong building block and am impressed how some people deal with it. What is the hardest suffering you have endured in your life?

I have been through a lot for my age so this is kind of hard to answer. Let me think for a second…I would have to say that it was the time that my friend shot himself in the head in Afghanistan. He put the barrel underneath his chin and put back a three round burst. I was the first person in the tent…at first it was all reaction and I screamed for the corpsman (our doctor) and already started to help treat his wound. Finally he left in the ambulance to go to the hospital. THEN it set in. I started asking myself why he killed himself because he was a really good friend of mine. Everybody in the unit cared about him you know? I just lost a good friend and it was a lot to take in. Anybody that has dealt with somebody close committing suicide can relate to me really. Minus all of blood and stuff for most cases.

You’re perspective on happiness seems more of an Eastern philosophy. Could you tell me a bit about it?

Yeah, it’s pretty simple really. I believe that happiness is not achievable and that it is just an idea really. There will be happy moments in your life and that is about it. It is more of an American dream if anything. Get rich, have a beautiful spouse, beautiful children, and a white picket fence sort of philosophy. Hell, I don’t think happiness would even exist if pain and suffering weren’t there to begin with. You wouldn’t be able to define happiness in that case.

For those of you who follow me regularly my apologies for not posting on my blog for the last month. I’ve been on a big road trip for my next project and would rather keep my posting for when i have something interesting to share. Like my next exhibition in New York City tomorrow night at the TNC Gallery 155 First Ave Ny, NY. It will be a very large show with about 10 other very talented and cool artists mainly from New York and I am excited to be sharing part of my Initiation installation in the show. The opening is from 6-9pm and it is going to be a rad event! If you are in the NY area drop by and say yo. http://www.tncgallery.com

If you are not in the area to catch my shows but see something you would like to purchase you can now go to the STOREon my website with framed and unframed editions available.

And to keep tabs of what I’m up to you can now go to PROJECTS

Chris Ogle, wellness coach and model, dropped by my studio last week for a chat about his work, life and love:

If I asked your mum, how would she describe you?

If you asked my Mum, she would definitely describe me as an ambitious person.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a few areas, but I was born in Windsor, England. I travelled a bit when i was younger and lived in Sydney, Melbourne, the UK and the United States.

You lived in the states when you were younger. Do you have plans to get back there?

I would love to get back to the states as I only have a few memories of it.

What is the most heroic thing you have done?

The most heroic thing I have done is properly when I pulled my sister out of the pool and saved her from drowning. I don’t remember it but I was about 6 and saw my sister was drowning I reached in and pulled her out with one hand by her bathers. So she owes me one i guess!

I know you keep super fit but what is the one thing you preach, yet don’t practice?

I guess the one thing that I preach but don’t practice is training my legs! Since moving out of the gym to start outdoor training I’ve totally neglected them so definitely have to get back to that soon.

I wouldn’t be doing my readers any justice if I didn’t ask you are you currently single?

I am currently single, but I’ve got a girl I’m interested in so we’ll see what happens there.

And lastly are you a breast or thigh man?

I would definitely have to say I’m a thigh man through and through.

Tell me a bit about your wellness couching business…

equiPT Wellness Coaching is a business with a holistic approach to creating a balanced lifestyle. With many external influences in our life such as work and travel, it is often easy for our health to be put on the backburner. My aim is to give my clients the proper education that they need, not only in session but also in their everyday life so that they can make worthwhile choices and keep on track with their health and wellbeing.

What sets you apart from other personal training?

The main aspect of equiPT that sets my business apart from others is that I have a huge focus on educating my clients rather than simply entertaining them with a good workout. With individual and group training at the forefront, I focus closely with each and every client on the most important aspects of a balanced body including; hydration, stress, sleep, nutrition, flexibility and postural imbalance as well as cardiovascular/muscle/joint strength.

A selection of images i took today of Zac from EMG.