I am Steve Bates a.k.a Valo Infinity a freelance-artist, I have no professional training or schooling, and no agenda.
I enjoy stimulating conversations with people, but I have always been an introvert. It's difficult to come out of a shell you have been hiding in for 33 years. 

The Name Valo came from a movie, or rather from the Finnish metal band H.I.M, like a magnet I was drawn to that name, I had no clue what it meant but I found out the front-man from the band was named Ville Valo, Valo translated from Finnish to English means "Light" I don't recall when the addition of Infinity came in, but it wasn't long after, I apply Japanese context of surname first to my name after translation, therefore the name becomes "Endless Light" or "Never Ending Light" or simply "Infinite Light" this is because in these cultures, the family unit is recognized before the individual, and Infinity is everything. It's all Light. Its all One...
I like doing graphic design art and music, however most of my previous work is unseen/unheard as I have a bad case of imposter syndrome and don't think my work is good enough. 
I am a bit of a nerd, I crave science based content, space & the cosmos are one of the most inspirational things to me.
I have been playing music for myself for a while, It's not proper practice and I never learned how to play chords, but I'm surprised that I can deliver a product that well practiced musicians enjoy and compliment, so as much as I deny that I'm a musician, I guess that is part one of the roles I play. I sometimes write poetry, although I haven't written much in a while, I expect that may change. Recently I've met people who've done more for me than I'd expect from anyone, its opening up my soul and I'm starting to feel more, what I'm feeling is somewhere between love and suffering which might seem like a big jump but its a tiny gap. For a long period of time I closed off my heart and life to people because I felt like involving myself in the lives of others was the cause of drama and my own suffering, but I soon found myself suffering from other things and only recently, have started feeling human again.
I call myself a "jack of all trades, master of none" I do a little bit of everything, although I'm not extremely great at any in particular thing, that's what growing is for, art has no boundaries, just as life has no boundaries, guidelines are often confused for rules, music doesn't have to be in time, you don't have to color inside the lines, that's called conforming. 
Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is in a way, it's own art.
I do mixed-media art, most everything on this site was created by me, although my initial logo and video was done by another artists.
I Started this whole thing by streaming video games, people would say I didn't interact enough, but my channel was always empty and when someone was there they were talking to me not focusing on the fact that I was playing a game, I like to bounce off other ideas and not just be left with my own thoughts. 
one of my favorite quotes is by Jeremy Cronin an, south african author and poet,
he says "Motho Ke Motho Ka Batho Babang" which means 'a person is a person because of other people.'
we are all a reaction to each other, without someone to react to you just kind of become a vessel. It was important to me that I continue interacting with people online but if I wasn't going to game, which was what I had planned and set up for, then what was I supposed to do?Well I had a mic, broadcasting software, and I had already got a few followers. So there I was back at the beginning, and here we are now.

The Artist Eye Podcast is somewhere to think, It's somewhere to learn things you didn't know before, It's somewhere to laugh and share a story, it's a place to be yourself and share the things you know with people who are curious enough to know they wanted to know something they didn't know before, It's where I invite my friends so I can open up to them. It's how I'll get to know you, and how you will get to know me. 
The day that lies ahead is an empty canvas, you're painting a picture as this dimension that is time progresses, you may not feel like you are a contributor, but the truth is you are the only brush that is painting that picture, and even if it is a picture of the worst side of you by the end of the day you have made beautiful art...

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Although there is a hiatus, please expect a return... One day...