In the backyard stands a small wooden shed with a blue door surrounded by grass. Inside, on the left, hang dozens of stencils stained with paint. A large fan hovers in the center, blowing air out of the back window.

"I just got electricity out here," said Bobby Zeiner.

Zeiner is a 2003 Whitehall High School graduate who now resides in Bethlehem. He makes his living as an artist. His working name is Bobby Zeik.

Zeiner doesn't have any formal training or professional schooling in art. While attending high school he thought about pursuing dream jobs for artists, such as a comic book artist.

"I dropped my focus on that when I discovered street art and realized I could make a living off of it," he said.

"[Street art] is art with a purpose that comes from someone passionate about what they're doing," he said. "The artist had to take a risk to put it there."

Zeiner's piece entitled "He Doesn't Love You Like I Do" is his favorite. It was featured on deviantart.com for over a year.

"That piece came from me being angry and wanting to get something off of my chest," he said. "I created that piece with the intent of making a statement. I got a lot of really touching stories from that."

Zeiner's biggest influence is the British artist Banksy.

"He is one of the first people I saw who took it to the next level" he said. "His work is very simple. None of my stuff looks like his, he has simple one layer stuff."

Zeiner is the most recent winner of the Lehigh Valley Art Wars. In the competition, he had to paint a complete piece in front of a live audience in only two hours. The theme of the piece was given to the artist at the competition.

"I love the idea of going into an environment and painting in front of strangers," he said. "I liked that you didn't know what you were going to paint."

Zeiner works mostly with spray paints and acrylics. He uses canvas for commissioned pieces, but does work with wood and different pastes and gels in his abstract work.

Zeiner works with Brandon Wunder, Jessica Echevarria and Rob Reigel with their Alternative Art Gallery, whose next showing is Friday, Oct. 12, at The Holiday Inn on Hamilton Street in Allentown. The theme is art related to 80s horror films.

"A few galleries in the area we're not fond of, so we decided if we ran them we would do it differently, that's what got this off the ground," he said. "We pack the walls, most galleries are a plain white, and not involved or engaging."

Zeiner does work for commission in addition to his own projects. He can be contacted at zeikhimself@aol.com or his Facebook artist page, www.facebook.com/bobbyzeikart. He sells his pieces for anywhere from $60 to $300.

"I try to make my art available to everyone," Zeiner said.