In need of a Harry Potter-style scar in the middle of your forehead? They’ve done that, too. Want a painting created from a photograph? Not a problem.

Be it art or latex, digital or mixed media, Mike and Paul Bielaczyc can mold it, shape it, paint it or create it.

Art has been a smooth transition from a love of video games, cartoons and comics for these brothers who grew up in Murfreesboro via Detroit.

Perhaps it’s that transition that gives them their edge.

While spending the first half of his twenties in uninspiring jobs, Mike always had the desire to do something more fulfilling. After spending several years working as a technician for a local computer business, he decided it was time to make a change.

“I have always had a love for art, especially fantasy art. When reading Tolkien’s trilogy and books from Dragonlance, I was fascinated by the art on the covers,” he said.

Now he’s drawing for Dragonlance. The work of Aradani Studios has been featured in several other fantasy publications as well. When we spoke, Mike was finishing up his painting for a collection of horror stories titled “Aegri Somnia (A Sick Man’s Dreams)” for Apex Digest.

As a student at Riverdale High School, Mike and a friend created comic books they printed themselves at Kinko’s. They sold them to friends at school and the owner of a local comic shop allowed them to peddle their wares there.

It’s something Mike’s never forgotten, that proud feeling of sharing his work?and maybe getting paid for it, too.

Knowing he couldn’t learn everything he needed to know from Dungeons and Dragons and fantasy literature, Mike started searching for the right art school. He found MTSU didn’t offer enough locally, so he ventured up to Nashville to check out Watkins College of Art and Design.

There he fell in love. He found people who understood his drive, respected his ambition, and encouraged his art.

But he’s different from them.

Not only was he 25 in his first semester while most of his classmates were still teenagers, he had something else they didn’t: his own business.

What started as a forum for sharing his art, aradani.com, has become headquarters for the company.

The formal education has been a blessing to Mike, now a senior, most vividly by “creating a sense of community in an adult environment. We often grew up with really good friends and as we have grown and changed in life we lose contact with those people or no longer identify with them. Being in college, especially as an older student, has led to making some great connections with others in my field.”

Mike lives in Nashville and has immersed himself in its art scene. He keeps a studio on the east side of town and has shown his work at several local galleries, including the elusive Secret Show.

Additionally, Aradani Studios was able to secure the esteemed position as the only art vendor featured at the Tennessee Renaissance Festival in 2002, a title the company holds proudly to this day.

After the first season, he realized the patrons liked his art, but it wasn’t something they could play with. He found something for them, both playful and creative.

He began selling latex ears.

Elves and hobbits and fairies, oh my!

“We started out buying them from special effects companies, but it took so much work to prep them and the companies we ordered from weren’t always the most reliable,” he explains.

So what else are a couple of artistically-inclined brothers to do?

Make the ears themselves, of course.

Working together, Mike and his younger brother Paul have created molds from which they can make their own ears with liquid latex. It’s made all the difference in quality and dependability.

“It allows us to create different styles,” Paul says. “This way, we have a little something for everyone. We’ve got big Anime ears, hobbit and fairy ears. We even have an ear for sea creatures!”

The company can also be commissioned to do work in prosthetics and they have created Orcs, demons, aliens and more.

Still vendors at the local Renaissance faire, they’ve expanded to a total of four and several science fiction and fantasy conventions throughout the southeast, including DragonCon.

The company allows them the freedom to create works of art by providing a cushion.

They can each focus on their art while making a living from it. Incredible!

“Most people look at us like we’re starving artists, but we’re doing okay,” Mike admits. “It feels good to be able to put myself through school, take care of my bills and responsibilities and support myself as an artist. There are men twice my age who don’t have the opportunities that I have.”

It also brings the family together. The boys’ younger sister, Sara, is graduating from high school this spring, but has made money from her artwork since she was 14.

“It’s been great for me! Being out on the road, I had to be a salesperson. It built my confidence pretty fast,” she says.

Mike gave a portion of the business to Paul once he realized this is something they could have for decades to come.

“I think it has become a vehicle of support for the family, we have learned that you can be there emotionally for each other as well as a way for us to financially make it in this world,” he shares.

The brothers are both award-winning artists and Paul recently won Best Action in the New Masters of Fantasy for his chilling charcoal piece, “Nightmare.”

Consider Sara inspired.

“I’ll be going to art school and I don’t think I would have the drive or ambition to do it had I not been watching these guys for the past few years.”

Eventually, she will gain a third of the business. By then she’ll have finished college, but she already knows what she wants to do.

“I want to go out on the road. Maybe Mike and Paul will be weary by then, so I’ll just take over. I love being at the faire. I’ve met some of my best friends traveling and it’s such a positive environment,” she says, ready for the future.

These days, Mike focuses on his fantasy works during the summer while he is on the road. During the school year, he focuses on his fine art pieces. But he increasingly finds the line between the two blurring.

“Illustrative works are fun but then doing more personal ?fine art’ is, too. College has offered me a great outlook on both and at this point I find them crossing borders much more often.”