HONOLULU — Tim Nguy?n awoke early that Saturday morning in 2003, eager to sell his first painting. The taxi driver, who recently had moved to Hawaii to pursue his dream of becoming a professional artist, gathered his precious pieces and headed to the Honolulu Zoo fence, a popular hangout for local artists to display their work. He hung his brilliantly colored canvases next to others, for the first time showing them in public.

And he thought to himself, ""This is it. I am finally going to sell my paintings.""

Hours passed. Hundreds of cars and pedestrians rushed by without a glance at his offering. A select few stopped to browse through his oil paintings, but no one bought.

Neighboring artists along the strip criticized Nguy?n’s work, saying it looked very childish. His excitement faded, turning to frustration as the day unfolded. ""Maybe I can’t do it,"" he thought.

As the sun neared the horizon, he and everyone else began to pack up. Suddenly, a vehicle pulled up to the curb and came to a screeching halt. The driver rolled down the window and asked Nguy?n how much for one of his paintings. Discouraged with his fruitless endeavor, he angrily muttered $1,000 each, although all the other artwork next to him sold for no more than a few hundred dollars.

To his surprise, without hesitation, the driver asked him to bring his entire collection to her hotel that evening. She purchased four of his six oil paintings, each at the asking price, making Nguy?n a legend among vendors who have sold their work along the zoo fence, home to artists since 1953.

"No one along that fence had ever sold any of their work for that much,"" Nguy?n said. ""Most people are happy to sell anything, let alone recoup their material costs. …I was so excited. I bought everyone along the zoo fence pizzas the next day, and I couldn’t sleep for weeks.""

In just one day, a career was born.

And it’s turned into a passion that Nguy?n couldn’t have imagined back then. Although his creations have a very local feel, he has an international clientele with work featured in several popular American movies and television shows such as NBC’s ""Las Vegas."" One of his pictures has been valued at about $160,000.

""I feel very proud of myself that I am not a starving artist,"" he said. ""I am doing something I love and making others happy in the process.""

Nguy?n’s artistic talent traces back to his family and childhood in Vietnam. He has two sisters who sing and a brother who acts; he himself sketched anything he found in his Hà N?i home. His interest in art led him to study interior design at the Hà N?i Art Institute before leaving his homeland in 1981 for California.

Eager to use his artistic talents, Nguy?n found a job in graphic design. He later branched off and created his own company, 88 Designs, which produced signs, banners, posters and brochures for local companies. On a well-earned vacation in 2001, he and his family took off for Hawaii, exploring Oahu.

""I fell in love with the island, the weather, the people,"" he remembered. ""They are so friendly, enjoyable, relaxed. … All I could dream and think about was Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii.""

Nguy?n couldn’t sleep for the next couple of months after returning to California. After endless nights of tossing and turning, he finally decided that he, his wife and three children would move to Hawaii.

""It would bug me every day. I had a feeling I had to come and paint"" Hawaii, he said. ""I looked at it as a five-year vacation and told myself if I couldn’t make it as an artist, I would come back"" to California.

Nguy?n’s friends thought he was crazy to leave his home, a secure job and supportive community ties to become an aspiring artist. Even so, the family relocated in 2002, jobless and knowing no one.

The first year proved difficult. They spent the first month hotel hopping before settling into a two-bedroom house. Nguy?n discovered the graphic-design job market was not as fruitful in Hawaii. With low pay and limited work, he shifted to driving a cab, giving him some down time to sketch tropical scenery while he waited for customers.

Pumped by the success of that first sale in 2003, Nguyeãn continued to display and hawk paintings along the zoo fence — even as he started to gain a reputation within the art community. Soon, Sunshine Hearts Gallery in Kaneohe and its owner, Jim Franklin, agreed to sell some of his work. Since the gallery sold three or four pieces within the first month, it was not long before Nguy?n quit his job to fulfill his dream of painting professionally.

""He’s an artist with his own unique interpretation. He sees an image, he takes it in, distills it, and it comes out,"" said Sunshine Arts Gallery sales associate Malinda Abell. ""His paintings are stylized and unique. They often have very sensuous forms and vibrant colors.""

""One piece can cover income for a year. I love doing it. The payoff is good and it’s more enjoyable than graphic design,"" said Nguy?n, who has his own art studio and resides on the east side of Oahu. ""I decide what it’s going to look like and when it’s done. There is no one else to please but me.""

Much of Nguy?n’s work depicts the typical daily activities of native Hawaiians: fishing, biking, surfing, kayaking or lounging on the beach.

""There is something very calming about his paintings,"" customer Janice Kim of Kaimuki, Hawaii, said as she decided which scene would look best in her house. ""The more you look, the more you see. I am never bored because you never see the same thing.""

After more than two hours of mulling over the choices and comparing them under different lighting, Kim finally decided on ""Peaceful Mormon"" and ""Sun Sand Surf"" pieces. ""I really appreciate his use of space and colors,"" she said.

Under a new business agreement, most of Nguy?n’s original paintings can be found at the prestigious Higgins Harte Gallery on Maui, and prints and acid-etched brass — his other forms of art — are sold only at Sunshine Arts Gallery.

""He’s so versatile,"" Franklin said, ""and has no fear to attempt something that hasn’t been done before.""