Strong Artist Life

I grew up painting, drawing, and making. My mother kept our house full of classical music, books, and an appreciation for the arts. But it wasn’t until kindergarten that I realized my life’s ambition. One day, I was painting a fluffy lamb on green grass under a sunny blue sky when my teacher stopped at my easel to ask if I would let them put the painting on the classroom wall for all to enjoy. This was a big deal because the kindergarten classes were maxed out with little kids and so we didn’t all get to display our work. But as big of a deal this was, I said, “No.”

My teacher was surprised and asked, “Why not?”

“This painting is for my mom.” I said.

”Well, why don’t you paint another lamb painting and then you can pick which one you want to take home to your mother?”

I agreed, the rest of the class moved to the other room to do something that wasn’t making art, and I got to stay behind and paint another fluffy lamb under a sunny blue sky and in that moment, I knew. I knew I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.

I didn’t know how to achieve it but I always knew what my purpose in life was. So I just kept making art.

I studied painting and sculpture at the University of Houston. It was there that I experienced some of the best teaching styles and some of the most destructive. I was unable to create paintings for two years and started painting furniture instead because I hadn’t been told a thousand different ways how I was doing that wrong.

Eventually, I went back to creating serious work on my living room floor and landing a solo show. I had recovered from my university experience, at last.

I spent decades making art while holding “regular” jobs. The older I got, the more regular my jobs became until in my 40’s I thought my artistic phase was over. But one day I picked up a dip pen, ink, and paper and found that it wasn’t my artistic phase that was over but rather my “regular job” phase was going to have to end. I became a bit of a hobo and moved from my long-time home of Texas to Wisconsin, Washington, Florida, Michigan, and back to Florida most of the year.

The last few years have been home to my greatest transformation both artistically and personally. I have fought hard to unlock my own blocks, work with excellent support people, and focus consistently to constantly improve my art.

Now I regularly sell my art through galleries and spend most of my time in my studio creating and exploring. I wrote a book to help artists move their mindset and business forward, and I get to work with amazing abstract artists looking to improve their art and their lives.