August 4, 2023

HOW IT ALL STARTED

My journey has been a long one and started at a young age. I’ve been painting since I was a very small child. I will start by saying it doesn’t matter how long you’ve wanted art or had art in your life, it’s never too late to start. Whether you’re 10 or 50, if you have a desire to create go for it.

My story starts where my life started. My mother was an artist as well and a big reason why I am today. She was always a creative person in many different types of mediums. She attended Bennington College in Vermont where she majored in visual arts and minored in social sciences/ early childhood education. When I was still in a high chair she gave me paint to play with. The photo above of me holding up my hands with blue paint just everywhere. A complete mess. I look as though I had eaten a Smurf. (Photo 3&4) Shows how truly happy I was surrounded by art. When I could stand I had my first aisle. (Photo 1) For my second birthday, my mother wrapped the walls of our apartment in Piermont New York (her daycare) she let me and all the children hand paint the walls. To this day there’s still a home video of this and I’m the last child to leave the wall, it’s adorable. I’d like to think I was born for art, it’s something that’s comes into my life and never left. The most consistent thing I’ve ever had and stuck with.

Elementary school drawing

Middle school painting

Highschool painting

As years went on and I grew, art was always a fun creative activity I did. In middle school, my mother taught one of my art classes. Middle school was when I received my first art award. ‘Best of the best’ it was called, I believe I was 13 or 14. My art was hung in a gallery a few towns over and it was sold off. It wasn’t until high school that I started to notice and gain attention from the art I was creating. I attended Ashland high school, in Ashland Oregon. My teacher throughout high school was such a cool dude, he saw something special in me that I didn’t even really notice in myself yet. He started to give me a lot of artistic freedom as time went on, and even let me be exempted from some of his teachings so I could work on my art pieces. This is where I was taught how to stretch and prep a canvas, texture techniques, and artistic freedom. I produced a self-portrait in black and white with hazel eyes that was stolen from the art room, so it’s safe to say I had a couple of fans. Senior year I was asked to paint a small wall in the cafeteria before graduation, that was the first wall I had ever painted. Senior year I was voted best artist of my class. Unfortunately back in grade school taking photos of my work wasn’t really on my mind and photo sharing isn’t what it is today. So the only photos I have today of my early works are the art pieces my mom still has today. (Photos above)

So today's blog is short but sweet. Art was something I was just exposed to at an early age and something I chose as I got older to continue to pursue. I didn’t take my art seriously until about 2017. Even then it was very early stages of me starting to think of pursuing art as a career or second income in my life. In another blog, I will write about how my career has progressed into what it is today. For now, it’s nice to take a look back and just appreciate where it all started and the journey I’ve taken. In the comments below, I’d love to hear other people’s stories and startups of their art. Keep creating!