A Personal Story: Artistic Ambitions

I've always been an artist and in the beginning, intelligent adults all steered me away from being the kind of artist that Picasso and vanGogh were because it's almost impossible to make a living this way. I knew that to be a 'fine artist' was to be able to do just exactly as you want–on canvas–and that sounded like the greatest achievement a person could ever attain. A big lesson for me that took nearly 3 decades to start understanding was that to be a Fine Artist was an honor bestowed upon you. The people give you this honor; you don't just claim it.

There's much more to a career than the stuff that you make and I learned that it's all the other stuff that gets you to a position like Fine Artist. I've been told that those doing what I wanna' do spend only 20% of their time making art and the rest is the schmoozing, networking and hustling.

Picasso and vanGogh are two excellent examples of artist to contrast between because one became wealthy very early in his life and the other shot himself, penniless, missing an ear and residing in a mental institution. I can't say which life story I love more because I've always been a fan of high drama.

Yes, times have changed, as they always do, and these days it's a different job to sell your art than it was in Picasso's time or in vanGogh's. Both life stories certainly featured high drama, but the pattern of my life more closely resembles Picasso's. I'm happy about that.

One of the many soundbites I've adapted into my life is this one: It's not impossible to make a living as an artist, it's just very difficult.

This image is of a painting I made 3 days after Tyson bit off Holyfield's ear. I made the painting in hopes to sell Tshirts of it, but I didn't know how to raise the money to make the shirts to make the money. I still have the canvas.