Growing up my parents thought that being an artist was unconventional and more likely to leave me without a job but as I grew older and my skills slowly developed I began to make my parents believe that art can become a satisfying career that anyone with the passion can become successful in.
After graduating from high school I was not decided in what field of art I was interested in yet but I did know that art was my calling and so I want to school to earn my BFA. I studies drawing, painting, jewelry, ceramics, welding and when I took my first sculpture class I fell in love with the idea of creating art in the round. I knew that sculpture obtained all the fundamentals of art, in one. Before I created in 3D I had to develop a sketch, create models, make my product then complete it with a finish whether it be paint, oxides, lacquer, or raw finish I knew that I had to study sculpture even further.
I graduated with a degree in Fine Arts with a Concentration in Sculpture but the worries my parents had became a reality. I had a family by the time I completed school and I needed income to support my family and I couldn't become your usual "starving artist". I went back to school, as many artists do, and became an elementary school teacher that never had the time, energy, space to create sculptures.
Frustrated with my situation, I began visiting my local library and book stores to purchase or check out books art because although I hadn't created at in two years my self yearned to learn and see art. I painted the walls of my classroom, began teaching my first graders about Leonardo and Picasso and I slowly became inspired by any art I saw on wall, street signs and streets. Some people called this art graffiti but I called it art. Art that people create when they have no other outlet.
I began buying books on street art, photographing interesting things I would see, and coming home and creating small collages of street art style in my sketch book. I began practicing drawing like graffiti art in my sketch book and slowly I began practicing on my walls. Then one day an old friend of mine asked me to see his art opening and his work had graffiti style images. We began to talk about work and such and I come to learn that this friend of mine didn't have your typical 8 to 5 job. He worked for himself! He was an artist! He supported his wife and daughter doing what he loved doing and that was making art!
He began as a mural artist for small businesses and slowly became known by many businesses that frequently hire him for jobs. For a while I thought I had lost my dream but the reality of it was that I didn't lose my dream I simply wasn't looking. Art is all around us and I am an artist. I have been, ever since I was young. Although I felt like life was taking me one way, it was my choice to either let life tell me where to go or my choice to say I will take the road I know best.
