Oil
The early years were spent working mainly in watercolor paintings and ink drawings some times with watercolor washes over them. Things were looking good. Some of the accomplishments during this time were winning numerous awards at juried shows, having paintings and drawings published in newspapers and designing logos for a variety of businesses. I taught watercolor for a number of years in hope of sharing the magic that Raleigh Kinney had shown me. Working part time during the winters lent the time needed to grow artistically, but made paying the bills in a timely manner difficult. During one of these art shows a long time customer approached me and offered a partnership in the cabinetry business. Woodworking being a second love of mine, the thought was that it would be a good source of income and allow a chance to get on my feet again. I was wrong.
The partnership turned out to go the way of many and the demands of running a business for the next six years lent little time to paint. During the fifth year of owning a cabinet shop, I decided enough is enough, and spent the next year wrapping up jobs and closing the business.
After closing the business, I embarked upon travels through out the United States. Spent the next eight years exploring the diverse beauty of this country and it’s people. When the funds would run dry I would seek employment in a cabinet shop in that area. The locations so far have been Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Ferndale, Baton Rouge, Des Moines, and Colorado Springs.
The desire to paint again had been growing stronger and stronger and it was in Colorado Springs that my exploration in oil painting began. The wanderlust may have been a way of cleansing myself from those years of running a business. Also realizing that the desire to see what's around the next corner, what's beyond that rise, is making it increasingly difficult to land jobs when the cash flow dries up. The needed to put down roots again became clear as it is the only way that the goal of liberating oneself from the slow and brutal time clock could ever be achieved.
Found a studio in Colorado Springs and beginning to take evening classes in oil painting as well as joining an art group that did plein air painting on weekends and life drawing twice a week. The exploration into this new medium of oil painting took place. But duty called. A friend needed help closing the season in the concrete business at Big Sky Montana. The two to three month project turned into six and the studio in Colorado Springs was lost. Construction work does not lend itself well to allowing one the time to paint or draw. Because there was still work to be done for my friend it wasn’t till well into the spring that the projects could be wrapped up. Found another studio in Bozeman and as soon as the jobs in Big Sky were wrapped up I took three months off and focused on painting again. It didn’t take long for the money to begin to run out and a month was spent looking for part time work with no luck. Bit the bullet and landed a full time job at Wal-Mart were the hours could be whittled down to a part time bases. It has become clear that construction would never lend itself to regaining a life in art. The mindlessness of working at Wal-Mart lends itself well to focusing on what is important to me at this point in life. The plan is to build up enough pieces so that a gallery can be approached soon.
Three years have passed with Wal-Mart and what little cushion I had has dried up. The cost of living is so much higher then one could ever hope to make working in retail. That’s why most in this line of work are holding down two or more jobs. Ounce again that bullet had to be bitten and full time work sought out. Landed a job as a Department Manager at Micheals but have found that the increase in responsibility has yet to be reflected in the pay check. In retail we are all disposable tools that are bought low and sold high I guess.
During this time in Montana I’ve facilitated the life drawing sessions at the Beal Art Center but have had to let that go due to the ever changing schedule of retail and full time work. Have taught both drawing and painting out of the studio. Had a nice little write up in ‘Distinctly Montana’ magazine which landed my work in a gallery for all of a week before they went belly up. And have been commissioned to do several portraits. It’s clear that it will take a great deal of time before I can enjoy the taste of freedom but each day seems to bring me one step closer.