I would say the single most important influence on my art career has been the highly successful photorealism artist Scott Jacobs of San Diego, a man mainly known for his Harley Davidson art. When I met Scott and saw his artwork I immediately knew it was what I wanted to do for a living. My jaw literally hit the floor in awe of his artwork at a gallery in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Since then, Scott has been a huge mentor in my life and still is to this day
My biggest struggle as an artist was probably what a lot of other artists go through, transitioning to the life of a full-time artist. I had always wanted to be an artist, but the world tells you you’ll starve, so I did the logical thing and got a safe degree in business and then applied my artistic talent to study architecture. After graduation, I got a mid-level retail banking job and I hated it. At this time, I was waking up at the crack of dawn to paint, then go to work at my “traditional job,” coming right back home to paint at night.
Eventually, the opportunity came up to move to Oahu, so two years ago my wife and I packed up our family and moved across the Pacific. This allowed me to strongly pursue art full time and the rest is history. We’ve moved into our own humble little house and I’m now working full-time as an artist. It’s incredibly hard but rewarding and worth it. I’d never trade it.
I strongly believe everyone has a purpose and destiny in life. Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith to come into it.
