My Story
My career as an artist began in Glasgow, Scotland in 1997.
I was a shy 20 year old boy living on my sister’s couch, working in a coffee shop in the artsy west-end of town. A co-worker saw some of the sketches I had done of Glasgow and said I could help her paint some signs at a local restaurant. I was terrified but went along and did my best. It ended up being a turning point in my life.
For two weeks I was paid to draw and paint. It felt like a miracle. This experience led to an epiphany in the form of a question: “What if I could get paid to learn how to paint?” Back at the coffee shop this question consumed me for a week and then compelled me to quit my job. I had no money, no connections, no experience, no materials and no plan but I did have a dream. That dream made a lot more sense to me than my current path of drifting from job to job without true purpose.
I gave myself one year to learn how to paint watercolors. My plan was to paint mini watercolor paintings, put them in frames and sell them on the streets to tourists and locals for $5 each. It was during those cold, wet and bleak days in the alleys of Glasgow that I found a passion for the beauty of the world and a commitment for creating honest, heartfelt and positive art. By the end of the first year I was supporting myself as an artist by selling over 100 paintings a week on the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Today my passion is stronger than ever!
