We were lucky to catch up with Austin Gosswiller recently and have shared our conversation below.
Austin , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path from a young age, my parents surrounded me with art. I would draw from art books, and create cartoons strips. As a kid we would go on road trips and my parents always made a point to go to art museums in major cities along the way. I remember doing school projects on Van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci, and later around 6th grade getting into street art books. I had an early attraction and eye for graffiti and murals growing up. I was constantly drawing in school much to the dismay of my teachers.
I always wanted to be an artist but I felt a need and a bit pressured from a young age to have a real job to support myself. I never felt like I could fully commit to creating art because I was always busy working and at the time didn’t know how to make a living from it. It wasn’t until COVID lockdown that I really decided to pursue my creative path.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Austin Gosswiller and I am 34 years old. I was born in Santa Monica, California and grew up in beach town called Ocean Beach in San Diego, California.
I love creating drawings, illustrations, and paintings. I mostly use acrylic paint on canvas and use acrylic exterior paint for murals. I provide clients with my skills in bringing ideas to life through commissioned paintings as well as small and large scale murals that bring life and character to a building/desired space. I can offer my advice from past project experience and help clients simplify ideas.
I’d say what I’m most proud of is seeing a project through, trusting the process and the joy it can bring a client. Seeing my own progress as a painter and businessman is something I’m also proud of. I’d like potential clients/followers to know they’re getting someone who’s humble, passionate about their craft, and has an eye for detail.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I was fully immersed in the restaurant industry from thirteen to twenty-three years old. At that point I was over restaurants and my neighbor who was a Firefighter, invited me on a ride along at his station. I enrolled that day into EMT school with a goal of becoming a firefighter. I became an EMT and later passed the written exam to get into a Fire Academy right before COVID lockdown. Usually you get a notice whether you passed or not with in a month or so, I didn’t get anything in the mail for six months. So I assumed I failed, until one day six months later an “official” envelope arrived congratulating me on passing the exam. It was bittersweet. I was looking at other options at that point of uncertainty in “lockdown” but I was happy to still be in the running for an interview. I never got the email for an interview and I wasn’t mad at it, I always felt like I was turning away a possible career in art if I made it. I always felt like art was my true calling and this was my time to pivot and get after it. With that said, I am very grateful for the people I met in my EMT journey and first responder scene in San Diego especially the SDFD and Emergency room personnel that left a lasting impression on me.
I happened to run into a good friend of mine who is a local artist and had been doing murals for around ten years at that point. He knew I had experience painting and I mentioned my interest of possibly getting into murals and he asked if I wanted to assist him on some upcoming projects to which I agreed. After a few projects with him I started getting my own commissions and projects.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My mission that drives my creative journey is to perfect my craft and do it better than the previous day if I can and challenge myself to new levels of difficulty, different mediums to see what I’m capable of and push it further.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Austingosswiller.com
- Instagram: @austingosswiller
Image Credits
Photo with the SD hat and the Black & White photo are by Andrew Hawes