Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gerry High. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gerry, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I came to the realization that I enjoyed creating art. I had spent my time as a bus driver,,maintenance man and many other professions. I was asked to create 100 large paintings for the Ocotillo Lodge in Palm Springs where I was working as a maintenance man. I was selling drawings to the hotels guest. An art gallery saw my work and invited me to display my work. Started selling and I haven’t stopped. I was basically self taught. Showed at art fairs, restaurants and wherever I could hang my work. This gave me confidence in my work and abilities.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I rented studio space to create my art. I was painting and selling my art but was wanting to paint large murals. Marshall Hall owned a mural painting company that was in the same complex. He dropped by and saw that I painted. He hired me to travel with his company to paint and decorate chain restaurants such as El Torrito and others.. I traveled 3 years with the company to Detroit ,Pittsburg, and other cities.. Learned to paint murals quickly. I left Marshall’s company and went on my own. This gave me greater skill and I worked with my own group of artist to paint murals and create faux finishes for homes in Los Angeles and the desert cities. I learned to listen carefully to the client and instill confidence in them by truly believing I would and could do the project without drama. Learned to paint in different styles to satisfy the decorative jobs. This helped hone my skills and artistic expression. Loving what I did was most important and it comes through my art.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

Early on in my career I employed several artist and it was always a challenge when a designer or client either gave me bad checks or disappeared with the art. I was chasing them down to get paid. The artist would come to me complaining of their checks bouncing and I would have to get the money to pay them. Used credit cards till that got out of control. Had many successes and failures. Lost projects and gained many projects. I reached a point when I with my wife decided to open Artspresso Gallery in Idyllwild,Ca. Now I concentrate on murals and paintings and running the gallery.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding is that I have joined and endless parade of creative that have come before me and will come after me and maybe the marks I leave around will be inspiring enough to convince someone to also realize they are a creative too. Then my work is done. The art of creating is also a road to self awareness. To live a life that I wish to live.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gerry-high.pixels.com
• Instagram: www.instagram @artspesso_gallery
• Facebook: https://www.Gerry High Art Studio

Image Credits
Gerry High Art Studio