We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacob Cureton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jacob, 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 am now just getting into a more stable income situation as far as earning from my creative work. It feels great, but it has been a tough couple of years. It’s a real grind and my schedule is all over the place. I wanted it though, and I enjoy every minute of pain because the reward is there. It’s totally worth it.

There is a difference between working for yourself as a creative, and working for someone else as a creative. I have been a professional chef for almost 20 years. I went to a good school to be a chef. Actually two culinary schools to be exact. School was exhilarating and my creativity flowed for years, until I experienced the multitude of horrible possibilities that awaited me after a decade in the career. My body broke down. My mind broke down. My creative soul was being used and there was no reward.

Using all of my creative juices for someone else that didn’t really respect me was soul-sucking. I tried all sorts of different jobs in the business from traveling chef, executive chef, line cook, banquet manager, cajun food consultant. In every one of them my creative flow was tapped. I would not be allowed to be as creative as my mind and soul needed me to be.

I felt trapped in this career because of all the money invested in my education and the feeling that I had to further my career. Then COVID hit. I was laid off from my consulting job in New York. I was now at home on unemployment and trying to figure out my next step. I had this urge to build something so I used some of the extra money from unemployment to build a deck around my house connecting the front door to the back. It was so satisfying to see the whole thing come together as I learned a new skill. The next year and a half was spent building custom very expensive beautiful decks. It was a blast and I realized that I didn’t need the chef job anymore.

The next thing that happened was sort of a fluke I guess. I was called by the man I had done most of the work that year for (a chef friend of mine.) He asked me to do a mural on the back of his restaurant where I had built a deck. We agreed to a price and for the next month and a half I painted a 30 foot by 12 foot mural of the bayou my grandmother lived on. I put all of my old boats and some of the old houses in the painting. It was the most fun I have ever had making money. I then had the realization again that I could make money painting. This was like a lightning bolt. I told my wife that if I could make this much money painting a mural. I can make money selling paintings.

The next part happened in the last 9 months. I painted like a madman and started to make elaborate frames and even started sculpting and making sculpture-paintings. I got into some good art markets and festivals. Overall it has been a stressful year with money but I have so much passion that it makes the paintings easier to sell. I am having a blast learning how to sell my paintings. I have made plenty of mistakes and the learning curve is tough, but I am leaning it. My wife is helping through the transition. It’s been nice teaming up.

After the first year of constant experimentation, I now have a clear focused approach to the next step in my new business. I am pretty much able to predict every day I will work next year and that is pretty satisfying. I was accepted to a couple prestigious art festivals and I have a good market to sell at on the weekends. When I am creating art it doesn’t even feel like work, yet I am always busy, and I actually get rewarded to do it. Couldn’t be happier with where my life road has diverted.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have branded myself as “The Chef That Paints.” I was always creative in my chef career. Menu writing and dish development was my favorite part of it. Also the hands on nature of cooking. There are little nuances that most people don’t experience. I enjoyed the knowledge of how to do things the proper way and how they came out at the end. I have been experimenting nonstop this year. Next year is my focus year. I plan to create very specific things all year. I am so excited to know what I am going to be doing. In the experimental stage there are so many unknowns. I want to take my art career to the next level.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Working from home most of the time. The most rewarding part of my new job is being able to say F$&@ You! to the established lifestyle I had before. Feeling trapped in a job is a miserable feeling. I now cook dinner for my family almost every night. I get to hang out with my son. It’s been so great staying at home for most of my work.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think there should be more art everywhere. I think our local governments overspend on many things that don’t benefit the neighborhood and cultural daily lifestyles. There are so many artist living around us all the time. They just don’t know how to get going or how to represent themselves. There should be money allocated to budding artists allowing them to create murals and sculptures to be placed in the neighborhoods they live. Beautifi the nation and pay people at the same time. Let people escape the jobs they feel trapped in.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thechefthatpaints

Image Credits
Sarah Kehoe