Blue Collar Artists

Blue-collar Artists is about transformation. This is a community for artists to learn and grow in a supportive, nurturing environment.

In the coming weeks and months, I will share regularly with members through weekly vlogs, free webinars and other learning opportunities.

By joining this community, you will automatically receive regular updates. Join now and receive a free copy of my “Common Mistakes Made by New Artists.” Simply fill out the below form, click submit, and then you will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Once you confirm, you’ll receive the free art guide.

Quite simply, I created Blue-collar Artists for you. That’s right, because most likely we have some things in common.

You probably did not come to art through formal education at a prestigious art school or university art degree program. There is a strong probability that you did not go straight from an early art education into a fine art career.

Instead, your early adult life took a different path. Then some years passed, perhaps even decades, until you finally discovered or resurrected your interest in making art. Perhaps that interest kindled and grew into a full-fledged burning desire to become an artist.

Maybe you always knew that art-making was something you wanted to do, even needed to do, but there wasn’t the time or opportunity. You were not born with a natural genius for this, but deep in your heart you believed there was potential, waiting to be developed with some effort and proper guidance.

If any of the above is familiar, then you have come to the right place. Your story is my story and that of so may other artists. The good news is that it is never too late to fulfill your dream and have the life you were meant to live.

But where to begin? That is the question I asked myself 20 years ago when I returned to art. First, let me explain why I named this community Blue-collar Artists.

Blue-collar is a term that has long been applied to describe workers who make their livelihood primarily with the labor of their hands and the sweat of their brow. The term is neither negative or derogatory. Quite the contrary. There is honor, dignity and honesty in work. Blue-collar workers include factory workers, construction trades, craftspeople, food servers, housekeepers, service technicians, mechanics, warehousemen, delivery drivers, welders and countless other kinds of physical vocations.

Blue-collar workers can be highly skilled, articulate, and even formally educated, but not necessarily have a college degree in their specific field. Theirs is a different kind of time-honored education. They learn their trade through training programs, apprenticeships and plain old hard work.

As someone who had a long “white-collar’ career, I am quite proud that my path as an artist has been a blue-collar experience. As the son of a farmer, my family roots were purely blue-collar. I didn’t obtain an art school degree and although I do have talent (everyone does), I am not unusually gifted.

My only real gift is love. You see, I fell in love with art in my childhood, but then life had a different path for me. I will spare you those details, but I came back to art 20 years ago in my early 40’s and made a declaration that I would commit the rest of my life to becoming the artist I had dreamed of being in my youth. I went one step further and declared that I would eventually leave my suit-and-tie profession to make my livelihood as an artist. Essentially, I made a commitment to reinvent my life.

I worked hard nights and weekends, used vacation time to study with artists I admired, read lots of books, was dedicated to learning my craft and little by little, those efforts paid off. My dream actually came true. In fact, I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams. I have a very successful art practice that has taken me and my art across the U.S. and overseas. In addition, my work has been able to raise more than a million dollars for charities. Giving back is important to me.

I know how to help you in your creative journey, because I have a pretty good idea what you want to learn. But more importantly, I know what you need to learn and can spare you some years of struggle getting there. You don’t have to be naturally gifted with talent. It doesn’t matter whether your goal is to develop a professional art practice or just to make satisfying work to share with your friends and family. Blue-collar Artists is here for you.

Join the Blue-collar Artists community now and receive a free copy of “Common Mistakes Made by New Artists.” Simply fill out the below form, click submit, and then you will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Once you confirm, you’ll receive the free art guide.

I look forward to working with you and supporting you on your creative journey.