What kind of artist are you?
Gosh I’m all over the place really. Painter, graphic designer, writer, musician. Mostly I do paintings and mixed media. I’ve been drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil in my hand.
Where are you from?
Good ole Minden, Louisiana.
How long have you lived in Shreveport?
I moved here in 2008. So what’s that like five, six years. I’m not good at math.
What is your favorite thing about Shreveport/Bossier?
The sense of community here. Especially in the last three or four years. People seem to be taking a lot of pride in Shreveport, which is new. It use to be, everybody wanted to get out. Some really talented people have left. Shreveport could really be an awesome place if people would stop running away from it and it seems like that’s really starting to happen.
My favorite place right now is Rhino Coffee. Between Rhino, Starbucks, and the Naked Bean. Between those three places, I’m very caffeinated.
That sense of community has Shreveport on the edge of being a really cool place. How do we keep the momentum going?
I feel like people have really just come to work together. It’s a very sort of family atmosphere within the art and music community. Everybody is supportive and not so much competitive. We’re not pretentious. Everyone here is very welcoming and are like ‘Hey come join’.
What is your favorite color?
I’m pretty fond of green. I like a lot of colors though. I am an artist, so I use a lot of greens and blues. There is definitely a sense of comfort from greens and blues.
What is your first piece of art that you completed?
That’s a hard one to answer. I can definitely remember the first one I sold. It was my first show at Voodoo back in 2001. It was a group show that Alison West put on and it was a painting of two wolves and the moon.
How did it feel to sell your first piece of art?
It was amazing. I couldn’t believe someone was about to put down their hard earned money for some little painting I did. I’ve been selling my art for almost 15 years now, and I still can’t believe it. I feel really lucky for that. When I sell a piece, it helps me know that I am doing the right thing with my life. I was always the kid with my head in the clouds, and my mom always told me that I needed to find something practical to do with my life. I can do this for a living. Barely, but I can.
How does someone overcome the criticism of opening yourself up enough to share your art or music with the world?
You develop a little bit of a thick skin not just so it doesn’t hurt your feelings, but so you can take the criticism and improve. Time, maturity, and being able to separate yourself from your work a little bit. It takes experience. You learn so much more from you failures than your successes.
If you had unlimited funds what would you do?
It’s a tie between traveling and opening up a recording studio. I get really lost in the recording process. I nerd out for the technical process.
If you could be any animal what would you be?
I think I would be a platypus, because it’s really fun to say. Plat-y-pus. It’s a strange one I think. Duck billed platypus. What is it? I don’t know, but I like it. It might be a marsupial. What a weird animal. I would definitely be that animal.
What does being an artist mean to you?
Being an artist means I am afforded the opportunity to express myself. I am not always good with words. It’s much easier for me to create something. It means being able to communicate with people on a bigger scale.
How has the art scene in Shreveport/Bossier changed while you have been working in it?
It’s become such a tight knit community. It’s so supportive. It seems everybody has got your back. I hear bands say that they get really excited to play in Shreveport because everybody is so into it. When something does come here everybody is excited and jumping around in the audience instead of standing in the back with arms folding nodding their head. That’s no fun for the band.
When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
Pretty much as soon as I was able to form thoughts. I drew a lot of guys with kites and a lot of people on crutches. I don’t know why. Crutches and casts. A lot of broken legged people. I was maybe four years old. I was really obsessed with people with crutches and bandaged legs.
Do you have any idols or roles models?
My aunt is an artist. She was a commercial illustrator. She did a lot of pen and ink stuff, and I would see her work in the newspaper, and that was really fun. I thought she was famous because her drawings were being published.
What advice would you give to artists who are just starting out?
Networking is huge. As an artist you are an entrepreneur. You are not just an artist, you have to be a salesperson. Getting out and meeting people and talking about what you do, having a business card, or a website, is huge. Just talking. Talk to everybody you meet.
What do you hope people experience from viewing your work? What do they gain?
I am definitely an extraordinarily emotional person. I can be very heart on sleeve. I am really just trying to figure out how to convey what I am feeling. I think the first time I really put any effort into a theme for a show was back in 2011. I had been sober for about eleven months, and I decided to have a show based on my experience with depression, addiction, and then recovery. That was one theme that I worked with. Right now I am really getting into geometry. Sacred geometry has been interesting to me and mixing that with the human element. I kind of like the idea of putting the perfection of geometry to the imperfection of humanity. I find they are an interesting juxtaposition.
Do you create more with your technical training or through experimental processes?
I love the experimental process! Quite a few things I do I have no idea where they are going when I start them. I’ll have a vague idea of the themes I want to use or some of the imagery, but, when it comes to how I am going to put it down on the canvas, I just kind of wing it sometimes. You have to know the rules before you can break them. You have to know when it’s okay to break the rules. The technical training is extremely important. Color theory, though boring, was probably the most important class I ever took. Knowing the craft is essential.
What do you like on your hamburger? Or are you a vegan?
I spent like two minutes being a vegan once and two years being a vegetarian but I absolutely love hamburgers. I am not a vegan or vegetarian now. Everything but onions. Make sure there is some bacon and avocado on there. Maybe a little Swiss cheese. Yeah. Really messy. A lot of chili falling off it. Things like that.
How did you get into teaching art classes?
It was kind of just a brainstorming session on how I could make a little bit of extra cash, and I realized I know how to paint and people want to know how to paint. I put it out there to see if anyone was interested, and I got a couple of takers. It’s going really well so far. I was a little nervous about teaching, but it was really fun, and I can already tell they are getting something out of it. I sent them home with homework and everything. People can email me at skipgo@gmail.com to inquire about classes.
You are on a creative roll right now. Tell us about that.
Yeah it’s weird. It seems to have come out of nowhere over the past year. I was doing a lot of music stuff for awhile. Just spending days in my room writing and recording, my hobby. Then one day Ben Riggs, the editor of Henry Harbor, came to a group of us and gave us his idea and I am very fortunate that I was one of the people that had some of the skills that he needed. I am really excited to be part of it. I started picking up painting again. Some time had gone by. Probably two years. And then at Henry Harbor I thought since I’m involved I would write every once and while. The timing of the article I wrote (“How the World Sees a Drug Addict”) I guess was just really good. We had almost 100,000 views on that article and it kind of blows my mind. I wasn’t expecting that when I wrote it. I was just kind of upset about something I hold dear because recovery is a big deal to me in my life. It is still kind of a surreal mind blower. It has been very beneficial for me and my work.