Gary Figueroa
Gary's Story: As a kid, I taught myself to draw copying comic books. As a tween, I admired the reproductions of classic old master paintings & history paintings in my school text books. I thought I would be a commercial artist, but fine art hypnotized me. I have made cartoons & posters, painted portraits & landscapes. But in my early teens I was going to give up drawing & painting because I just thought I wasn't good enough. Art isn't very important anyway, right? But my uncle got wind of my decision & took me aside for a chat. He told me how lucky I was to have a gift & it was a shame to let that just go away, He also said, you don't have to make it a job; you just have to enjoy it. Smart uncle. That got me over the hump & I've spent my whole life enjoying, making & appreciating it.
I grew up in Montreal & came to the GTA in 1981.I've found lots of opportunities to do all kinds of work here for ordinary people, businesses & organizations, & I've met thousands of people through art in the years gone by - making many,many friends. There is so much joy & beauty in just trying to make art, I'm so grateful I didn't make a big mistake giving up years ago. Why not explore what you can discover & enjoy by just trying your hand at something that’s always been in the back of your mind. It can't hurt".
I'm really interested to help people find their inner artist who has been sleeping all this time, but just waiting to come out. As kids almost everyone displays interests in painting, drawing, singing, dancing, telling stories, writing, but around the tween years most people get discouraged or lose interest & put the artist away for "grown up things". I want to show you how surprising, fun & rewarding it can be to let that kid, that sleeping artist out.
Gary's Story: As a kid, I taught myself to draw copying comic books. As a tween, I admired the reproductions of classic old master paintings & history paintings in my school text books. I thought I would be a commercial artist, but fine art hypnotized me. I have made cartoons & posters, painted portraits & landscapes. But in my early teens I was going to give up drawing & painting because I just thought I wasn't good enough. Art isn't very important anyway, right? But my uncle got wind of my decision & took me aside for a chat. He told me how lucky I was to have a gift & it was a shame to let that just go away, He also said, you don't have to make it a job; you just have to enjoy it. Smart uncle. That got me over the hump & I've spent my whole life enjoying, making & appreciating it.
I grew up in Montreal & came to the GTA in 1981.I've found lots of opportunities to do all kinds of work here for ordinary people, businesses & organizations, & I've met thousands of people through art in the years gone by - making many,many friends. There is so much joy & beauty in just trying to make art, I'm so grateful I didn't make a big mistake giving up years ago. Why not explore what you can discover & enjoy by just trying your hand at something that’s always been in the back of your mind. It can't hurt".
I'm really interested to help people find their inner artist who has been sleeping all this time, but just waiting to come out. As kids almost everyone displays interests in painting, drawing, singing, dancing, telling stories, writing, but around the tween years most people get discouraged or lose interest & put the artist away for "grown up things". I want to show you how surprising, fun & rewarding it can be to let that kid, that sleeping artist out.