05/27/2026
How it started vs how its going.. .
It started with a couple of milk crates from my brother’s and my old dorm rooms, two card tables from my grandparents, plastic tablecloths from the dollar store, and a tent I borrowed from the gallery owner.
That was it.
I went into it as cheaply as possible. At the time, I could barely afford business cards.
Looking back now, I laugh at how naive I was. I really thought this was going to be the moment — the moment I’d “make it,” get my art out there, and finally quit the two miserable day jobs I was working.
Then it rained.
The borrowed tent collapsed, and nearly everything got ruined. Just like that, I had to start over from scratch.
I remember my dad asking me, “Is this really what you want to do with your life?”
Defeated, exhausted, and standing there surrounded by soaked prints and broken equipment, I answered, “I don’t think I really have much of a choice.”
And honestly, I meant it.
Because even after all of that, I still wanted to try again.
So I learned from it. I figured out what went wrong. And the next time, I tried to do it a little better.
