13 Jobs To Blow Up Your Art!

I was asked by a a friend of my son, how I became an artist.  What path did I follow? I didn't quite know how to answer that so here are my past labors (and what I learned): 

1.  Farmed hay and tobacco.   (Farming is really hard work.)

2.  Lab Tech.   (I drew blood from people - hence I like red).

3.  Bartender (Give up the money when you are robbed). 

4.  Math Tutor (It's good to help people.)

5.  Sub shop manager.  (Keep things fresh.)

6.  Lumberjack (I'm lucky I didn't get killed!)

4.  Bar owner (Don't let employees rob you.) 

5.  Coke salesman. The soda not the drug! (Stack your soda high and wide because the Pepsi guys are coming next week.) 

6. Hotel Valet (The more you hustle the more you make.) 

7.  Label buyer.  (Who knew type could be so small?)

8.  Chocolate buyer.  (Don't eat the samples.) 

9.  Marketing/Creative Manager.  (Listen.)

10. VP Marketing (Listen even more.)

11.  Business owner - President/CEO (The bigger you get the less fun it becomes.)

12.  Sold company to purse my art.  (This was a blast.)

13.  Artist/Entreprenuer (Boom!)

I started painting in the early 90's.  As it reduced stress, and it was too hard to go the bar all the time.  My first show was in 1996. I exploded my first gunpowder piece in 2007. I have produced hundreds of artworks and dozens of explosion events.

Like most of you I've done a lot of different things.  Hopefully all of these experiences give a richness to my work.  If not, I hope you have a blast.

Stick Vega is the American Gunpowder Artist.  He creates and blogs from Stick Vega Studios in Madison, WI and Bucktown, Chicago, IL.  Follow Stick at Facebook and/or Twitter.