"Starving Artist"

Hello! My name is Jordan Hockett, and I’m an artist! When I meet people for the first time and tell them what I do for a living, sometimes it feels like I’m in a support group apologizing for my career decisions. On several occasions, my parents were asked by colleagues and friends of theirs, “You actually paid for your son to go to art school?” For most people, it doesn’t seem like a real job. Most people just think of the stereotype of the starving artist.

For most of my pre-college life, I didn’t think being an artist was a viable career path. I thought I was going to become an architect or a commercial artist, working on add-campaigns and logos. I wanted that monthly paycheck. I was given some opportunities back in high school, to design posters for different events. I was good at it, but it drove me crazy. I quickly found out that I was far too self-centered to design things for other people. If you have ever had a three-hour meeting on what font to use, you will know what I mean.

Today, I am a fine artist that focuses on acrylic painting. I also make sculpture, textiles or whatever material I feel like using to create a piece of art. When it comes down to it, my previous career ambitions were too limiting for me. As a fine artist, my job is to observe the world I live in, interpret it and then produce a piece of art that depicts that world through my eyes and point of view. I’m one of those special, lucky people in this world, who loves what they do.

I’m currently a resident artist at Studios on the Park in Paso Robles, California. Each day, I get to come into my studio at the gallery, pick up a brush and express whatever makes sense to me at that time through my art. At Studios on the Park, I get to work alongside other phenomenal yet diverse artists who are expressing what and how they view the world. I don’t need to help someone else realize his or her dreams for how a logo should look anymore. I get to say what I want in my art and like-minded people appreciate it and sometimes buy it. I may not be rich, but I’m not starving either, and I am happy with the decisions I have made to become the person and the artist I am.