Andrew Spear's career started at age 5, just outside Boston in Weymouth, Massachusetts, where he would lie on his living room floor and draw on the back of Beatles albums. His love of music and coloring forced Andrew to renounce all types of sports which, living in New England, automatically put him in a class of rejects. At age 19, while attending the Art Institute of Boston, the state of Massachusetts decided he should move to a more appealing climate to pursue his artistic endeavors. (He agreed.) Spear chose what he believed to be the California of the east coast, Sarasota, Florida, where he attended art camp for the rich, aka Ringling School of Art & Design. After graduating, he decided to go out into the world to see if he could become part of the 10% of artists that actually make a living off their artwork. He didn't.
Instead, he found himself in the San Francisco Bay area, working at an art supply store along with the other 90%. This small detour forced Spear to lock himself in his one-bedroom apartment and focus on getting his shit together. His visual motivation was to create images of the things he loved most — music, movies and pop culture. He decided to get serious, move back to the east coast and put his career into overdrive. Relocating to New York City was the equivalent of enrolling in art boot camp: there, no one cared about him or what he was doing, so he had nothing to lose. He relentlessly pursued anything and everything that would pay him: scenic work, illustration, freelance photography, screen printing — even bartending — and completely immersed himself in the city's cultural military.
Eventually, Andrew was recruited for scenic work in sunny Orlando, Florida, where he currently resides today. He started his own scenic and design company, Metro Finishes (Metrofinishes.com). As the co-owner of this venture, Andrew has had plenty of time to perfect his craft and take on commercial projects, which have kept him from living in a cardboard box.
In addition to not becoming homeless, Spear was a featured artist in Juxtapoz magazine and he designed murals for the 2011 season of MTV's The Real World, in the Hard Rock Hotel's penthouse in Las Vegas. He claims to have helped the universe accidently kill Michael Jackson after finishing a portrait of him just two days before he died. (Weird.) Aside from all of this nonsense, Andrew continues to draw inspiration from his never-ending love affair with sound, one he's had since he was 5 years old.
Instead, he found himself in the San Francisco Bay area, working at an art supply store along with the other 90%. This small detour forced Spear to lock himself in his one-bedroom apartment and focus on getting his shit together. His visual motivation was to create images of the things he loved most — music, movies and pop culture. He decided to get serious, move back to the east coast and put his career into overdrive. Relocating to New York City was the equivalent of enrolling in art boot camp: there, no one cared about him or what he was doing, so he had nothing to lose. He relentlessly pursued anything and everything that would pay him: scenic work, illustration, freelance photography, screen printing — even bartending — and completely immersed himself in the city's cultural military.
Eventually, Andrew was recruited for scenic work in sunny Orlando, Florida, where he currently resides today. He started his own scenic and design company, Metro Finishes (Metrofinishes.com). As the co-owner of this venture, Andrew has had plenty of time to perfect his craft and take on commercial projects, which have kept him from living in a cardboard box.
In addition to not becoming homeless, Spear was a featured artist in Juxtapoz magazine and he designed murals for the 2011 season of MTV's The Real World, in the Hard Rock Hotel's penthouse in Las Vegas. He claims to have helped the universe accidently kill Michael Jackson after finishing a portrait of him just two days before he died. (Weird.) Aside from all of this nonsense, Andrew continues to draw inspiration from his never-ending love affair with sound, one he's had since he was 5 years old.
Artist: Andrew Spear
Andrew Spear:
"Indian Head Case" 2011
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