Jerry Rayburn:  

Life Who is it who said, "Life happens while you are making plans."? Life also happens when you aren't making plans. I didn't know what I wanted to be growing up. A fireman? A cowboy? An astronaut? Childhood dreams mostly. I mean, what kid dreams of being a sales clerk, cleaning toilets, a secretary, or artist? Please. I've heard starving artist stories all of my life. In some sense it's true. But being able to do what you're passionate about is priceless. In a round about way, I am an artist. From the time I was able to hold a crayon or pen in my hands I was drawing, much to my parents and grandparents vain attempts to keep the furniture and walls clean. I was discouraged and punished for doing what came natural to me. Childhood seems now to have flown by in a blur. A blur, meaning, I don't remember other attempts at being an artist. Being a kid, yea I remember that. Swings and trampolines and swimming and playing ball. What more is there to being a kid? I never could get enough coloring books, that's it. Art classes in school was either good or bad. Mostly bad because I hated doing what the teachers wanted to grade me on. "Draw this still life that has been sitting her since 1942." Little or nothing in art classes interested me. I had small outlets in high school by drawing on the paper covered tables in the library, or cartoonish stick figures on the blackboards before the teacher came in. After graduation I contemplated life working at my dad's gas station.(yea, right) No artistic talent required, just fixing flats and pumping gas I joined the Air Force in '78 and got out in '83. Working on radios and traveling the world, I found some free time to start drawing again. From '83 to '91, I did diverse jobs like, stocking/shipping at a tire store, dishwasher at a Keystone restaurant, installing invisable dog fences, and commercial painting/wallpapering. During that time I joined the Art Students League of Denver, learning more about drawing and pastels. Drawing nudes instead of s...Expand for more