ABOUT THE ARTIST

I did not decide to become a visual artist. I always was one. I guess you could say I had a calling. I could be found in the back of the classroom during elementary school drawing, instead of doing my lessons. 

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In 1987 I joined a class of students sponsored by University of Tulsa to study art in Florence, Italy for 6-weeks. With the newfound courage to travel alone to a foreign country, I moved on to New York City in January of 1988. There I studied sculpture for 4 years with a scholarship in drawing. 

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However, it was figure drawing that I particularly excelled at. The drawings I did in Jeffrey D'lessio's class were loose, fluid, and poetic approaches to the live model. His creations were often on the covers of the New Yorker Magazine. He encouraged me. I felt free to explore line, to make mistakes, and to render the human figure in a bold manner. 

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J. Houston Emerson

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