I was born, naked, cold, wet and in a very bad mood, and then somebody goesand slaps me on the ass! That'll get yer day off to a great start! The parents decided they would name me Jack Aaron and were going to call me Aaron, after my dad's dad, but my grandma started calling me by my first name and it stuck. The rest, they say is history.
Born and raised in Nashville, TN. I attended Stratford High School where I received the bulk of my "formal" art training, if you want to call high school art class "training". I graduated or escaped as some put it, in 1972. I have always had some kind of "artistic" outlet, whether it was as a kid drawing pictures of cars with colored pencil on paper to surrealistic space scenes with acrylics to simple photography. But I digress..
After working for a couple of years, I decided that I would further my education by attending Nashville State Tech in the Graphic Arts department. They wanted to teach me how to run a printing press, and I wanted to learn layout and design. So with there being a bit of a conflict of wills, I quit after five semesters. And that pretty much says where my "formal training" ended. I might go back and take some courses later. I always wanted to try underwater basket weaving classes!
In the late 1970's, a friend sold me his old Cannon FP SLR camera really cheap. Three lenses plus the body, and a camera case, hell I thought I was Ansel Adams! I used it just long enough to learn how to shoot a decent picture, mostly black and white 'cause it was cheaper to have developed back then. Soon I bought on of those newfangled Minolta 110 SLR Zoom pocket sized cameras so I could take it with me on the motorcycle. I'd shoot just about anything that moved, or didn't move.
I'll cut to the chase. In 1999, I decided to get a digital camera so I could take pictures of the kid, cars, whatever. I got the bug to try and do "artistic" pictures. In 2003 I joined some art groups in Nashville, the "Untitled" group and the Plowhaus Artist Co-operative. I began to exhibit my work for sale with these two entities.
I centered on my photography as my artistic outlet for a while. During this time, I met a lady by the name of Marsha Rusk, a painter by profession. At one point in 2003, she came to my house to pick up something that I had retrieved from an exhibit for her. During her trip to my home, I happened to mention that I had also been a painter at one point. She asked to see some of my work, so I showed her my paintings from the years between 1975 and 1987.
Anyway to make a boring story end, she asked me why I didn't paint anymore, and that I should pick the brushes back up. Well, the photography didn't sell as well as I had hoped, so I decided to give painting another try. I have been somewhat amazed at the warm reception my work has garnered, so I will do some painting and see what happens.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your visit to jackcoggins.com and invite you to keep checking back for new additions.
Born and raised in Nashville, TN. I attended Stratford High School where I received the bulk of my "formal" art training, if you want to call high school art class "training". I graduated or escaped as some put it, in 1972. I have always had some kind of "artistic" outlet, whether it was as a kid drawing pictures of cars with colored pencil on paper to surrealistic space scenes with acrylics to simple photography. But I digress..
After working for a couple of years, I decided that I would further my education by attending Nashville State Tech in the Graphic Arts department. They wanted to teach me how to run a printing press, and I wanted to learn layout and design. So with there being a bit of a conflict of wills, I quit after five semesters. And that pretty much says where my "formal training" ended. I might go back and take some courses later. I always wanted to try underwater basket weaving classes!
In the late 1970's, a friend sold me his old Cannon FP SLR camera really cheap. Three lenses plus the body, and a camera case, hell I thought I was Ansel Adams! I used it just long enough to learn how to shoot a decent picture, mostly black and white 'cause it was cheaper to have developed back then. Soon I bought on of those newfangled Minolta 110 SLR Zoom pocket sized cameras so I could take it with me on the motorcycle. I'd shoot just about anything that moved, or didn't move.
I'll cut to the chase. In 1999, I decided to get a digital camera so I could take pictures of the kid, cars, whatever. I got the bug to try and do "artistic" pictures. In 2003 I joined some art groups in Nashville, the "Untitled" group and the Plowhaus Artist Co-operative. I began to exhibit my work for sale with these two entities.
I centered on my photography as my artistic outlet for a while. During this time, I met a lady by the name of Marsha Rusk, a painter by profession. At one point in 2003, she came to my house to pick up something that I had retrieved from an exhibit for her. During her trip to my home, I happened to mention that I had also been a painter at one point. She asked to see some of my work, so I showed her my paintings from the years between 1975 and 1987.
Anyway to make a boring story end, she asked me why I didn't paint anymore, and that I should pick the brushes back up. Well, the photography didn't sell as well as I had hoped, so I decided to give painting another try. I have been somewhat amazed at the warm reception my work has garnered, so I will do some painting and see what happens.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your visit to jackcoggins.com and invite you to keep checking back for new additions.