Wesley Scoggins

I was born in San Antonio, Texas on July 7th, 1986. I have been making art for as long as I can remember. My interest started when I was very young because my mother was a art teacher and would take me along with her to sit in the back of class and listen, while she taught children 3 times my age how to make art. One of my earliest memories is this project she came up with crayons, we would take shavings off of the crayons and do them in patterns or pictures on wax paper, and then take another piece of wax paper, push it down on top and melt them together with an iron, and the wax would melt together and flow like a technicoloured rorschach, it was just so beautiful, and it was then that I knew that I could just do this every day of my life.

Other than her occasional lessons, for over 17 years of my life I was mostly self-taught, as I passed from one overcrowded and underfunded art program that couldn't fit me in to the next. When I got to high school I finally was able to operate under the guidance of Carol Szymanski who has really taught me more about how to express myself through my art than anyone else in my life.

I have worked as a professional artist doing portraiture and mural work for 3 years, selling my work. I currently work as an volunteer teacher apprentice at Long Beach High School, teaching students art basics alongside Mrs. Szymanski.

My art is a way for me to connect with the world around me. I sense a connection especially to subjects that seem to be alone or isolated. When I paint them, I feel a very close bond to them, like neither of us will ever be alone again. Through my art, we now have one another to keep company. My subjects have their own personal beauty, emotional strength and incredible power, and I hope to bring it to life through my artistic ability, so the whole world can observe and appreciate it.