s t a r v i n - a r t i s t 

"You can cancel a show but you can’t cancel a starving artist.”

We should all feel lucky that a friend said this to David Green years ago when he was ready to give up on his dream of being a painter and having his own studio. When David first decided to go out on his own he worked for almost a year painting for an art show to present his work and launch his career as an artist. He was really proud of the work and excited about the show a local bar owner had agreed to host for him. A day before his show, after delivering all his work to the bar, the owner just closed the bar and was no where to be found.

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For weeks, David tried to contact the bar with no luck. A friend was eventually able to get a few paintings back but many pieces were stolen or lost. This lead David into a few months of depression. He was devastated and embarrassed after working so hard only be extremely disappointed.  One night at a bar when he was feeling particularly hopeless, he met a friend who convinced him to start over and was the inspiration for the name Starvin- Artist Studio. She said to him " You can cancel a show but you can’t cancel a starving artist.”

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Since then, David has been supporting himself as a painter and has many collectors locally and nationally. Most of his work now is commissioned paintings; people requesting a painting of their favorite musician, movie star or super hero. One of his favorite paintings is of icon Bettie Davis. He loved her because she “knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to fight for it plus she always had something witty to say.”

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When interviewing David he is warm and puts you at ease and he is careful to make sure his talent and accomplishments are not embellished. David feels that it is important to always be true to yourself and not ever be ashamed of who you are and this is essential to his art. His favorite piece of art is called, “Shameface” seen below. This painting depicts someone ashamed to tell the truth about themselves. David says he tries to inspire people around him to feel comfortable being themselves. When David paints a favorite icon for someone he feels like he’s making a connection and sharing a moment in history since most of the icon’s he paints tend to be star’s from the past like Jim Morrison or Barbara Streisand.  Lynn Summerfield for Tab's View