Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Lemons.
Hi Jesse, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, I met my wife Amy in October 2018. One day she gave me a gift that she said she bought off Etsy (which at that point I had never heard of), and that lead me to look at a bunch of home decor, and then finally at art. “It might be fun to paint”, I told myself. “There are things I want to buy from Etsy that actually might be more fun to do myself.” “Go for it” Amy told me. And in January of 2020, for my 35th birthday, she got me my first set of brushes, canvases and paint. I was off to the races! I couldn’t stop painting. The focus and determination I was putting towards painting was practically meditative to me. It’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, I never quite felt comfortable in my own skin. I was always told I was just a shy, sensitive little boy and that this was just a phase I would eventually grow out of…but it never really happened. During my teens, I learned two words that explained, to some degree, my condition: anxiety and depression. But even with this knowledge and attempts at therapy and medication, nothing seemed to really help. At the same time, this was all occurring, I discovered the arts for the first time. In my case, it started with music. I never fancied myself much of a visual artist (ironically), but I adapted to music quite well. It was fun! I knew then that I loved creating things. I really felt like I had a knack for it. It was also around this time that I first enjoyed the temporary relief that came with alcohol and drugs. It did what no other avenues I had tried up to that point ever did…complete and utter total mental soothing. I thought I had found the cure! In my 20’s, I married my girlfriend, had my one and only daughter and managed to stay relatively employed at various low-paying, back-breaking jobs.
But over time, my dream of becoming a world-famous musician was fading, and my dependency to drugs and alcohol was growing. I thought I would give college a try, maybe if I couldn’t be on the stage, I could work behind the scenes…mixing, producing, etc. I had a new dream and renewed sense of hope. But in March of 2013, I found out my Dad, my best friend in the whole world had been diagnosed with terminal stage 4 lung cancer. It felt as though my soul had been ripped from my body. I was absolutely crushed. He passed away in May of 2013, the same month I was set to graduate. That was when I leaned hard into alcoholism and drug abuse, the hardest I’d ever went before. It eventually lead me to divorce, nearly cost me my rights as a father and wrecked just about every relationship with family and friends that I had. Then one day, I woke up in a homeless shelter. I nearly laughed at the predicament I had gotten myself into. “This is not the life I want to live anymore”, I told myself. “I need to fix this.” So I reached out to some friends in recovery that I had met during my journey and ending up back in Austin. It was the start of a whole new chapter of my life. I’ve been sober since July of 2018.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I started off doing pop art and other character works, but more recently, I’ve been working on paintings of actual people, portraits, pets and/or nature pieces. It’s been great experimenting and practicing, honing my craft.
What’s next?
I want to keep growing my online Etsy shop. I’m always open to doing commissions, either from people directly through Etsy or Instagram. I just recently attended my first art show, which was a blast! I hope to do a lot more of them in the near future.
Pricing:
- $50 per 12×12 or 14×11 painting
Contact Info:
- Email: lifegivesyoulemons85@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LemonsArtCo
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lemonsartco/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/lemonsartco
Image Credits
Jesse Lemons Amy Lemons
