They say that when life gives you lemons, you need to make lemonade, my dad used to say that to me when I was younger and that has stayed with me ever since. I mention this because I want to talk about the great Peter Max and how he gave me my start in the art world. A few years ago I was a struggling artist with a daughter, who was about to give up art as a career and get a ‘normal’ job. I noticed on Facebook that a friend of a friend was the daughter of one of my favorite artists Peter Max, I didn’t know her of course, but I saw an opportunity, and here is how I made that lemonade.
Contact
Whilst I didn’t know the girl I knew that this was an opportunity so I connected with her on Facebook, and brazenly asked if there was any way that I could meet her father. She very kindly put me in touch with his agent and I called him immediately, I told him that I was an artist and that I’d love to meet his client, and possibly show him some of my work. Reluctantly he agreed and the following week I went to party where he would be. Continuing the brazen attitude I stole a couple of minutes of Peter’s time to quickly tell him who I was and show him some of my work. Surprisingly he seemed to like me and seemed to like my work too, we swapped numbers and I waited with baited breath.
Chance of a Lifetime
A couple of weeks went by and I hadn’t heard anything from Peter or his agent, I figured that he maybe wasn’t interested and so I bit the bullet and began to look through some job vacancies. I was on the verge of applying for a post in a museum when the phone rang, it was him. He invited me to take part in a small exhibition which he was doing and he wanted me to contribute 3 pieces, I couldn’t believe my ears. I had never got into art to make millions, I just wanted to make enough to get by, and for people to enjoy my designs, and now this was my chance.
Lift Off
The exhibition went amazingly, everyone loved the pieces and Peter was promoting me to all of the people who were there. Peter and I got on like a house on fire and he loved my designs so much that he was finding me clients, in the months after that exhibition everything went crazy and so many people wanted me to do work for them. I now make a very comfortable living as an artist and I rely heavily on Peter for guidance and support. None of this would have been possible without Peter, but also without my brazen attitude towards trying to meet him, and trying to turn those lemons into lemonade.
When life gives you that chance, you have to take it.
