Bold Strokes, Bright Spirit: Inside the World of Trowzers Akimbo

In this inspiring episode of Painterly Life, host Shannon Grissom sits down with award-winning artist Trowzers Akimbo to explore the rich tapestry of his creative journey. Growing up in the bohemian heart of Venice Beach, Trowzers was immersed in art from an early age, eventually carrying that foundation into his formative years at art school and a dynamic career in television, advertising, and animation.

Trowzers opens up about how these diverse experiences—along with his Hispanic heritage—shape the bold, vibrant color palette he’s known for today. He shares insights into his evolving artistic process, navigating both representational and abstract styles with curiosity and intention. Throughout the conversation, he reflects on the discipline required to sustain a creative life and the deep sense of purpose and joy that emerges from staying dedicated to one’s craft.

This episode is a celebration of creativity, resilience, and lifelong artistic growth. Perfect for artists and art lovers looking for a dose of inspiration.

Chapters

• 0:00 Igniting Creativity: An Introduction to Painterly Life
• 1:09 Trowzers Akimbo: A Journey Through Art and Childhood
• 5:56 The Influence of Venice Beach on Artistic Development
• 11:02 Art Education: The Impact of Influential Teachers
• 16:04 From Television to Commercials: A Creative Career Path
• 21:13 The Evolution of Artistic Style: Abstraction and Realism
• 25:48 Cultural Influences: Hispanic Roots and Color Palette
• 30:59 The Creative Process: Lessons Learned and Advice for Beginners

Transcript

Shannon Grissom (00:05)
Hi, I'm Shannon Grissom. Are you looking to ignite your creativity? Or how about be inspired by a steady stream of muses? Welcome to Painterly Life, the podcast that celebrates those who create, inspire, and innovate. So whether you're looking to spark your next big idea, reignite your passion, or simply soak in some creative energy,

This is the place for you. Painterly life, where every guest is a new muse, just for you.

Welcome to the Painterly Life podcast. I'm your host, Shannon Grissom. Today's guest is award-winning artist, Trowzers Akimbo, whose work is filled with color movement in the spirit of Venice Beach, where he grew up surrounded by creativity. Welcome Trowzers.

Trowzers Akimbo (01:09)
Thank you, thank you, it's good to be here.

Shannon Grissom (01:12)
Well, you you grew up surrounded by art. ⁓ Your mother and your grandfather, they were both artists. So can you tell me about your childhood and how that all evolved?

Trowzers Akimbo (01:24)
Yeah, so ⁓ I'm sure I'm the first born first grandkid in the in the family and the first born in my family. And ⁓ so I think they were probably hoping that there would be some creativity. My mother and father ⁓ and ⁓ actually when I was in kindergarten, ⁓ we had this assignment to draw something big and something small. And it turns out I was the only one that did two different animals. I did an elephant and a bird.

and an actually elephant with his trunk stretched out running to try to catch the bird landing on his trunk. And ⁓ my kindergarten teacher decided it was frameable and put it up for open house. And I was hooked. mean, I just loved the celebrity that I got in my little kindergarten class of having my work up on the wall. ⁓ And I was sad. then I think I've been an artist from then on, drawing on, probably drawing on walls, which I shouldn't have been doing.

around the border where electric train was mounted on. I know I drew a lot of train robberies and things like that that my dad wasn't too happy about. Anyway, yeah, so it's been a lifelong thing for me.

Shannon Grissom (02:38)
So how, know, Venice is such an incredibly creative place, know, amazingly creative place. So how did that shape?

Trowzers Akimbo (02:49)
Well, it wasn't the Venice that it is today. It was a little rougher back then, but it was very creative. And so I was so lucky because it was a creative center. A lot of art teachers in the system wanted to teach there. So we had just wonderful art teachers. And the environment's just great. mean, there's murals all over the place and graffiti all over the place, some really nice graffiti.

⁓ You know paintings of whales on buildings and things like that. So ⁓ it just it just drips Creativity and I had the best of teachers. So ⁓ they were they really supported the arts and Even by the time I was in high school They had pretty extended art classes like we had a watercolor class a teacher that was just a watercolor teacher So we had you know jewelry teachers and general teachers, but we had specialized teachers, too so yeah, it just

It was a great place to grow up. It really favored the arts.

Shannon Grissom (03:49)
Well, speaking of teachers, had Betty Edwards and others. Was that through that time there or did that come later?

Trowzers Akimbo (03:58)
That was, it was in high school. Yeah. So she was actually was, she was Betty Blumenthal then. She hadn't been, she wasn't married yet. Okay. And yeah, she was just a very influential teacher and the book was yet to come. So she hadn't written the book yet, but she had her methods and she was just a great teacher. Gave me a lot of leeway, which I always loved in teachers. Gave me a lot of hall passes. Yeah.

Shannon Grissom (04:25)
Did you need a lot of hop houses?

Trowzers Akimbo (04:29)
I was a

wild kid, yeah, especially on the high ⁓ side. So I wanted a lot of hall passives.

I was, ⁓ I really was into art and I've been in art my whole life. You know, I just looked at books, every book I could find on art in the libraries. So I, she was, when she was teaching art history, I knew most of what she was teaching on that level. So that's why she would give me the hall passes. It wasn't that I was being a delinquent, but I knew everything that she was going over. did fine in all the tests. So she would allow me to go to the library or wherever I might, she didn't know where I was wandering, but wherever I was wandering.

anyway.

Shannon Grissom (05:14)
⁓ I mean, I can only imagine I had her, you I went through her whole book drawing on the right side of the brain. And so to actually learn from her in person had to be incredible.

Trowzers Akimbo (05:27)
Yeah, yeah. And she's just a sweet, lovely lady and very cute. She was probably very young at that time and the cuteness helped. Amazing teacher. Yeah, she went on to Long Beach State, think, she actually got, I think, a degree in philosophy and psychology. And yeah, and the rest is kind of history with her. She was just amazing.

Shannon Grissom (05:56)
Well, I mean, I'm thinking about your high school. You were part of the prestigious Cal Arts program. So tell me about that.

Trowzers Akimbo (06:05)
Yeah, so another teacher who was really influential, Eleanor Pardo, ⁓ she really wouldn't let me get away with anything and wanted to make sure that I did go on to art school. So she, while I was still in high school, she knew that we needed to build my portfolio so I would be ready for submission to all the art schools. We have great art schools in Southern California. Cal Arts was there. Well, Chouinard is now Cal Arts. So Chouinard was there. Art Center was there.

Otis Pratt was there, and Long Beach State has an actual wonderful art program, and she wanted to assure that I submitted to all those schools. So she made sure that I, as one of my art projects, that I made a portfolio, and then she made sure that it was filled with the right pieces. And she knew I needed life drawing, so she made an arrangement with ⁓ Chouinard at the time, Cal Arts, for me to go downtown and do life drawing from the model, along with some of the stuff.

the registered students there. So I did that my last semester in high school and got my life drawing that way. It was a wonderful experience. I loved the campus and I was fortunate enough to get accepted to all the schools that I applied to and I chose that school. I knew the campus. I loved their style and they didn't have any dress standards, which was good for me.

Didn't want to cut my hair. Didn't, didn't, I wanted to wear Levi's, which ⁓ art center wouldn't allow you to do. So it w and they let you bring your dog to school. It was a, those were all factors that contributed to me going to Chouinard over the other schools. But it was a wonderful, the best education, the best education. You know, I went from a kid's goofing around ⁓ undisciplined. ⁓

And by the time I left four years later, I actually had a professional portfolio. I'm ashamed to show what I got in with compared to what I left with. was just, ⁓ you know, the thing about art school is, I mean, you can learn it all on your own. There's no doubt about it. But it's so concentrated ⁓ when you go to an art school because you're being taught by teachers who have a life experience in art.

but they also were instructed by people who had a life experience in art. those people were instructed by someone. So you're standing on the shoulders of all these giants, and they really speed up the learning process. You get so much more brush or pencil mileage done in four years of concentrated effort that would take you ⁓ literally decades to do on your own. So I felt really fortunate. ⁓

It's not like most colleges where you have classes here and there and you have days off and all that stuff. It's an eight hour class. You have your academics in the morning in an art school. I was fortunate I had a college prep major in high school, so I didn't have to go to junior college. So I could go right into a university. ⁓ so you had your academics in the morning. And then your first two years, you had different lab classes, drawing, color and design, painting.

all these different classes, but your second two years, you were drawing all day long. You had a model all day long. In my major, I was an illustration major. You had a model all day long, and then you were given assignments, which you had to do at home. ⁓ you know, I'd leave school, ⁓ go to work, my job, work till about 11:30 at night, and then come home and start my assignment. And I gotta tell you, many times the birds were chirping before I finished my assignment and the sun was coming up. ⁓

Yeah, it is intense. It is intense. I was young. I went right out of high school. So I was 18, 19 years old when I started. So you got the energy.

Shannon Grissom (09:58)
What kind of work did you do during that time?

Trowzers Akimbo (10:01)
I worked in a liquor store in Marina Del Rey, ⁓ and so they owned all these liquor stores all over Venice and Marina Del Rey. ⁓ Started out as a delivery guy, ended up as a manager of one of their stores. ⁓ And I did that, I started when I was 16 and then did it all the way through art school, supported me through art school until I graduated.

Shannon Grissom (10:24)
Did they give you ⁓ instruction on the business side because you have a good balance between the business side and the creative side of art?

Trowzers Akimbo (10:34)
I don't think they gave you enough. ⁓ There was one class of the artist in business or something like that. So I think anything I picked up is, before I started painting, ⁓ I spent, you know, 40 years as a commercial artist. So ⁓ that, I think, is where I got any kind of business sense I had. you know, I worked in television and then I worked in advertising. And I think the advertising was really, really helpful.

know, with all these top advertising agencies across the United States. any business sense that I may have gotten, I got probably from them, from doing that work.

Shannon Grissom (11:14)
Well, I know you worked at NBC for a time. you tell me about your time there?

Trowzers Akimbo (11:18)
Yeah, it was really fun. It was very, very hard to leave because it was so much fun. It's, yeah, so I was a graphic artist there. So what we were responsible for was it was with NBC. We had both a local affiliate, KNBC, the Los Angeles branch of NBC, and then we did the national work too. So we did everything that hung on the walls or went on the went on the screen on the air. So if it was a

promotion for the holidays or an announcement about something we did the artwork that went up on the walls. We also were responsible for body painting. So I did body painting on Laugh In, on the show Laugh In. ⁓ And I did... wow! Yeah, yeah, it was pretty funny, pretty nerve wracking, you know, because I was, by that time I was about 21 years old and my boss loved how nervous I got so he would take me over to do body painting with him to see...

because you're painting these beautiful go-go dancers, Goldie Hawn, Judy Carn and it's nerve wracking. They're celebrities, you're just a kid with a paintbrush. ⁓ then also Johnny Carson moved his show to Los Angeles while I was there and I was assigned to the show as the graphic artist on that show. So I got to do probably over 200 different pieces for the Tonight Show, the artwork that you would see going in and out of television commercials when the band was playing and things like that.

⁓ Also, the Gong Show, I designed a lot of logos and the Gong Show, I designed the logo for the Gong Show and was a graphic artist on that show. So it was pretty exciting. It was kind of like an extension of high school. It was a wild place with lots of people working there. Celebrities were always walking around. It was very difficult to leave, but ⁓ for graphic artists, it was a union job and they just didn't really pay enough long term to support a family.

So ⁓ when I actually was fortunate enough to receive an Emmy for some animated titles I did there, a show called NBC, The First 50 Years, ⁓ I couldn't get them to realize what I felt I was worth. And so I left and went into directing television commercials full time.

Shannon Grissom (13:38)
Wow. And so what was that experience?

Trowzers Akimbo (13:41)
It was really fun. ⁓ They were mostly animation and live action. We did combination commercials and we did a lot of animation. And it was a company that was ⁓ led by its founder, Bob Kurtz. It was called Kurtz and Friends Animation, ⁓ who really wanted to do, felt we were all filmmakers and always wanted to break the mold. And we never tried, we tried to never repeat ourselves. We were always trying to come up with groundbreaking stuff.

you know, we had clients like Levi Strauss and ⁓ IBM and Toyota and McDonald's we avoided the Cereal commercials so most all of our commercials were usually for corporate 500 companies ⁓ And it was just a super creative environment. We won tons of awards. We entered a lot of competitions and we're fortunate to win ⁓

⁓ I was there for about 12 years. ⁓ I was very, very busy. I would have 10 projects on my drawing board at a time at different stages of development. ⁓ did, I was a director designer there. So I did the storyboards, I designed the characters, I did all the extreme layouts, ⁓ I designed the backgrounds, I'd work out my color models, and then...

do all the color markups for ink and paint so they were there. And then I would do all the post-production and direct any voice talent we needed. It was just really exciting. My work was still going on the air, not as often as it did in television, but it still went on the air whenever my commercials were shown. it kind of culminated with me doing an experimental film there that was accepted into the Oddysey International ⁓ Animation Festival.

in Odyssey France. ⁓ it was pretty, pretty, pretty fun. yeah, I always illustrated at nights and on weekends. I did a lot of work for Sesame Street Workshop. I had like monthly ⁓ pieces in their magazines, ⁓ Sesame Street Magazine, the Electric Company Magazine, they used to print a of magazines back then. ⁓ So yeah, was pretty energetic. So I was doing illustration on the weekends and at nights and directing television commercials during the week.

Shannon Grissom (16:04)
So I know you watched a lot of cartoons from the 20s and 30s. Is that kind of coming full circle into some of your work today?

Trowzers Akimbo (16:17)
Yeah, definitely.

know, you know, there's I know television gets a bad rap, but for me it was different. It was really inspirational. I used to in the early days in the 50s when I was a little kid, I'd get up at the crack of dawn before my parents or any of my siblings were awake. And I'd watch first, it'd be a test pattern and then a farm report would come on. And then they'd start all these old. Yeah. Then they start showing all these old black and white cartoons, you know.

Steamboat Willie was in there, ⁓ so was ⁓ the Captain and the Cat. I can't remember the names of all of them, but lots of little mice with gloves on running around. ⁓ I just really enjoyed it. I was an animation fiend. ⁓ I watched the Disney shows, ⁓ Disney's World of Color, and before it was just called I think Walt Disney Presents. I watched all those things.

I an avid student of everything they were teaching. It's actually, I didn't study animation in art school. Everything I learned about animation, I learned watching Disney and buying Disney books and practicing animation as a seven, eight, nine year old kid. ⁓ So I ⁓ actually even built them. I don't know if you know what a multi-plane camera is, but it's a camera that they, it's a camera they developed for Pinocchio, which is basically a tower.

of sheets of glass that they could put background scenes on and animation scenes on. And then they could ⁓ take the camera and move it from the top of this tower down towards the floor. ⁓ as you pass through different parts of the animation, they take the glass out and you could continue going. And they got this real, it's before 3D, but they got a real 3D effect that I think you first saw in Point of View. ⁓ wow. Yeah.

I knew enough about that that later I had one built for a commercial we made. And that's all stuff I picked up at nine or 10 years old because I was so excited about animation. So it's definitely worked into my work. I I think you can see it in the work that I do today and the abstracted paintings that I do today.

Shannon Grissom (18:37)
Well, and you've done some completely photorealistic work and then you shifted over to abstract and I think you kind of go back and forth, but your vibrant, beautiful color is in everything you do. So what are you working on now?

Trowzers Akimbo (18:55)
⁓ right now I actually did ⁓ work on a representational nude from ⁓ a live model that we had with this group that you used to be president of. Yosemite, we used to be Yosemite Western artists, now it's Yosemite Sierra artists. ⁓ And we had a live model ⁓ and I did the representational piece and now I'm working on an abstracted version of that pose. ⁓

Actually, I was painting abstractly first. So I hadn't really painted representationally since I was before I went into art school. So I used to do some oils and stuff and I painted pretty representationally when I was a kid. I also did a lot of cartoons when I was a kid. But when I started painting as a fine artist, it was all abstraction. That's all I did. And then I learned about that.

group that had these live models every week up here where I live in Oakhurst. And ⁓ I showed up there with an iPad and a stylus, not knowing what I was going to be in for. I knew they had a live model. That was the attraction. And I got there and I saw everybody was a representational artist there. There was no one doing anything but realistic work. So I didn't want to frighten anybody with what I was doing. I didn't want the tortures and the

and the pitchforks coming out to drive me out of there. I worked representationally for the first time in years and years, and I kind of enjoyed it. And I'm going, you know what? I think I might ⁓ do some of this for a while. And it stuck with me. So I kind of do both. if ⁓ it's a unique pose, like, you we don't get nude models very often. Most of our models are clothed. So when I do, I try to take advantage of it.

do both a representational and ⁓ an abstracted version of that pose. Because the poses are, you know, are far, few and far between. I do the same thing when I set up a still life. If I set up, take all the time to set up all the lighting and everything for a still life, for a representational piece, I'll do that and then I'll usually do an abstraction from that same pose, from that same setup. I try to get the most out of it. But yeah, but the abstraction came first.

That's what I was doing first and I did that for a long time exclusively. And if it wasn't for that group, I probably never would have done any representational work.

Shannon Grissom (21:24)
wow, I didn't know that, I didn't realize that. Because when I first met you, you were doing the representational and then you switched to the abstract. And I have to tell everybody that Trowzers is one of the people that I hear in my head when I'm painting. I learned so much just standing in the room with him. He's amazing.

Trowzers Akimbo (21:46)
you're very kind. You're very kind. That's very kind.

Shannon Grissom (21:49)
Thank you. So I'm thinking about your color palette. Yes. And you've described it as being inspired by your Hispanic roots. ⁓ You have lovely color. So can you tell me about all that?

Trowzers Akimbo (22:05)
That's

what I'm told, is that it looks like it looks very Hispanic to Hispanic people. My maternal grandfather was from Mexico. And so my mother's maiden name was Gomez. So I'm 25 % Hispanic myself. I grew up with my grandfather was from a large family. He had four sisters and they would

lot of them were still living in Mexico. And when they would come to the United States to visit, they would always bring me these great toys, little carved Mexican animals, which I still can continue to collect now. ⁓ And super colorful. ⁓ And we have these great Fourth of July picnics at his house where all of his family would come up from Mexico and just colorful, colorful stuff. then, ⁓ you know, Southern California has got an amazing, amazing light.

I mean, it attracts people from all around the world. David Hockney, I understand, when he first visited the United States and saw Southern California, he had to move. The light was just amazing. I actually lived in ⁓ Southern New Hampshire, freelancing as an illustrator for about three years. And it's very, very high in the hemisphere. And it was depressing to me for a while. And didn't realize why until I...

for quite a while and the realization finally came to me that it never got any brighter even at 12 noon there than three o'clock in Southern California. ⁓ yeah, so the light is phenomenal there. And I'm a lifelong surfer. started when I was not lifelong, but I started when I was 13 years old. so I spent all this time and prior to that, I spent all this time at the beach. So the light at the beach and the...

the green water and the colorful bathing suits and all that stuff. It just says color, color, color. And ⁓ I really can't help myself. That's just how I paint. I can't take color out of stuff. ⁓ My wife uses a, as a fabric artist in a potter, and she uses a very muted palette, you know, but I can force myself into that if I ⁓ do color sketches and stuff like that ahead of time. But my natural inclination is just to put.

lots of color in there. Like I said, I just can't help myself.

Shannon Grissom (24:29)
Well, it's a good thing. Interesting. I'm thinking back to your welcome. I'm thinking about your toys. then that makes me visualize some of your paintings to those toys morph into some of the creatures that you have in your paintings, your abstraction work.

Trowzers Akimbo (24:32)
Well, thank you.

They affect it.

they definitely affect it. They definitely affect it. I mean, I've got a huge collection that surround. ⁓ I'm working in a temporary studio right now, but they surround my normal studio, they surround the ceiling. So I've got shelves up by the ceiling and it's packed full of Day of the Dead pieces, paper mache pieces and carved wooden pieces. I've got a huge collection and yeah, they're very inspirational to me.

So yeah, they definitely affect me. They definitely affect, ⁓ you know, I use, with my abstraction, I use a technique developed by Picasso and Braque that they used in Cubism, but they also used it in other things later called a multiple viewpoint perspective, where I consider my subject matter from all sides and I feel free to take things from all sides and put them into one ⁓ two-dimensional painting. So.

You may see the front of a coyote and the rear end of a coyote at the same time. That's what I strive for and that's what I kind of build the designs of my abstractions. That's how I build the designs of my abstractions, by taking elements ⁓ from all sides of my subject matter and putting them all together into one two-dimensional image. And there's a lot of that going on in the folk art that I have, probably accidentally in the folk art. ⁓

but it still inspires me and the patterns and everything that they put on them. I try to incorporate those into my paintings as well.

Shannon Grissom (26:25)
I'm thinking, would it be fair to say that ⁓ it's interesting that you're considering all sides, multiple viewpoints in your abstract, in your abstractions. But I'm wondering if the way your mind works, are you considering multiple viewpoints even in your traditional?

Trowzers Akimbo (26:47)
⁓ No, you know, so when I do traditional stuff, I kind of think of those as ⁓ artist eye calisthenics. And that's why I continue to do them. ⁓ Because they force me, it keeps my artist's eye fresh and keeps my artist's eye in ⁓ tuned. ⁓ So, you know, when I go into that, I'm basically ⁓ doing what I feel every artist should be doing is I forget what I'm painting and I pay attention to the shapes.

values and the colors. And then I stand back and magically it looks like what's in front of me. So, but when I'm painting it I'm not really looking at it as a still life or as a landscape or as a portrait. I'm looking at the shapes, the shapes of the values and the colors on there. I'm putting these patches together and if I put them together in the right way ⁓ they end up looking like what's in front of me.

So I do truly think of my representational painting as exercise to keep my artist's eye sharp.

Shannon Grissom (27:54)
You've described yourself periodically as a bit of a sponge. What's seeped into your artist life lately?

Trowzers Akimbo (28:04)
Yeah, no, it's well over the time everything I see my I realize that I see things differently than everybody and that my right brain ⁓ is way out of proportion to my left brain. In fact, I was a math major in high school. I was a hack because when I went to high school, yeah, and I was college prep. They wouldn't accept more at that time. They wouldn't accept art or music as a major.

if you wanted to do college preparatory work, and if you wanted to skip junior college and go right into the university. So ⁓ I had choices. I could do foreign language. I could do math, or I could do social studies based on my grade point average and how I was doing in those subjects. And I chose math. But I realized later in life that I was not doing, because they wanted you to prove all your answers and do everything on paper.

I was fine, but I realized much later I was doing things like ⁓ spelling and mathematics in my right brain and not my left brain where you're supposed to do all that kind of calculation. So I've got this little flaw when I do math or when I spell of I have to, I basically am doing it in the air in my brain. ⁓ I don't do those things like you're supposed to do in math where you take tens and hundreds and single digits and. ⁓

average things and then put the remainders on there to do math. I'm actually doing something like I'm actually doing them as if I'm doing them on a chalkboard. And I do the same thing when I spell. And that's not really how you're supposed to do it. But I think I drew and painted so much when I was a kid that my right brain by the time I hit public school, my brain was doing everything with the right brain. So I've got this tape recorder that's going that's going a video recorder that's going all the time.

And so everything I see, if it's interesting to me, gets recorded. So I have a very difficult time sticking with any one style when I paint and when I draw, and I always have. ⁓ It's why, it was why working in television where I had to do a bunch of different styles and working in animation where I had to do a bunch of different styles was ideal for me. But I have a really hard time as I'm a painter not coming up with a bunch of different styles. I try to stick with

kind of the two approaches I have now, the representational approach I have and the abstraction approach I have. But I would love to paint like Van Gogh and I would love to paint like Matisse and I would love to paint like ⁓ you name it, Monet, Manet. ⁓ So that's where I say I'm a sponge. Everything I see, if I see a nice piece of, a nice section of graffiti on a wall, I record it and it's there and it may show up in one of my paintings.

and any new artists I see, ⁓ if there's something there that I really like, I store it in there and it comes out later. So I feel I'm fortunate that way. I remember if you ask someone, even an artist, to draw a tricycle or a bicycle or a motorcycle just out of their head, you'd be surprised at the difficulty that a lot of them have. I don't. mean, it may not be completely accurate, but it...

it's accurate enough to be an illustration in a book and I found that out when I was an illustrator. So yeah, that recording device is going all the time for me. I feel very fortunate.

Shannon Grissom (31:39)
Wow. Yeah, you are very fortunate that you can, that it's retained and you can see it and you can work from that.

Trowzers Akimbo (31:46)
Yeah, I've got these, I'm always being bombarded by these influences.

Shannon Grissom (31:52)
So what do you think ⁓ creativity has taught you about life in general?

Trowzers Akimbo (32:01)
Well, it's taught me that I pity anyone who isn't doing something that they love wholeheartedly. So what it's taught me is that if you've got a passion, any kind of a passion, you just have to go for it and trust that it will work out for you. It may not go exactly as you wanted it to go.

⁓ It's important to roll with the punches. You know, I started out wanting to do ⁓ illustration in magazines and books, but I had this path in television graphics through animation and actually computer games and all these things as an artist and it kept me working as an artist my entire adult life. So I think what it's taught me is if you really have a passion for something, in my case, creativity.

⁓ You can make it, it'll work if you just stick with it. And it's, I guess what I've learned from it is that it's ⁓ so fulfilling. I've never or rarely said, I gotta go to work. ⁓ I mean, yeah, I have the fear of the empty canvas like everybody, but I love it so much and ⁓ that I...

basically just make myself start working, start putting the strokes on the brush and then pretty soon I'm into it and it's going for me. But it's just, it makes your life fulfilling. Creativity has taught me that, yeah, in my case, ⁓ it gave me a completely fulfilling life. Every day is wonderful.

Shannon Grissom (33:44)
you know, life happens to all of us. How do you fill the well and keep yourself ⁓ motivated? Do you have any trouble with that?

Trowzers Akimbo (33:51)
You know what? don't have a problem with don't need to. No.

You know, when I was young, guess it was more difficult. I can remember I'd go down a path and I couldn't fix it. You know, a painting path, illustration path or something, and I couldn't fix it. And I'd have to tear it up and start over again. But with all the mileage I've had with a brush and a pencil.

Now I can kind of work my way out of any corner. ⁓ it's, I don't think I ever get those blocks. I just keep working until I'm happy with it. ⁓ I do a lot of scraping out and repainting and stuff like that, but that's all part of the process. And I just realized it's going to work if you just keep going at it. I ⁓ don't get the, I'm lucky, I hope I never do, but so far I haven't had a block and I've been at it for quite a while.

Shannon Grissom (34:47)
Do you paint every day?

Trowzers Akimbo (34:49)
I try to. I try to get into the studio at four o'clock every day and paint till eight o'clock. I've got a pretty small little ranch up here, so it takes a lot of work. Life takes a lot of work. You've got a lot of other things to do. But I try to dedicate a very specific block of time every day and stick to it. That's kept me productive.

So everybody in my family knows that four o'clock I'm going to go into the studio and I won't show up again until eight. And ⁓ yeah, that's worked really well for me. And I recommend it for everybody. I don't care what time it is, but try to find whatever amount of time you've got. Try to find a block of time every day. maybe it's every other day, if you can't do it every day. But stick with it, even if it's one day a week. But stick with it. Go back.

You know, at the same time, go in there. That's your time and stick with it. If you're having trouble, just keep working on it. Don't say, I'm not in the mood today. That's the worst thing for artists, I feel, is to only paint when you're in the mood. And I experienced that when I was younger. When I was a kid, I only painted when I was in the mood. And I didn't get as much work done. So you just don't let yourself off the hook. Go for it.

Shannon Grissom (36:09)
I agree. There's amazing things that have happened when ⁓ I was tired and dragging my butt and I just start painting and just like praying. And if I hadn't shown up, it wouldn't have happened. So it's just, it's a matter of showing up and just keep going.

Trowzers Akimbo (36:24)
Yeah, and the energy comes. mean, I've been exhausted, like you said, on particular days and you get in there and the adrenaline starts pumping and yeah, you just throw in pain.

Shannon Grissom (36:38)
That's awesome. Well, we're getting close to the end of time here, but I was thinking, is there any words you would want to tell somebody who's just starting out about the creative process or what you wish you knew when you were younger?

Trowzers Akimbo (36:54)
⁓ Well, when I was younger, I wish I'd had that. I wish I'd known that it's important to set up a specific time to paint and to stick with that time and to dedicate yourself to that time. I remember I've seen kids who are really highly supported by parents when they were young, like nine, 10 years old, and they even set up studios for them in a garage. those kids,

were productive at a young age and you have a leg up on the rest of us ⁓ who don't really get serious about it until later. And I'd say if you love painting when you were a kid, get serious about it. ⁓ You know, it's never been easier to study art with the internet. know, when we were kids, you had to go to the library and check out books and they didn't have every book on every artist and everything's up there. You can find everything up there.

So take advantage of it. it's never too early to get started in art and stick with it because pencil and brush mileage is how you become better and more proficient. There's no shortcut. You just got to do it, do it, do it. So the earlier you start and the more you do it, the better you're going to get and the faster you're going to get better.

Shannon Grissom (38:17)
Now, how can people find you online?

Trowzers Akimbo (38:21)
⁓

I'm at Trowzers Akimbo dot com ⁓ And I've got links to all my social media on my website along the bottom of every page So yeah, if they just start it and Trowzers is spelled t-r-o-w-z-e-r-s is how I spell Trowzers ⁓ And so you just go to Trowzers Akimbo.com ⁓ Yeah, you can all my contact information is there as well as my work

Shannon Grissom (38:49)
Well, great. Thank you for being here, Trowzers. You're incredibly inspiring.

Trowzers Akimbo (38:54)
Well, thank you for having me and thank you for that compliment.

Shannon Grissom (38:59)
you're welcome. Well, this is another wrap of Penerle Life. Please be sure to like, subscribe and share so that I can send you more inspirational episodes. That's a wrap. We'll see you next time.