William Matthesen

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

I started out painting walls in peoples homes. The transformation from painting a wall a different color was amazing to me, it looked so much better. It turned out to be a lifelong trade, and I got paid every Friday for it! It was a decent living as far as the money goes. Years go by and just putting a new color on the walls started to get boring. I started to learn about other painting techniques called Faux finishes. Faux is a French term for "fake." The techniques uses sponges and rags to apply colors over other colors. Painting became fun again! I started painting skies on ceilings, columns on walls, faux brick, wood graining, etc.. Painting murals became a passion until I saw a painting of a boy coming out of a painting, it was called, "Escaping Criticism". The artist was Pere Borrell del Caso. I realized I had never painted on a canvas, walls were my canvas. My interest in art evolved from there. I took a mail in course at Pittsburgh Institute of Art. I started to learn how to draw in ink and pencil using shading practices such as, cross hatching, and the light and dark of the pencil. I continue to make a living painting peoples homes and business but also sell my paintings.