Painter, sculptor Michael Escoffery on mission to make art meaningful
MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. -- Painter and sculptor Michael Escoffery is on a mission to make as much art as he can, and make it meaningful for others.
"I have ideas in my head that I've had for the past 20, 30 years that I want to express, but I don't think I'm ready or I'm capable of telling those stories yet, because I've not learned enough, both art and life," said Escoffery. "Life is never long enough for you to create everything you want to create."
Escoffery has been painting every day for 40 years. Every drawer in his Mount Vernon studio has finished works, prints or studies.
Some of Escoffery's larger pieces sell for thousands of dollars, but he said it's not really about the money.
"I do it because I have to do it. I don't do it thinking about the money or if they will sell. I'm just living my life's purpose," he said. "I have something to say, something that needs to come out and I have to put it down on a canvas."
And, Escoffery says anyone can paint.
"Remember kids, one of the first things they start doing is drawing and painting. So arts is instinctive and it can be done. You need to know form, you need to know texture, you need to know movement and you have to understand color, if you're a painter. It's like the ABC's. You need to know the ABC's before you can read," said Escoffery.
Escoffery will be participating in the Harlem Fine Arts Show this week.