Check Out Aaron Grayum’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Grayum. 

Hi Aaron, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Technically speaking, I was born during a blizzard in the small town of Ravenna, Ohio. Not long after, my parents bought a pop-up camper and moved to a campground in Florida before settling in Nashville when I was 3. I’ve lived in and around Music City ever since. One of the questions I get asked the most at art shows — besides “so are you FROM Nashville?” — is “how long have you been an artist?” Which is a fair question, but hard to answer because I have zero memories of ever NOT being an artist. I remember sitting in my bedroom on Brookhollow Road just after I’d turned 4, drawing pictures of Donald Duck at my desk. I went to Abintra Montessori for elementary school, and at the time, Top Gun and Micro Machines were popular, so I used a yellow mechanical pencil I’d gotten in a Happy Meal to draw fighter jets and aircraft carriers as tiny as I possibly could. Occasionally I would paint, but never really liked the mess it made. I preferred my nice, clean, easily accessible pencils. In high school, I practiced drawing comic book characters and dreamed of becoming a comic book illustrator one day. In fact, part of why I went to MTSU for college was because, although they didn’t have an illustration major, I could instead major in graphic design (a field I’d never heard of) and still minor in Illustration. Earning a full scholarship didn’t hurt either. My illustration professor, Barry Buxkamper, is one of the most talented illustrators I’ve ever known. 

Fast forward a few years to 2005 when I was working as the staff graphic designer at a megachurch in Bellevue. I had been tasked with gathering a small group of artists to create some large Christmas-themed paintings. I hadn’t painted in some time, and this was a situation where I didn’t feel that the Rothko-inspired abstract oil paintings (which had been my style previously) would fit the bill. So, I switched to acrylic because I needed something fast, wrote the word CELEBRATE across the top, and then just painted something fun without thinking too much about it. Afterward, I was approached by a lady who wanted to buy the painting for her bonus room. She then asked if I wanted to donate some art to the annual Kidney Kaper art auction. I said sure and then had to figure out what to paint, assuming she’d expect them to look somewhat like the piece she just bought. That’s about the time when my wife suggested I could start incorporating into my artwork all these little drawings I’d made ever since I was a kid. So, I very quickly created five colorful, playful paintings that did not look like ANY of the other artwork in the very fancy art auction. At some point, I figured the organizers were going to tell me they made a mistake and could I kindly pack up my canvasses and leave. But that didn’t happen, and instead, I sold three paintings that night. 

Ever since then, I’ve been painting and showing my art in Nashville and around the country. I’m currently represented in Nashville by Swipe Right Art. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’ve certainly had good fortune and great opportunities along the way, I won’t deny that for a second. But for every great thing I may share, there are plenty more disappointments and plans that didn’t work out. 2020 was just awful. Nearly every show I was scheduled to be in was canceled due to COVID-19, and who knew if they’d ever come back? How was I supposed to be able to sell art if nobody could see my art? I wasn’t ready at all for a “digital pivot,” but the lockdown pushed me to answer all my questions about selling fine art prints of my work, and that allowed me to reach a world of people whom I hadn’t been able to through in-person shows. And now it’s a regular part of my business model, along with in-person art shows which (knock on wood) seems to be back! 

Being a professional artist isn’t easy, and it’s an insane amount of work. I don’t know a single artist who doesn’t struggle with crippling self-doubt, no matter how successful they are. Our job as artists is to open our hearts to the public, vulnerable and bare, open to a world of criticism that we’re somehow supposed to not take personally. And yet, we keep making art, because we’re artists and that’s what artists do. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I paint colorful images inspired by drawings I made when I was a kid. Many of the subjects I paint — birds, sailboats, airplanes, jellybean trees, and even my piano-playing guy — are pretty much how I remember drawing them back in elementary school. It’s a refreshing mindset I get into every time I paint. It’s a way for me to reach into my own past and bring forward some very important pieces of who I am — pieces I might have otherwise left behind — and share them with those who might be able to relate. 

I love seeing both kids and adults enjoy my paintings. I’m thankful to have a style of art which can reside in a baby’s nursery just as easily as it can over the fireplace — and I’ve seen lots of both — which just means I can reach and connect with more people that way. My art isn’t just joy and whimsy, though. It has layers (because childhood has layers) and I realize that although we were all once kids, our childhoods probably looked and felt very different from one another. But art opens the door to connect to each other and to ourselves. My art strives to be honest and vulnerable and happy and sad and meaningful, and it always has an underlying theme of hope and love, which I believe is what we need right now more than anything. 

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
As far as my art journey, here’s the most important lesson I’ve learned along the way: no matter what happens, find a way to keep making your art. In fact, Andy Warhol said it best: “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” 

There have been many days in my career when I wanted to just give up on making art. I wasn’t selling anything. I felt like nobody took my art seriously. Nobody seemed to notice it or want it or care. I believed what I was doing was special, why didn’t they? And so, I wanted to just put it all in storage and just walk away. Or heck, maybe even have a bonfire in the backyard. But every time I wanted to quit, my wife Michelle helped me find my way back, and she’s easily the reason I’m still making art today. So, my lesson-within-a-lesson is this: find people in your own life who believe in what you do, will listen to you when you fall down, and then will help you get back on your feet. And then after you catch your breath, get back to work! 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aarongrayum.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/aarongrayum
• Facebook: facebook.com/aarongrayum

Image Credits
Annette McNamara
Ashley Bergeron
Swipe Right Art