Ryan Wollard July 29, 1979- Floridian born in Homestead

I was raised amongst sailors, barnacles, and fiberglass, and born in the same hospital as my father. My first home was the family marina in the Florida Keys. I've since moved many times, but my heart and my home will always be at mile marker 74 on the Overseas Highway.

I've been an artist for longer than I can remember, but every child is an artist. My mother, Renee Wollard, has been an artist longer still. Some of my earliest memories are of her holding one of my crying siblings in one arm, while applying paint to canvas with the other.

In high school, I studied the basics for a year before finding my first artistic love: sculpting stone. I was lucky to have a great teacher who gave me the freedom to create. What better way to work through teenage angst than to take a hammer and chisel and blast away at a piece of rock?

I studied sculpting for a year at Florida International University in Miami, but moved to Orlando before entering the program. I earned my Associate of Arts degree from Valencia Community College where I studied both 20th century and Greek and Roman humanities. These classes reawakened my artistic spirit.

At this point, I had the typical college apartment with roommates easily classified as party-mongers. We were poor students and needed a cheap way to decorate our humble abode in order to impress the girls who came to our parties. The remedy: I visited the local art supply store and began my education as a painter. I am mostly self-taught as a painter, though I studied drawing at the University of Central Florida while working on my Bachelors Degree in Marketing. I spent most of my free time in the art department meeting other students and learning. I found that I enjoyed the company of artists more than the dog-eat-dog future CEO's across campus.

My work has been displayed at the OVAL gallery in Downtown Orlando, as well as the Annual Rossist New Year's Eve Celebration. I am a founding member of the contemporary artistic movement Rossism, which is dedicated to the selfish pursuit of artistic expression for no reason more than pleasing oneself.

Artist Highlights

• ArtWanted.com Gallery:    Fine Art