Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Strom.
Hi Justin , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in 1980 in Fridley, Minnesota. I was only in Minnesota for 6months, and then we moved to Garland, Texas. Texas was my home the first 12 years of my life. I was born in Minnesota but feel like I’m still part Texan. My first influence of art wasn’t so much from living in Texas, as it was more the fact that my Mom was a painter, and my Father worked for a home builder, and we always had blueprints all over the place. At the age of 8 or so, I started drawing perspective drawings of buildings and streets and eventually started drawing floor plans. I was so into it that my parents bought me a drafting table and everything I needed to draw them. Eventually, I branched out and started drawing characters and people. My Mom was also a landscape painter, so every weekend, the Bob Ross videos would be playing while she painted. I remember all the Bob Ross tapes in the entertainment center right next to the VCR. OK, now I’m feeling old, lol!
Most of my early art was cartoon characters and people’s faces. I stuck with this into my teens. In my teens, I stopped drawing around 15 or so, but I kept up with the drafting. I would have the occasional art project for art class in school, but my teacher wasn’t a big fan of me as most of the students would tell him I was better than him. That made the class a little awkward. My school offered a drafting class and I went all in on that. At this time, I wanted to go into Computer Aided Drafting. After High school, I went to the Minnesota School of Drafting to pursue this as a career. I got my first internship and quickly realized it wasn’t what I thought it would be. This was a very tough but pivotal moment for me. I realized I had to start from scratch. I stopped everything artistic and went and worked construction. I knew this field well as I grew up around it. I could fix almost anything on a home, which was my only option. Three years later, I started my own painting company. This is where everything changed. I found the world of faux finishing, and this started slowly to bring art back into my life. Painting plain colors on walls all day took its toll on me, and I had to find a way to regain my creativity. I’ve had ADD most of my life, and I needed a way to get those creative thoughts out of my head. I started painting, and my brain calmed. From there, I never stopped. All the influence of my mother’s paintings flooded in. I began learning to paint. Once I decided I wanted to paint, I went all in. Got my first real canvas and paints and worked on my first painting to sell. It was a gold leaf background with a black palm tree and some patina. I was so proud of it. Then I came home one day, and it wasn’t hanging on the wall. My wife had taken it and put it in the closet cause we had company coming over. It’s ok, we laugh about it these days. Not a great start but I could only get better. That year I painted every evening and would sell them on Craigslist. I would go meet customers at a public parking lot and sell them a painting. I sold 100+ paintings that year just on Craigslist. Wild times. This led me to take on art projects that stretched my comfort zone. I started painting motorcycles, cars, and other objects. This involved a lot of airbrushing. This is where I found my signature Bubble technique.
The biggest change in my art was when I mastered the bubble technique. It took me about six years to develop this technique, which involved a lot of trial and error and wasted materials. This technique is one that I can call all my own. It had never been done before, and I am so grateful I stuck it out. It is definitely my signature style.
Art being the tough business that it is, I needed to find a way that I can be around art all day. Shortly after I developed my bubble technique, I started my company Paint Addict Studios. The company offers fine art prints to artists all over the world. Making fine art giclee museum quality prints for artists and photographers. It was never meant to be a company, but that changed very fast. I knew that I need to sell prints to help with sales. The prints I got at the time cost a good amount and also the shop took forever to get them done. Why not print my own! I was excited and also out of my league, but I knew Id fiqure it out. So, I bought a printer and started learning to print. Over the next year as I sold my prints, it caught the attention of other artists. 15 years later here we are printing for thousands of artists and photographers.
Now my days consist of running Paint Addict Studios and painting my artwork. Happy accident turned into a world full of art. I would’nt have it any other way!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not a smooth road. Running and starting companies is hands down the hardest thing I’ve ever done. On top of that, trying to work up the ladder in the art world is like climbing a mountain with missing rungs. You often have to navigate by intuition, and there are still many aspects of the industry that I am currently working to figure out. But hey thats part of the game right.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Paint Addict Studios / Justin Strom Fine Art?
We operate a dual-engine creative ecosystem: Paint Addict Studios, artist-owned fine art print manufacturing facility. We specialize in artisan Giclée printing, custom archival stretching, and creating rare, one-of-a-kind statement artwork. We offer drop shipping and custom art solutions for professional artists and online print sellers. Im most proud of the work we do for our customers. A lot of print companies take hidden shortcuts to lower cost. We keep everything museum giclee quality.
Justin Strom Fine Art. This is my painting and prints that I offer to my collectors. I have a space in Goza gallery in NE minneapolis, and my personal studio in Brooklyn Park Mn. This is my painting studio and print shop.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Justinstromart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinstromfineart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtistJustinStrom/
- Other: https://www.paintaddict.com
