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John Chinn Biography

 

I was born in Galveston, Texas in 1951 where my parents were living while my father was attending medical school. So the first two years of my life were spent on a sandy beach looking out to the flat horizon of the sea. This was a preparation for ending up in Lubbock, Texas. (Same flat horizon, different landscape, but plenty of sand in both places.) In between I grew up in Colorado City, Texas, left for college at A&I University in Kingsville, TX for a year and from there to Texas Tech University in Lubbock where I finally graduated in 1976 with a BFA in Art. After that, I went to work in construction and house painting, and continued making art on the side. After a divorce in 1986, I worked around Texas in a nomadic way for a few years working in construction while still pursuing art. When I returned to Lubbock in the 90’s, I was dedicated to my art making and finally knew my method. I met Angela Adams an Illustrator who took me on as a husband, inspired me to do more, and helped get my life organized. After eight more years of working as an artist and showing in a number of competitions and exhibitions, I landed what was supposed to be a temporary job teaching drawing and painting to freshmen and sophomore students in the College of Architecture. This one semester job turned into something that has lasted for eighteen years until my retirement in May of 2017. It was a great job, and it taught me a lot about how to be an artist, a teacher, and a decent person. But now it’s time to get back to work as a full time artist. I was lucky to have continued to concentrate on my art during my time teaching at Tech, because it’s what I am and what I choose to do. The best way to inspire students to make art is to show them that it’s not just a job, it’s a commitment, and that it can be done as a professional occupation. I loved teaching art, and I’m an artist first and foremost. I have been a very lucky person by being stubborn in my choice of work. Because of that, I have achieved a certain satisfaction in my life.  Being retired means I’m free to get to work.

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