Steven Ward

I have been painting and selling art for 25 years, predominantly at outdoor art festivals. I did not study art in college, I have a business degree. My father was an architect and I grew up around drawing and sketching. I was always good at art and enjoyed it from a very early age, but never considered it as a career. At age 40 I tried my first couple art festivals in the Chicago area and was met with instant success. With some consideration of when the children were leaving home, paying for college for them and what not, my wife Cheryl pushed and supported my intro to the art world. I initially supplied artwork to several galleries from Key West to Santa Fe NM, but quickly withdrew most of the work, as it sold a lot faster at the festivals. I have averaged 5-10 paintings sold per show for years and have not felt the need to pursue other trade channels. But, I am now 65 and working outdoor art festivals is a lot of hard work. We own two homes and studios, one in Florida and one in Illinois which serve as home base for the festival markets summer and winter. Prior to the art world I worked in finance and marketing for a Swiss pharmaceutical company in their chemical division.

B.S. University of Illinois, 1980
MBA Illinois Institute of Technology 1983

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