Philip Leister

I’m (I am?) a self-taught artist, originally from the north suburbs of Chicago (also known as John Hughes' America). Born in 1984, I started painting in 2017 and began to take it somewhat seriously in 2019. I currently reside in Oklahoma! (And yes, the birthplace of Ron Howard. Director of such films as COCOON and Willow.) with my wife and kiddos. Plus, my three dogs - Pebbles (a.k.a. Jaws, Brandy, Fang), Bam Bam (a.k.a. Scrat, Dinki-Di, Trash Panda, Dug), and Mystique (a.k.a. Lady), and five cats - Burglekutt (a.k.a. Ghostmouse Makah), Vohnkar! (a.k.a. Storm Shadow, Grogu), Hal (a.k.a. Ginger, Milo, Fred), Weenie (a.k.a. Mary Ann, Otis, George), and Meegosh (a.k.a. Lenny).

Part of the preface to the 'Complete Works of Emily Dickinson helps sum me up as a person and an artist:
"The verses of Emily Dickinson belong emphatically to what Emerson long since called ‘the Poetry of the Portfolio,’ something produced absolutely without the thought of publication, and solely by way of expression of the writer's own mind. Such verse must inevitably forfeit whatever advantage lies in the discipline of public criticism and the enforced conformity to accepted ways. On the other hand, it may often gain something through the habit of freedom and...

-Studied Writing and Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago (One Semester)
-Blockbuster
-Napster
-Encyclopedia Britannica
-Public Libraries
-Thee Art Institute of Chicago (Went to it at least three dozen times growing up)

That’d be cool.