I have learned in the last 2 years just how important it is to give someone a chance, and it was Peter Max who has taught me just how much you can change someone’s life when you do so. Peter is one of my favorite artists and I discovered a couple of years ago that a friend of a friend of mine was actually the daughter of the great man, it’s amazing what you can find on Facebook! At that time I was very much a struggling artist, about to give up on my dreams of making it into a career. I never wanted to make millions, just to create art for a living, and Peter gave me that golden chance.

The Party

I had seen on social media that Peter’s daughter was having a birthday party and so I managed to get an invite via my friend. As soon as I got to the party I knew that her Dad would be there and so I found Peter and brazenly stole a few minutes with him. I spoke at 100 miles per hour and told him that he was an idol of mine and that I wished to break into the art world, asking if he had some tips. Peter took my number and told me that he’d be in touch, I didn’t believe him.

The Call

Two weeks after the party I was beginning to feel as though I had missed this opportunity when I get a call from a guy who says that he is one of Peter’s agents and that he wanted to see me. I couldn’t believe it! Two days later I was in Peter’s art studio showing off some of my work and he asked if I would like to feature on an exhibition which he was doing for young artists. Naturally I jumped at the chance and spent the next 10 days working tirelessly on my new pieces.

More than a Chance

I expected that I wouldn’t even be at the exhibition, that I would just submit my work and then he’d let me know how it went. Somewhat surprisingly however Peter not only wanted me there, but he spent the night telling people who I was, how great my art was and that I had the chance to be the ‘next big thing’ in the art world. The weeks after the event I received a huge amount of local attention and had more orders than I could possibly have dreamed of. This was 2 years ago and I am still working as an artist, only now I am not struggling.

Peter Max did all of this for me simply because he believed in me, he didn’t have to help me, he didn’t have to promote me and he certainly didn’t have to stay friends and help me for the following years. Peter saw a little bit of potential and used this status to take a chance on me, something which I will certainly do for someone else in the future.