This past weekend I met an amazing artist- David Victor Sherrod. Most have never heard of him, probably because he only does art because he loves it. I went to Sacramento with some friends who invited me, because they were going to some art galleries and they knew I like that kind of stuff. We went to the Crocker in Sac first, which was ok. There were some nice paintings, but nothing like what I do or anything that I could relate to or that inspired me. But later that day, we went to an artist colony of sorts. It was this property used my several artists along the Sacramento river. When we first walked in, there were chickens running around and a couple of goats in a cage. Then there were a couple of guys working on some kind of large sculpture/structure. It was quite odd. Then we met an older man, named David. He took us into a small trailer, filled with his artwork- paintings and drawings. They were really amazing. He had a large folder which he pulled out original pieces of his work, one after another. They were all very professional and looked like work from famous artists, like Dali. David's work ranged from native american drawings, to portraits, to surrealism, to a mix of figurative and congnitive. Most of his work was done between the late 70's and early 90's. Recently he has been making hundreds of images of mandalas with his computer. He showed us around the rest of the property, which included a large warehouse with large pieces of artwork and a stage set up with musical instruments. There was an artistic/mechanical repairman who had an area with lots of tools and machinery. There was also a small community type house which I believe several of the artists lived in, which also had some amazing pieces of art, including one painting that David did based off of Michaelango's sixteenth chapel. There was also a small warehouse where a few young adults had a glass blowing workshop set up. They held classes on blowing glass about every month or so. I was able to talk to David and ask him some questions about making a living as an artist. He gave me some good advice- about where to bring my work in SF, and to diversify, and stay true to art itself. I do admire David's passion for art, and his choice to live in what looks like poverty, even though he has made a lot of money selling art, prints, and books (he said his work has sold for between $600 and $10,000 for original pieces). But art is his love, not money. It is how I feel about art too, but I hope that art and money will be hand in hand, so that I can afford a safe place to live and raise a family. I bought one of David's books, filled with his drawings. It was a great experience, and I hope others can meet him and appreciate his artwork and who he is. None of his artwork appears to be anywhere online, but hopefully one day that will change so others can see it without having to travel.