We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jay Maggio. Check out our conversation below.
Jay, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Before the pandemic I had gained weight, shortly after the pandemic started I went on a strict diet and loss 10 lbs in those first two weeks. I added exercise starting with long walks, then added cycling outdoors, then swimming and weights. I am very happy at what I have since achieved with my body. In the last five years I have lost nearly 40 lbs weighing in at 151 lbs currently. I’ve gained muscle and reduced my waist by several inches. I’m so grateful for what I have been able to do at my age.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I come from a humble background working and paying my way through school. It hasn’t been easy and I have great empathy for others that are as challenged as I have been. I can’t begin to express how grateful I am to be a successful full time artist.
I create very detail modern style of pointillist/impressionist paintings of landscapes, most of which focus on trees. I play a lot with color and detail. I have several color combinations that have become very popular with my collectors.
Most of my paintings have been of lone trees in a wide-open fields but some of my latest creations have been dense forests in some unique color combinations. The forest paintings are influenced by my morning rides on bike trails in the Great Trinity Forest here in Dallas.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I was one of five children in a complicated dysfunctional family as a child/teenager. A bit shy, low self-esteem, very oppressed with great feelings of insignificance and no feeling of hope for my future. Today I have a great deal of hope for myself. Still shy sometimes but I have more confidence in myself than ever and I feel really good about myself, more so than perhaps at anytime in my life. I am very thankful for this!
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering, struggling to survive, being poor, not knowing where your next check will come from, all of this can not only make you feel very insecure but it can be very very humbling. My greatest envy is for those that never experience this cause they will never understand what this is like and they will have no real sense of empathy!
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Smart people fail to understand that being very smart is a privilege and being smart makes many smart people unable to understand people less intelligent than themselves and have empathy for them.
It’s very hard for smart people to put themselves in the shoes of people that are less fortunate. I believe that people that are compromised intelligently are so because they have less opportunity. It’s wrong to blame them for compromising situations they may have been born into or how they were raised.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
What will remain will be my paintings. This is true for all artists whether we are good are bad we leave behind physical evidence of our existence. In a way that makes us immortal(wink wink).
I have always tried to be good or better person and still do. I hope that could be my legacy but unfortunately that is not as physical as a painting.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jaymaggio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaymaggioartist/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymaggio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100039394705247
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/jetjay/
Image Credits
All images credit to Jay Maggio © 2025
