Today we’d like to introduce you to Osei OVid.
Osei, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Since January 9, 2016, I have been on a reinvention/healing journey that has allowed me to become a creator and maker that reflects a positive life. I introduce my story and artworks to everyone in the world who likes the underdog that wins. Although formally trained as a commercial photographer and 3D computer animator, I currently take time to explore acrylic painting, music engineering, video production, 3D character renders, writing, and virtual reality as some of my most fun passions.
My name is Osei Ovid, and I am a 45-year-old juried, multiple award-winning, professional artist, I grew up in a single-parent home raised by my mother, who was a soldier in the U.S. Army. Of course, living on/around various military bases helped shape my view of the world and broadened my perspective of culture. My mom wasn’t raising a punk, always making sure I was mentally stimulated to learn and be curious of my surroundings. One of the best ways she fostered this avenue of creativity was to give me a camera at a young age.
I literally learned to focus beyond the adversities that challenged me during the 1980s and 1990s while attending school. I used photography, music, movies, playing past sundown, and video games to become book and street smart. I had my fair share of getting in trouble as a teenager but never lost the passion for creating an image that told a story. I sold my 1st picture when I was 15 years old. This was a pivotal point in my art life because it taught me people appreciated things that I create. I graduated from high school in 1993. I immediately began pursuit of happiness so to speak and started studying how to become a professional photographer in college… I began loving everything about it. I took a job as a telemarketer to pay for my school. At the time I hated it. However, it was paying for my film, but more importantly, it was teaching me about marketing and sales. I worked there for a while before I realized I could make more money with my cameras.
From age 18-21 years old, I took several positions as a photographer like Glamour Shots, SeaWorld of Texas shooting pictures of guests and various other aspects of the park, before throwing three darts at a map and choosing to move to Seattle, Washington. I enrolled in school again, this time at the Art Institute of Seattle’s Commercial Photography program. I packed up everything and jumped on Amtrak, and traveled the United States with my camera bag and backpack. By the time I reached the great Pacific Northwest, I had taken a job with TIme-Life Books and Music. Once again, I was paying for film and school with a job that was teaching me great sales experience but left my heart completely empty. November 1997 a month before Christmas; I walked into my amazing office with panoramic mountain view, looked across the sea of cubicles, assessed the average age of the people working there; saw that there was no place for real growth in the corporate ladder, called my manager in and told her that I quit.
This was one of the most liberating and scariest moments of my life at that point. I had no idea what I was going to do, yet I knew I had a Christmas break to figure it out. I found another job four days later at a place called Camera’s West in Bellevue, Washington. This would turn out to be one of the best decisions in stepping into my artist career. Once again, I was selling a product for a company. However, this time it was cameras and technology, and I loved it. This opportunity allowed me to study a subject that I legitimately was interested in. I became an expert in my field and enjoyed the benefits of being a top salesperson. I started shooting portraits on the side and eventually met someone who changed my life perspective. James was one of my clients, and he had a loft space in the Shoe Building, which he soon turned into a gallery shortly after meeting me.
1999 I began doing gallery shows, printing pictures, selling, and partying way too much. I failed a semester of school and began to feel like a Tiger shark in a pond full of guppies… based upon my newfound success, and thoughts about Y2K I decided that I was going to move to Los Angeles to become a fashion photographer. I found my self on expedition mode, exploring L.A. for six weeks before deciding to really do it. 2000 January, I loaded up the budget truck with my 1st fiancee, and we drove down to California. It took us six weeks of living in motels and hotels before we found a place to call home.
We had the perfect team for L.A. she was a make-up artist and I was a photographer. I had a lot to learn initially because my pictures weren’t as commercially viable for the Los Angeles market that I thought they were. Needless to say, I had to do a whole lot of trade for prints/Cd’s to build a portfolio, reputation, and working relations with people in the industry. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Eventually, I met one of my best friends to date in Hollywood. Again my life changed, he had a studio and we began to shoot head-shots. That turned into model shoots, cd covers, celebrity weddings and commercial photography. I was living life in the fast lane and everything was 100 mph, no brakes, and sunglasses. Southern Cali was amazing.
I lasted five years before burning out… 2005, That’s when I moved to Miami. I went from partying in a penthouse with a Playboy Playmate in California to facing one of my biggest life fears… losing everything all at once, and being homeless in Florida. I remember Hurricane Wilma all to well, but 1st Katrina rocked my world. Recovery was slow and painful. However, I experienced freedom for the first time in my life during this time. I became humble, learning life lessons like asking for eighty-nine cents so that I could get some rice and peas to eat.
I endured by not letting the world know I was homeless. I slept behind a synagogue on South Beach… I would shower early in the morning in one of the beach showers, or go into random bathrooms and use the handicap stalls. I walked a lot and always carried a journal and a portfolio… for some odd reason I believed I would work as a photo assistant. The day that it got cold outside is the day I was blessed to get into a shelter.
I started going out everyday, looking for employment, because we had to be out by 8:30 a.m. It took me about two months to find a job doing banquet setups at one of the major hotels on the beach. I hated just about every aspect, but once again, I had some money in my pocket. One day while I was walking into work, the Miami Boat show was happening. I said to myself that I wanted to own one of those yachts that I saw… I thought about it all day, like 12 hours. When I got off work, I walked outside and the voice in my head says, how are you ever going to own one if you have never been on a boat like that? That was the moment I decided to walk the dock. These steps along Collins avenue changed my life again. This is where I met captain Ron. He asked if he could help me, and I asked him how does someone own one of these yachts.
I ended up quitting my job the next day after a few lengthy conversations and a few beers. I was offered a job cleaning boats in Fort Lauderdale. The unfortunate part is my character was tested before I had true success in that industry. For instance, by this time, I had moved out of the shelter, and was living in a hostel… the short story of that is I was arrested in a bank in Fort Lauderdale and tackled to the ground, for something I did not do a week after getting the job. Everything worked out even if I did have to walk a few miles from the police station in a town I was not familiar with. I ended up working on a Mega Yacht, became the 1st mate, and started studying to get my captain’s license.
I was literally ready to set sail when the boat sold. I began to think about my dreams again. Somehow in 2007, I saw an advertisement for a 3D Computer animation program at a school in Boca, Raton, Florida. I went to the open house, the next thing I know… I am enrolled in that program. I became a 30 something-year-old student. I got financial aid and started working for Apple Computers. Somewhere between long lab nights, lots of projects, no sleep, I fell in love and met my now ex-wife in 2009. In 2010 a semester before I was supposed to graduate, I was falsely accused of plagiarism and kicked out of computer animation school. Devastated, I took several jobs in order to pay the bills. Her mother died in January the same year that we were married in 2011. Throughout the next few years, we faced tremendous amounts of stress, including taking on the responsibility of her brother who had special needs. During this time, I learned anger was not my friend, and I named it Incredible Hulk Syndrome. We had a son in 2012, but still argued about everything, we fell out of love and separated in 2016, divorced in 2017.
January 9, 2016, was the last time that I have hugged my son. I got into the Uber, tucked my head, rode I silence to the airport, and went back to California a decade later… this time, I was depressed, hopeless, homicidal, and suicidal. My heart was darker than the abyss of a black hole. I was living in the desert, where very few things live. Minus physically dying everything else did. It took me a few months to even realize what day it was. Eventually, I was able to reconnect with my mother. She invited me to come out to Dallas and live with her. We were not close at this point, so this was the last thing in the world that I ever imagined. It turns out this was the best decision I could have made. November 2016, I got on the Grey Hound and took it from Los Angeles to Downtown Dallas. I now had a 2nd chance at life… I kept thinking about my son, everyday I found something to smile about.
I started working as a bartender just to occupy my time. I was walking everywhere and taking the Dart. I eventually saw another opportunity advertisement… this time it was to be a Lyft driver. I was able to get a vehicle and quickly learn my way around the city. Shortly after being served divorce papers one night, I went to Deep Ellum to have some fried chicken and some drinks. My life changed again. That night, I met another friend. He asked me what I thought about his paintings. I told him that they weren’t finished because they weren’t signed. Over the next few weeks, I would see him when I was going out; he persistently asked me to paint on the corner of Crowdus and Elm with him. I finally did one day. That 12X12 was the first time, I painted. Several months later, I entered into an art show and was accepted. Now my position was I had to produce something. I painted my 1st 16X20, printed some 20X30 digitals, and framed everything. A month later, my friend Robert invited me to come paint with him at the Arts in Medicine program at the Charles A Sammons Cancer Center. I had no idea that art was going to be my therapy and grace to heal my heart ad save my life.
Has it been a smooth road?
It definitely has not been easy. I have overcome many obstacles including not wanting to live, being homeless, losing my family, not having money, not having a vehicle, learning to be resourceful, moving to a new town, and not having a network. These are just a few of the problems that have been turned into opportunities to shine.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
I create custom art for collection and public view. What sets me apart is my work is not like everybody else’s I am known for utilizing hyper colors, bling, glitter, assemblage and unique fantasy themes in my art pieces. I am most proud that I am consistently blessed to create amazing work.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel that Dallas is a great place for someone like me because there is so much construction and builds happening. Most art collectors don’t want something that they can buy at one of the standard box stores. With a commission from me, they know they are getting a one of a kind piece production or a limited edition.
I would recommend someone starting out here to definitely do it because there is plenty of room for success, and plenty of people with all kinds of budgets here.
Pricing:
- I have something for every budget to afford starting at $25 +
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.redbubble.com/people/Samuraismiles/explore?asc=u
- Phone: 9727048385
- Email: Oseiovid@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram @Samuraismiles
- Facebook: FaceBook@ EYES LIKE OCTOPI
- Other: https://shopvida.com/collections/osei-ovid
Image Credit:
Osei Ovid @Samuraismiles
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