We had the good fortune of connecting with George Kocar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi George, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have known from an early age that I was going to be an artist. Drawing came to me naturally as well as humor. So I started drawing cartoons.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a kid I drew cartoons. I was the class clown with a pencil. Always breaking up the class with my drawings. In college I experimented with many styles, and developed a painterly cartoon style. I started entering shows and gained a bit of success. I went to Syracuse University to get my MFA, and started getting commissions from major magazines, PLAYBOY, ESQUIRE, PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, to name a few. I then got a job at American Greetings. So my job was going to AG during the day, work on freelance jobs and painted at night. I was driven. To be a full time artist, you have to be driven. I was at AG for eighteen years, than I taught at different colleges for seven years. These days I mainly paint.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to West 78th Studios, Third Fridays. Located at the old American Greetings building, West 78th and Lake Road, it is a building full of art studios and hundreds of people pack in every third friday of the month. I do show a lot of my art in this building.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
To my wife Kathy, without whose support I would probably not made it as an artist.

Website: www.gkocar.com

Instagram: gkocar

Facebook: flying banana studio

Image Credits
Portrait by Chad Cochran Paintings by Allison Kocar

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutOhio is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.