Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua McGrew.
Hi Joshua, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
From a young age, I knew I had a calling to be an artist. After high school, I pursued full-time work to help fund my passion for art. I was fortunate enough to meet some great people that saw what I was doing and believed in me–further leading to opportunities that challenged me to grow in different mediums. At the time, I was living in Southern California, then at the age of 19, after visiting my sister and her husband who lived in Cincinnati, I felt a tug to move here & pursue a career in art–in what seemed to be an artistically flourishing community. I was very fortunate to be right about that! This Cincy community has blessed me beyond my comprehension, and I consider myself very blessed. Within the past 4 years, I have worked in the coffee industry on & off to keep my finances consistent as I grew my business; then, in December of 2022, I left my coffee job to pursue my art full-time and am still going strong to this day!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been the smoothest of roads–but it definitely has been an incredible journey! Along the way, I’ve run into some obstacles, trying to stay consistent and inspired and having to believe in myself. There have been slow months, and there have been months where I have 10x as much business as normal. The biggest challenge has been trying to set myself up with enough acorns to last through those slower times. What I’ve done to ensure that (as best as I could) is having smaller sources of income that really do make a difference in the long run–walking a friend’s dog, consulting for coffee shops, hosting raffles through Instagram, and selling my artwork in an online store.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Muralist & Graphic Designer specializing in small- and large-scale murals, logos and graphics, and pretty much everything in between! I am known for my murals around Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, as well as being an Ambassador for Adobe–showcasing how to utilize different features on Adobe Express through my digital content creation skills on Instagram and TikTok.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future are to continuously challenge myself. I hope to get more involved with the artist community in Cincinnati as the years go on–both contributing my set of skills and creating a space for other creatives to do the same. I plan on creating more physical artwork on canvases that I can showcase in art shows and to grow as an artist in many different mediums.
Contact Info:
- Website: pablomccasso.com
- Instagram: pablomccasso
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/joshuaxix/
