James ‘Kingneon’ Guçwa (pronounced Gooz-wa’)

Everyone was in the living room watching Gunsmoke while I was focused on drawing at the kitchen table. 

There’s never been any doubt, I’ve always only wanted to live my life as a full-time, professional fine artist. I was fortunate having a mother who supported all of my creative pursuits. For my twelfth birthday, she gave me a set of oil paints, and by the time I was fourteen, she had agreed to enroll me in a home art correspondence course. When I wanted to learn how to play a saxophone, she bought one for me. She raised my younger brother and me as a single mother, and although finances were tight, she put her sons’ well-being and happiness as her highest priority.

To become the artist I wanted to be is not such a simple task. Living in a society requiring a constant flow of income without working outside the studio is a challenge, at least when first starting out. To make life easier, my plan was to eliminate my various debts. 

Our greatest monthly financial obligation was rent or mortgage. I wanted neither of them. When I was in my mid-twenties, I found land in the Arkansas Ozark mountain backwoods to be very affordable for a kid like me. Taking a year off from my art, I purchased four acres and set out to build a house with my own two hands. I had no experience, but I did have a brain and lots of stubborn determination. From April until late October, I worked from morning until night and single-handedly designed and built a two-story house. This endeavor freed me from my largest monthly debt. Now I’d have a comfortable lifestyle without worry and I could spend all my days painting. 

Art galleries look for artists who have a unique style. Developing this style can take considerable time, often without selling any art. By the time I was in my mid-twenties, I was so determined that one way or the other, I was going to become that fine artist I had always dreamed of being. Once a personal style is found, the next hurdle is to find a reputable art gallery to represent the artist. Persistence and patience help.

After I graduated college with a Bachelor of Fine art degree in painting, the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, a National Historic Landmark, asked me to paint a mural called The History of Memphis for their grand ballroom. I had never painted anything so large, but it turned out well and they loved it. Always yearning to learn more and become a better painter, I wrote to several successful contemporary fine art painters. I hoped to find a professional to work with me like the apprentices of the Renaissance. Again I struck gold when the contemporary master, the late Gregory Gillespie (Hirshhorn Museum, the Whitney Museum, Fullbright Scholarship, the Forum Gallery, N.Y.C.) agreed. 

Several years later, I painted six historic murals for the Mesa Southwest Museum. In between the murals, I began to hand-paint signs for small businesses. 

One day I had an epiphany: I would stop painting signs commercially and paint signs as fine art on canvas. The vintage signs from the ‘50s and ‘60s became my subject. Having completed four large canvases, I loaded them into my pickup and headed to the gallery district of Scottsdale. Both of my favorite galleries agreed to represent my art. One of the two asked to hang them immediately so I Ieft them with this gallery. That was back in 1988, and they still show my work today. Someone bought one of the paintings within a week. No, it’s not always that easy, but it got even better. 

I started to have one-man exhibitions filling entire galleries with my canvases. From Scottsdale, I showed in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and before long, a top New York Gallery was offering me my own exhibition. I painted all day, seven days a week, in order to keep up. I was thrilled because I was living my dream, and as a bonus, the paintings were selling. 

In 1998, I became an Officially-Licensed fine artist for Harley-Davidson, Chevrolet/Corvette, and Mattel Toys/Hot Wheels. In order to find the unique vintage neon signs, I bought an RV and drove the back roads of America. This was an enjoyable work/vacation lifestyle. 

At a gallery exhibition in San Francisco, as the director and I studied the show, he turned and said, “James, you certainly are the king of neon.” From that day forward, I became known as James Kingneon Gucwa.

Of course, setting up a studio in a large urban center would be more advantageous for a painter like myself. My problem is that living in a big city has no appeal for me, despite the advantages. My wife and I moved to the White Mountains in 1993 as full-time residents. The only way we would consider moving elsewhere is if Pinetop became overdeveloped. I hope that won’t ever happen. I intend to paint my days away with a smile on my face and a brush in my hand. 

To view the complete collection of my paintings, past and present, please visit www.kingneonfineart.com. I accept commission work and will paint any subject for anyone interested and will try to work within their budget, if possible.