let's start with a metaphor, shall we?: BEE OUR GUEST #5: ARMANDO PEDROSO

Bananarama heard a rumor. Marvin Gaye heard it through the grapevine.

Horton heard a Who. We all "hear" things from time to time, but how often do we dismiss the divine inner voice that tries to direct us? The voice that encourages us to blossom and evolve is more often drowned-out by the other voice in our heads.

The one that's fueled by doubt and fear [ego's best friends].

But when Armando Pedroso heard THE VOICE it was so LOUD, so CLEAR, he had no choice but to LISTEN. Not that he didn't try to resist it at first....

Like so many others, he had been laid off from an 18 year corporate sales position in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Disheartened, disillusioned, and unsure of how he was going to support himself, he heard THE VOICE. It said PAINT.
Paint?

Clearly this voice was crazy. Forget the formalities of training, he'd never even had the inclination to paint! But he heard it again. PAINT.

It takes a rather scary leap of faith to begin a personal transformation, but making a professional one usually requires a cannon. Like believing you may have just heard the voice of GOD.

Time and unemployment were running out. So he decided to listen closer...

He came up with a clever hand-crafted "closing gift" that could be sold to real estate agents to give to their clients. Literally "door knocking" on foot, agency to agency he went. The response was not only warm and ecstatic, but the the sales were brisk. Suddenly, there was money to pay the bills and buy groceries. Perhaps that voice wasn't so crazy after all. And perhaps by making that true leap of faith he had discovered his true calling. And discovered grace.

As they say, the rest is history. When I visited Armando at the studio he shares with fellow painter and friend Darren Jones the other day, the first thing I noticed was the swing. Bolted to the concrete ceiling ,with a wide, weathered-finish wood seat. He said people ask him all the time, "why?" His response? "Because I always wanted one."

It's presence immediately establishes a sense of play, and freedom. The kind of freedom you can only know when you allow yourself to have it. Now that I'm thinking about it, I really wish I'd taken it for a spin...

SO! The next time YOU hear a voice, listen carefully. Then locate the most structurally sound place on your ceiling, and hang YOUR swing!

MPM: Going from a corporate sales career to full time self-employed artist has surely changed your routines and lifestyle. What's a day in the life of Armando Pedroso like?

AP: Well, it's just a lot of Fun. Now I know that I am in control of my days, life, and career which is a wonderful way to wake up and start the day. Since I had 18 years of the corporate "7am to 5pm" time schedule ingrained into my being, I still get up at 6am, get a cup of coffee, leisurely do some spiritual readings, mediation and watch the sunrise. This is a calm, drastic and welcome ritual from the awful panic of what to wear, traffic, dreading long meetings and wondering what kind of drama will be going down in the office! From there it is off to the gym for an hour to move from the spiritual realm into the physical where I get the blood flowing and focus strictly on that hour as my time for my body...I really believe that to have a healthy life, one needs for attend to the mind, body, and most important to me the soul. After the gym, it's off the the art studio where I feed my soul by sitting on the "old school style rope swing" I built, that's hanging from the studio ceiling ,and quietly sit and wonder where the energy of the day wants to lead me... as it seems there is a different creative force that wants to express itself daily. I try never to force a specific style out of me when I paint, I create moment to moment, with no expectations. I think if you don't have any expectations and just paint you will never be disappointed at the end of the day because you paint/express what you had to say for that day.

After the studio, its a quiet 9 minute drive home...lol, dinner with friends, some more reading, art paperwork etc. I tend to avoid the television and news as the negative energy it breeds has a huge influence over how one views the world, and themselves. I choose to seek, and give my time to achieving the positive and simple truths of life.

MPM: Your paintings are wonderfully inspirational, but where do your inspirations come from?

AP: That's probably the most asked question I get from people and is to me the hardest question to answer. Inspiration is a flash in moment. An inner voice that says "look at this object or shape", "Did you notice this, did you see that", "That would be fun to try and play with"....and my favorite voice that says "What if you tried"... Everyone has that small voice inside of themselves that leads and guides them, the problem is everyone is so busy worrying about the next moment, or bill, or what to watch on TV or whatever life throws in their path that they ignore the voice that says "Turn left, not right" so, you turn right and there is a truck blocking the street, the voice that says "I 'd love to be a florist, painter, run a marathon, sky dive, travel, read....etc." but they let it pass without taking just a moment to say and give attention to that "what if you tried" calling. I honestly believe that if everyone took the risk and had the faith in themselves to listen and act on that inner voice that says "this is what Id love to do", God would open such amazing doors of opportunity at such lightning speed that you would never question the voice of Inspiration again. So to me, Inspiration is just Listening to your soul speak.

MPM: Your new "Graffiti" series feels like it has more deliberate intent than I've seen in your work before.

AP: Yes, I have a ton of symbolism in my works with all the different textures and materials. In previous works I've had to explain to the viewer where I was going in the painting. In all my works I love to express how Choices, Faith, Trust, Self, Why, Dream, Belief, Serendipity, Flow, Purpose are all in our control. I want my art to express hope and belief in oneself and ones potential and that everything happens for our best interest even if we don't see or understand it.

In the "Graffiti" work I am engaging/leading the viewer more directly through these "words" as a starting point for them to reflect on what those words, textures and materials mean in their lives. How can the words/painting Inspire them to be who they really are and not fear the journey on how to get there.

MPM: I love what you're doing over at Children's Hospital. Would you tell our readers a little more about it?

AP: Children's Memorial Hospital is an interesting story, I first tried to volunteer there years ago after my father passed away, and they felt it was the wrong time for me to volunteer so I never did it. Then in 2002, I was accepted into the "One of Kind Art Show" in Chicago and they asked me if I would teach art at Children's Hospital as part of their community outreach program. I told them I would love to and then told them about being rejected years before...and well, now I am at Children's on regular basis playing and teaching the kids irregular art....On Halloween for example the kids painted all over my clothes pumpkins, ghosts....whatever they wanted, the joy in their faces doing something they thought they "should not be doing" like painting on clothes on a real person was such a joy for them I think I cried!

MPM: You're a self-taught artist, and seem pretty fearless in your experimentation with materials and mediums. Any words of wisdom for anyone who's been wanting to express their inner artist, but doesn't know where to start?

AP: Everything and anything is and can be a piece of art. Life is art and art is life. Think outside of the everyday use of a material or object...fear not! I use everything from roofing tar, plaster, found metals, spray paint, plumbing material, coppers, aluminum's, screen, printed store clothes bags, wires, bolts....the list goes on and on. Art is fun, art is made without thought or reason...it is just in how you see and feel something. It is not complex or difficult if you just let go and DON'T judge yourself ever. Your art is you, no one else, no one is or ever will be you, see life the way you see it or express itself like you will. Embrace art in all its forms and simplicity....it is all around you all the time in everyday objects and experiences, just listen and act on that "Inspirational" voice inside yourself and listen no one else!