Never give up, never give up, never give up, never give up.

There is going to be so many times that you think, "I can't do this anymore." Never give up.

You just keep showing up at the easel.

Even when it's hard, keep showing up at the easel.

Mm-hmm.

Well, yeah, I already said you, you just have to put in the work.

Um, let's see.

Well, I, I think, this may be controversial, but I think it's actually easy to make it as an artist.

So I think that is a great way to supplement your income.

And then...

Tanner Steed lived them, spending three years as a school art teacher drilling fundamentals, running solo shows out of collectors' homes, and building toward the moment he finally made the leap.

So it was, it was fantastic.

I, I, so I went to school for human development education.

Um, during that time, I, this school I was working at actually asked me like, Hey, the, um, the art teaching position opened up.

If you want, you could apply.

You probably have a good chance.

Oh, yeah.

It's wild.

Um, but yeah, I, um, yeah, drawing and painting has been in, in my life my whole life.

Um, but it wasn't until actually after college that I decided to go into, um, fine art as a profession.

Um, I went to school, uh, here in Denver at MSU, um, Metropolitan State University, and I studied human development with an applied concentration in education.

So, um, my intention actually was going to be to, uh, work at an elementary school, probably like teach fifth or sixth grade.

Um, I knew I wanted to work in, you know, m- maybe education, and, uh, I loved working with kids.

What was it like for you to build that connection and those networking groups outside of these schools?