My name is Vinnie Candelore VC2 Art, and I'm an artist.

I've been painting and drawing my whole life.

My uncle was an artist.

My dad was an artist.

He was a guitar player.

A lot of creatives in my family.

My uncle from a young age taught me how to draw.

Like perspective, shading.

Different.

Like things like that.

That put me ahead of the kids at my age.

And then I just kind of rode that wave from there.

I mean, I lived in Charlotte for four years.

That was really wher I kind of started to get my feet under me as an artist.

I did my first art show in Charlotte.

I was there from like 2016 to 2020.

When I came back in 2020, the whole city was shut down, but the rest of the world.

So it wasn't until like maybe 2 or 3 years ago that I really started getting out there and meeting people in the Pittsburgh art world.

You know, I'm finding more people that are like minded, like me, that are pursuing that.

That creative urge that, yo know, keeps me awake at night.

It's funny, I remember in like 2021, sitting down here, I was talking to Cody Sabol.

He's a speed painter, so he's like super plugged in with Sports World here in Pittsburgh.

And at the time, we were both working out of our basement.

And me and him were kin of making art in the same realm.

And so I reached out because I'm like, okay, we're kind of goin after the same clientele here.

He's kind of alread established himself in the city.

So instead of like you know, quietly watching him, I was like, hey, let's team up and let's see, you know, what we could do together.

Cody had been working with the Steelers for like a few years, like after the pandemic and all of that.

So, you know, when when they do, they're my cause my cleats.

I'm much like the players pick their, you know, charitable cause and put it on the cleats.

He would get like 50 pair.

And so then me and him would just sit in the studio and just kind of grind these things out together.

We'd have like a week to do them.

He would do like 30.

I'd do like 20 or whatever.

We'd split them up.

And, you know, that was wher I first really started getting like submerged in the Pittsburgh sports culture was because, you know, Cody was very, very influential in, in the city at the time.

And like, you know, just a great dude.

I'm an artis because at the end of the day, like, life hasn't been easy.

You know everybody has their struggles.

And art's the way that I process through those struggles.

I appreciate when people come up to me and they look at my portrait work and they look at all that stuff and they go, how did you do this?

How did you do this?

How did you do this?

But I wanted to get to the point where people were asking me, why did you do this?

That's like a completely different conversation.

Being a creative is scary.

You know, it's it' really it's like it's not easy.

So when people, you know, see what you're trying to do and reach out and say yes and just give you a shot, that's what I'm like.

I'm going to over deliver.

I'm going to give more than you know what they're asking for.

I'm going to show up when they don't need me to, and I'm going to turn this into something.

Just recently, I got to design a camp for Iron City.

That was like, a really, really cool moment.

Just reached out to them and I've done some work with them in the past, like we did a custom shoe giveaway back in like 2022.

And they were like, yeah, like come in and do a painting in the brewer and just let's see what happens.

And then that turned into a can to do the can design.

Like they have so many.

They're iconic for how many different, you know, designs they've done throughout the years.

But they've never had a painting converted into a can design.

So that was a cool moment for me.

And you know, being from Pittsburgh, like Iron City, Pittsburgh brewing like such an iconic brand.

And so to be able to have my artwork on a can and like, you know, share that that was that was fun.

Felt like I was alone for a long time.

And now I'm seeing there's more people that are, you know, crazy enoug to make that decision every day to be an artis and a creative and keep going.

And so that's the most important thing, is finding a community of other people that will pick you up when you're feeling, you know, like you're gonna throw in the towel and like, you know, give up if you want to be a full time creative and an artist, especially in a city like Pittsburgh where, you know, it's it's it's a blue collar city.

So, you know, it's like I said, there's not opportunity like there is in other parts of the world, but it is picking up.

I think the easiest place to find my stuff is at VC2 Art on Instagram or any platform on YouTube.

If you search VC2 Art, that's where my show Athletic Esthetic lives.

I'm going to be launching a few new shows and moving into a new studio in the South Side.

If you're really looking for somewhere that kind of holds it all, it's VC2 Art.