By Alyssa Riley
When David Gomez was four years old, his kindergarten teacher, exasperated with his inability to sit still in class, gave him watercolors to occupy his overactive mind and body. Surpassing its original purpose, this act unfolded the future of young Gomez’s promising artistic ability, one saturated by paintings, competitions and art shows.
His struggle with ADHD, dyslexia and stammering has been consistent, as he often felt anxious in social interactions and endured bullying from his peers.
Gomez went undiagnosed until his 30s, when his doctor gave him ADHD medication as an experiment, which ultimately helped him get back on track with school and his career.
“I was considered something of a child prodigy when I was little, but that didn’t matter when I turned 18 and went to art school,” Gomez said. “It was very difficult for me.”
Attending the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Gomez made the grueling choice his junior year to leave art behind to pursue a business major, fearful that an art career would be improbable.
Excel sheets and a whiteboard became his uninspiring canvas as his business degree led to over 12 years without creating art.
In 2015, Gomez rediscovered his knack for painting and knew avoiding his passion any longer was impossible, no matter how daunting it seemed to step into the art world.
Now living in Northwest Arkansas, Gomez is pursuing the career he always wanted. He works out of his studio, Peace of Heart in Bentonville, where he creates pieces that sell for thousands of dollars.
His learning difficulties inspired the uplifting message behind his artwork; chaos and the emergence of the individual through chaos.
“If you look at it, it has all kinds of crazy lines,” he said, pointing at his piece ‘Martscesse’. “The sense of balance from it comes from taking all of that chaos and resolving it and guiding people through it.”
Gomez also works at Art on the Bricks with Environmental House in Rogers as a curator.
“He is great at brainstorming ideas and finding creative solutions to offer art experiences,” said Karen Wagaman, executive director of Art on the Bricks. “The same level of detail he applies to creating art events is also seen in the art he creates. He has very vibrant images that are methodical and balanced.”
On Nov. 19, Gomez hosted an adult workshop at Crystal Bridges Museum where he’ll teach how to utilize design to express personal experiences through recreating his popular piece ‘E Pluribus’, a rendition of the American flag.
In this piece and others, Gomez conducts in-depth research on topics like planets, stars and mathematics before incorporating symbols into the paintings. The process of creating art changes, he said, but the symbols always remain.
(David Gomez explains his process of creating art, video by Alyssa Riley): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL_pOcYM00w
With his background in business, struggle with ADHD, dyslexia and stammering and interest in science and math, he said his artwork is directed toward the “nerdy person.”
“I take a lot of my life stories, some of the things that were difficult for me and I had to overcome,” he said. “I had to work hard to get to where I am now and that’s what I want to share with my artwork. Even when it gets difficult, you can still make sense of it.”