I had been recognised as an artist before 1955. I agreed with this assessment. In 1955 I was eight years old. This date is important because I use it as pre-artistic recognition, followed by post acceptance creativity.I recall the titles of my first works, High Heel Shoes, Ashtray Lid, Dust Motes, Coat Hanger Saxophone, and Cow Bird. I didn’t realise that these found objects that I stuck together, or tore apart, an ashtray for a hat, reshaping a wire hanger into a saxophone…Some were flat and I stuck them under the edge of the carpet until next play period.
1979 saw me earn a BAE from Eastern University,Ypsilanti Mich. I now had become a pillar of the community. I was teaching 120 kids a day!
1992 I earned an MFA from The University of Colorado at Boulder and a teaching excellence award from the same university. All this time I was working. I’m painting, drawing,making clay things, bringing home bids and pieces of things as if they were treasures.
Kent Rucker's Art 