montymontgomeryart

Growing up I always loved color and creating… Through grade school and into middle school I started to realize that this attraction was beginning to become more and more an intense part of my being, a way for me to express my inner feelings. As I merged into my High School years, art truly became a part of my life… I began to understand and accept that this would be within my life, forever. I attended Longwood University and majored in Graphic Design. Through my years of instruction and learning I truly developed my toolbox. It was towards the end of my college career when I started painting and actually developed the logo for Cilli Original Designs. I had many sketchbooks and an odd shape caught my eye one day. I decided to spend a little time on the design and within a short while the logo was created… During this time I created a clothing line and started using the logo on various items, distributing the line throughout Virginia and surrounding states. I graduated from Longwood and accepted a design job in Virginia Beach. The company designed clothing lines for resorts all over the world. After 8 months, I accepted an offer from Musictoday.com located in Charlottesville, Virginia where I did merchandise design for The Dave Matthews Band among others. 9 months later, I hit the road and decided to spread Cilli Original Designs all over… I launched www.cillidesigns.com and traveled the map spreading my word through clothing, paintings, poetry, stickers and culture. Throughout this amazingly interesting period of my life, I truly learned about myself and about the dedication that it takes to survive through art. After traveling on the road for over a year I spent some time in Richmond, Virginia before moving back to Charlottesville in 2003 and truly focusing in on painting. In December of 2004 I opened Cilli Original Designs Gallery on the Downtown mall. In doing this, I decided to make the clothing line completely web based. This enabled me to paint, write, design and build the culture that I had been developing since that very first drawing in college. At this point, Cilli Original Designs Gallery housed 9 artists in studios that surround the main gallery. The gallery showcased different artists every month from all over the Nation. In 2005 I joined forces with The Sound of Art in NYC. This was a super cool group of painters with which I exhibited all over the City. In 2006 I made the decision to close Cilli Original Designs Gallery and move forward with my Painting Career which then carried me through two more Studios in Charlottesville , Va and then to a brief re-location in Boston, Ma. where I had 3 shows before making the move back to Virginia. In 2007 I based in Va. again and opened a new Gallery spot with studios. I truly focused in on my painting more than ever and in late 2008 I decided to make the move to San Diego, California where I am currently located. As Cilli Original Designs will continue on it’s path I am now focused on www.montymontgomeryart.com and becoming the painter that I have always envisioned myself to be. This new path will bring my paintings and the message within them forward in a stronger, more specific way. I truly believe that all we absorb through each and every day becomes part of what we produce… My paintings and writings speak of my inner decisions and beliefs… I can only hope that they spark you to listen to yours as well…