Meet Jeff Lung

We recently connected with Jeff Lung and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
When I was in my early 20s I got caught up with the wrong crowd and found myself doing stupid things that eventually got me arrested and convicted of a felony. Despite my prior clean record and high education, I was sentenced to six years in the state penitentiary. I served 24 months and during that time — the absolute worst two plus years of my life — I learned to “get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’.” I made a vow to be the best version of myself going forward and with discipline and direction I am proud to say I have done just that.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a self-taught artist with a passion for figurative abstract expression. Throughout my life, I have been captivated by the idea of filling empty spaces with shapes, as evidenced by the doodle-scribbled notebooks I’ve accumulated over the years. My quest has always been to discover relationships among forms and express them through emotion — an act that brings me me great calm and satisfaction.

My unique dynamic doodle style developed as a combination of my passion for traditional figure drawing and portraiture alongside my intrigue with psychedelic, geometric fractals. I focus on making art that looks cool. My goal is to make people feel something while saying, “that looks cool!”

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
For me the three most important qualities/skills for success are: direction, discipline and perseverance. My advice to those just starting out are to know what you want (direction). Show up and do work consistently (discipline). And when things get tough, don’t quit (persevere). Get after it! No one’s going to do it for you. I believe you have to create your own path, especially in the art world.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
By far the most important book I’ve read that has helped me in my career is the “War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. The main bit of wisdom I took from that book is that YOU HAVE TO SHOW UP. You can’t just wait for “inspiration”. Most days I’m not inspired at all. I think most people probably aren’t. But I show up and do work every day just the same and that’s how a body of work is made. Just show up. The muse will be there for you if you do so consistently.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Josh Spires, Jeff Lung

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