Mountain View resident Ed Deveikis has been working toward a career as an artist for the past 10 years, but with no formal training, he has taken to making connections via Nextdoor to realize his dream.
Like many others, Deveikis became a gardener during the pandemic at his apartment complex near Cuesta Park. Approximately six months ago, after a few years of mastering caring for roses and other flowers, he found a creative way to get excess flowers off his hands.
Deveikis didn’t want to throw them in the trash, so he a posted on Nextdoor, offering free flower arrangements to anyone who was willing to come pick them. As receptive neighbors dropped by his place, not only did his paintings attract more eyes and generate word of mouth, but it also opened his eyes to the stories of people around him.
“I’m a starving artist, so I feel I have the worst story,” he said.
Then people started reaching out to him with thank-you messages about the funeral they brought his flowers to, or how they brightened a hospital room after surgery.
“I was just at the moment trying to get rid of my stuff,” Deveikis said, “but then I realized I had power.”
As he continued offering flowers at no charge, neighbors began to donate vases and old plants. One woman even donates large canvases.
“They say I inspire them, but they’re inspiring me,” Deveikis said.
Picking up painting
When asked how he set out to become a professional artist, Deveikis cuts right to the chase.
“Long story short, my mom was an artist. She died when I was 3,” he said. “Fast forward 40 years … I decided to pick up a brush and start painting.”
Meeting contemporary artist Michael Gardner also inspired him to pursue art.
“I had a website before I even had any paintings,” Deveikis said. “I didn’t even know how to paint.”
Deveikis worked many jobs before becoming an artist, but he said painting is the only thing he knows he could do from six in the morning for days on end.
His ultimate goal is to display his work at Art Basel Miami Beach, but he said he would need gallery representation for that.
Closer to home, he cited downtown Los Altos’ Enchanté Boutique Hotel as a dream location for his first solo show. Deveikis has thick skin – he said his main goal is just to get his art in front of people.
“I love failure. I love when people laugh at my stuff,” he said. “It makes me glow. … I’m, like, ‘Wow, people are actually looking at my stuff.’”
Deveikis wants his artwork in galleries, not just craft shows.
“I don’t know if I deserve it or not, but I have big dreams and I refuse to let that go,” he said.
It’s often his neighbors and Nextdoor connections who keep him grounded, like the woman who donates canvases to him. She inspired him not to be afraid through her messages, Deveikis said, recounting her encouragement: “She said, ‘Sooner or later, your neighbors are going to see who you really are as an artist.”
For more information on Deveikis’ art, visit eddeveikis.com. For more on his floral giveaways, visit his Nextdoor profile at tinyurl.com/48tbsru9.
