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It’s been said that most people will have three major careers in their life. Neil Hollingsworth, at fifty, just began his fourth. Following a tour in the military in the early 70s he worked day jobs and took basic college classes at night.

It was during this time that he discovered soaring, and spent most of his weekends flying sailplanes. The lure of aviation became so strong that he decided to put the academic world on hold, and entered technical school in the field of aviation maintenance. Aviation became an all-consuming passion, but between working on aircraft, flying and a brief affair with skydiving, he still found the time to paint an occasional watercolor or illuminate a letter to a friend.

Following a particularly cold winter in an unheated hanger, he found himself tempted to change careers when the father of a friend who owned a graphic design business offered him a job as a paste-up artist. He decided to mothball his tools, and two weeks later Hollingsworth was working in graphic design. In the decade that followed he owned a typesetting shop with his best friend, was employed by a publishing company, and worked a lot of freelance jobs.

Ready for a stable job with a regular paycheck Neil decided to follow in the footsteps of his wife Karen, who at the time was working as a registered nurse. Two years of nursing school later he was working in the emergency room. He later moved to the operating room, and  spent the next seven years there.

In 2000 I discovered that it was possible to sell artwork through the internet, and everything changed. I've been lucky in that my work has sold well enough for me to quit my day job and paint full-time. I have also been fortunate in that I can share this life with my wife Karen — an exceptional artist.

It's a good life.