North Shore Meet an Artist: Billy Borgerd

Meet Billy Borgerd. A hard working fellow and all around good guy. On days that Billy joins the studio you can find him helping other artists, talking about the outcome of his favorite sporting events, and creating movie themed artwork. See why we think Mr. Borgerd is so incredibly charming by reading his witty commentaries in this interview about his life and art.  
What materials do you like to work with?

Paint. Water paints on a canvas. A big one. The big guy. I use pencil on my drawings too. I draw ’em out first, then I paint it. It takes me ten minutes to do a painting. It takes a long time for this guy, Superman. Sometimes I gesso the board before I paint. I sketch with pencil and then color it in with these guys, colored pencils.
My grandma is going to buy my Superman piece. She’s going to hang it in her room. She told me yesterday. No one else buys my artwork. I take it home it and hang it up in the basement, next to my bed. There is no more room at my house for art. It’s all full.

How long have you been an artist?
A long time. Yeah, I did art before I came to The Arts of Life. 
What inspires you to create art? 

Sometimes I get here around 9am. I get my stuff out, then I work on my paintings. I get my pictures from home on the computer. 
I did an Elephant, Green Lantern, Polar Express. My polar bear one. I did a tiger. Remember? I did a whale one. An orca whale. And a lion. Those pictures came out really good. My mom likes them too. I’ll make another one of the Bears. A helmet. It’s easy to make. My mom said it’s easy, not me. Maybe I’ll do the next one of the Giant Slayer. It’s a good movie about giants. 

Describe the projects you are currently working on.
I made red on this guy. It’s Superman. My mom’s idea. I’ll do the giant one next. 
I used watercolors on Superman. His teeth. It’s good so far. He looks done to me. You checked it remember. You! What do you think?
Are there other roles at the studio you fill besides being an art maker?
Sometimes I help Montell inside in the morning. I open the door when the buses get here. I like to help because I’m a man. Men need to shave. And we need a haircut everyday. I need it.  

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at the studio? 

I do maintenance stuff at Northbrook Junior High. I work in the afternoon after all the kids leave. I’ve been working there a long time. I work by myself. Five days a week I work. Everyday I’m busy! I mop the floor at night, vacuum. And my vacuum needs fixin’ today. It’s broken! Sometimes I clean the vacuum out. I just know how to do all that stuff. My favorite part of my job is going home after work. 

My grandma takes me to movies. And I  go to movies with Andy Albrecht. On Saturdays go bowling. Every Saturday. Sometimes we talk on the phone. We talk about the Bears when they win. Sometimes they lose. I’m not happy when they lose. They’re playing the Packers after Christmas. I like sports and movies. I like wrestling too. Like The Undertaker and Big Daddy Cool. Nah. My parents don’t like wrestling. I watch wrestling by myself. My friends are too busy to watch it.

If you could not be an artist, what other job would you chose to do? 
I would sleep at home in my bed. Sleep like a little baby. And I’d watch TV. Watch King Kong and wrestling. And everybody would come over to my house. Then we could watch movies. That’s good. 
What’s your favorite thing about The Arts of Life?
I come here every day. To come see you guys. Sometimes my mom kicks me out of bed in the morning. She says, “Git up lazy bones!”
When I’m here I like to paint.  I show my paintings to Emily. No Emily today? Where is she? She’s here sometimes. She sits over by Niki. I like to hangout with Andrew, Russell, Amanda, that’s it. We talk about football and movies. I like Amanda’s painting it looks good. I don’t show people my paintings. Nice try slick!