Portrait of Justin Gaffrey

Portrait of Justin Gaffrey
36×48″
Kyle Paxton

Justin Gaffrey has been my employer, land-lord, friend, and mentor in art business. I’m amazed at his accomplishments in his early adulthood; such as being a head-chef of a resort, opening and running Gulf Place restaurant “Cafe sublime,” building a couple houses by hand, building and selling custom furniture, and then eventually starting his art career with his unique “sculpting with paint” style. All this happening between 20 to 30 years old. Since then he has been considered one of the greatest contributors to the arts community in South Walton. He has received numerous awards such as 2005 Artist of the Year, numerous Best Gallery and Best Artist of Gulf Coast awards, and publications in Souther Living, Florida Digest, and Better Homes & Gardens magazines. What equally amazes me is his generosity to the community. In one show, he sold over $200,000 worth of paintings and gave all of it back to local charity Food for Thought. On top of this, he recently organized a relief effort for Houston victims of Hurricane Harvey. Justin is not only an incredible contributor to local arts, but he is a great benefactor for the community in general. I personally owe much to his generosity and honored to know him and his work. You can learn more about Justin and his work here, justingaffrey.com.