“Do as much as you can before you’re 20.”
This advice was given by 19-year-old Caden Montgomery, a Knoxville-born artist whose words have helped him grow exponentially in his art before he has grown out of his teens.
As he nears the end of his second decade, Caden admits that art was something he knew was meant for him since he was a child.
“We are all artists when we are in elementary school,” Montgomery said. “I just didn’t stop drawing. I just kind of kept thinking about it.”
Montgomery finally decided as an adult that he was going to devote himself to art after moving to Dallas, Texas. As a high school senior in Dallas, he attended night school at North Central Texas College where he studied graphic design and illustration. When friends started asking him to make T-shirts and logos, he decided to create Bone Dust Designs.
Montgomery then moved to Louisiana, basing Bone Dust Designs out of New Orleans. It has grown into a clothing and graphic design company, making Montgomery a business owner before he hit 20.
Yet, it doesn’t end there.
During this past year, Missy Sprouse commissioned Montgomery to design and paint for The Big Love Bus Co. in Knoxville. He moved back to his hometown to begin the work on three of the Big Love buses. He completely designed and managed every bus.
Sprouse explained that when she first met Montgomery, he already had a complete mock design for every single one. She described him as an exceptionally talented young man who is far ahead of his time.
“Caden is the kind of kid who really makes me feel great about the future,” Sprouse said. “I know there are more Cadens out there.”
Currently, Montgomery is still in Knoxville and working on multiple commissioned pieces for local and national customers. Using the Scruffy City as inspiration, he takes on as many projects as he can, saying that his favorite piece will always be “the next one.”
“I can’t explain my next piece,” Montgomery said. “That’s why I love it better than my current one.”
At the age of 19, Caden Montgomery refuses to put a limit on his capabilities. Even though he often refers to himself as a hermit that never leaves his studio and as “that cliché art kid that stays up painting until 4 a.m.,” Montgomery explained that he is just an artist striving to find purpose.
In his latest pieces, he has developed a circle technique in the background imagery representing the surreal, almost irrelevant world that surrounds the people that are the focal points. However, Montgomery does not plan for this new technique to limit him. He believes in creative freedom and the ability to not be conformed to one specific style as an artist.
“Part of the reason why I love art is because you have this total creative freedom to do whatever the hell you want to,” Montgomery said.
“If my art has no purpose to myself or anybody else, then it’s a waste of time,” he said. “Why even paint?”
Part of this purpose includes Montgomery’s plans for young artists in the Knoxville area. He desires to help eliminate graffiti and help beautify the city in hopes of illuminating the works of the artist community by producing murals and other artistic landmarks.
There are five more months until Caden Montgomery turns 20, and he has big plans for what’s coming next.
