On July 8th, our two-year lease expires, but we aren’t renting another apartment. Instead, Erin, Coraline, Vega and I are leaving Manhattan and going nomad. Here’s the story… beginning right after college.

Like most of my millennial brethren, I made time after college for reality TV.

It was during this time I had my first art studio, a creepy East Boston basement filled with junk and strange artifacts. The painting above was the first time I signed a work ‘Borbay’ vs. ‘Borbet’. At this point, however, it wasn’t the art game I was chasing. Reality TV had me thinking fame wasn’t far away, so, I saved my meager earnings, packed some things and off I went.

In 2004, I moved into a spacious 300 square foot two bedroom on East 91st Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues. I looked into acting lessons, but they were expensive and I was on a tight budget.

So I tried my hand at stand-up comedy, performing and producing shows with Rory Scholl (who is touring and killing it to this day). Alas, while it was great fun, I was terrible. So one night, Rory and me are strolling down 5th avenue all dandy on brandy, when he realizes “Hey Jason, I know someone who needs someone” at The Trump Organization. Two interviews later, my life took a 180.

From 2004 – 2006, I worked as a Legal/Development Associate at The Trump Organization. Life on the 26th floor of 725 5th Avenue couldn’t have been more different than the up-until-7AM-wake-up-at-4PM comedy lifestyle… but I was ready for a change. And, as it turns out, I loved working on legal documents.

The hours were long, but I found some time to paint, typically between midnight and 6AM. The big project at my new apartment on East 93rd street was a replica of the Figure Five in Gold. I considered creating the Figures 1 – 10, but I didn’t have the time or focus.

After nearly two fantastic years at The Trump Organization, I moved on to a recruiting agency, gave up running, and took up my first sporting love — Ice Hockey. You can see me here in some fantastic old school pads I acquired from the trunk of some guys car in Harlem. Recruiting taught me a great deal about cold calling, business negotiations and managing expectations.

On May 13, 2007, my dear friend Andrew gave his life for our country. Following the funeral, his close friends got together in Boston to celebrate his life. It was an acute moment of perspective, one that made me realize how fragile and precious life really is.

Not too long after, I met a beautiful girl named Erin. We fell in love and she moved in immediately.

One day, my coworker Kimberly kindly passed along the contact information for Justin Schantz. I worked on full-time placements, and Fantasy Interactive was looking for a few good players. One call lead to another, and on my birthday in 2007 I told Justin — I’d love to work with you. A few interviews later, I was on board… working with sexy clients like Nintendo, Porsche and EA… traveling the world with my colleagues.

During this time, my passion to paint grew. I set-up a studio in our new apartment on 93rd Street (my second place on 93rd, and fourth in NYC). At Fantasy, I was Business Director, so beyond capabilities presentations, my role was all Word and no Photoshop.

As for Erin, she graduated from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM to those in the know) and swiftly opened her own practice at the gorgeous Berkley Center in Midtown.

I suddenly discovered artist friends everywhere. Ari Lankin and I had played hockey together for years before we made the connection. During one chat, I mentioned my plan to quit advertising when I’m a 40-year-old millionaire to paint full time. Ari asked, “why not now?”

Painting on the beach in Maui with Erin proved to be the tipping point.

On July 2, 2009 — I took the plunge, left my advertising job and declared, “Now I’m An Artist.”

My early work focused on location work… in fact, I called myself a Location Artist.

We began throwing cocktail parties, which were attended by friends, family and collectors… here I am with Dad, Dan, Tim and Mom, rocking out in the Upper East Side. I let my hair grow out and adapted a rather unseemly handlebar mustache.

Fortuitously, I was swiftly rewarded with the title of Time Out New York’s Most Creative New Yorker (a title they’ve yet to hand out again). Things were on the move.

I sold my first Guggenheim and another painting to a collector based in Milan. As a total rookie, I threw in shipping (a mistake). So I made the best of it, flew to Italy, hand-delivered the paintings and spent a week rocking en plein air.

Then, on December 4, 2009 (Erin’s Birthday), I broke my leg in a hockey game. Despite Cobra coverage to the tune of $800 a month, I had a $5000 deductible, which rolled-over in January. So, I quickly burned through my reserves. I also became portly.

Never-the-less, I had my first solo show in January of 2010 with a little help from my friends. Pictured above with Alyssa, Justin and Josh. Justin helped me put together the show, and Josh’s company, Bevforce, went on to host me as an Artist-in-Residence for years. It takes an army.

When the cast came off, my right leg was skinny.

Turns out snapping my leg was worthwhile. During this time, I discovered my NY Post collage style… the first occurring at my folks LI house over Christmas.

And I painted the first collage painting portrait, of myself, pictured here looking rather unfortunately like Ted Nugent.

My first Artist-In-Residence studio at 393 Broadway under construction. You ForceBrand folks might recognize the space…

I eventually wound up painting the skyline from Time Out New York’s HQ on the West Side.

And thanks to TBD teammate Jim — me, my extra 39 pounds and the boys scored a hot minute with Lord Stanley’s Brass.

I met Jeremy and Jessica Penn at my first show — Jeremy and I became bromantically linked immediately, and eventually showed with Ari in Painting Resurrected.

My post-broken-leg-bod left much to be desired, but it did help me defy the ‘starving artist’ label. Meanwhile, Tony D. came through with a huge corporate commission that helped establish my career.

And one night during happy hour cocktails in the Upper East Side, Erin and I decided to get married… it happened to be the same night we were due for cocktails with our neighbor Greta.

We celebrated Erin’s 30th in Vegas…

Which inspired three straight trips to Vegas for painting… with Ari, and then also Paul Zepeda.

And on July 9, 2011 — we were married in Tom and Jeanne’s backyard.

That September I had my second show, the #KingsOfHipHop at Publicis Modem… a venue I landed thanks to Kimberly Easley (who also introduced me to Justin). During promotions for this show, I cold called a guy named Zack at Forbes… who then wrote about the series.

We honeymooned in Thailand and Shanghai…

Upon our return, I had a show with Ryan Seslow at Iona College.

Our second trip to Vegas was epic… Tia Carrere snapped up a Zepeda’s painting to benefit Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS.

My 45 minute painting auctioned for $1500 to Carson Kressley. One year later, my piece auctioned live on stage for $6000 to benefit Broadway Bares. We were shortly thereafter filmed for BBC.

And then a bunch of us artists became pals and showed at Red Bull Curates.

My second portrait series, Kick Ass Actors in Kick Ass Roles, showed at the Wix Lounge in Union Square (Wix is an incredible supporter of the arts). There, I met Marla and Robert, two amazing collectors and friends.

And Erin got pregnant, then on July 28, 2013 at 9:45PM, Coraline arrived in our bedroom (planned). We ordered a pizza and cracked a few Rolling Rocks (unplanned, but awesome).

We joined our dear friends Nelson and Katinka in Miami… discovering that, you can, in fact, travel with babes.

A collector then brought me out to Jackson Hole to take source images for a commissioned painting.

Thanks to Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s second book, Michael Jackson, Inc. (I painted the cover), I got to speak at Forbes HQ. Oh, and I now write for them as a contributor.

And do a little promo-work in Los Angeles… where, of course, I painted on-location.

Me and the girls went upstate for more travel and on-location painting.

We fell in love with Coraline… and realized, hey, having a kid is great, so we doubled-down and got pregnant again.

A collector invited me to Montreal and Toronto to present my work… I made some amazing connections, one of which included an invite to the Bahamas.

So we went, leaving Coraline with my folks, but bringing Vega (not yet born)… we absolutely loved it.

Then, friend and collector, Gareth, introduced me to his partners… and invited me to create a painting to benefit The Serena Williams Foundation.

So we had a blast in Miami, and the painting raised $14,000 for Serena’s charity.

And along came Vega Keanne, born February 5th, 2015, at 7:45AM in our living room (planned once again). For those keeping score, we signed a two year lease as man and wife, had two kids in each room of a two room apartment, and will leave as four.

One month later, we packed up and flew to Exuma for two months… where I was Art Exuma’s first Artist-In-Residence.

Here is a beautiful video, put together by Patrícia, recapping this amazing experience.

Thanks to a fortuitous encounter with Peter Nicholson in Montreal and some big help from Jeff Todd, the residency became a reality. This experience brought us back to our wedding vows. We promised to travel the world, build a family and make each others dreams come true.

On July 8th, when we leave Manhattan to spend time with Erin’s folks, Tom and Jeanne, in Minnetonka (where Tom and I will work in his monster studio).

Then, we will be spending three months in Jackson Hole, enjoying a fall season, where I’ll be painting the mountains.

Then, if a few things fall into place, we’ll be back in Exuma for the Winter… and after that? Possibly Sri Lanka.

Before we hit the road, I’ll be finishing a commission and the seventh Guggenheim in my ‘Guggenheim for 20 years‘ series.

I’ll be setting-up studio visits between now and July 7th… drop me a line if you’d like to stop by.

To my friends, family, collectors, supporters, fans and evangelists — you know who you are — I deeply appreciate you. We are friends now and forever. I look forward to sharing what comes next with you every step of the way, wherever the world takes us.