Art Brokerage: Quote from artist Matthew Bates: This is an autobiography, and I promise to keep it to one page. I was born in a military hospital in Washington, DC, my dad, Stephen Bates was in the Marine Band a clarinet player, that is why we were in DC. My family is filled with artists, my sister, Jessica is a theater actress, my grandmother and great aunt were both painters, and my mother, Isabella teaches meditation. Growing up in Washington was a great way to be introduced to the art world, as a child my parents would take me to all of the great art museums, the National, the Corcoran, and especially the Phillips Collection.I found some watercolors that I made when I was ten, but it wasn't until I went to high school that I started to really get into painting. My teacher at Sidwell Friends High School was Percy Martin. I moved out West to San Francisco for college, I got into USF and decided to become an Advertising Major, a big mistake, but ironically, it placed me in the art department, which at USF was actually the Academy of Art College in downtown San Francisco. I was really in my element there. I loved taking art classes (I dropped the Advertising major fast) the teachers honed all of my skills, especially in the drawing and design departments. As a sophomore I took a course from world class sculptor Thomas Marsh in Anatomy for Artists. One day he sat us down in a semi-circle and told us that if we considered ourselves artists, then we would have to not buy a stereo, but a ticket to Florence, Italy to see its artistic wonders. This sounded absurd, we were in California, and he was giving us directions to the David museum from the train station in Firenze! I guess that you have figured out by now that I went to Firenze (Thanks Thomas). I went to Gonzaga University's Florence program, which is not an art program. At the time I was aware that I was doing too much and I needed a break from the whole art scene at the Academy. Art schools are way too competitive, and I was in over my head, working a full time job at the Esprit Outlet Store, and going to school full time. So I went off to Firenze, and nothing was ever the same after that. I lived in a Pensione, Hotel Fiorentina in an ancient building in the Historic Center. There I met Manola, who swept me off of my feet and we have been together ever since. We moved back to San At 22 years old, I had to learn a new language, culture, and get a job, all at once. I forgot to think about what was the meaning of life, and why I was here, I was too busy trying to fit in to Italian culture. This was a good thing because I was just happy enough to survive! My outlet was painting, which began to change, with Firenze's ever present influence. The city would talk to me, whispering its secrets. I began to take photos of the city, looking for inspiration. The photos where small and hard to work with, I dreamed of a better time, a time where digital imagery would be available. I had to wait until the end of the 90's until I was able to get my first computer, and then my first digital camera. I began to take thousands of photos, all in search of the perfect composition.