One of the most inspiring things about artists is how they push the boundaries of their craft. As an artist you always have to keep searching for something that brings a fresh perspective to your work. For Milwaukee painter Jimmy Cobb he figured out how to make his paintings more than just images on a canvas. Jimmy is a graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. At MIAD he took a class about how to build your own canvas'. That class focused on the traditional rules and aspects of canvas making. " Jimmy said, "As a student I thought 'Ok, how can I break all those rules?'"

Jimmy makes his own canvas'. He doesn't build the traditional squares and rectangles that most painters use. Instead, his canvas' are all different shapes, sizes, and materials. Some of his canvas' are circular with parts of the frame intersecting the painting. Some are old window panes or discarded lumber. Some use the Japanese process of Shou Sugi Ban, charring the wood until its is blackened and carbonized. Some are three dimensional with parts of the paintings jutting out from the front to resemble hilly terrain or waves in the water.

Jimmy works out of Pool Studio in Riverwest. Pool Studio, founded by Jimmy, is a collective of artists that work in several different mediums. There is a musician, a filmmaker, a graphic designer and Jimmy, all under one roof pooling their resources and exchanging ideas. Jimmy's goals as an artist is to combine sculpture and painting to make people think about what's possible. He wants people to be curious about how they can break conventional norms to make their mark on our community.