Extraordinary Ordinary: Paramedic turned painter

For eight years, Jason Skeldon worked as a paramedic. He loved the job, but definitely needed help dealing with its daily rigors. So, he started painting.

"Art helped me with anxiety and the day to day of being a paramedic because it's stressful on your body and mind. Being able to paint at night, it brought me away and brought me to relax and it helped me sleep at night," Skeldon told FOX 13.

All of his friends loved his work and hung it in their homes— under a very strict stipulation. He didn’t want any of his work posted on social media for fear of judgement.

But one friend broke that promise and posted a picture of his work anyway, and it changed everything.

"One of my friends ended up posting it on social media even though I said to never post it. He did anyways, and the next day I ended up getting 50 requests for paintings. That was the point that I realized that I can really start to pursue this and I can survive and I'm going to take this to the next level," Skeldon said.

Now, his work, which focuses on pop culture, has been blowing up and can be seen all over the Tampa Bay area. Jason even rubs elbows with some of the biggest names in pop culture, thanks ot the popularity of his art.

"It’s been crazy, Marcus Allen, Derreck Brooks, the biggest celeb is Kevin Hart. If you would have told me the jersey that I'm wearing, Marcus Allen, that fast forward 20 years later and I'd be going to dinner with him and doing a painting for him, I'd say, ‘no’." said Skeldon.

Skeldon has a new art show that will taking place at the Aloft Hotel on June 23rd. He also launched a new website: Jasonskeldon.com.