CLEVELAND — It is often said that art imitates life, and that's true for a Cleveland man who says his artwork not only changed his life but saved it.
"What I'm doing right now is beyond my wildest dreams - truly," smiled Jason Toth.
"Creativity takes courage," is a quote by Henri Matisse, one of history's most famous artists, that influences Toth's work today.
"Everything you see starts with a photograph," he said when describing his colorful art pieces.
Toth, 37, is a Beachwood native.
"I look for lines," he continued. "I look for light. I look for patterns."
His store is inside the cozy maker's space at City Goods in Ohio City's Hingetown neighborhood.
"And with the tools that I have I'm able to pull out colors that exist in the photo itself and amplify them, and then tone down other ones."
He calls it photographic pop art.
Cleveland is clearly his muse, as he captures the city's iconic architecture and landscape but is showcased through a different lens.
"This is one of my most popular pieces," he said, pointing to a cotton-candy-colored image of Terminal Tower. "Every time someone sees this, they say, 'I have never seen Terminal Tower like this before,' with this crown of a bridge over it and the detail at the top."
Toth is making a splash in the art scene. His work is popping up across the region from Chagrin Falls to Lakewood, including inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
His artwork now hangs in the recently renovated dressing room and is visible to some of the biggest stars who come through Cleveland.
"It's surreal," he said. "The Jonas Brothers were the first celebrities to see my work!"
It is difficult to tell, but Jason has only been doing art professionally for 13 months. In 2019, he says a health crisis upended almost everything imaginable in his life but led him to where he is now.
"There was a good period of time where I was very lost," he said. "I was very low."
Toth was diagnosed with POTS or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. It is a condition that causes your heart rate to spike upon standing from lying or sitting down.
"I was unable to walk from one side of the house without getting really dizzy and needing to sit down and rest," he recalled. "And that stuck with me severely for three years."
His world came crashing down.
At the time, he worked in marketing. He owned his own business, but his body said no more. He lost his health, his business, and his identity.
"The world around me was pretty gray," he said.
But in his darkest days, Toth turned to what he says had always brought light to his life: Art—specifically, photography.
Toth started seeing the city and himself through a new lens. He said a photograph he took of the willow tree at Edgewater Park changed everything.
"The name of the piece came to me as 'Renewal of My Spirit,'" he said.
It was his first official piece as an artist, a profession that not only allowed him to work again but also worked for his mind and body.
"One of the wonderful things about having your identity shattered is that what's left is your authentic self, but it's scary because it's your most vulnerable self," said Toth.
Creativity takes courage.
"I can't put myself in a box," he said. "I've tried. I've often thought life would be a lot easier if I could get myself to fit inside a box, and when I embraced that, so much stress, anxiety, insecurity melted away – I'm box-less!"
He says he embraced it, which has brought him so much freedom and joy.
It is a message he hopes to share, and through his art, you may also rediscover and see yourself in a new light.
"I want to see people smile," said Toth, hoping his artwork makes people feel.
"They're blown away," said Tanya Kaiser, owner and director of Kaiser Gallery, about people seeing Toth's art for the first time. "The color is just so grabbing, and then his story that goes along with it."
Toth's first gallery exhibition is underway through May 4 at the Kaiser Gallery on Professor Avenue in Cleveland.
Kaiser said there will be an artist talk on April 12 at the gallery, where you can hear from Toth and the other two artists currently showing at the same time.
"Art is being vulnerable," she said. "It's letting people know who you are. Showing them your soul, and really, just being honest with yourself through the process."
