As far as his memory can account, it all started with Zan drawing Ninja Turtles on the Xerox paper his mom would bring home from work. It soon transitioned to Zan attending art school in Baltimore, Maryland for grades 6-12. Leaving art behind after high school because his upbringing didn’t afford him the luxury of pursuing his dreams, Zan went on to attend Morehouse College completing his studies in 2009 as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Economics.
After graduating from Morehouse and beginning his career at Boeing in St. Louis, Zan felt unfulfilled early in his career. As he worked to establish a corporate career to provide him freedom from the chains of his past, his finance job in the corporate world felt restrictive and pushed him deeper into the art world. His charcoal drawing “The Corporate Mask” was his first serious piece of artwork in 5 years. He completed that work in 2 hours and immediately began creating in various mediums, including wooden charms which would eventually birth his company TruLUCK Charms, LLC. “The prodigal son had returned!” as proclaimed by his high school painting teacher Terry McDaniel Shovlin.
Truluck cites his studio as his retreat from the 1,000,000° Texas heat where he cooks up a robust portfolio of art and clothing for his brand, TruLUCK Charms. His work explores themes of social justice, faith, identity and liberation through the lens of his Black experience.
Zan has bounced around between Brooklyn, NY, Baltimore, MD, St. Louis, MO, Philadelphia, PA, Ottawa, Canada, Seattle, WA, and currently resides in Dallas, TX. Zan’s body of work has been influenced by the stops along the journey. He considers himself still journeying, believing he is both a work of art and a work in progress. Zan invites fans of his work to journey with him as he honors his inner child through art. His artwork serves as his legacy bequeathed to his inner child.