Today we’d like to introduce you to Theo Davis.
Hi Theo, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ever since I was young, I have been wildly creative. I grew up living in the urban core of various cities and I developed a deep appreciation for architecture. I loved sketching my bedroom, our house and buildings in our neighborhood. My family moved frequently and I consistently spent my days sketching store fronts, houses and landmarks. As a young adult, my art took a backseat to other passions — building my family, meeting and praying with prisoners, teaching youth how to love each other, and living as the resident house manager at a transitional housing facility.
My love for art was reignited when I moved to Kansas City almost a decade ago. Inspired by the city’s unique architecture and history, I began making art again on the side. I sold a few pieces here and there, but sketching and painting were primarily just a fun hobby for me. I was selling more art each year, but I still considered it an avocation — something to help me be me while I continued working in a career that was becoming ever more frustrating. Then, last year (2025), I admitted to myself — and to my wife — that, if the people at my full-time job didn’t acknowledge and reduce my ever-increasing workload, we needed a big change. I dedicated time and energy to growing my art business intentionally. I opened three physical locations, built a website, started posting daily on various social media platforms. As a result, I was accepted as a vendor at the Westport Art Show 2025 — where I sold more art than I ever had before! I also was invited to sell my art in Hallmark’s flagship store at Crown Center. At that point, I knew that it might just be possible to make my hobby my job.
That hope became reality when I devised Kansas City Art Mail Club. Through the Mail Club, more than 900 members receive my art through the US Postal Service every single month. Now I get to paint the city I call home for every single day!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My primary challenge — not just in my art but that impacts my life — is autism. I have struggled my entire life with the effects of autism, but I was undiagnosed until I was approaching 40 years old! I only discovered my Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when my son was having a lot of difficulty during his first year of school. Everything his teacher told us about our child sounded like autism, so I began researching ASD. The more I read, the more I thought, “he couldn’t have autism because a lot of what I was reading applied to me.” Could I have ASD and not even know it? Short answer: yes. For every person you may meet who has been diagnosed with autism, you’ve surely met dozens who are undiagnosed. Because autism is a spectrum, many who suffer don’t realize how being on that spectrum affects their everyday life. The most significant ways Level 1 autism impact me personally are my social abilities, endurance, sensory issues and challenges with executive function. Additionally, I have minor support and accommodation needs. What I require is different from someone who is non-verbal or not able to care for themselves — but I have support needs nonetheless.
It sounds a little odd, but I am grateful that my son shares my ASD. Because of his early diagnosis, he can get the help he needs in school instead of struggling as I did. Seeing how well he is doing with the support of an amazing team of educators honestly brings me to tears. I have found it challenging, as an adult, to get some people from my past to accept my diagnosis. Countless times, I have been told by well-intentioned people that my licensed psychologist is wrong; that I just need to try harder in social settings or pray more. Instead of attempting to prove my personal challenges to anyone, I simply choose to let go of those toxic relationships.
Embracing autism has changed my life. Understanding my very real feelings and struggles has allowed me to be kinder to myself and enabled me to be a better dad and husband. I’m not depressed — I’m overstimulated. I’m not anti-social — I struggle to navigate the social constructs of various communities. I’m not dumb — my executive function differs from that of others. I don’t think like everyone else — and I love that FOR ME! I am open about my diagnosis because I want my son and others to learn at a young age that there is nothing wrong with being autistic!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
These days I am known mainly for making storybook style art, primarily of Kansas City landmarks. I have employed this style most of my life. The style can be defined by intentionally wiggly lines, paint that splatters, colors that go outside the lines.
My favorite childhood memories revolve around my mom reading to me in the evening. Children’s storybooks always invoked a sense of wonder beyond the small world that I knew. As an adult, I want to capture your imagination — if only for a moment or two. I want to inspire a sense of wonder and whimsy. I want you to see the places where we live, work and play in a new way — through the eyes of a child.
What I am most proud of is my US Postal Service (“snail mail”) club called the Kansas City Art Mail Club. Each month, I send 5×7 prints, 3×3 stickers, and a personal letter to more than 900 people. Club members reside across the Kansas City Metro and in 35 states! Last summer, I saw a handful of artists starting successful mail clubs, but they were making things that appealed to people worldwide. Could I make a mail club based on Kansas City exclusively? Yes. Yes, I could! I set a goal of ten sign-ups the first month. I ended up with more than 200! Not long after that, I was featured on KSHB 41 news and on the front page of the Kansas City Star!
While I love making art highlighting different buildings in our city, I think I enjoy researching and writing the letter about each location even more. We all receive so many bills and advertisements our mailboxes each day, I wanted this envelope to be a ray of sunshine for my Club members; a welcome break from day-to-day life. The letter isn’t just a list of facts about the location. It is a carefully crafted piece of word art that attempts to take you on a journey that culminates in joy and hope.
Every month, we also donate hundreds of dollars to a local Kansas City humanitarian organization. As of August 2026, we have given more than $2,300 to locally-based organizations around that are dedicated to helping Kansas Citians. If you’d like to join the club, just head to my website to sign up! It costs less than a large latte each month and brings infinitely longer-lasting satisfaction! www.theodavisart.com
I have also developed a sizable audience for my small watercolor paintings of locations around Kansas City and larger palette knife oil paintings. I believe the foundation for my success in selling prints of my paintings is my price point. I want to make art people can afford! My standard 12×12, framed prints retail for $29.99. Colleagues often encourage me to raise my prices, insisting I could easily charge $50 or $60 for a framed print. While that may be true, I’m not trying to be a premium artist whose art only hangs in the wealthiest of homes. I want my art to be accessible to fans who are struggling with tuition, who enjoy executive office suites, and to everyone in between. Collectors who own my originals love to brag that prints of their piece have sold in the hundreds (sometimes thousands).
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
In January of 2026 I quit my full time job with less than $1,000 in the bank, a wife and three children. I made the decision to pursue a better life for myself and my family as a full-time artist. I’m extremely proud of myself for taking that risk. It’s exhausting and difficult to be the sole breadwinner for your family, working an increasingly unfulfilling 40+ hour a week job. It became such a mental and physical drain that I knew if things didn’t change, I needed to find another way to provide for my family. I originally imagined a two-year transition period, but less than one year later, I found myself at a crossroads and I needed to make a career change for my own mental health and my family. Either I had to launch a job search that would, almost certainly, uproot my family from the city we have come to call home, or I had to quit my job and throw everything I have into my dream of being a full-time artist, painting the city I love.
Before I quit my old job, my wife would often catch me singing along with “Defying Gravity” from the Wicked movie soundtrack. Tears stung my eyes as I crooned, “And if I’m flying solo, at least I’m flying free! To those who ground me, take a message back from me. Tell them how I’m defying gravity! I’m flying high, defying gravity and soon I’ll match them in renown.” I longed for that to be true — and now, nine months later, I’m on the other side of it. Today, I can sing that song with confidence that I’ve already achieved freedom and so much more. I still tear up, but with tears of joy, not longing.
Taking risks is scary. Aspirations don’t always work out, but when they do? Wow! It’s magical. Having defied gravity and autism and countless odds, I cannot fathom my life any other way. I look forward to painting much more of Kansas City and beyond in my storybook style for years to come! I hope you’ll take the risk of following your own heart, and follow me on my joyous journey as well!
Pricing:
- Kansas City Art Mail Club – $8 a month. Art delivered to your door along with a letter written by me. Currently have over 800 members!
- Standard 12×12 Framed Print – $30
- Original Watercolor 8×8 – $300-400
- Original Palette Knife Oil Painting – $900 and up
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theodavisart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theodavisart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheoDavisArt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheoDavisArt
- Other: https://linktr.ee/theo_davis
