You will probably know about Barrington artist Matt Gabler soon enough. Right now, he’s setting up his studio in town with no small goals in mind. “I want to be a world-renowned artist, even controversial,” Gabler says. “I want competition that will drive me to be a better artist. My goal is to be at the top of my game. That’s what drives you towards your next goal.”

Gabler grew up in Homer Glen when it was a sleepy farm town outside of Chicago. “It had a good bowling alley. The best thing we did was to ride our bikes to the gas station and get slushies,” Gabler said. But like his growth to becoming an artist, his childhood hometown has expanded, too.

During his middle school years, Gabler went on trips with his grandfather whose abstract impressionist paintings landed him at shows in Dubai, Germany, Slovakia, Paris, and Ireland. The trips gave him a keen perspective on quality of life. “I saw the high-rollers at the shows compared to condensed poverty in some locations.”

Gabler’s first attempt at painting came at age 7. His grandfather tried to teach him, but impatience kicked in. Yet, a trip to Florence, Italy at age 19 for a design program would change everything. “It was an excuse to go abroad,” Gabler says of applying and being accepted at Polimoda, one of the top 10 fashion institutes in the world. He sent a portfolio of his early paintings and school personnel loved them. Immersed in art and culture every day in Florence, Gabler’s experience there gave him a kick-start. After six months, at a teacher’s urging that he was wasting his time in school, he left the program and moved back home to Barrington.

“I remember my fashion design teacher told me that ‘you are not the best drawer in the class, but you are the one with the highest opinion of your designs; you have the best vision’. Other students had better drawings, but they could not pinpoint where they were going with them. And they all looked alike. But mine, not necessarily better, did stand out,” he said. Armed with a new perspective on his self-worth and artistic vision, Gabler realized that he could no longer worry that his work, or he, wasn’t good enough.

Gabler lost his father at age 19, and it was a huge blow to his outlook, and part of why he wanted to go abroad. He had dropped out of high school, taking courses instead online. “One thing I always focused on in life was my painting,” he said. “Whether I was happy or sad, I always expressed it through art. In Florence, Gabler created realistic patterns in his work which were translated to fabric, with emotions expressed through his use of color.

Once he returned to Barrington, Gabler made a commitment that he would work nonstop, night and day. His goal is to continue painting and to create one-of-a-kind clothes for men and women with his company, Preyvon. He credits his supportive mom, Sheila, and stepfather Mike Miller, a local jeweler, with modeling integrity and a strong work ethic.

For other artists, Gabler offers this advice. “Do not stop believing in yourself. There will be a lot of people who will laugh at you and minimize your career choice. Take the blows but move on. All you’ve got is being yourself, so go out there, talk yourself up, and persevere.”

Matt Gabler can be reached at gablermatthew@gmail.com.