Bio
Forrest William King was born October 20th, 1983 in Lubbock Texas to Thomas Forrest King and Shelly Marie King the night of a flood. Times were rough for the family those first few years as the family went through financial troubles and struggled to survive. Forrest’s father got into the restaurant business and things looked up. The industry moved the family from Texas to Oklahoma to Kansas to Georgia back to Texas then to Arizona to California and finally today to Wyoming.
Growing up Forrest was a shy child, usually having only one lonely friend whom he would take all his aggressions out on. This often led him to his room, which was his sanctuary. Ever since he could hold a pencil he was drawing. In his sanctuary he would draw monsters, dinosaurs, people he didn’t like being tortured… anything he felt like.
By the time Forrest was in the 6th grade he was fed up with being the lonely brooding artist and decided to be cool, leaving his art behind, though doodling when bored in class never ceased. He grew out his hair and started hanging out with the stoners. His grades declined lower than they already were and he began getting into trouble. By 7th grade he was living in Fountain Hills, Arizona and was a popular kid among the alternative crowd.
This transformation upset Forrest’s parents for some reason so they shaved his head and made him where slacks and polo shirts to school. This was somewhat devastating and Forrest lost many of his so-called friends. With that he began hanging out with the older crowd who understood his plight and did not judge him. But he later thanked his parents for teaching him such a valuable lesson.
Around this time is when Forrest went through the Christian “born again” experience which changed his life. He became very devout and pious, evangelizing his schoolmates. This of course led him to surround himself with friends in the Christian “Bubble”. With his faith he discovered a benevolent side he didn’t have before. His art on the back burner, Forrest’s family moved to California.
Forrest still considers California his home. He lived there for five years which was the longest he had ever lived in one state. Up to Forrest’s senior year, he was Mr. Bible-thumping Evangelist. He started the Christian club on campus his sophomore year, and would preach during lunch hour. His nick name was Moses by ridiculing classmates.
When Forrest’s junior year came along, he re-discovered his love for art. His teacher, Connie Rhode, saw his talent and really pushed him along his path to artistic greatness. That year Forrest won the local chalk festival with his rendition of the Hildebrandt Brother’s “Dream2”.
Forrest’s senior year was pivotal in his faith and his art. Taking Advanced Placement Art, Forrest was pushed to his limits as an artist at that time. He was introduced to painting with Acrylics, and he fell in love with painting. He was what his teacher called, “A natural painter”. Once Forrest picked up the brush he was an artistic fiend. His ideas for paintings also aroused viewers around him. He won that years chalk festival as well with his rendition of Sebastian Krugar’s portrait of James Dean.
At the beginning of Forrest’s senior year, he began to drift from the church. He had always felt uncomfortable in church. While he was Mr. Preacher, Forrest struggled with depression and self-mutilation. He had many skeletons in his closet. Also, he ran into some trouble at his home church with the pastor’s wife spreading rumors of him sleeping with all the girls in the youth group. Forrest had preserved his virginity for marriage, and was thoroughly insulted and disillusioned by the incident. He then took a break from his radical faith for the summer when he accepted a scholarship for one free semester to the Academy of Art in San Francisco.
While in San Francisco, Forrest studied figure painting and drawing, as well as anatomy. He negotiated more advanced classes, and though he was the second worst artist in all his classes, he was also two years behind his classmates. It was here that he discovered his new love, oils. He loved the blending and workability of oil compared to the frigid acrylics. He found he could do things with oils he had only dreamed of doing with acrylics.
After Forrest’s excursion to San Francisco he moved to Santa Barbara and attended Santa Barbara City College where he studied more art as well as theater. While in Santa Barbara he got involved with a revival church and returned to his radical Christian ways. He moved into a house in Isla Vista where he would share Jesus every weekend with strangers on the street. He attended Bible studies throughout the week and studied religious material during his free time. He was learning under his pastor as well, being molded to serve God. During this time Forrest’s art was still improving, but it only remained in the classroom.
At this time Forrest’s parents and little brother had moved out to Cheyenne, Wyoming where his father had work. His parents decided he was not pursuing a bright future at school and cut his funding. Forrest felt he could stay if he wanted. He had fallen in love with Santa Barbara’s culture and beaches. Through many prayer meeting he decided God must want him to go evangelize in the open plains of Southern Wyoming. He was terrified.
After deciding to migrate to the Cowboy State, Forrest met a girl we’ll call Nancy. They hit it off and became pen-pals after the move. After suffering a month of depression and altitude sickness, Forrest began networking with the youth groups in town to start his ministry.
The only thing on Forrest’s mind was saving Cheyenne from demonic destruction and his new love flame, Nancy. His group of followers would meet in his parents’ basement to cry out for the salvation of the hell-bound sinners of the tiny capitol city. Soon, his flame joined him, leaving her home of Southern California.
The ministry grew and so did Forrest’s pride. He had returned once again to his pious ways, and played the Pharisee. He was a white washed tomb again, full of his own guilt and issues shrouded by a facade of perpetual Christian bliss.
It wasn’t too long before churches began to notice Forrest’s ministry and became hostile. They feared he was trying to “steel they’re sheep”. Under hostility, Forrest’s ministry crumbled, though those who were involved say it changed their lives. They are all out serving God all over the world. Forrest was broken, but still served at his home church. Over the course of this time, Forrest did little to no painting. He half-way finished the Depraved Youth painting, and painted the Jack-Dempsey mural downtown.
After the fall of Forrest’s ministry, he was invited to a youth group at another church. There he ended up counseling a young depressed girl having thoughts of suicide. The church was impressed and asked if Forrest would be their youth pastor. Forrest was ecstatic. His life-long dream was to be a pastor, and this was the first step. Upon telling his pastor, Forrest was offered the same position at his home church. He was nonetheless torn, but opted to stay with his home church he had helped build.
During this time Forrest and Nancy were having problems. He felt unloved and she blamed it on their lack of sex, since Forrest was adamant about saving himself for marriage. She said she would treat him better if they were able to make love. Now, Forrest knew that being a single full-time ministry worker was hard, and that it was best to be married to help alleviate the burden of serving God. Not to mention the temptation of young youth group whores.
With that, the young couple (Forrest, 20, and Nancy, 21) set their wedding date. The wedding was to take place August 20th, 2004. Forrest started his job as youth pastor August 1st. He felt splendid in his office, and finally felt as if his life was about to take flight and he knew his purpose indefinitely; to serve God for the rest of his life.
Unfortunately, this bliss was short-lived. It was as if Forrest magically brought out the worst from the wives of the servant’s of God. The pastor’s wife seemed intoxicatingly bitter toward Forrest, constantly guilting him by expounding on how her husband only made half of what Forrest made when he began in the ministry. Forrest would also get into theological debates with the wife, which was probably a big mistake on his part. With wedding plans and an all-out transition in his life, Forrest was unsure how to deal with this wicked woman. She slept with the boss, what could he do?
One week before the wedding, Forrest arrived at his office to find a note declaring his immediate and indefinite termination. He was devastated. His entire life’s dream had shattered before him, and his heart was torn to shreds. He did not know how to react, and cried out in agony for the first time in his life. He had no joy left but his wedding to be held at that very church.
What was once a home to Forrest was now a distant stranger. He got stares from the congregation. They would whisper as he walked by. What could he have done that was horrible enough to be fired? Eventually rumors and plain coldheartedness forced Forrest and Nancy out of that church which they called home for so long.
Aside from the sure chaos of being wed at the church of his demise, Forrest’s wedding was beautiful. They rode off on Harleys into the sunset, and despite the spiritual and financial atom-bomb dropped on them, they felt they would be happy.
Forrest and his new wife soon found another church that welcomed them and their sob story. But Forrest no longer felt at home in the Christian bubble, and his marriage was rocky. His wife treated him the same as she did before they were married, but he loved her anyway. He developed a strong bitterness toward her. He felt cheated. All of his religious expeditions had led to this: shattered dreams and a crappy roommate for a wife.
Through counseling and marriage conferences and stacks of books, the young couple could not work things out. Soon, Forrest’s marriage felt more like a prison, and a month after they’re first anniversary, they separated. Despite all of Forrest’s effort to hold the only thing left in his life together, his marriage fell to pieces, and he became a statistic. He went from youth pastor to divorced and distraught. Due to the financial burden of divorce (mainly his wife draining the savings) Forrest moved back with his parents.
The next year, Forrest would struggle through depression again. His friends from church became his enemies, shunning him for allowing the divorce to take place. He would run into old friends at the store and they would turn and walk the other way. Forrest was disillusioned, but found love not from the people of God, but his family and “secular” friends. The friends he prayed for because he knew they were going to hell. The friends he judged based on their lifestyles. How could he judge them now?
Forrest had a revelation. He realized he was a piece of shit, and was never at any point in his life worthy of judging those around him. He realized that the church taught him to hate instead of love. He realized that these “heathens” were actually people. He realized he had been going down the wrong path all along. He did not lose faith in God, but his view of the church has evolved from praiseworthy to a dark distrust.
With his new-found change of heart, Forrest began to paint again. At first it was a way of dealing with his depression, but soon began to blossom. He began painting for pleasure again. It was like returning to a lost, but not forgotten, love. Ideas that laid dormant in his mind for years had awakened again, screaming to be set free and revealed to the world! He found peace in the talent God had given him from the beginning that he had just not quite realized.
Forrest resides in Cheyenne with his girlfriend Leah and their two children. He has found himself again, and has more love for the world than he ever had while pursuing religious conquests. In a way he is more like Jesus now, speaking out for the angst of the people against the hypocritical Pharisees; not through poetry of speech, but poetry of sight. He would say that he has finally found himself, as an artist, and as a father.
Growing up Forrest was a shy child, usually having only one lonely friend whom he would take all his aggressions out on. This often led him to his room, which was his sanctuary. Ever since he could hold a pencil he was drawing. In his sanctuary he would draw monsters, dinosaurs, people he didn’t like being tortured… anything he felt like.
By the time Forrest was in the 6th grade he was fed up with being the lonely brooding artist and decided to be cool, leaving his art behind, though doodling when bored in class never ceased. He grew out his hair and started hanging out with the stoners. His grades declined lower than they already were and he began getting into trouble. By 7th grade he was living in Fountain Hills, Arizona and was a popular kid among the alternative crowd.
This transformation upset Forrest’s parents for some reason so they shaved his head and made him where slacks and polo shirts to school. This was somewhat devastating and Forrest lost many of his so-called friends. With that he began hanging out with the older crowd who understood his plight and did not judge him. But he later thanked his parents for teaching him such a valuable lesson.
Around this time is when Forrest went through the Christian “born again” experience which changed his life. He became very devout and pious, evangelizing his schoolmates. This of course led him to surround himself with friends in the Christian “Bubble”. With his faith he discovered a benevolent side he didn’t have before. His art on the back burner, Forrest’s family moved to California.
Forrest still considers California his home. He lived there for five years which was the longest he had ever lived in one state. Up to Forrest’s senior year, he was Mr. Bible-thumping Evangelist. He started the Christian club on campus his sophomore year, and would preach during lunch hour. His nick name was Moses by ridiculing classmates.
When Forrest’s junior year came along, he re-discovered his love for art. His teacher, Connie Rhode, saw his talent and really pushed him along his path to artistic greatness. That year Forrest won the local chalk festival with his rendition of the Hildebrandt Brother’s “Dream2”.
Forrest’s senior year was pivotal in his faith and his art. Taking Advanced Placement Art, Forrest was pushed to his limits as an artist at that time. He was introduced to painting with Acrylics, and he fell in love with painting. He was what his teacher called, “A natural painter”. Once Forrest picked up the brush he was an artistic fiend. His ideas for paintings also aroused viewers around him. He won that years chalk festival as well with his rendition of Sebastian Krugar’s portrait of James Dean.
At the beginning of Forrest’s senior year, he began to drift from the church. He had always felt uncomfortable in church. While he was Mr. Preacher, Forrest struggled with depression and self-mutilation. He had many skeletons in his closet. Also, he ran into some trouble at his home church with the pastor’s wife spreading rumors of him sleeping with all the girls in the youth group. Forrest had preserved his virginity for marriage, and was thoroughly insulted and disillusioned by the incident. He then took a break from his radical faith for the summer when he accepted a scholarship for one free semester to the Academy of Art in San Francisco.
While in San Francisco, Forrest studied figure painting and drawing, as well as anatomy. He negotiated more advanced classes, and though he was the second worst artist in all his classes, he was also two years behind his classmates. It was here that he discovered his new love, oils. He loved the blending and workability of oil compared to the frigid acrylics. He found he could do things with oils he had only dreamed of doing with acrylics.
After Forrest’s excursion to San Francisco he moved to Santa Barbara and attended Santa Barbara City College where he studied more art as well as theater. While in Santa Barbara he got involved with a revival church and returned to his radical Christian ways. He moved into a house in Isla Vista where he would share Jesus every weekend with strangers on the street. He attended Bible studies throughout the week and studied religious material during his free time. He was learning under his pastor as well, being molded to serve God. During this time Forrest’s art was still improving, but it only remained in the classroom.
At this time Forrest’s parents and little brother had moved out to Cheyenne, Wyoming where his father had work. His parents decided he was not pursuing a bright future at school and cut his funding. Forrest felt he could stay if he wanted. He had fallen in love with Santa Barbara’s culture and beaches. Through many prayer meeting he decided God must want him to go evangelize in the open plains of Southern Wyoming. He was terrified.
After deciding to migrate to the Cowboy State, Forrest met a girl we’ll call Nancy. They hit it off and became pen-pals after the move. After suffering a month of depression and altitude sickness, Forrest began networking with the youth groups in town to start his ministry.
The only thing on Forrest’s mind was saving Cheyenne from demonic destruction and his new love flame, Nancy. His group of followers would meet in his parents’ basement to cry out for the salvation of the hell-bound sinners of the tiny capitol city. Soon, his flame joined him, leaving her home of Southern California.
The ministry grew and so did Forrest’s pride. He had returned once again to his pious ways, and played the Pharisee. He was a white washed tomb again, full of his own guilt and issues shrouded by a facade of perpetual Christian bliss.
It wasn’t too long before churches began to notice Forrest’s ministry and became hostile. They feared he was trying to “steel they’re sheep”. Under hostility, Forrest’s ministry crumbled, though those who were involved say it changed their lives. They are all out serving God all over the world. Forrest was broken, but still served at his home church. Over the course of this time, Forrest did little to no painting. He half-way finished the Depraved Youth painting, and painted the Jack-Dempsey mural downtown.
After the fall of Forrest’s ministry, he was invited to a youth group at another church. There he ended up counseling a young depressed girl having thoughts of suicide. The church was impressed and asked if Forrest would be their youth pastor. Forrest was ecstatic. His life-long dream was to be a pastor, and this was the first step. Upon telling his pastor, Forrest was offered the same position at his home church. He was nonetheless torn, but opted to stay with his home church he had helped build.
During this time Forrest and Nancy were having problems. He felt unloved and she blamed it on their lack of sex, since Forrest was adamant about saving himself for marriage. She said she would treat him better if they were able to make love. Now, Forrest knew that being a single full-time ministry worker was hard, and that it was best to be married to help alleviate the burden of serving God. Not to mention the temptation of young youth group whores.
With that, the young couple (Forrest, 20, and Nancy, 21) set their wedding date. The wedding was to take place August 20th, 2004. Forrest started his job as youth pastor August 1st. He felt splendid in his office, and finally felt as if his life was about to take flight and he knew his purpose indefinitely; to serve God for the rest of his life.
Unfortunately, this bliss was short-lived. It was as if Forrest magically brought out the worst from the wives of the servant’s of God. The pastor’s wife seemed intoxicatingly bitter toward Forrest, constantly guilting him by expounding on how her husband only made half of what Forrest made when he began in the ministry. Forrest would also get into theological debates with the wife, which was probably a big mistake on his part. With wedding plans and an all-out transition in his life, Forrest was unsure how to deal with this wicked woman. She slept with the boss, what could he do?
One week before the wedding, Forrest arrived at his office to find a note declaring his immediate and indefinite termination. He was devastated. His entire life’s dream had shattered before him, and his heart was torn to shreds. He did not know how to react, and cried out in agony for the first time in his life. He had no joy left but his wedding to be held at that very church.
What was once a home to Forrest was now a distant stranger. He got stares from the congregation. They would whisper as he walked by. What could he have done that was horrible enough to be fired? Eventually rumors and plain coldheartedness forced Forrest and Nancy out of that church which they called home for so long.
Aside from the sure chaos of being wed at the church of his demise, Forrest’s wedding was beautiful. They rode off on Harleys into the sunset, and despite the spiritual and financial atom-bomb dropped on them, they felt they would be happy.
Forrest and his new wife soon found another church that welcomed them and their sob story. But Forrest no longer felt at home in the Christian bubble, and his marriage was rocky. His wife treated him the same as she did before they were married, but he loved her anyway. He developed a strong bitterness toward her. He felt cheated. All of his religious expeditions had led to this: shattered dreams and a crappy roommate for a wife.
Through counseling and marriage conferences and stacks of books, the young couple could not work things out. Soon, Forrest’s marriage felt more like a prison, and a month after they’re first anniversary, they separated. Despite all of Forrest’s effort to hold the only thing left in his life together, his marriage fell to pieces, and he became a statistic. He went from youth pastor to divorced and distraught. Due to the financial burden of divorce (mainly his wife draining the savings) Forrest moved back with his parents.
The next year, Forrest would struggle through depression again. His friends from church became his enemies, shunning him for allowing the divorce to take place. He would run into old friends at the store and they would turn and walk the other way. Forrest was disillusioned, but found love not from the people of God, but his family and “secular” friends. The friends he prayed for because he knew they were going to hell. The friends he judged based on their lifestyles. How could he judge them now?
Forrest had a revelation. He realized he was a piece of shit, and was never at any point in his life worthy of judging those around him. He realized that the church taught him to hate instead of love. He realized that these “heathens” were actually people. He realized he had been going down the wrong path all along. He did not lose faith in God, but his view of the church has evolved from praiseworthy to a dark distrust.
With his new-found change of heart, Forrest began to paint again. At first it was a way of dealing with his depression, but soon began to blossom. He began painting for pleasure again. It was like returning to a lost, but not forgotten, love. Ideas that laid dormant in his mind for years had awakened again, screaming to be set free and revealed to the world! He found peace in the talent God had given him from the beginning that he had just not quite realized.
Forrest resides in Cheyenne with his girlfriend Leah and their two children. He has found himself again, and has more love for the world than he ever had while pursuing religious conquests. In a way he is more like Jesus now, speaking out for the angst of the people against the hypocritical Pharisees; not through poetry of speech, but poetry of sight. He would say that he has finally found himself, as an artist, and as a father.