DeAnte Howard - God's Hand All Over Me

DeAnte Howard

God's Hand All Over Me

By Terry L. Watson

Photos Provided by Deante Howard

DeAnte Howard of Kansas City, MO, is a husband, father, and follower of Christ. He is also blessed with the gift of creativity through many forms of expression. Born in Kansas City, DeAnte was raised by a single father. He is the middle child of seven. He has been married to his incredible wife for 12 years, and together, they have five kids, four boys and a girl.

DeAnte is also the owner of an art company called Deecor Design, and he owns a clothing brand called Equris Clothing. “Deecor is a play on words. Decor is things that decorate a room, with art fitting that category. When I do art, I do it from the heart or from the core, giving my all. With my work, you get Dee’s Core. I have come to adopt Deecor as my artist name,” he says.

DeAnte started his professional art journey in 2021. He says, “I always loved art. Since a kid, I knew I wanted to do something with art being a key component. However purely being an artist seemed like a pipe dream, I have never seen anyone who looked like me, from where I’m from have a successful art career. I knew artists, but none of them, even the insanely talented ones, could support themselves, let alone love a family with their artwork, at least not directly. I ended up going to school for architecture, thinking I could do art that people could live in, but I didn’t like the program. I later pivoted to graphic design. Switching, unbeknownst to me, meant dropping my classes with a fail, which destroyed my GPA, and that became my last semester of college.

DeAnte would later learn about print-on-demand. With the emergence of social media, his dream of making a living from my art seems possible. In 2021, he made a few art pieces as a side gig, as he worked as an Insurance Agent full-time. When he was laid off from his job, DeAnte decided to go full throttle with his work. He went to a Chiefs game, and while tailgaters were waiting for entry, I walked around the parking lot selling prints and canvases. “I made more in a few hours than I did in a whole month at work. From that moment, I told my wife I’m not sending in another application, and I have been a full-time artist since,” he says.

I am not just an artist; I am also a businessman. That means, I can’t just create art all day, everyday. I have a lot of hats to wear. I am the CEO, CFO, marketing department, PR, customer service, and research and development. I balance all of that with also being a husband and father.

DeAnte shares that he loves his chosen career as an artist. “From the freedom and flexibility to knowing that someone loves my style when they purchase my work. That is the most gratifying part of what I do,” he says.

DeAnte faces some challenges as a self-employed artist. He shares, “I am not just an artist; I am also a businessman. That means, I can’t just create art all day, everyday. I have a lot of hats to wear. I am the CEO, CFO, marketing department, PR, customer service, and research and development. I balance all of that with also being a husband and father.”

DeAnte says that without God, he would not be where he is today. He adds, “God’s hand has been all over my life. When I was about 13, I had surgery on my neck for something that has rarely been seen. I had Tuberculosis, a bacteria that can kill you. I had apparently been living with it dormant for years. When it activated, it wasn’t in my lungs like it usually is; it was in my spine. It was deteriorating my spinal disc, which caused one disc to collapse and pinch a nerve. I was on a school bus, and we hit a bump, and I had the worst pain I have felt. Had the TB gone unnoticed for a couple more weeks, it would have made it to my nerves and brain stem and could have caused some irreversible damage and could have ended my life. God’s hands were all in that.”

DeAnte would also undergo surgery and have rods and screws placed in his neck. With the operation, the doctors said walking would be difficult. That news deflated Deanta, as he says that sports was his first love. “Growing up where I did, sports or music is how you got out, and while I could do both, I didn’t like the music industry, so I, much like a lot of urban youth, thought sports would be my out,” he shares. Thankfully, other than his limited range of turning his head, his prognosis is unnoticeable.

Moving forward, DeAnte is working on making some connections to upgrade the platforms he is presently working on. He desires to do projects with the NFL, NBA, and MLB involving the organizations, teams, and players. He also would like to work with Topps/ Fanatics and Panini. The sky is the limit for DeAnte, and with his determination and gifts, there is nothing that he will not accomplish.