A letter to myself

Tuesday 29th August 2023.

Dear SLART,

You’ve really had trouble believing in yourself over the years and I just want to tell you, it’s not your fault.

little did you know that you were just holding other people’s beliefs as your own, and thinking those beliefs were true.

Your art teacher said “You can’t draw large scale” You got upset and dropped out of his class, you’re a sensitive soul, and that’s okay too. Embrace that and use that in your art and your life.

Then a little over 20 years later, you painted 6 murals in your hometown within one year! Doesn’t that prove that you shouldn’t listen to the opinions of others? Or at the very least, take them with a pinch of salt?

Everything that has happened in your 41 years came along to prepare you for the rest of your life.

So, there’s no need to have any regrets.

Remember that life isn’t black and white. Your happiness isn’t black and white either. You’ve believed that you must be unhappy in your day job because you want to be an artist full-time. Living your life well is your art, so enjoy your day job as much as possible. Make a fun game out of it if you must. Then have a plan on how you’re going to transition.

Be true to your artistic impulses. You’ve always worried that you should be creating realistic art (realism) but remember what one of your mentors said to you “You’ve got a unique style, embrace it. Other artists go down the realism route then they spend years trying to find a style”.

It’s easy to get caught up in “should” you feel like you should paint hyper realistically, but you don’t really want to right now.

Also, be open to changing, you might want to learn realism for fun, but now, you want to paint how you paint, SLART style, so do that.

The main thing is to: Enjoy yourself!

Stop taking life too seriously, I know a lot is going on, but the media doesn’t always paint a picture of reality. It’s like old social media, they need to keep your attention somehow. News, newspapers, and magazines all do it and have done it for years.

Go out and experience your own reality, your own microcosm of life. Really enjoy the walks in your local park, get out in nature more, and walk more, both are absolutely underrated.

I will repeat this to you: Walking is underrated. Forget forcing yourself to go to a gym. You enjoy playing basketball, so continue doing that too.

Remember this too:

People nowadays get bored of nature.

How can you get bored of perfection?

One final note: You are doing amazingly well. Always take heed of this Warhol Quote, make it your own mantra:

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

Keep creating art regardless if you make money from it or not. You never truly know the impact your art will have, just keep creating your art.

Very best wishes my dear friend,

SLART

P.S. Keep on painting, drawing, and creating art. Forever. Some day you’ll be gone, so make the most of your time now.

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