Perspectives

The reality of being taken advantage of as an artist by companies big and small was one I had forgotten about. I have however been reminded of this practiced conundrum recently by others venting their frustrations and thought I would share my thoughts with you.  I remember in my early years here in South Africa having to deal with many advertising agencies who were constantly trying to get art at low rates that would only suit their financial needs. On some occasions they would even try get the art for free, stating that the project they are working on for...

What I’m going to share is my personal experience of such a journey in terms of bonding with others. I grew up as being extremely shy, self-conscious and highly self-critical. I was very much a sensitive introvert and struggled with this for years. The positive side to it was that I could easily spend hours very regularly by myself just drawing away. I will admit, I was jealous of those who just seemed to make friends easily, and could just comfortably be social in groups and public settings. For me it was much more difficult, if even possible. As a result,...

The healing journey from the surgery on my right wrist has been an interesting process. With less physical freedom than before, it left me with no option but to adapt and redistribute more leading control to my left hand. As part of this, I chose to take up the challenge of training my left hand how to draw. This was just to be a fun challenge with no expectations. I chose to also get my fans and some coffee shop strangers involved as part of it. At first, trying to get your hand what you want it to is a very...

The process of reaching the next level of yourself requires you to push yourself outside of your habitual comfort zones of the known and into the growing pains of the unknown. This is where you enter the stream of life and of growth. This is about pushing yourself to your current limits, to the point where you don’t know how to take it to the level you’re aiming for and find yourself frustratingly going round in circles with no real results. Congratulations! This is where the work needs to be done. The first step is to accept that you do not yet have...

This is a massive one and one I encountered regularly on my path. To give some personal context, I used to be abusively self-judgmental. The reigning power of the self-abusive dictatorship was well practiced and deeply engrained. I so often just couldn’t feel good enough no matter how hard I tried. My self-talk would on a regular basis rain destruction on my self-worth since I had become overly tuned to finding fault with myself, for not having done things differently and living with those resulting regrets. Regrets that kept me trapped in the mental prison of what we call the past, disconnecting me from the...