This serves as my admiration for the artists that I’ve come across and have been lucky to have spent some time talking with.

I admire the wit and the expression of all artists, across all mediums, whether they are openly artists, occasional artists, or repressed artists. I’ve appreciated art rather intensely for as long as I can remember. I like to analyze and I like to dig deep, running from things that tend to lack depth. Finding refuge in art, as a reminder that one’s differences and their eccentric concepts matter, grounds me back to the simplicity and wonder of life. It perpetuates my child like joy.

I believe creating is our birthright, a primal instinct that needs to be nurtured; expressing, playing, singing, throwing, laughing, dancing, whatever you would imagine a toddler with no stimulation is left to when they’re by themselves. Many of us lose sight of our creativity and our laid back essence as we grow older, and yet artists have found a way to let that child-like innocence breathe. It might sound silly but it is that exact youthful energy that many of us look for when we grow older and wonder; “What happened? When did it get so serious?” 

Creatives, artists, are the ones who continue to nurture that child into adulthood. Their love for creation deserves to be applauded and upholstered throughout their lives. As that child grows, many create with an intense devotion to exploring their inner worlds, commiting to sharing with little care for what’s outside of them. That’s courageous to me.

Most importantly, it fills me with awe to see people own this so unapologetically in their life.  There is nothing more inspiring than to see artists paint a canvas, fill a song, or create abstract, ununderstandable projects with their inner world. It’s a big fuck you to a society that perpetuates homogeneity and only praises differences when money and fame is gained. To the everyday artists who simply doodle in their books for an escape, who sing in the shower, to those who book events at local venues and organize their neighborhood’s writers workshops, this is to cast a light on you.