Dear Artist
“I’m an Artist and I’m sensitive about my shit” - Erykah Badu
As the Queen states, we can all almost feel the truth of those words. I’m sure anyone who has ever tried or created anything at all could resonate with this one. To any artist out there, wondering where to start actually being an artist, I’d check out one or both of these books, “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon and/or “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz. They helped me a so much in shifting my perspectives. If you are on that journey and ended up here, let me be the first to say I’m proud of you and congratulations.
I’m so glad to be coming into my own as an artist and creative. I love being new, that means there’s so much more to discover, learn and grow. Most of us want instant results or to be automatically good at something, especially living in a world where social media is thriving. (That’s another story) It took time to find my groove and i’m pleased to announce that I’m still learning!
It helped so much to start with what I actually like which is such a blessing. Deep diving into what feels good or natural for me and seeing things come to life from just a thought. Most of us hustle and bustle regularly until we pass out, but when do we take time for ourselves. To truly discover and know the self is life changing and life loving. With that said, there’s so many things that I love and am inspired (in-spirit) by to name a few Frida Khalo, Aaliyah, Jay-Z, Thailand, Nail Art online, Lil Kim, Lauren Hill, J.Cole, Doja Cat, Missy Eliott, Beyonce, Pharell, Rihanna and More.
I’ve been dancing since I was a little girl. Seems like after college, especially in Chicago, there aren’t many outlets to further dance passions or sports, especially on the south side where I was born and raised. Plus, my mom, like most Baby Boomer and Generation X parents, wanted me to go to school, finish college and get a “good job”. Meanwhile I watched both her and my dad work for themselves, being their own bosses and bring in cash, daily. Of course times have changed since the 90s where everything was poppingggggg.
Needless to say I was born in the 90s, went to school and followed most of the rules. All throughout school tho, I did my work and then attended some sort of practice or extra curricular activity- for at least 15 years of my life. Thank God for it. At the time however, being an Artist wasn’t on the list of “good jobs”. There was always the stigma of being a “struggling artist’ and that didn’t sound appetizing- AT ALL. I snagged a Job at Enterprise who love to take on fresh, straight out of college students to work and pay them. Not going to lie I learned some highly transferable skills from this job in particular. It really made it hard to leave for a long time despite struggling every day with the work I was doing, I wasn’t happy. I was fighting to continue showing up, knowing that there was something else very real on the inside of me wanting to show through.
As much as I felt this to be true on the inside, I was working a job that did not reflect my beliefs. Although I managed to do fairly well at whatever I put my mind to, it wasn’t satisfying enough. I yearned to create as freely as I could imagine…… Thus after finally taking a leap of faith, and a few years of sticktoitiveness… The Artist was born…. and oh is she LIT!
Stay tuned for more entries and processes…
With Love
Ray