Dream Big with Guy Stanley Philoche sponsored by Green Chef

You are now tuning in to Discover Your Potential with radio talk show host Dan Gilman. So listen, participate, be inspired, know that you can discover your potential. Here he is, Dan Gilman. You are now tuning in to Discover Your Potential with radio talk show host Dan Gilman. You are now tuning in to Discover Your Potential with radio talk show host Dan Gilman. You are listening to Discover Your Potential. I am your host Dan Gilman and this is a very special episode. We actually have a very special series for the arts and promoting the arts. I myself come from an art background and my mother always supported me. But today we have a very special guest, Guy Stanley Filosh. He's an incredible artist located in New York City and as you saw in the video. And I'm going to just segue right to Guy. He's incredible. Welcome to Discover Your Potential. I'm so glad to have you here today. Oh my God, Dan. Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule and wanting to sit down and talk to me. Absolutely. And first I want to ask you about your upbringing. What was it like as a child and have you always been inspired to follow a path as an artist? So to answer that question, I have to basically tell you a little bit about my background. So both my parents were born Haiti. I came over when I was about five years old and I didn't speak the language at all. English is like my second language. And I was this very young and awkward kid growing up and I learned how to speak the language through watching cartoons, daytime TV and I found my way and I found my voice through art. So to answer that question, yes, I've always wanted to be an artist but I think that my big aha-opera moment I would say was probably when I was in junior high school and we took a class trip to the museums and that's when I fell in love with art. That's when I fell in love with Picasso's and Monet's and all the classics. Yeah. Did you actually attended art school when you went to college? Yeah, yeah. So I did go to Perak College of Art. It was a small art school in Connecticut and then I made my way to Yale. And then after that I decided it was time for me to move to New York, packed everything I had. I moved to New York with $5,000 a duffel bag and a dream. That's incredible. So I grew up drawing a lot. I grew up copying comic books, watching lots of cartoons, drawing lots of cartoons. I never realized I can make a career of when I was in high school. In high school that's when I realized, wow, you can actually make a career of being a painter or being an artist. And of course when you're an artist there's so many different fields of art. You have illustrators, you have painters, you have graphic designers. You have so many different avenues that you can go through. I fell in love with just drawing and painting. I remember when I told my mom that I wanted to be an artist. I sat them down. I sat both my parents down. I was like, listen, I think I'm going to go and become an artist and go to art school. And also too, when you have a Caribbean background like myself and our culture, our parents sacrifice so much so therefore we don't have to. And so in our culture we were supposed to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, but not just that. It's all about having a job with a pension. I remember telling my mom that I wanted to go to art school and she sat me down and said, listen, baby, you are too smart, too bright. And I scrubbed enough toilet so therefore you never have to because my mom was a house cleaner and a maid. My dad was an engineer. And I was like, mom, this is just what I want to do. And she was like, listen, we love you, but we're not paying for you to become an artist. And I was just like, yeah, I totally understand that. After I graduated high school, I grabbed my diploma. I took my picture. I took the picture with my parents. I kissed them both on the cheek. I said goodbye and I left home when I was 17 years old. Look back. Oh, that's interesting. So I always, because I also come from an art background. I attended art school as well. But what inspires your art and where do you find your inspiration for your work, for your pieces? Well, one thing about me I like to say is that I'm a little different because I do series. Every few years I'll do, I'm always bouncing to a different series, a different series. And usually a series usually will have between 30 to 35 paintings. And see, sorry about that. And once that's done, I move on to a new series. And listen, my inspiration comes from everything. You know, living in New York, walking down the street, you get inspired. Me and interesting people, hearing people's stories. It's interesting and fascinating. This latest series right now, I'm working on, it's called Give Us Our Flowers. It's a series that started, the series hit me, I would say about a month and a half ago when I lost a really good friend of mine who was one of my biggest collectors, my lawyer who helped me negotiate all my contracts, but just a really good friend that I've known for years. Sorry for your loss. Thanks. He passed away all suddenly. So I go to his funeral and the funeral was completely packed with people that loved him. And I know this one thing when I was at his funeral, everyone was praising him. Everyone kept saying, oh, he was an amazing guy. He was such a smart attorney. I wish I had told him how fun he was when he was alive. Everyone just kept saying I wish that had time to tell him how great and amazing he was. So his death really shook me up. Listen, I dealt with grief and I dealt with loved ones dying, but this one kind of hit me really hard. Traditional therapy just wasn't working for me. I was seeing my therapist, we were talking about, I just couldn't shake it off. So one day I just decided just to go into the studio and start painting. By start painting, it's portrait over and over and over again. And that's when a new series just kind of blossom into it. So now this is a new series and it's doing really well and people are really responding really well to it. That's incredible. Can you, for the viewers that don't know your work, can you tell us more about your artistic style and how has it evolved over the years? Oh my God, that's a really good question. Yeah, so I'm classically trained, but I think I would say my big break was my abstract paintings for a long time called the title series. I was a huge Marf Roffko fan. So just picture really beautiful color studies, but what I did different was I put this amazing texture on them. All my work is really texture driven. Can you tell us more about your artistic style and how it has evolved over the years? Yeah, if you look at my body of work, I'm classically trained, so therefore I have different, I like to have different styles, but one of my big breaks as an artist is it's probably what I'm really well known for is my abstract paintings. They're called my untitled series. Mark Roffko was a huge, huge, I was a huge fan of Mark Roffko of his work and he influenced me a lot. So the series called Untitled is basically dedicated to him and throughout the years the work again, different stuff influences me and the works has involved and grow and then I go from doing more cartoon stuff and those cartoon stuff like Charlie Brown or Snoopy or peanut characters or Garfield and everything like that. Those are dedicated to my childhood growing up as a kid, waking up Saturday mornings with a bowl of cereal and watching cartoons and then from there I'm doing more figurative works and everything like that until I am right now where I'm doing more figurative works. One thing that I'm really, I think I would like to say is I'm really, I'm very grateful and very blessed that I have a gallery that allows me to grow and evolve as an artist because I've known so many artists who are very successful, but they're stuck painting the same narrative over and over and over because it's selling and you're scared to, I would say think outside of box or gather conference zone. Also too, I'm very, very grateful that I have collectors that love everything I do. I have collectors have pieces of every series I've done which is really interesting. That sounds really incredible. I would love to know, even as an artist too, how do you approach creating a new piece of work and what is your process like? The process is you have this little idea and then you just attack the canvas. I have friends who they want a sketch, a million sketches or do stuff on the computer. I'm old school, man. I just attack the canvas and just work out through there. If something's not working, you just take that rag and just scrape it off. Even scraping it off, something really beautiful tends to happen. That's just my process. I just attack the canvas until it hits. Just for viewers who are artists too, I know that they've had their own share of struggles or challenges, I should say. Can you share any challenges or struggles that you faced as an artist and how did you overcome them? I know that really helps. I still face lots of struggles and challenges as an artist. The fact that I'm at is this. I live in New York City and I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, but at the same time, New York is basically one of the capitals of the art world. My mother in the city is an artist. We're all fighting for the same wall space. We're fighting for the same gallery. We're fighting for that same career to do the art work for the New York Times. So competition is very fierce. I don't mind that, but I beat to my own drum. What I mean by that is I have a philosophy that I live by. The best part about where I live is that it still feels like summer for another couple of weeks. So while everybody else is diving into pumpkin spice everything, I'm still craving healthy meals and clean eating. And I'm so glad I started a healthy habit with Green Chef. There's still time to discover why Green Chef is the number one meal kit for clean eating and get into your own healthy groove. Whatever you're up to these days, Green Chef is the easy way to spend less time in the kitchen. With their new heat and eat meals, you can enjoy a delicious, wholesome meal in just three minutes. Perfect for supporting your wellness journey. Green Chef recipes feature fresh, organic, seasonal produce and 100% responsibly sourced proteins so you feel your best. Green Chef's real, clean ingredients help you build lasting healthy habits without the hassle. Enjoy salads ready in just five minutes. Protein filled breakfasts. 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Make this season your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Head to greenchef.com slash 50-dyp and use code 50-dyp to get 50% off your first month. Then 20% off for two months with free shipping. That's code 50-dyp at greenchef.com slash 50-dyp. Since I moved to New York and since I had success, every time I sell a painting, I buy a painting for an upcoming artist. I remember being that kid who didn't get his big break yet. I remember being that kid who was so broke that he finally had a group show at a little gallery by Clinton Forge, where I had to take my four paintings, strap it on a dolly, and walk 30 blocks. In fact, it matters like no one opened doors for me. I was that kid who went through the back door, through the window to be in the room, to get into the room. But it was something interesting about once I was in the room, my presence was always known. I don't forget where I'm from. That's why I always say that there's enough for everybody. I have friends who are getting half a million dollars to a million dollars for their artwork. I have friends who haven't gotten their big break yet. Now that I actually have a seat at the table and I'm in the room, my job now is to make sure I try to open as many doors as possible because there is enough room for everybody. That's interesting. It's just interesting to hear as an artist too because for me anyway, I've always feared was fearful about pursuing my work as an artist. It's not easy. It's not going to be easy. There's a handful of people that things happen overnight for them, so they graduate. It's just one of those things. It's lots of hard work, lots of focus. The question I always tell people is, what are you willing to sacrifice? It's also about two mindset too, right? I think the key thing is though too, it's such a business now. The artwork has changed so much in the past 20 years, Dan. Let me tell you. 20 years ago, my first week to New York, I could just bring my portfolio into a gallery and a gallery owner would love to meet a new artist and give you five minutes at a time. Now, it doesn't work like that, but also too, technology has changed the game right now too. You have social media, it's a game changer now for a lot of artists. I have artists, friends, I have friends of mine who are artists that they're crushing it and they don't need a gallery anymore. It's been one of those things where you just got to find what works for you. I wanted to delve into this. I know you talked about this earlier, but you've helped so many artists. Including not only purchasing the work, as you mentioned, and showcasing it to other artists. But what advice do you have for aspiring artists and who are just starting out on their creative journey? I would say this. Take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself, is this something that you truly, truly want? Because I'm going to be honest with you. Even though I love what I do and everything like that, it's not for everybody. It really isn't for everybody. And again, it's one of those things you have to ask yourself, what are you willing to sacrifice? Because it is a lot of sacrifice. You just got to want it. You just got to want it and you got to show up and do the work. I don't want to sound cheesy and everything like that, but I think this generation now, I want to say, they don't dream anymore. What happens to just drink big? I'm 45 years old and I still dream. And one thing that I'm very lucky about and love seeing is when your dreams come true. And guess what? It's time for me dreaming bigger now. These kids now, they don't dream anymore. They want Instagram, Instagramification right away without doing the work. And for instance, when you get to my level in my career and my price point, it's a whole different ball game because I'm not selling paintings for $2,000, $3,000 anymore. I'm at the $50,000 to $100,000 price point now. And at that price point, you got to look at yourself as a brand. So right now, I like to say that I'm a CEO of my company and my paintings are my stocks. And once a person buys my paintings, they're buying my stock. And once you buy my stock, you're now a board member and a shareholder. And what's the number one rule of being a good CEO is make sure that your stocks and your shareholders are happy. And how do you make them happy? Like continue adding value to your stock. No, that's great. That's a great analogy. Yeah. So that's what I do now, you know, because, you know, I'm, you know, my work's a commodity now. And, you know, I have a lot of people that believe in me that invest in my work. And now my job is not just to make great artwork, but to make sure that the value of the work he goes up in value. Yeah. No, that makes sense. Well, that's great. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just, I'm just even thinking like getting from where you were when you first began and just, just exploding, you know, because you. It's, it's, it's, believe it or not, it's, it's nothing, it's nothing difficult really. It's just doing the work, man. I wish that has social media 20 years ago. And now, you know, it's again, it's as long as those things were listened, it's sacrificed. I'm 45 for instance, I'm 45 years old, you know, and I fell in love with many beautiful women in my life, you know, who wanted to have children, you know, and I met some incredible women that one that I thought were potential, you know, but the deal breaker is I didn't want to have children right now. And because when you, when you're pursuing art for what I'm trying to do and what I wanted to do, you have to take these big gambles and these big risk, you know, and sometimes they're a huge financial risk, you know, like going to Miami and doing the art fairs and everything like that. Sometimes I have to invest, you know, $20,000, you know, perfect. I'll tell you a funny story. A few years back, you know, I got an opportunity to do the Aspen art fair, you know, the owner who owns the fair, calls me up and like, Hey, we're a big fan of your, do you want, we'd love to give you a solo booth at the fair. It's $15,000. Do you want to do it? I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's Aspen in the summertime. Oh my God. Yes. So yeah, I put on my credit card, you know, I went to the U-Haul. I had 20 paintings. I go from New York to Aspen, Colorado, by myself with nothing but red bull and beef jerky. Oh my gosh. Yeah. You know, and I sat up the booth and it looked really beautiful and everything like that, just to break even. Oh gosh. Yes. You know, you know what I mean? So, but you know, I did it though, you know, and then, you know, and, you know, just to break even basically, you know, so, but sometimes I am lucky that I just broke even because there's sometimes where you do stuff like that. Y'all are, you know, y'all are here home run, you break even or you take a hit. Yeah. And when you have children and, you know, it's harder, it's harder, you know, because not about you anymore. Yeah. It's, it's, it's about, you know, it's about this child that you brought to the world. You know, so it's one of those things about sacrifice. You have to be a little selfish and self-absorbed, you know, to pursue this career. So that's why I say it's not for everyone. If you want to make it, you know, yes, because you got to hustle. It's a thing is to get it never stops. The hustle never stops. The grinding never stops. You know, another story I could tell you is, you know, when I do take a vacation once in a while and, you know, and I'll, you know, I was in, where was I? I was in the Bahamas one year and just, you know, I just needed to turn it off a little bit, you know, and of course I went to the bar and I was ordering a drink and this lovely couple came and the guy, the guy, threw down his Black American Express card on the bar and I was like, when you see that, that means like, wow, you know, you're a multi-militare and it was, and I was just, and it kicked in. You know, I was like, Hey man, what's going on? Let me buy you a round of drink. Where are you guys from? You know, chat them up, you know. And next thing you know, we became friends and we had dinner. They were from New York as well. And they came by the studio and bought two paintings, you know. But I was supposed to be on vacation where you're supposed to turn it off. You can't turn it off, you know, when you see an opportunity, you know, you have to strike, but that's what I'm saying. The hustle never stops. The grinding never stops. And it's one of those things where, like, you know, it's not a nine to five job. It's a lifestyle. Yes. Purchase paid for your trip too. Yeah, exactly. You know, exactly. So, but it was just one of those things where, you know, if I did put myself out there and, you know, and just say hi to the guy, you know, and, you know, bum around drinks man's lovely wife, you know, be talked and they're like, what do you do? I was like, I'm an artist. I'm on vacation. Oh my God. Love art too. And next thing you know, we just kind of hit it off and they were from New York. And it's so funny too. You know, I've been in New York 20 years and every time I travel around the world, I meet more New Yorkers. That's there you go. That's funny. I leave, I leave New York to meet more New Yorkers. Well, that's great because they're close by. So they'll come to the studio. Exactly. So. And that actually led to my, my next question ironically, but how do you balance your art with other commitments and responsibilities in your life? But I guess you answered that. No, you don't. You really, you know, I really don't, you know, like, you know, I think one thing that brings me joy is that, you know, because of my success and everything, I'm allowed to, I have the ability to buy art from other artists, you know, like behind me now, you can see my home, you know, my loft. It's like it, my wall is just covered with art and I love coming home. So those are the things, those are things that give me a little joy that, you know, I get to, you know, every time I sell a paint, I get to buy a level painting, you know, I have a, I have two storage units just filled with art. And every six months, you know, I'm constantly just rotating stuff. That's cool. You know, so those things are giving me a joy, but no, no, it gets, it gets, I would say it gets harder. It gets harder now because now it's more like you're a businessman now, you know, you're a business now, you know, you're a brand, you know, and, and my thing is like, I don't want to disappoint my collectors, you know, because they're, they're investing a lot of money in me. They love the work, but they're also investing in me. I like to surround myself with successful people, you know, like I already know what it takes to become a successful artist, but I like to surround myself with successful doctors, successful lawyers, successful CEO, successful mechanics, successful, successful entrepreneur, because I, or, or even successful athletes because I want to know what their blueprint is and hear it and learn from them and take little pieces here and there and tweak it into my story and my blueprint to take things to the next level. That's great. If that makes any sense at all. No, it does actually. And not to bring up less brown, but he always says your net work is your net worth. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and also too, I always tell people, you know, your, your, your contacts is its currency. Yeah. That too. And in New York City, you know, and there's another one that says if you can be used, you're useless. Well, my favorite ones. So, but it's, it's, it's, it's being, you know, for, for, for upcoming artists that I tend to meet that emails me all the time. The first question I was asked of is where do you live? You know, but what's heartbreaking is seeing these amazing talented artists, but they live in, you know, East Bumble and Ohio. You know, you know, and I was like, dude, you're wasting your talent in East Bumble, Ohio somewhere. You know, like if you're really, truly, if you truly, truly want to pursue this, you know what I mean? You have to come to a major city like New York, LA, Chicago, you know, a metropolitan city, you know? So that's always, that's always the first thing I was asked for. You were like, you know, where do you live? And, and I've met so many talented artists who live in these small towns where people don't care about art. You know, they don't understand the value of art. They don't, you know, they don't see our artists. Collectors aren't there. Yeah. Um, with all that said, though, how do you stay motivated and continue to grow? Um, because I haven't, I haven't, I haven't hit the end game for me yet. You know, like, you know, one of the coolest things I would say that's, that's been happening that I like to do in my career is like, I like to have a vision board every year. I put a vision board together of things that I want to accomplish. You know, it's really cool. Then is taking things off the vision board that you've accomplished, like, you know, a certain car, having a law, buying this, get introduced by this person, blah, blah, and all that means is you're not dreaming big enough now. You know, so for me now, for me now is this like, when you answer that, when you ask me that question, how do you just, I'm just keep, I keep dreaming big enough. Yeah. I just keep dreaming bigger and bigger and bigger. You know, because the end goal for me is the MoMA, you know, and then you ask me, well, what happens next, you know, what happens next month? The MoMA purchased through your paintings. Well, guess what? Now it's the tape. Yeah. You know, just keep going up. Yeah. We just go in and also too. One of the best things that ever happened to me is that my parents didn't pay for me to go to art school because that made me realize that failure was not an option. There was no plan B, you know, so like I understand the value of, you know, of, of what I'm doing to make things happen. Now, if my parents had paid for me to go to art school, things could have been different. I really think so. I would have probably been like a little loosey-goosey on what direction I want to go to. Maybe I'll take a graphic design class. Maybe I'll do a little, you know, illustration here. Maybe I'll maybe work for Disney, you know. But the fact that I had to pay for out my own pocket, I had to, you know, work two jobs, go to school full time, you know, made me was like, yeah, dude, failure is not an option. You know, so I think my parents, you know, I think my parents every time I see them, you know, and now 20 years later, you know, they look at me and, you know, like over the holidays, you know, my dad was like, you know, I have all the kids, you know, we wrote you a little hard. We wrote you really hard and I'm sorry. I'm like, don't apologize. What you guys did, I'm the man that I am now because of you because failure wasn't an option now. It wasn't like, and when I met, you know, when it, when I, when it, when it told me to weren't going to pay for me to go to school, then they really meant that, you know, there's been times, there was times like, thank God for Subway sandwiches, you know, buy one, get the second one free. Cause I lived off of that for a year. I know that feeling. Yeah. You know what I mean? I was like, all right, I'm going to have one for lunch. Then the second one I'm going to have for dinner. And not have breakfast. Yep. I guess that, you know, or this power bar maybe. Yeah, but it made me, it made me realize that like, yeah, dude, there's, there's no, there's no going back home. You know, if, if I wanted to go back home, that means I would have to go to a trade school or university and switch up my major to get the help that I wanted to get help from, but no, but. Yeah. Well, that's great. Well, how do you, how, how do you use your art to make a positive impact on the world? I mean, it already is. You know, I listen, you know, one thing that is really dear to me is that art saved my life. Okay. And, you know, what I mean by that, you know, I think everyone, you know, I think every teenager comes across a path in their life and what direction they need to go, you know, down to go left or go right, you know, and, you know, and why me that arts in my life, I could have, you know, I could have been out here on these streets and, you know, getting into trouble or be doing, you know, just silly things, you know, but the fact that I had a dream and I stayed focused and also had amazing teachers that kept me on that right path. So what breaks my heart is when I hear that, you know, when a school needs to come up budget, the first thing that gets cut is the art program. Yeah. I have major, major issues with that because, you know, not, and not everyone, they're basically saying that dribbling a ball or catching a ball is more important than making art. And that's not true. The fact that matters is you have more, you have, you know, the odds of you becoming a successful artist and any art field is more, is more likely to happen than you ever become a professional athlete. You know, and not everyone's meant to be a doctor. Not everyone's meant to be a lawyer. Not everyone's meant to be, you know, some blue collar thing, but people are meant to make art in some force, you know, in some way. Yes. So when a school, when I hear a school that's this kind of budget to cut the art program, I'm the first one to either write a check or auction off one of my paintings to help raise money for the art department or something like that. Because I was that kid who came to America, who didn't speak the language, but found his voice through art. Yeah. Yeah. So, so to answer your question, that's how I like to say I use my art to help impact the world a little bit, to continue that. Because there's a kid right now, Dan, that's probably in his room right now, 15, 16 years old, and it's a prology. Yeah. You know, but he just needs that extra little push to say, Hey man, you're really special. You have a God given gift. You should pursue art. He might not get that from his parents, but he should be getting that from a teacher, a gallons counselor, you know, someone that's an educator. Yeah. You know, so yeah. That's great. Yeah. That, and I was just going to segue into what has been the most rewarding part of your career as an artist. Um, you know, there's been some really cool perks. You know, when you get to, when you get to my level in my career, you met some, you know, you get to meet some really cool people. Yeah. You get to meet some like, you know, some artists that you admire. You're like, Whoa, you know, like, you know, I think one of the, I think one of the coolest things that ever, um, that I experienced, which was really funny is that, um, Jeff Koons bought one of my paintings. Oh, wow. Yeah. You know, and it was so incredible. Yeah. I met him, I met him a few times. I met him, but the first time man, I was like 15 years ago at our auction and I was auctioned off on my small paintings and he really, he really digged it. And I was like, Oh my God, it's Jeff Koons. Like, dude, I stood you in school and blah, blah. He was like, Oh, no, no, no. You know, I was like, I was like that, like that, like some little group. Yeah. Oh my God. That's great. You know, granted we're not at the same level and nowhere near, but you know, I'm chasing them though. Yeah. I'm coming from that crown, man. I'm coming from that crown. You know, he's, he's, he's been sitting on the throne way too long. Yeah. I'm coming for it. And he's like, come on, let's go. You know, but if you don't listen, you know, is that same? We're going to come for the king. Make sure you have, you know, you got one shot. You know, if you're going to come for the king, you got one shot. So I'm coming from him. Yeah. That sounds great. Well, it's about celebrating artists, right? Yeah. You know, it's also, it's, it's, it's artists supporting artists. Yes. Yeah. I mean, I'm a truly, truly big fan of that, man. Artists supporting artists. You know, anyway, I can help using my little small, little platform to help promote another artist. You know, even if it's a musician, singer, dancer or vision artist. Yeah. We, we all have to support each other. That is great. Yeah. Fear, fear, fear is a, it's a, it gets the best of, it gets the best of people sometimes, man. And even all the greats experienced it. So, um, but one thing that helps me get overcome it is that you got to take that first step. Yes. That first step is a game changer. You know, the first step is a game changer. Yeah. Yeah. I miss, I miss painting. I miss doing art. It's never, see, here's the thing. Here's a good thing about being an artist. It never goes away. And there it goes away, man. You know, like soon as we go off, as soon as we go off of this, dude. Just grab us some, you know, grab a, grab some canvas, some paint and start jamming with some music on it. I've got some wine. It's harder with kids. I know. That's what you came for. I know. And the funny thing is, you know, the funny thing is like, you know, um, this week was a very emotional week for me because a lot of my friends were like, were leaning on me a lot, you know, and, and I get, you know, I get people. It's so weird too, because like, you know, I get, now that I, I, I, you know, I had my career is just taking off a little bit. And, you know, I'm, you know, I'm in some museums and I was amazing collectors and everything like that. And my friends who've seen me, where we all, we both started the same, you know, playing, you know, playing field and they see the project that I'm going to, you know, and, you know, and they see it has been 20 years. So my friends now, you know, they're married, have kids and they're still trying to paint and everything like that. And they become weekend painters, you know, and, you know, and I have a buddy of mine who called me and he came by my studio and he said, Hey, can I come by? I was like, yeah, I'm just painting. And he walks into my studio and he was like, I just missed that smell. I'm like, what's the mouth? It's like that paint smell. I was like, dude, you're not painting. He was like, I haven't picked up a brush in like a year and a half, man. It's killing me. And, you know, and, and, and I was like, why? He's like, dude, I have two kids now and, you know, and my wife and, you know, but like, I was like, but you know, you're slowly dying though right now. Inside. Absolutely. You're slowly dying inside, man. Yeah. And even if you pay on the weekends, you know, and the funny thing is, you know, people who are not a creative, they don't understand that. It's not something you just turn on really, you know, because why? But I'll just go to your studio for an hour. I'm like, it doesn't work that way. No, it doesn't. I go sometimes I like, I go to the studio every single day, but I don't paint every single day. Sometimes I mean, my studio just clean brushes all day long, you know, right, exactly. And then one day you're like, you know, you're like, you're cleaning your brushes and you see something in the corner of your eye. You're like, oh, it's like epiphany. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. You know, and it doesn't happen an hour. You know, it happens like three hours in. You're just like, oh, yeah, something. You know, and, you know, and he was like, see, you get it. I, he was like, I try to explain that to my wife. She just doesn't understand that. Like, well, I'm giving you two hours. Go paint. It's like, right? It doesn't work out. No, it doesn't. Creativity does not work that way. No, it does. I used to be up three, four o'clock in the morning. That's when I was inspired the most. I was like, I got a bow. Oh my God. Yeah, exactly. And when it hits you, it hits you, man. You forget to eat. You forget to sleep or just like in the zone. But that's the best feeling right now. But with that said, though, you know, I also have to tell him, I was like, you know, with that said, though, like the grass is always greener. You know, like, dude, I come home to like my dog Picasso and my paintings. You know, you come home to two beautiful children, a lovely wife. And yeah, and maybe one day I'll have that. Or, but that was my decision, you know, and you have to, you have to, you can't resent the person that you love. You can't reason. Children, because those were your decisions that you made. Correct. You know, and I had to remind them about that. I was like, dude, those are, you know, and he was like, you know, no, no, no, I, I, I, you know, he's like, you know, I love my wife. I love my kids. I just wish I had more time. I was like, I get it, man. Yeah. But again, it goes back to like, you know, what are you willing to sacrifice and to make, to pursue this? You know, because it's, it's, you know, it's a lonely life, you know, and you, and you know, before you had kids, you know, you used to be in your studio for hours and days at a time. Yes. You know, so yeah, like the pandemic, you know, it's so funny because. You know, it seems like artists were the only ones who were okay with the pandemic because we've always been alone. Yeah, exactly. That's true. It was great for me because I like, all right, cool. I'm just going to be back and forth with my studio. Just be in my studio. Payton. Yeah, exactly. And I think the pandemic had a lot to do with that too, because what the pandemic real, you know, made people realize is like, a life is way too short, man. You know what I mean? So if I don't pursue this thing right now. I don't want to live my life. Could have shit, but I didn't. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with our viewers about your art or your journey as an artist? Well, I would say, you know, I would love to tell people like, listen, you know, go for it. You know, use all the tools that you have access to. Use social media. You know, let people know when you go out and networking, networking is one of the most important things you have to do, but also do it with confidence. You know, so when you do go out and meet somebody at a bar or a restaurant and ask what you do, say with confidence, oh, I'm an artist. You know, don't be like, oh, well, sometimes I pain and, but, you know, but I really am, you know, a count in, but I like to paint. No, you know, and, and go for it. Like I said, life is short, man. So if you just want to go do it, you know, but just realize that. Just make sure you realize that feel is not an option for you. You just have to go for it. Go big or go home. Absolutely. Failure is not an option. Failure is not an option. It is. It really isn't. Yeah. And believe it or not, again, TikTok and Instagram, those are game changers, man. You don't need a dealer anymore, you know, but also to also to. I, I also highly recommend if you don't have it in you, some people have it. Some people don't, you know, like, yeah, I'm a great painter, but I'm also a great marketer and a great business person. Take a marketing class because at the end of the day, it's about marketing. You know, it's about knowing your audience and it's about finding who your audience is, knowing them and learning how to tap into them. Makes a lot of sense. That's great. Because, because at the end of the day, let's be honest, art, you know, listen, who needs art underwalls? Nobody. You know, let's be honest. You know, like, listen, I'm not saving lives. I'm not a doctor. I'm, I, I didn't discover the cure for cancer or anything like that. But I'm touching people's lives with your. I love art, you know, and to me, art, see, to me, art is very important. I've met so many wealthy people. They have 10 million hour homes and you walk into their homes. They're just not into art. They collect other things that are like cars, watches, lines, whatever, you know. Yeah. You know, so when you get to meet those collectors that love art, man, you know, and yeah, and also to go support other, you know, go support your local art school. Go support your local high school. Go support your local. Go support your local art. Because the thing is, I think one thing that people need to understand is that. Arts, not just for the rich. Go go support, go buy a $300 painting, you know, go when you walk into your local Starbucks or your local coffee shop, if there's a really cool black and white fold, grab someone to support them, you know, go to your local art school and every every semester they do a senior show or a student show. Go and support and go buy an upcoming ours for paying for like 300 bucks. 400 bucks. You know what I mean? Yeah. You don't have to go and spend $100,000 on paintings right away. You build your collection slowly. That's a lot. That's wonderful. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I truly appreciate your time today. Oh, thank you. And next time you're in a city, let's do this and like, you know, let's do this. Do rounds you. I love it. Brinks, you know, you know, and it make it happen. That would be wonderful. I truly appreciate that. Hey, Dan. Listen, thank you so much for your time. Man, I appreciate you. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your time and your energy and your vision and you're a true inspiration to me and so many other people. So, well, thanks. I appreciate that. This is Cindy Gilman and you're listening to Discover Your Potentials. So until next time, do something nice for yourself, but do something nice for someone else.