I’ve been working almost every day for over a year now. No breaks. No New Year’s Eve, no birthdays, no nothing. Even when I’m “resting,” my brain is running: What’s next? What do I need to post? What painting is unfinished? What WIP to upload? What will make people who support me happier? What deadlines are are coming up?

Art is not a talent or a skill. Art is a human impulse. To draw is to claim space. To paint is to assert feeling. To create is to say: I exist, I notice, I feel. A culture that suppresses personal expression doesn’t do so by accident. It serves a purpose. When people are disconnected from their creative instincts, they are more manageable, more predictable. Creativity breeds unpredictability. It fosters dissent, curiosity, disruption. And that makes it inconvenient.