HEY FELLOW WEIRDO ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS! THERE IS NO BETTER TIME THAN TODAY TO START YOUR OWN BRAND AND BUILD YOUR OWN MINI-ECONOMY AND CREATE YOUR OWN IMPACT AND HELP MAKE OUR CONFUSING WORLD A LITTLE MORE BRIGHT AND FUN! This was my studio in Sacramento in June of 2000, the month and year I decided to quit my day job and build my own personal brand, which, at that time, meant nothing more than "I want to figure out how to make a living selling the art that I create without anyone telling me what to draw or sell". There was no outlet to easily sell things online, you had to share art online via message boards, there were no commercial companies hiring outsider artists, and there were no other outlets other than zine-fests and art shows to try to stand out. But none of that mattered because I simply didn't want a traditional career in art. I just wanted to do what I wanted and in believed that someday I would. I still believe that. I'm far from where I know I can evolve to but that passion to evolve will never go away. But guess what!? Now, as fucked up and weird as the world is, there are SO many wonderful outlets to be creative and you can google how to make a pin or a shirt and use a computer and network online and find other people that love weird art like you and all of the elements of building your own business or selling things on cool places like @shopwitchsy or learn how to build your own store! It's so awesome. This past weekend marked the first ever #LowBrowCon @lowbrowcon in Portland and although I didn't attend, I watched it vicariously on instagram and got so inspired by the amount of individual weird artists and collectives that had ENTIRE brands built with ranges of products from art and zines to insane toys and games and candles and puppets and jackets it is so great. So yah, if you like drawing and being creative. Now's the time to take it to the next level and build on that passion! Make our world cooler. And support each other. β€οΈ
