This is not a statement of rebellion but a declaration of principles, ambitions, and commitments. Tomorrow, I am launching an art show that I have bled for, gone hungry for, and faced homelessness for. I’m not making this to be contrarian or in any way angry; I just want people, when they eventually hear this, to know my north and commitment as an artist.
I first decided to become an artist to prove to my friends that I could do it. Growing up in a small town, you talk big about what you’ll become when you leave. Anyone from a small town in America can relate to this. Initially, it was about making money, meeting women, and getting a cool car—1980s values that led to problems and challenges, but also to meeting “the one.” Then, it was about traveling and seeing the world. Yet, something was missing. I needed to do it for me because it’s what I loved and needed to do—it matched who I was since I was a kid. That passion got lost along the journey but would re-emerge occasionally. Now, it’s fully integrated into who I am every day because of years of studying, listening, observing, and experiencing my life through art.
I also aim to help as many artists as I can, showing that there is a path to success and happiness, contrary to what society often teaches and wants you to believe. I will continue on the path of success so I can always do this for the art community at large and prove that what I’m sharing with you can be done.
I still have friends from when we were 14, and it’s comforting to talk with them. Despite the changes and challenges we’ve faced, our connection remains strong. We’ve walked through both beauty and tragedy together, and that shared journey makes our bond joyful and calm. I pursue photography and art because it holds me accountable to the belief I had as a kid with a dream. It reminds me of why I started this journey at 14, playing music and dreaming of possibilities, which eventually led to my love for photography and film.
Someone has to show others it can be done, to walk the path without fear. I choose to be that person. I hope my journey inspires my nieces, nephews, and friends’ kids, who have seen this journey from the beginning. I also want to inspire others I don’t know because you never know whom you might help. Hearing that I’ve inspired other artists has been a humbling and joyful experience, and those conversations will always remain private because I believe in loyalty as the most important value.
I want to bond with others who practice integrity in the creative world and are working not just for themselves but for the future. I must be a voice for artists because many creatives struggle to stand up for what they believe in. I want to articulate what I’ve learned so we can evolve and grow together as a community. I aim to inspire others to believe in themselves, even when surrounded by those who may never understand them—because I know what that feels like as an artist myself.
All the creative mentors I’ve had on this journey have always said, “Never give up your dream, no matter what.” Why? Because they’re yours, and the world needs to see them, especially now more than ever. Over the years, I’ve had 350 incredible artists tell me this, and they didn’t even know each other. I think that means something—the message was always the same. Whether young or old, famous or just starting, they all shared that wisdom. It was beautiful to witness, and I want others to understand what that means for them.
The message needs to stay authentic and true. We all need that in life. The BS in our culture and the Western world needs to go. Gen Z sees this and is challenging the status quo better than any generation so far. Others are starting to see it too, across all age groups. We deeply lack authenticity; it’s astonishing how programmed people are. When you’re authentic, they misunderstand you and cling to their programming in a do-or-die fashion, even when they know it’s not right for them and it hurts others. We need real change in the world, not just empty slogans. We need a new way.
I kept asking, where are all the artists who want to make that change? Where are the voices for the defenseless and those who haven’t found their voice or don’t have real guides or mentors in their lives? We all need them to grow.
Then I realized I was looking for myself. I had to get out there and do it—no more excuses. It reminded me of an old slogan: lead, follow, or get out of the way. You heard this a lot growing up in the South. It’s time for all artists and creatives to stand up. Don’t be afraid—make something and change the world. Aren’t you bored yet? Doesn’t this reality suck sometimes? Month after month, year after year, it’s the same boring wheel. We need new things that make us better and let go of what we’ve become: bitter, lost, manipulated, and used by a culture that doesn’t care about its true people and communities. It’s more about profit over humanity instead of connectedness, creativity, and art.
I want to live in a culture of joy, collaboration, art, creation, family, and friends—one where the community remembers where it came from so it can be strong again, built around strong values, creativity, and strength. A culture where children are not science experiments because of hate, allowing them to tap into their curious, intuitive nature before they’re infected by fearful, adolescent adults at younger and younger ages, enabling them to be kids again—innocent and free.
I accepted myself as an artist at 30 years old and went all in on photography after a year filled with massive tragedy, loss, and trauma that awakened my soul and unplugged me from the matrix. I began that walk 23 years ago, and the main lesson was to teach me about mortality and how to truly love. It just took me a little longer to realize it; I’ve always enjoyed the scenic route. Now, I want to help you shorten the path so it doesn’t take you as long.
I became an artist because I was inspired by Steve Jobs, a real living person who actually made a significant impact during my lifetime. He created something that forever changed the world and humanity. Now it’s up to us to decide how we use the tools he created. So far, as a culture, we are faltering with these tools. We act like middle school kids, choosing the lowest common denominator over beauty and truth, turning politics into a sporting event, while weaponizing our speech and beliefs.
Do we continue to use the tools Steve Jobs created as weapons of hate, or do we use them to make a difference and create real change? You make that choice every day you wake up. Ask yourself why you’re making the choices you are. Are those choices creating something positive and uplifting in the world? If not, why are you participating in them? Are you only there to create discourse and bring darkness to a world that needs light and love?
Ask yourself why, because there is a price for that. Perhaps reflecting on this will lead you to confront the trauma you hold in your heart. You will face it and realize you can make it through to the other side. The world has to stop listening to mediocrity and start listening to reason and truth again. That’s what I will express through my body of work as an artist. I will show the truth and never use my art as a weapon unless it’s to help end hate and create real justice—no one side gets to dictate to me what that means.
I will proliferate art, photography, and music, using them as beacons of light and truth. I aim to help as many people as I can, equipping them with the tools to know they are not alone on their artistic journey, even if they don’t have anyone in their immediate world telling them that. I will do this through example and by sharing the breadcrumbs bestowed to me, passing them on to as many creators as possible, leaving them for future generations to succeed instead of being ignored and left in the dark.
The truth must stop being used as a weapon and be recognized for what it is—the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it doesn’t change what it is, and people need to learn that again. Art must foster innovation and bring balance to a broken, outdated world by creating new systems that benefit humanity and bypass those that currently don’t serve us or our communities, only serving the 1%.
We have the most advanced creative tools in history at our fingertips, yet people are putting content on OnlyFans, and others are buying it. That’s truly pathetic. Are we really living in the movie Idiocracy? It feels like that sometimes. If you don’t believe me, go watch the movie—you’ll think it’s a documentary in 2024.
I make art because of Kurt Cobain. I witnessed his entire journey as an artist and watched him transform and change the landscape of music. At the end of the 1980s, that was a huge feat. The 70s and 80s produced amazing and crazy art, but when Kurt Cobain showed up, he shone a light of truth on the art of that time, dismantling the veneer of that era. He exposed much of it as an inauthentic gimmick created to control the youth and keep them in line, buying needless crap. That was my generation—Smells Like Teen Spirit. We rocked it!
You think you’re the first generation being controlled and having this problem? Not even close. It’s been like that for a long time. Gen X has a responsibility not to blame you but to teach you what you don’t know.
Together, we can end the despotic regime known as the baby boomers and create a world we all want, where people are happy again. You have to end the victim Olympics before it’s too late for your future because the tide is turning on your ideology, and you don’t want to get caught in the middle of the entire country waking up together. The fact is, it’s already happening. More like the entire Western world is waking up.
Unfortunately, our parents’ generation, the boomers, believed the 1980s were real and not the Shakespearean theater bestowed upon us with the noblest intentions. Right, right! It’s for the staff. Wink! You know who you are. They believed it hook, line, and sinker. When you tried to tell them, they would never believe their entire life was a lie and an illusion created for them by Hollywood. That Hollywood model of old was slowly eroding who they truly were as a generation. Even they are starting to wake up in this new era.
Guns N’ Roses told you—choose your illusion. A person who falls for somebody else’s mediocre something creates nothing and falls for anything and everything. Did you not learn that lesson after 2020, when the majority of you became mind-numb zombies with your masks on? If you participated in that and still believe all or any of it after everything we know now, I have to wonder what is wrong with your mind and heart. You’re a very broken, lost person if you have to maintain a lie so blatant and unintelligent. That cowardice eats at you every day, I know. Just admit you were wrong. It will set you free, and then forgiveness can begin. Until then, we already know who you are, so you’re only lying to yourself.
I’m talking to all young artists out there. You’re falling for the same BS. Be an artist and see through the illusions because that’s your job—to see it and call it out. You’re letting gender, ideology, and race be weaponized against you by influencers getting rich manipulating you while rubbing it in your face. They’ve weaponized marriage, sex, love, intimacy, and the weather. Those are all the fun things. It sucks this has been done to you, so do something positive about it together. You’re not alone on this journey.
Most people walk through life parroting what is told to them and never ask why. Why do I believe all the things I do? Ask yourself that. Truly look in a mirror and ask yourself that. Why?
Kurt Cobain broke that art barrier of illusion, and for a while, artists were free to be creative again. Then corporate America came in and bought it all up. Just another amazing legacy the boomers left behind for us. They poisoned our art into profit over creativity. They tore down paradise and made it a shopping mall. That’s not fair to all of them, but like 70% of them are mind-numb zombies who believe what their TV tells them to think.
The boomers found a way to sell art out completely. They tried to make us believe Jimmy Buffet was real until you walked into one of his resorts and looked at the price and the menu. I can tell you that was pretty real—the cost of my car payment and house payment for a month at the time for a five-night stay, and that was in 2012. But I could have had a cheeseburger in paradise for $20.00.
I digress. I learned this in 2020. When you first speak up, it’s hard at first. It’s a little stressful, and your voice shakes and quivers because you never have used it before. Then, over time, it becomes easier, and you find your true voice inside of you. I will help to teach this as well. It’s important for artists to have a voice and not be muzzled by weak people who can’t even create a drop of rain.
The future can be more authentic and real and benefit a lot more people, and you have the power to do that. This is a new age, so nothing can stop it. A new renaissance has already begun, and we have the responsibility to make a new tomorrow for a future that truly is sustainable for everyone. This I pledge to be a part of with my art from this point on.
So, who is with me? Do you want to create an exciting new future, or do you want to bitch about what baby boomers have created for you? And give in to weakness and excuses? The choice is yours; I hope to see you there.
The world needs you! And it needs artists and real and honest ideas. Create like an artist, not like a dictator; they are two different paths. Artists are always the innovators, so know your worth in life. It’s huge! It’s never too late to create. Art is ageless and blind; to think otherwise will hold you back.
Get out and create something today.