create for yourself first.

selfish art makes more people happy

before the audience, before the likes, before the gallery show - there’s you.

there’s that force within you that longs for your art to be made. the moment a certain idea flickers into your mind and you feel that little rush. that’s what matters. sure, what you create will impact other people (in big and little ways) but mostly it will impact you. it’s what you’re choosing to dedicate significant chunks of your finite time here doing. create for yourself first. you’ll only be a moody bitch if you don’t.

it’s so easy to fall into the trap of making things for other people - or, at least, telling yourself that’s what your doing. creating for other people’s approval is mostly a stepping stone to the deeper want. attention. money. power.

why play guesses games at what other people might when when you can tune into the station that only you will ever hear crystal clear? your own taste and desires are a rich resource of creative energy that literally only you can ever tap in to. it’s a bit silly to waste.

in everything we watch/read/see we are searching for ourselves. characters can hold secrets to ourselves we didn’t even see. making your own art does that a hundredfold. creating what you wish existed (purely cause you want it!) is how you feel satisfied - in life and art! scratch your own itch!!

when you create for yourself - before the strategy and predicted outcome - it hits different. it’s when your voice is the clearest. when the weird ideas come through (cause you probably wouldn’t pursue them if you were trying to please everyone). that’s when your work feels alive, not just marketable.

my most resonant work, the pieces that have lit up hearts, sparked messages from strangers, and sold out in minutes, always begins as something i made just for me. a message u needed to hear. a colour palette i’m obsessed. something i was thinking about that i didn’t see anyone else saying. when you create for yourself, you create something honest.

creating for yourself is a reclamation. saying: i trust myself. my taste matters.

we don’t need what already exists in a different font.

make the thing you’ve been searching for.

gabi

xx