artist’s notes: what i wish i knew five years ago.

I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember. Scrapbooks. Sketches. Collages. Moodboards before I even knew what those were. Over the years, I made art for my own homes, pieces that reflected my aesthetic, visual reminders of play and my creativity. I never really thought of it as a thing. It was just something I did.

Then, like so many others, everything slowed down in 2020. We were all home, restless, rearranging our lives. So I pulled out some brushes, paint, and a canvas. And I started again. Painting. No plan. No grand vision. Just the urge to make something with my hands using my imagination. I even started painting some of my jeans.

That was five years ago.

But honestly the moment it really clicked? That came in Paris, in the summer of 2022. I remember the exact day of our trip. We spent hours in the Louvre, then the Picasso Museum. Two completely different worlds, but both energizing, electric. Saying I was inspired doesn’t quite do the experience justice. Standing in front of those works, I felt something shift. It wasn’t loud or dramatic. Just a deeper knowing: I want to keep creating. I want to take this seriously. I want to give it space.

It wasn’t about trying to be Picasso, though he’s one of my favorites. It wasn’t about becoming a museum artist. It was about honoring the part of me that had always been there… curious, visual, expressive, and saying, I see you, you get to stay. I’ll make room for you.

So here’s what I would tell myself five years ago, what I wish someone had said to me when I first stepped back into the work:

✴︎ you don’t have to know what you’re doing.
✴︎ you’re allowed to experiment, try new styles, shift mediums, follow the itch.
✴︎ not every piece of advice is meant for you.
✴︎ the algorithm doesn’t know your voice.
✴︎ don’t compare yourself to everyone else. you’re not everyone else.
✴︎ celebrate how far you’ve come from where you started. if you’re always chasing some imagined ideal of where you want to be, you’ll miss what’s already here.
✴︎ trust yourself and the process and the work.
✴︎ it all adds up, even the pieces that don’t sell, even the ones you miss later.

FIVE YEARS IN… and I’m still learning. Still listening. Still showing up for what wants to come through. This path doesn’t come with a map. Does anyone’s? But it’s taught me to trust the way I move through the world.

Art isn’t a straight line. It’s a loop. A spiral. An ongoing evolution, an unfolding. It rarely looks how you think it will. And that’s part of the magic.

So if you're somewhere on your own creative path, just know, this is the work. This is the beauty. Keep going.

xx,

Michel