"The Starving Artist" stereotype

I keep forgetting that I am a visual artist! haha!

People have mentioned a few times now that I am completely wiping the "starving artist" stereotype off of the table. And it always reminds me of "right, I AM an artist!" haha :)

Where I went to school, in Belgium, Europe. The school system is set up in such a way that you have to choose a certain educational area of expertise at a pretty young age. And they sort of push you into this mainstream structure of "general education" by default. I know that the system is a little different in other countries, but anyway I digress.. I spent '98 and '99 feeling pretty miserable in "mainstream" education and I remember at one point looking around and thinking at age 13:

"This can't be the beginning of the rest of my life right?".. with subjects filling my schedule such as endless hours of languages and math education, computer stuff, biology, economics, books, formulas, memorizing.. I was thinking “This is setting me up for a robot desk job. This can't be my future.."

All my life I'd loved to draw and paint, out of all the toys that I had as a little girl, I'd always preferred paper and paint. I was always intuitive.. yet I didn't make the connection yet between what I was drawing and my third eye.. at least not consciously!

So after that "robot-desk job" realization I changed schools and did my 4 years of high school in an art academy. In Belgium this meant that about 75% of all of your school subjects are art related; color studies, drawing models, drawing objects, photography, different painting techniques and different types of paint etc, lots of art history. My classroom on an average day looked like this:

Even though I was doing something that I loved, and I had the privilege now looking back, of already being exactly where I needed to be, at the age of 13 - it was still very much rooted into the 3D and the programming from outside of the classroom began, mostly from well meaning friends and family members.

"How will you ever make a living out of that?"
"You can't find a real job with those studies right?"
"Are you just gonna sell paintings and make a full time living? That's not possible, you're in school now passing time for what you can later use as a hobby, not an actual job! You'll still have to go study for a "real job" after this right?"

I had 4 amazing years and graduated from high school in visual arts at age 18. Then I went on to study an extra year of art history at the university of Leuven/Louvain in Belgium, with the goal of eventually doing 4 or 5 years there and perhaps specializing in restoring old artwork for museums.. I got very discouraged with the art world, the competitive vibe, and the fact that there would be maybe 5 people out of that entire class that would eventually end up actually working in the art world..

So after 1 year I went and did something COMPLETELY different.. I still "dabbled" in the art scene I suppose by doing photography and being friends with fellow photographers and models. I got a color & style diploma after 2 years which allowed me to work as a stylist for retail stores which was "somewhat artistic" ..and I got a bachelor's degree in early childhood education from which I graduated in the top 5 of my class.. After that I traveled, worked abroad, had my own kids, babysat other people's kids..

And then I had a spiritual re-awakening...

I hadn't touched a paint brush or pencil in years at that point, because I'd been so disappointed with art in general, that I just quit.. UNTIL..

I took an intuitive painting workshop in early 2018..

And that was the start of my channeled-art journey!

Most of you will already know my story. But now you also know a little bit more about my art background.

Ever since 2018 I've created 76 paintings.. I just counted them. The majority of those being for clients.. That evens out to 12 paintings per year which has been about 1 painting per month. That I've custom made for someone since 2018.

Through painting I can create a bridge between you and your Higher Angelic Self, or one of your spirit guides.. I can't believe that ever since 2018 I've managed to create a piece of art for someone every single month.. and break my programming of "the starving artist".

Looking forward to hearing from you!

***written in 2023