Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gerardo Pena. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Gerardo , thanks for joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

Before I became a full time artist I worked as an operations/sales manager in a cleaning company. For many years I felt like I waisted my time doing that job when I could’ve invested time making art. I was miserable and filled with regret feeling like I lost many important years of my youth not following my dreams. The ironic thing is that when I started making a real stable income from art, many of my art colleagues would ask me how I was able to accomplish it so fast and it was thanks to that job. In that job, I learned to market myself, manage contracts and deal with people, which is something most artists do not learn in school.

Gerardo , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Gerardo Peña, but I am better known as Periko the Artist. I was born in Queretaro, Mexico, but my family moved when I was a young child to the state of Washington. I was raised up and down the Puget Sound and eventually settled near Seattle, WA. With a background in business management, and with the current political climate, as a DACA recipient, I felt that it was now or never the time to focus my energy as an artist. Typically a surreal painter, I have expanded into the public arts and multimedia world.
My art is an introspection of my journey into self identity and an emotional response of the world around me. Many times touching subjects of mental health and the immigrant experience.
The proudest moment of my career is what it has done to my mental health. Originally my main focus was to make a living from art and as I began to make art that really expressed who I was, the more people connected with me. I found a positive outlet for my depression and in the end began to find peace.
Through my career I have been able to gain over 200k followers on social media and have been sponsored by large brands. However, nothing compares to the connection I have built with my audience.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I remember in 2019, I finally began making a living from art and built up a clientele with organizations and cities. I looked for an art studio in the city and stared out the window and felt like everything I had been through had been worth it. That moment was in March of 202o. Within the first weeks of the Covid lockdown all my contracts were canceled. For a moment I felt like giving up and once I stopped feeling sorry for myself I began to look for new ways of marketing my art through social media. At that time I didn’t even know how a hashtag worked. After many months of trial and error, and with $16 left in my bank account, I went viral for the first time.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

All creatives are well aware that the odds are very small when it comes to financial success in a creative field. The truth is, we need to create the same way we need to eat and sleep. In fact, there have been many times I chose to create over sleeping or eating. I tried most of my life to suppress it all since everyone told me there was no future in the arts. I came to realize that I would’ve killed myself a long time ago if I stopped making art all together. I would and have done this for free and now I get to make a living from it as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://perikotheartist.com
• Instagram: @perikotheartist
• Facebook: @perikotheartist
• Youtube: Periko The Artist
• Other: tik tok – @perikotheartist

Image Credits

my profile pic is by @pussntoots69 all other pics where taken by me.