We caught up with the brilliant and insightful DeLoné Osby a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

DeLoné, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I had been working in property management for about 11 years in January of 2020. I used to be the over achiever. Working after hours to make sure resident files were done. I would go so far as to help get apartment cleaned, painted and ready for new move ins even though it wasn’t pay of my job. I ran myself ragged for years working for some of the largest property management companies in the US. Slowly it was eating away at my soul. Not just working so much, but also is listening to these greedy owners taking over and gentrifying neighborhoods. Watching rent prices go higher and higher knowing how cheaply they made these places. I mean even as hard as I worked, I couldn’t even afford to live at the places I was working at without the “onsite discount.” How is the average person supposed to live? If you ever want to see greed first hand, work in property management. Painting and art at that time was more of a hobby and a way for me to escape. A way to heal and process. I never thought I could make money off of it. I just thought I had to fit into this capitalist society to work to the point of exhaustion. And that’s exactly what happened. I kept having this gut feeling this wasn’t it. I was supposed to be doing something else. People aren’t meant to live this way. This wasn’t even living. I ended up having a massive panic attack at work that changed everything. They gave m four days off and during these four days one of the higher up had the audacity to text me to “check in” and in the next sentence ask me something about work. I had already started to find pockets of art culture in Austin. It was then I decided I wanted to see if I could find a better way. More time to create. More time to focus on turning my art into something I could live off of without it loosing its message. I kept having people tell me I really need to share more of my art and my story. That was February of 2020.
If only we knew. I do not ignore the fact that 2020 was devastating and traumatic for so many. For me I finally had a chance to rest and refocus what I truly wanted in life. I was able to heal and explore more of my spirituality through art. And I was able to post that online and have people respond and resonate with what my work would say and portray. I wanted to create. I HAD to create. That year forced my hand. I had no job and was one of the lucky few who got unemployment. I used that time to find my artistic voice. I learned pyrography through YouTube videos. I got better at telling a story. I was healing myself but I realized I was also healing others. I understood that this was the path I was meant to be on.

DeLoné, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a self taught artist. I use my work as a way to heal my own traumas, the traumas of my ancestors & recently the people who see my work. Through spiritual practices & ancestral work I incorporate the messages I receive via dreams and meditation into my work. I work with several different visual disciplines, but I am best known for my pyrography. Pyrography is burning designs onto a surface.
Growing up multi-racial & queer, it was important for me to find my sense of self and where I fit in within my communities. I feel like I’m able to help others do the same. My work has become an embodiment of self and the divine in a way that also lets the viewer see divine in themselves.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is the stereotype of the “American Dream.” That is only obtainable by a select few. Because the American Dream is to act as a cog in a corporation verses to live together in a harmonious world where we can share resources, knowledge, beauty and love. I really grew up thinking the list was “get married, have house, have car, have kids, work and die.” And those were the things to strive for. I can can tell you that may be true for a lot of people but that’s not everyone’s path. I am a 37 year old, divorced, childless dog mom who lives in a 300sqft old motel and is the happiest I’ve ever been getting to be this human and creating art for a living.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

What can society do to best support artists and creatives? It can stop pushing us out. We make these cities fun and vibrant and beautifully eclectic places to live and then someone decides this is an “it” city to be in, let’s knock everything down, push out the poor and the POC. Thanks for making this a cool place to live, we are going to repay you by gentrifying it and making it impossible for you to afford to live here. So I guess society needs to change its mindset on how we should be living. Because let’s face it, most of y’all aren’t living, you’re just existing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paintbydelone.com/
• Instagram: @pain_t.by.delone