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

Alright, Diego thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

For as long as I remember, I always wanted to paint. My first encounter with art happened because I was hyperactive as a child. I was probably around 3 years old, of course, I didn’t create anything special, but at least I could settle down for a while. Now, I have more than 20 years of painting professionally, or at least I tried. There are many risks I took in my life, however, my major life changing risk was when I decided to immigrate to the United States. Although I missed my country and friends, Mexico is not a good place to be an emergent artist. When I arrived to Phoenix, I didn’t know anyone related to the art scene. I wasn’t sure where to start. The change was so difficult that, until today, I struggle with something as basic as measuring from centimeters to inches or adapting my sense of humor. There were a lot of cultural differences that I had to learn, but I think the most difficult part was dealing with uncertainty. Being an artist is not just about creativity and beauty, there is deep stuff that most people don’t think about when they see a piece of art. The most common is the difficulty of making a living, most of the time, income is so volatile that darkens the creative process. You need to have a good support system to keep persisting in art. You need to be stubborn to paint because you’ll never know when your next show will be or when you’ll be selling a piece. The major risk as artists is the daily life endurance of our decisions to create.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

When I started to have more conscious about my ability to paint was when I had my first art teacher. My favorite uncle, Felipe, used to show me his drawings. He sat with me for hours and taught me his drawing technique. These moments are very precious and were crucial for me to start thinking of being an artist as a way of life. I was around 8 years old when I used to draw with my uncle. After his death, it has been very difficult to find such good guidance, so I become an autodidact, just like my uncle was. I was very lucky to get to an art middle school. There, I was able to improve my technique, but I have always been too curious and explored by myself different creative works or inspirations. I’m very proud of my capacity to keep learning and to be surprised about the art of others.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the resilience that you shape for being an artist is the most rewarding aspect. Usually, art is treated just as a hobby, there’s the idea that art is not a good way of making a leaving. And, sometimes this can be true, but through time you learn how to cope when life gets difficult. Sometimes, I feel that our society only wants to have fast results. Art is not about speed, is about patience and hard work, which with time will endure your character. And even when the path is complicated, you’ll always have your brushes by your side.

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

There are many ways to support an artist. First, I believe is essential to support living artists, especially emergent. However, there are a lot of ways to help, as easy to “like” a Facebook or Instagram profile or attend their events and invite as many people as you can. And of course, you may buy their art, if the price of the piece is too high for you, you can always ask about prints or other options. Recently, with Covid, we have learned that the best way to cope with anxiety and confinement was through art, so we really need to strengthen our chains of support to creators.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @artofdiegoperez
• Facebook: Art of Diego Perez