We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maurice Scarlett III a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maurice , 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?

The moment I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path was the moment after working with Pyer Moss in 2016. That was a big opportunity for me at the time early in my career. Cause during that time painting was just a fun hobby for me, I wasn’t taking it professionally. The fact that I got the chance to work with them really gave me the courage to embark on this path. That opportunity not only shown me it was possible to make a living from my gifts, but I got to experience firsthand. And that experience lead me to where I am now. Im forever grateful for that.

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

Im a visual artist born, and raised in Baltimore, MD. When I was younger I was always into visuals. From playing video games, watching movies, and looking at music videos. Those activities had a long lasting effect on my imagination, and that lead me into becoming an artist. I always looked at visuals as a way to express myself, to convey how I feel or how I see things. As a visual artist I started off just being curious, experimenting with different creative outlets. I started off doing photography, as a way to document my surroundings. That lead me into cinematography, as a way to evolve my photography skills, and capture things in motion. Then I was lead into painting, but I was always drawing as a child. So it felt like polishing up an old skill I had buried. My main focus now is painting, thats where my heart is creatively at the moment. Currently my style of painting is very abstract, and influenced by surrealism. Inspired from my personal experiences, films I’ve watched, and cultural references that had an impact on me. I feel as an artist thats what sets me apart from others, my perspective. I use my creativity as way to tell stories that others can resonate with, but at the same time my perspective within that story is what’s makes it unique. Im most proud of myself on this path as an artist. It’s been times when I could’ve stop, and turned back. But I kept going, and stayed true to myself. In hindsight that helped me grow as an artist, and helped me find myself. I would like others to know that my work is coming from pure intentions. To help inspire people in what I do, and to help them connect to their inner child.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One thing I’ve learned over time is that nothing is ever perfect. Perfectionism is an illusion. As a creative I strive to execute everything I do tastefully, and to my highest capabilities. But it was a time when if something didn’t look appealing enough to my liking, I would start over. Or if I’m drawing, and mess up on a line I’ll get discouraged. That stem from me trying to make everything look perfect/be perfect. The moment I let go of trying to be perfect, and just go off what im feeling my work got better. I embrace when I mess a line or two up, it makes it unique. I still strive to make everything I do to the best I can, but I give myself grace. Something can look perfect now, but later on you’ll see a flaw. So I just embrace flaws now, and keep it moving.

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

To me the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is just seeing how far it took me, and where it can take me too. My gifts put me in many great places, that have allowed me to connect to others in a pure/genuine way. The fact I get paid from it is the icing on the cake. It bugs me out cause I started drawing when I was a child, and to see myself now still sticking to it makes me happy. But to see how far it took me gives me to courage to keep going. There is no plan B for me in this, and I give this thing my all every single day. That fulfills me as a creative. I rather be doing this than anything else.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mauricescarlett.com
• Instagram: @mauricescarlett

Image Credits
Joshua Slowe Darrius Fox