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

SANOizm, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

As a young child I was always curious about drawing. By elementary school 3rd grade I had my first art teacher and also took young artist classes at Cleveland institute of Art. By 5th grade I started doing graffiti and becoming very competitive with my art… trying to draw better than the 8th graders! Thru out high school I kept nurturing the skills, and was developing underground notoriety in Cleveland’s graffiti scene. Around this time a local legendary DJ Johnny O paid me for my first ever logo project for his Jammit Recordings logo 1987. He would also go on to publish It’s A Rap magazine that i would layout and design for years. I started airbrushing custom clothing along with screen printing and selling tshirts on the street. Also was creating illustrations for hiphop and rave parties which helped spread my name farther thru out the region. So yea, I was always on a creative path, just as I developed the professional end found me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I go by SANO…(simple art nice outlines, sunny and nice outside, styles always number one… etc). I’m a visual artist, painter, muralist, with a background of graffiti/aerosol art (since 1983). I also screen print my own brand called Thieveland. Sometimes I do illustration and or graphic design projects. I’ve been working as a studio production assistant in a commercial art studio. For over a decade. I enjoy painting large scale murals for businesses, or canvas art commissions. Please check my work out on IG: @sanoizm or feel free to inquire about commissions via email at: [email protected]

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Several rewarding aspects to being an artist from personal healing to connecting with other artists and collaborations. Also nice to eat, travel pay bills if not a thriving livelihood. Meeting folks and gaining admirers or haters lol… really just a lot of fun watching myself grow thru my life’s work.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I lost my parents when I was 15… my entire journey has been built around personal healing. Doing graffiti before it was street art or socially acceptable/cool… I always wanted to beautify areas/neighborhoods thinking it may benefit someone who may be going thru their own traumatic situations.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sanoizm
• Facebook: Sanoizm
• Youtube: Sanoizm

Image Credits
Photo by roots&chalicesf