We caught up with the brilliant and insightful SKELA Aka Sanguine Skills a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, SKELA 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.
Being a creative is an everyday risk, and living off of your creativity is the ultimate risk. Because from now on whatever comes out of your heart will always be open for criticism and celebration. I have been taking risks all my life. I’ve lived in countries, I don’t speak the language, I’ve tried all kinds of jobs, I’ve used machines and tools I never thought I could and I’ve done it all on my own. Proving to myself I don’t need anyone has always been super important to me and that’s why 9 years ago I took the biggest risk I could imagine. I quit a secure, fun, creative and well paid job in production as a scenic artist and took all my savings deciding it was time to invest it all in me. In my own professional art career.
I gave myself a deadline, if in five years I ‘m still struggling with my art then I’ II just go back to working as an artist for someone else. I tried everything I could, I changed cities searching for inspiration and opportunities with not much luck. I got duped, I struggled, and no one showed any interest so I reluctantly slowly started switching my mind set that this was just not meant for me, and anyway the 5 years where almost up. Then one day I got a message asking me to participate in an art project down in Miami FL for one of the biggest events in the art world, Art Basel. I gleamed with joy and painted a giant mural of my art, my style and my themes! It was stupendous and it set forth a wheel that hasn’t stopped spinning.
I won’t lie, it’s been tough, scary, draining and sometimes financially I’ve been on the precipice of nothing but I will never regret the decision I took 9 years ago. As now I can happily say that for the past 5 years, I’ve been living fully off of my art. I’ve made my dream come true of painting murals in various countries and around the US, I’ve been exploring new dimensions with my paintings, published 3 children’s books, and have a 1001 new projects running around in my head.
SKELA, 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 Skela and I utilize my Sanguine Skills to brighten up your day. Sanguine means to be particularly positive in a very bad situation. What’s the bad situation? Which one should I start with. The world has become overwhelmed with bad news and an unease for the future, so my goal in life is to bring color and a smile to people. My signature style which I call skelarizing is a geometrical shell that explodes with color, nature, and energy. At times my work talks about decay, extinction, and the mistreatment of nature and sometimes its just plain fun with cheeky humor and love stories between animals, because there is enough heaviness in the world. But whether serious or jolly it is always vibrant. Cosmic warriors and electric creatures, along with retro waves and dark disco sounds, bring a new dawn to the cities and its people.
My artist career the last 5 years has focused mainly on murals, however recently I’ve had the opportunity to get back into the studio and dive deeper into the layers of my world. Creating dimensional paintings, has allowed me to explore techniques, mediums and the geometric ‘structures’ I’ve been skelarizing. Plus breaking away from the rectangular wall format and playing with a jigsaw is too much fun and simply made sense.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being an artist is never easy but when the rewards kick in they are immeasurable. There are many different aspects an artist can feel rewarded. The first one being the sheer gratitude of having a stranger enjoy what you created and envisioned, that in it itself is so humbling. Every time I get a message from someone who is inspired or just sees my art on a wall and feels the need to tell me it makes them feel happy, it compels my inner child glee. Another most rewarding aspect is, at least for me, the perpetual learning. Whether its a new technique, themes, cultures, science anything that can inspire really or even learning things as frustrating as social media hacks. They all once learnt and understood are new golden stars in your “being a human chart” of life.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My main goal with my art is to bring a smile and be as much as I can an Artivist. I have the romantic notion that art can change the world and change the way people think in order for us to protect this beautiful planet. Whether or not this is possible, I think depends on the people’s acceptance and awareness to be open to new knowledge. I’m not sure I am always able to be convey my ideal but if at least I can bring a happiness and color, then my job is almost done.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sanguineskills.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanguineskills/?hl=