We recently connected with Steve Veasey and have shared our conversation below.

Steve, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?la

One of the common themes that I approach in my illustration and writing is mental health- men’s mental health specifically. It’s a topic that has universal relevance, but the stigma around it remains strong. As I’ve committed to creating work that opens up conversation to the topic, I did have one follower on Instagram reach out to me. He was dealing with high level anxiety at the time and because he knew my stance on mental health due to my art, he considered me a safe person to confide in. I was able to support him with the anxiety that he was experiencing and in turn, became really great friends with him. Not even a year later, he let me know that on the day that he reached out, he was planning on taking his life- and that my response saved him. It was a heavy thing to process, but it is a consistent reminder that as a creator: your work matters. Even if you never have the opportunity to see the impact, the things that we create are seen and embraced.

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.

Online, I go by the moniker “Steve Can Draw” and am an illustrator and writer. I pair my illustrations with my writing to convey a strong message to support what I am creating. I have written a book, Thin Spaces, and it is available on Amazon. The book explores a faith journey and holds space for doubts, questions, and finding your own way.

Since the age of six, I wanted to be an animator at Walt Disney Studios and planned on attending an art institute in Vancouver, BC to make that dream come true. In my late teen years, I switched vocations and became involved in youth work and ministry instead. At my workplace, I was told that art was frowned up and not encouraged in the church. Being an impressionable teenager, I gave up on the dream. For years, I felt as though something in my life was missing- an intrinsic part of who I was meant to be. Twelve years later, I realized that this gap could only be filled by my desire to create. I fell back in love with illustrating and have focused my art on bringing mental health topics to light.

The phrase “Steve Can Draw” exists as a reminder to myself to not fall back into the patterns of denying who I am.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the lessons that I’ve had to learn and am still learning is to let go of the imposter syndrome mentality. At the beginning of this journey, I would tell myself that I didn’t belong in the creative space because I had no formal art education and was pretending to be something that I wasn’t. Imposter syndrome felt like this nasty disease that I couldn’t shake. Instead, I have discovered that the reason that I felt like an imposter was because I was walking into new territory that was unfamiliar- and I wasn’t an imposter, but was a student. I discovered that I can’t hold myself to an expectation of being an expert or have “arrived” at the title of being an Illustrator because what I’m doing is new to me. I have since dropped the phrase “imposter syndrome” from my vocabulary and have replaced it with the word “student”. I’m learning how to be a creative in a way that is unique to me. When you can get to that place, you realize that you’re not a fraud, but are actually quite brave.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I am epileptic and have been since birth. Growing up, I attempted to explain to doctors the symptoms that I was experiencing when I would have an episode (which I later discovered were seizures). Unfortunately, it took a car accident at the age of 20 to receive that diagnosis. Since then, I have been on this health journey that takes a difficult toll on me at times. But, I won’t let it win. I’ve recognized that having epilepsy does not define me, and I don’t shy away from that in my art. I strive to be vulnerable to create work that illustrates the struggle that comes with that territory and the impact that a neurological condition can have on a person. It’s unlikely that many who see my art are epileptic, but can relate to the mental health struggles that come alongside it. I want to see being epileptic as an opportunity to persevere and not hold me back from creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stevecandraw.com
• Instagram: @steve.can.draw