I didn’t even think of it as art.
When my artwork resurfaced in January 2026(that’s another story to share, on another day), I started sharing some of it on LinkedIn.
There wasn’t a strategy; I wasn’t trying to become an artist. I wasn’t building an audience to sell prints. In fact, I didn’t particularly think of the images I was posting as art. They were just things I’d drawn. Some were old, some were strange, and some had spent years sitting on hard drives without anybody seeing them….So I started posting them.
I didn’t give much thought to what people might think. I certainly didn’t expect anything remarkable to happen.
But then I noticed something: the numbers started climbing, not just a little; my LinkedIn content eventually reached more than 2.4 million impressions over the period shown in my analytics.
People were looking. Commenting. Sharing.
And somewhere amongst all those drawings was a little bird called I’m No Longer Angry.
That bird changed things.
People connected with it in ways I hadn’t anticipated. It began travelling far far beyond my own network, eventually finding homes with people in California, New York, Amsterdam, madrid, Manchester, London and more. For the first time, I started seeing my work differently. Not because an algorithm told me it was good, but because other people were finding something in it that meant something to them.
I’d spent decades drawing to help myself through life. I hadn’t expected those drawings to mean something to other people, too.
So, at the age of 53, I sold my very first print to an American I had never met- not my family, not someone I knew stroking my ego; I had become a published artist. Yes, I had created thousands of book covers, websites, logos, banners, clothing, brands, and more, but this was different; my feelings at a single moment in time had created something others felt as well. That’s humbling.
Why am I sharing this? Well, I have read, conversed, and messaged with hundreds of designers and creatives who feel like quitting because of AI; they see it as the end of their careers, a battle not worth having. But I jiust see it as an opportunity to be more human and share our stories and make new connections, ones that dont want to drink the fake bros’s coolaid.
I dont want anyone to quit. I have survived being homeless, had a stroke, broke my back and more, but art can find a way through the bullshit and turn around someone’s day, make them smile through the slop and dross and just maybe ignite your love of creating.
I hope that you will subscribe to my newsletter and we can share what it is to be human, to communicate as real, heart-beating individuals
Till next week, thanks,
Chris x
