5. DOUBT

Around a decade ago I was walking through one of the backstreets of Abbotsford one evening and came across what was probably the single most impactful piece of graffiti or street art I’ve ever seen in my little life. It was very simple. Just three words. Spray painted about 10 inches high. Nothing fancy. FUCK YOUR DOUBT. It was perfect. I snapped a pic with my phone so I wouldn’t forget it and went on my way.

Reader, I never forgot. These three words have rolled around in my head all that time. These three words will roll around in there forever and they will pop out in my work every now and again. The poster above popped out in time for International Women’s Day 2025. More on that another time… because this post is about those messages from our past selves to our current selves. It’s about those messages to each other that we can find everywhere. It’s about chewing on ideas for years until they pop out and become beautiful little artworks all of their very own.

We could say this is the lesson from street art and graffiti - that we are all in this ongoing monumental beautiful conversation with each other about how to be a good human and live a good life. x