It's like this little voice is whispering, mmm, stop. Enough. And if you go too far, it just says, yeah, see? Too much. I think of it as this very rare bird in the forest. And once you've heard it, the next time, you'll be able to recognize it. When I'm finishing a painting, I'm listening for that. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"]

I didn't enjoy arts and crafts classes as a kid. It really got to the point where I didn't think I was a creative person because I was bored. I found it boring. Like, why are we doing this? Being given an assignment, whether that was make a self-portrait or make like an origami bird or whatever, without an explanation as to why, it just did not work for me. Personally, I think this is exactly why a lot of people end up getting stuck, right? And end up with the conclusion that they're not creative, which was exactly the conclusion that I arrived at. It wasn't until like late middle school, high school, probably, that I stumbled upon the joys of making and sharing things. What I realized was that it was a process that could teach me a lot about myself, like on a spiritual level. And when I came to that realization, it really changed everything. Suddenly, it made a lot of sense to make things. Suddenly, it became like borderline one of the most important things to do. Art is fascinating to me. And one of the primary reasons why I wanted to make this podcast is to have the chance to talk to people about why they do what they do, why they make what they make, right? And the process, the behind the scenes that you don't see when you just see them final result. For me, all the background stuff, all the things that happen that are invisible are really important in my life. It made all the difference between making things and not making things. And this is why I am so pleased to share with you my conversation with the American painter, Alex Hillkertz. Alex moved to Paris seven years ago and ended up becoming a full time painter after a career as an illustrator and storyboarder in the film industry. We had a really philosophical conversation about creativity and the creative process that I really enjoyed. We touched on starting a career late, the difference between making physical and digital things, the value of working slowly, how to know when you're done. We even touched on our definitions of God at one point. I will leave a link to his Instagram in the description. If you're interested in checking out his work, I highly recommend taking a look. And with all that being said, I hope you enjoy. I hope you enjoy. Would you be cool to talk about age and the art world a little bit? Okay.