ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Most of us are waiting for someone with authority to tell us our work counts. PJ Towle waited too, until a college professor stood him up in front of a color theory class and made him defend why his work was even art. In this segment, PJ tells Darren about growing up the artist kid in a black and white house, the moment that rejection nearly killed the thing he loved, and how it turned into the freedom to create on his own terms. It is a story about who actually gets the final say on whether you are an artist. Spoiler, it is not the person grading you.
➡️ FREE CONTENT CLARITY AUDIT https://link.1898creative.com/widget/bookings/1898-creative/audit
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
⚡️ Nobody outside of you gets the final say on whether your work is art
⚡️ Rejection can be a fork in the road, not a verdict
⚡️ Creative energy does not disappear when one door closes, it redirects
⚡️ The people who need your work are rarely the ones grading it
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 — The artist kid in a black and white house
01:50 — Trombone, bass, and learning to create in front of people
02:50 — A call to ministry at sixteen
03:20 — Declaring an art major as the hedge
04:30 — When the department turned on him
05:30 — Made to stand up and defend why it was art
07:15 — The freeing moment hidden in the rejection
08:30 — Creativity redirected into music
09:30 — Graduating early and what came next
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: https://1898creative.com
Darren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrenandrewcooper
CONNECT WITH PJ TOWLE:
Website: https://www.fortythreecreative.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pjtowle
If this episode helped you, please:
👍🏻 Give it a thumbs up
⬇️ Drop your "art" in the comments — what's the thing you're here to create?
✅ Subscribe for weekly conversations with industry artists
📲 Share with a fellow creator who needs to hear this
HASHTAGS:
#createyourart #findyourvoice #artistmindset #creativeentrepreneur #personalbranding #podcast
