71: I Paint Your Life with Steve Bird

Steve bird takes memories and turns them into works of art. After all, our memories are some of the most important parts of our lives. After coming to the realization that his career in theatre wasn't exactly what he dreamed it would be, Steve took the initiative to recreate himself and learn how to paint again. He soon realized that painting came natural when working off photographs, and he found opportunity to preserve the memories of others through turning their pictures into beautiful portraits. He learned how to use and engage an audience on social media, and he triggered interest in his service by painting pictures for free and seeing how people reacted. Well, his passion is back full throttle now, and #ipaintyourlife is starting to take hold. Congrats, Steve. Here are the highlights of my conversation with Steve: 06:22 : His life story as a jack of all trades who started off as a young artist being greatly influenced and inspired by his art teacher, 13:50 : Being bitten by the music bug and putting art behind for a decade after music took over his life, 17:55 : Enrolling in a university to study art and getting out with a PhD while progressively going into film making,  21:28 : Leveraging on social media to raise money for his wedding and his honeymoon by starting out a project where people can see him paint the photos they send, 27:40 : How he captured his audience by engaging them and how it is being at the peak and most productive part of his journey as an artist, 32:11 : Gaining followers in Twitter and using Facebook Groups to showcase his work and the advice he got from fellow artists such as engaging people to gain their trust rather than just saturating the internet, 38:07 : Remembering the first painting he sold back in the 80s and the elation it brought him when people compliment your talent by buying them, 38:50 : The most difficult thing in social media and remembering the time when he was commissioned to do the biggest group portrait he has done plus an additional 40 paintings which all stemmed from one chance meeting at a car park, and 48:15 : Failures which made him stronger and trials which made him appreciate hardships because of the lessons they come with.