Salma Shami

Why do artists keep pushing, even when no one's asking them to?

Neuroscientists found that making art activates the brain's reward system the same way other deeply satisfying experiences do. Maslow called it self-actualization: the drive to become everything you're capable of becoming.

The need to share it? That's not vanity. That's the completion of the act. Art isn't finished until it meets an eye.

I spent years trying to capture what clouds made me feel, that specific emotion of standing under a sky with weight and light and air moving through it. Getting that feeling onto a canvas was the whole pursuit.

When I finally got there, I understood why I kept going. Not for approval, though anyone who says that doesn't matter is lying a little, but because the work wasn't done yet.

That's why I teach. I know what it feels like to be in the middle of figuring it out, and how much faster it goes when someone shows you a clearer path through.

Transform your skies: www.salmashami.com