Meet TrustyScribe | Artist & Mental Health Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with TrustyScribe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi TrustyScribe, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
When I started painting my messages on the street, I was working my way through a terrible depression while still in the midst of an abusive relationship. My first piece, “Please Excuse My Depression, It Has A Mind Of Its Own,” was a release valve for me, and a way to get my voice out at a time when I wasn’t being heard. Little did I know how meaningful that, and subsequent works would be to others. Soon after I started painting people began messaging me that my words helped them feel less alone, helped to find a reason to keep going, to come out to their families, or to start therapy. Since those early days I’ve embraced my mental health advocacy, working to raise awareness and normalize conversations about mental wellbeing, and most importantly, to lift the stigma on mental health.

I’ve had the good fortune of working with children and adults, in schools, mental health facilities and even art therapy programming for culture defining companies. Seeing people engage and open up is inspiring, but the most rewarding work has been with kids. They get it. They understand the importance of their mental health, and there’s been no greater inspiration than watching a child open up about their personal challenges, feeling safe and heard for perhaps the very first time, and finally seeing a path towards much needed help. Our collective wellbeing is what will truly make this world a better, more loving and compassionate world for us all. I’m happy to be just a small pebble in a big pond, watching that ripple of transformation.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My creative journey has taken innumerable twists and turns, surprising even myself at where it has led. I didn’t set out to become a street artist. I wanted to tell stories as a writer, a filmmaker, a photographer, and it wasn’t until much later that I realized that all of my art, in every form and with every medium is all just a piece of the same great creative expression of love. Love for the human experience in all its beautifully flawed ways.

I never thought I’d champion a cause, but finding my voice while working to heal myself, and embracing mental health advocacy to lift the stigma on mental health has been life changing. I am grateful, not just for the incredible things that have evolved out of my depression, but also the terrible pain and challenges I faced along the way. I celebrate my scars because they’ve made me who I am and carried me to where I am today. This isn’t to say that it’s easy, as mental health is a lifelong journey, but every day I gain more and more tools to manage the low points with art, a healthy diet, a restful night’s sleep and a daily meditation practice. These are all building blocks to my own wellbeing, and for all the trials and tribulations, I’m enjoying the ride.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Good food, good drinks with good friends is always my idea of a perfect time. Luckily I learned my joy of cooking from my mother at a very young age, so I get a lot of pleasure cooking for and with my friends and family. A perfect day is throwing something on the smoker before the sun is up and spending the day tasting wines, sipping cocktails, cooling off with beers or a swim, and by evening laying out a feast.

When artist friends visit, we inevitably hit the downtown art’s district and then Melrose to freshen up the area with some new art where we’ll most likely pop into one of my two absolute favorites, the Snake Pit or The Village Idiot. Both places have been at the top of my list forever. For the best salad, without a doubt Joan’s on Third for their Chinese Chicken Salad and then across the street to Magnolia Bakery for some Banana Pudding.

I love cycling the PCH, taking a nice long bike ride from West Hollywood out to Malibu and back. The view after walking up Runyon Canyon is a must, and Griffith Park never disappoints. But once all is said and done, it’s back to the house for a cup of tea and a heart to heart with the people I love.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Often times it is easy to overlook the impact that our personal mental health journeys can have on those closest to us, but through it all, my parents have been there. I am, and will remain, forever grateful for their love and support.

Website: www.artistxo.com

Instagram: @TrustyScribe

Facebook: TrustyScribe