Today we’d like to introduce you to Mecca Robinson.
Mecca, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Starting at the tender age of four, my drive to quietly scribble ideas to paper, evolved into a passion to execute projects with any medium I could get my hands on. Fellow peers from every grade from every school I went to wanted to be doctors, lawyers, bosses or was kept undecided, but I never chose to leave the path to becoming an artist. Along that path came many obstacles I thought I’d never overcome.
I can tell you that being accepted into one of my “dream colleges” but not being able to attend in order to avoid student debt was one of them. I gave community college a try, but I felt my passion dried up as those days passed by. Wouldn’t you feel drained of being placed in a class with information you already have full knowledge of? It drove me crazy how much I thought about my future during the semi-daily 5 hour art classes (plus academics), that I left. Throwing myself into customer service jobs helped me learned more about myself and others and built stronger relationships because of it. This experience was more beneficial when it came to improving my visual communication in my artwork and increased professionalism in my freelance work. In the midst of working a 9-5, freelancing and squeezing time for self-improvement, I grew more to opening up socially and began to surround myself with a plethora of talented creatives. Exchanging stories and knowledge with each individual has helped me gain a better sense of my passion and what it is I want to do with it. This is the foundation that’s been paved to lead me here with you today.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I can be honest with you that it hasn’t, but I’m grateful those bumps in the road has helped me grow quicker, stronger and independent. When you find out that artists do more than just paint on a canvas growing up, you want to look into it more and dive deeper into how that life looks. Being married to creating, I had to be prepared to experience the truth, but I was too careless to realize how overwhelming and unexpected the lessons would become. Throughout all four years of high school studio art classes, I was taught the fundamentals, working with different mediums, etc. but graduated just before learning how to deal with constructive criticism (with very low confidence). From there, I avoided sharing artwork via social media while practicing on improving my craft and mindlessly working on pieces that didn’t hold any meaning.
When I’d finally built the strength to create a new Instagram, be open and start asking for feedback, I began to realize how much artwork can emotionally impact others. The art, around that time, left most people confused. The passion showed but the messages never did. Understandable. My mind was so set on being rich and virtually popular that it made the emotional disconnect to my craft even stronger. That stress became so overbearing that when things wouldn’t go my way, whether it be a small mistake on a canvas to being tardy for an appointment, things would only get worse if I tried to forcefully fix it. Looking up to others more than leveling with them also created another hurdle to leap over. The awareness of these problems painfully grew internally to the point where they all needed to end. To fix this, I had to reprogram myself to take time to look around more often and remember those moments where success came to me due to being patient, humble and kind with a built sense of self-worth. Thank you mom, for helping me get this far.
“Suplex Art” and “Buns & Blyphin” – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
“Su.plex Art” is the business I’m currently running and “Buns and Blyphin” is the brand I’ve been recently building. Su.plex Art is made for freelance work and custom-made items, whether it be illustrating cover art, graphic designs, logos, etc. Buns and Blyphin have been a brand that’s been in the works, traced back to its early sketches back in 2016. I chose my duo of original characters to be the faces of the brand and travel across different social media platforms to extend the hands of this slowly-building community. To express the values this brand has to offer, I’ve utilized the specialties that I’ve gained and what I’m known for: digital illustration, traditional painting (acrylic) and experimental art done in mixed mediums.
I’m very proud of how long Su.plex Art has stood for and is still continuing to gladly help individuals with their quests. Buns and Blyphin has done extremely well with the meditative content I post every Sunday. Visual sound therapy that feels mindful, nostalgic and has received positive feedback from the community lately. It’s a little something I think we all need every now and then and would recommend you check it out when you have free time! I think what sets me apart from others is, being open-minded and well-rounded with interests not everyone likes. It brings an exclusivity between you and a client when something you guys both like comes to surface during conversation. I also got my hands on as many different types of mediums as possible. This trait comes in handy dealing with different types of situations and personalities with unpredictable outcomes.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is a victory. An overwhelmingly internal positive sensation you get when those times of hardships and staying up late at night finally pays off. The feeling after kicking the ball into the goal It’s intangible yet holds a unique power and we are in control of how long we want to hold that feeling and how much we allow it to define our entire lives.
I believe our lives are as full of as many successes as we want there to be, but if they’re short term, we cannot afford them to hold us back from a bigger prize we secretly want and could spend more time working up to. I’ll personally define a success based on:
– Connection to the ultimate, never-ending goal
– Applying skills learned from previous successes
– Levels of execution during the process
– Getting out of your own way by knowing there’s a better (and easier) solution to problems encountered
– Consistency
Pricing:
- Traditional Paintings Starting At…$200
- Graphic Designs Starting At…$60
- Customized Items Starting At….$40
- Face Masks….$15
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bunsnblyphin.bigcartel.com/
- Phone: 3107021696
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/su.plex/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/blyphin
Image Credit:
Sick of Being Famous @sickofbeingfamous
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