If you’ve spent any time in Los Angeles, you’re probably familiar with WRDSMTH. The street artist’s iconic stencil of a typewriter cranking out pages of inspirational text is almost as ubiquitous as the city’s traffic.
In today’s podcast episode, host and NOT REAL ART founder Scott “Sourdough” Power sits down with WRDSMITH (aka Phil Brody) to discuss the artist’s unconventional path from Midwestern bookworm to renowned writer and street artist. “I was being creative from when I was a comic book kid,” says WRDSMTH, who initially relocated to L.A. to chase his screenwriting dreams. “When you look at who I am now and what I'm doing now, it just all made sense, all these little stops and starts and different lives that I had.”
Realizing he needed a hobby when he arrived in L.A., WRDSMTH took to the streets and began stenciling, painting, and wheat-pasting his heart out. And the rest, as they say, is history. Today, his work resonates with city dwellers from L.A. and New York to Melbourne and Tokyo. “I always believed in my writing, but when you're a street artist, you're putting art out for the people,” says WRDSMTH. “I was hoping to inspire them and motivate them. But then, when people said, ‘I'd like this on canvas or wood or glass,’ I was taken aback—I never expected to make a dime, but then I realized there might be something here.”
His most memorable messages are inspired by the conversations he hears, the things he sees everyday, and his journey from comic-book-kid to world-renowned artist. Join us as WRDSMTH shares his thoughts on making authentic connections, reinventing yourself as often as possible, and choosing “paths that make you happy,” even if they’re less traveled. “Dive into pools of the unknown,” he advises. “I think that's so healthy. It's scary, but it's healthy.”
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