Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Mood: Validated
Music: Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine
Dear Richard,
A royalty check came in the mail today. It’s for a print run of the Ohio River series. I looked at the comma in the number, and I felt a strange, hollow sort of pride.
I’m thinking about the "Red Dot."
It was 2017. My first solo show in California.
I was a nervous wreck. I was convinced it was a mistake. I stood in the corner in my jeans and blazer—no more costumes, remember?—waiting for the LA art crowd to laugh me out of the room.
Then a woman walked in. A serious collector. She stood in front of Midnight in Cincy—the biggest abstract I'd made at the time—for twenty minutes. Then she walked away.
Later, I watched the curator walk over. I watched him place a small, red sticker next to the title card.
Sold.
I almost fell over. That red dot wasn't just a sale. It was a verdict. Exoneration. It meant I wasn't just a screw-up who liked to play with charcoal and paint. It meant I was real.
Levi was there. He saw the dot. He was absolutely giddy as he tucked his arm in mine, beaming. "Look, babe," he whispered. "I told you were a genius. I knew it the first time I saw your work in Detroit."
He was so happy for me. He ordered champagne for the whole room.
But all I wanted to do was call you.
Levi loves my success. He believes in me. My talent. My skills. But he only knows "Artist Taylor." He only knows the guy who sells paintings for five figures.
You? You knew the guy who painted on refrigerator boxes. You knew the guy who dug through trash at swap meets for "texture." You watched me struggle. You watched me fail.
I wanted you to see that red dot. I wanted to grab your arm and say, “Look! All that time you spent worrying about money? All those fights we had about my 'hobbies'? It paid off.”
Success is a lonely thing when the person who witnessed the struggle isn't there to share the victory.
I’m a real artist now, Richard. I finally made it. And I would give every cent of this check just to hear you say, "Good job."
Love always,
Taylor