Who the F* is Tony Wild, and why should you care?

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m an artist. I guess I’ve always been an artist, I just never realised it till now. I’m also a 49-year-old living in Sydney with my partner and our two labradors. So that’s who I am in a few sentences. Why should you care… I don’t know. That’s up to you. 

I hate social media. I don’t really want to be writing a blog. But I also have basic needs that require an income. So, here I am—‘putting myself out there,’ making videos, taking photos, writing posts, and letting you decide if you like me as a person and as an artist. Then, I cross my fingers and hope to hell you want to buy my stuff.

Square peg. Round hole.

I’ve always been a misfit. Expelled from school. Battled substance and process addictions. Tried to get my act together too many times to bother talking about it. Spent years trying to escape myself. And when all my coping strategies stopped working and I sobered up, the person I was wasn’t really the person I am, you know… on the inside. 

But, perception is reality, and when I ‘came to’ I was 35-40 years old, single and pretty fucking miserable. I was working in advertising as a creative/copywriter and I hated every minute of it. I never wanted to be there, I just was. Don’t get me wrong, I met some great people along the way, but philosophically, I could never reconcile the work with my own values. Selling stuff for corporations who do all sorts of bad shit in the name of making profit. Creating needs for products where there isn’t any need, and basically just going against my own gut. But the safety net, the reliable paycheck, the illusion of security—it was all very comfortable. Until it wasn’t. 

It started being uncomfortable about 18 months ago. I changed agencies and the new joint was a shit show. Work crazy hours, get no support and get no recognition once the job is done. Suffice to say, my attitude there went rapidly downhill after about three months of hard faking it. When my probation was up, I was shown the door. It was then I realised that jobs for creatives in their late forties were nonexistent. So I started a dog walking business. 

It was okay. Kind of. I love dogs, but I didn’t like being a dog walker. I’d already picked up enough shit in my marketing career—I didn’t need to do it for other people’s pets. So, I wound that down and started looking for marketing work again.

Luckily, I landed some contract work client side with a tech startup. It was much needed and a breath of fresh air. But watching those guys work themselves to the bone made me realise—I just can’t give that much of myself to something I don’t really care about. I mean, it’s good work, and they’re good people, but ultimately, it’s just a paycheck. It’s not who I am.

Which kinda brings us up to now. Why I’m here. Why I’m actually posting on social media. I’m an artist. I’ve always been one. And if I want to find the people who connect with my work, I need to turn up.

So here’s the deal—follow me on Instagram @tonywildart. Like, comment, share my stuff. I’ll reply. If you like my work, DM me and we’ll talk about buying or commissioning a piece.

In the near future, I’ll be offering private tutoring sessions, so hit me up if you’re keen. I’m also reviving my old t-shirt screen printing business, Angry T’s—so keep an eye out for that.

And stay tuned for more about me and my work in upcoming blog posts.

Thanks for your support.

T