“Real Artists” Don’t Wait for Gallery Approval

Blog 7 of 10 from the Truth Bomb Series by Jools Teare

Let me say it louder for the ones still nervously clutching their degree and hoping a man in tortoiseshell glasses gives them a shot:

If you're making art—you’re an artist.
If you’re putting your guts on canvas, collage, clay or bloody cushion covers—you’re real enough.

And if you’re still waiting for someone with a clipboard and an arts council grant to knight you into legitimacy?

Babe, you’re wasting precious rebellion.

🖕 The Gatekeepers Can Sod Off

The traditional art world loves a gate.
And behind that gate?

• Baffling application forms

• Posh people who think Warhol was “a bit common”

• And a jury made of six white men named Julian

But guess what?
The gates are rusty as fuck.
And while they’re having a private viewing over champagne and hand-wringing, you’re out here painting, printing, posting, and making a living thing with your hands and heart.

Who’s the real artist?

🎨 You Don’t Need Permission to Be Seen

You know who told me I was an artist?
Me.
(And my nan. But mostly me.)

Not because someone approved my brushstrokes.
Not because I got “discovered.”
But because I couldn’t not make art.
And because people saw themselves in it. That’s the bit the gatekeepers forget.

It’s not about whether they like it.
It’s about whether it makes someone feel something.

You can hang in a high-end gallery or a local butcher’s shop—your work is still powerful.

👑 Validation Is Lovely. Power Is Better.

Would I love to have my work hanging in the Tate?
Sure. If it meant more eyes, more joy, more impact.

But I’ll never wait around for it.
Because the longer you wait for approval, the more your voice gets quiet.

You shrink.
You second-guess.
You water it down.

And that’s how we end up with landscapes of moody trees and absolutely no glitter.

NO THANK YOU.

✊ Build Your Own Damn Gallery

This is the internet age.
Your Instagram is a gallery.
Your market stall is a gallery.
Your bloody hallway is a gallery.

You don’t need a white wall and a curator to be legit.
You need nerve, clarity, and the balls to show up.

Because the truth is:
The art world is catching up with us.
Not the other way round.

💭 Power-Up Prompt:

Where are you still waiting for permission—and what would happen if you stopped waiting and just claimed it instead?

💋 Art That’s Gallery-Worthy (Even If It’s Never Been In One)

I don’t make art to be chosen.
I make it because it already matters.
Shop the collection, or start your own damn gallery wall.