"This Is Garbage": The Secret Mantra of Every Artist Who's Ever Grown

If You Don’t Hate Your Own Work, Are You Even an Artist?

Let’s just be honest for a minute: every artist hates their own work. Okay, maybe not hate-hate, but at the very least, we all go through that rollercoaster of “this is brilliant” to “this is garbage” within, like… three brushstrokes. And if you haven’t had that moment where you step back, squint, and say, “ugh, why did I think this was a good idea?”—I both envy and slightly distrust you. 😄

But here's the thing: that little inner critic is part of the process. It’s not a flaw. It’s not a bug in the system. It’s the system.

We grow through discomfort. We evolve through dissatisfaction. Artists are constantly striving—striving for better compositions, stronger color stories, deeper meanings, tighter technique, looser technique (hello, paradox)—all while trying to express something that words can’t quite hold.

And yeah, sometimes that striving looks a lot like staring at a painting you finished a week ago and thinking, “Well, that’s not it.” But you know what? That’s good. That’s growth. That’s your inner artist calling you forward into what’s next.

I like to think of it like training for a marathon. Or maybe an Ironman Triathlon where the swim is emotional vulnerability, the bike is imposter syndrome, and the run is caffeine-fueled bursts of inspiration at 2 a.m. There are moments of flow, sure. There are even sprints—days when the muse shows up and things just click. But for the most part, art is about mental strength, endurance, and a whole lot of practice.

Athletes don’t stop training because they hit a new personal best—they push harder. They analyze, tweak, try again. Why shouldn’t we do the same? Why shouldn’t we push ourselves to become the artist we aren’t quite yet?So if you’re sitting in your studio (or at your kitchen table or your favorite coffee shop) staring at your current piece thinking, “This is trash”—congrats. You're doing it right. That tension you feel? That’s the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

And maybe we never fully close that gap. Maybe that's kind of the point. Maybe hating our work just a little is what keeps us showing up, keeps us evolving, keeps us curious.

Or maybe we're all just a little unhinged. Who's to say...