The Hidden Cost of Art

I believe this is a book no one has written yet. Everything you'll find inside comes from lessons I learned the hard way after many long years spent sitting, working, and breathing art inside my studio. I'm not a doctor, and this is not medical advice—but what I share here has deeply affected my own health, and it may or may not affect you in the same way. Still, there is a lot here worth thinking about.

This book explores the hidden physical and mental cost of a creative life, and how easy it is to slowly damage your body while doing what you love—often without realizing it. Along the way, I break down the materials we work with every day: solvents, paints, varnishes, and other substances that quietly shape our studio environment, sometimes in ways we tend to underestimate.

While a large part of the book focuses on oil painters and those working with traditional materials, fumes, and long studio hours, its message goes far beyond painting. If you spend most of your time creating—whether you're an artist, designer, sculptor, illustrator, or anyone living a studio-based creative life—this book is for you.

My goal is simple: to help you stay healthy enough to keep creating for decades, without paying a price you didn't even know you were accumulating.