“Respectfully, all things must come to an end. Respectfully, all things start when you decide to make it start.” – Sean Fahie
A fellow lover of Bukowski, whiskey neat, good music, and meaningful conversation, our next featured artist is graphic designer, illustrator & author, Sean Fahie (pronounced Foy).
Based out of Atlanta, GA, Sean is an accomplished artist, writer, and creator. To know him is to know his great energy, engaging storytelling, and infectious, raucous laugh. Since moving to Atlanta in 2010, Sean’s made a name for himself in Atlanta’s creative scene. His Pretty Sweet parties at SoundTable is one of Atlanta’s Summer highlights. Always good vibes, always a good time. And yes, I’m speaking from experience.
In the past few years, he released a three-part book series: a culmination of short stories, poems, and anecdotes, written from a perspective of introspection and growth. Things About Women..., Letters to Lovers Who Love To Hate Me, and Chocolate Covered Honey Buns, each respectively offer a candid, poetic, and insightful look into Sean’s life, and provide learning lessons along the way.
When he’s not creating or curating events, he’s working on his podcast, 2GoodMics, with co-host, Leroy aka DJ 100K. For the past five years, the pair ran an informative, cultural podcast called Influencers Presents (iykyk), where new and established creatives would talk on their specific styling of art. They recently changed the format to their current show and have fully rebranded. “Everything kind of slowed down recently so we haven't been able to record but for the four episodes we released. [2GoodMics] is hilarious! It's a lot, I can definitely tell you that much,” he laughs as he tells me, “It's definitely not as educational."
Photograph by Griff Goodie
On any given day, you can probably catch him on Carroll St in Cabbagetown chatting it up with friends or unwinding on his porch enjoying a drink and smoke. As a self-managed artist, he speaks on the importance of setting apart ‘me time’ as a source of motivation and inspiration. “I'm a big people person as well. So, going out at night is how I let off some steam, share some stories, and have conversations with all kinds of people.”
His upcoming book: Unresolved actually touches on these outings and relationships. Adding on to his other books, Sean continues to self-examine, but this time it is with the intent to live and let live. “Realizing that some of the relationships, some of my personal hang ups, not to be funny, were left unresolved, this book is kind of a way of me finding a resolution to those events in my life…It’s like trying to find resolutions to problems that aren't really problems anymore.”
In my interview with him, we discuss work-life balance and ways he centers himself, personal growth, and more on his latest book. Connect with him on IG if you’re interested in purchasing any of his pieces or work, and meet him below.
Photograph by Modou Jallow
Do you find it difficult to balance multiple creative projects and your personal life? How do you center yourself?
I take naps (he laughs). Prior to [COVID], during the day, you know, I'd be at home just either watching movies or whatever, just to kind of unwind and find some motivation or inspiration, and I'm a big people person as well. So, going out at night is how I let off some steam, share some stories and have conversations with all kinds of people. I'm very self-motivated and I want to see my projects come to fruition. Fortunately, because I work from home I have a lot of time, and I get bored kind of quickly so jumping to different projects kind of helps me stay focused. If don't have any ideas for this one thing, then I'm going to do this other thing. I think, my personal difficulty used to be that because I did so many things, the audience wouldn't know what I did. I think what I'm trying to figure out currently is how to funnel all these things in a way that people understand it’s still coming from one person. That’s my current journey right now. And hopefully I figure it out. Like I'm at home studying, marketing and understanding what's my story and what I'm trying to tell.
What inspires your illustrations?
I’m inspired by whatever events are happening in my life and in the lives of my friends, stories on the news, and things like that. A lot of my pieces have these long titles, sometimes there’s alliteration in them. I feel like the title; the writing aspect should inform as much as the painting does. Once, my sister was like, this title is too long for anyone to remember and I was like, I know but when you really see the piece it goes together, all of those things work together.
What is your latest book ‘Unresolved’ about?
It's a continuation from my other books, but from a more emotionally mature me. Realizing that some of the relationships, some of my personal hang ups, not to be funny, were left unresolved, this book is kind of a way of me finding resolution to those events in my life, as well as just giving whatever small advice I've learned along the way and telling funny anecdotes. It’s like trying to find resolutions to problems that aren't really problems anymore. This is the most therapeutic piece of writing I've done, but I feel like, with the things that I'm writing about, it's very relatable to anybody reading. So as much as it’s me giving you a glimpse into my diary, it’s also something you could read and be like, holy shit, I think I went through that.
Photograph by Modou Jallow
You write from a very personal vantage point. Are you particular with what you share or are you truly an open book?
I am 90% open. I don't use anyone's actual name, and I may change the situation in a way where it won't be as specific to the situation; I'll write around the situation. I'm not trying to like, shit on anybody. That's not what I'm trying to do with any of my writing. It's like, ‘oh, I did go through this!’, ‘how was I feeling in the moment?’ ‘what did I do to be better from that moment or learn from that moment?’.
Many of your short stories are based on your relationships. Do you consider yourself a romantic?
Yeah. I’m emo as fuck (laughs). It comes in waves; like younger me used to have savage moments, but uh yeah I like watching Disney movies and chilling out (laughs). I'm definitely a romantic at my core, but I'm also an adult now so I don't over-romanticize anything because that's how you get crushed.
Your three-part book series, which ended with ‘Chocolate Covered Honey Buns’, offers learning lessons and insight to the inner workings of Sean Fahie. How have you changed over time?
I can tell you three things. One, I've gained emotional maturity and am understanding how to better communicate how I feel. Even though I have to understand that how I communicate is not how people listen. Two, I've learned personal boundaries I did not have before, and I'm still working on those boundaries as we speak. Three, I understand better what my peace of mind is, and how to keep it; learning to be flexible because every person is who they are. And if they're going to be in your life you have to understand and be flexible with those people, but not allowing them to steal your peace of mind.
What’s one truth that you’d like to share?
I'm going to quote Dr. Seuss: “Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”
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Interview by Rahel Tekle