I loved visiting the gallery, licking every piece clean with my eager eyes, running home to pour inspiration onto canvas, until that terrible day, when I was asked to critique, and I did, pointing and pontificating to an eager audience, lumbering home stuffed full of applause, but starved of passion.

Salman currently resides in Walnut Creek, California. He’s writing and illustrating his first book — a collection of fables. He also publishes a newsletter on creativity and self-awareness called Quick Brown Fox, and mentors students in the online writing course Write of Passage. He’s inspired by whimsical tales like The Little Prince, which deliver profound wisdom in a playful way.