Dallas Clayton

You’ve described your writing career before as “writing what you love and trying to give it to strangers”- from creating zines, to self-publishing your first book. When did you first feel that you needed to share your ideas with people?

Dallas Clayton: I think that’s everyone’s need. If you are hungry and incapable of feeding yourself and you don’t tell anyone, you die. This is why children cry. Likewise if you are enjoying something as a child and you don’t tell anyone you might not receive that feeling again – hence laughter. As an artist one is just extending these very natural feelings. “Here are things I need to get out of me so that I can continue to have good feelings and expel bad ones.” The medium and the method of sharing may change, but it’s all ramifies from the same root.

You grew up in North Carolina and made a move to Los Angeles at the age of 18. What were you dreaming about back then? Most people who moved to LA to follow their dreams have to balance their time between working the most random jobs in order to survive and doing what they love. What was your first year in LA like?

Hard to remember exactly, most of it was that youth fog. LA is a big place and before the internet took hold it seemed even bigger. I just rode my bike and walked around a lot, tried to see as many things as I could that didn’t exist back home. Making zines helped a lot, because it linked my youth and adulthood, a bridge between something I knew and a world I didn’t yet understand.

Did you have any mentors? Is there anyone in your life who made a big impact on you personally and creatively?

My son is probably the closest thing to a mentor. Sometimes it’s easier to learn from a teacher who doesn’t know the rules.

“An Awesome Book” was written for your son with the idea to teach him about dreaming big and following his dreams. Eventually, you ended up teaching thousands of people all over the world with your words and illustrations. What have you learned through this experience?

More than I could ever answer here.

Could you tell us something about yourself that people might find surprising?

I’m not actually a human, I’m the Earth itself, and everyone is currently living on me. Surprise!

In “An Awesome Book of Thanks” you are talking about the idea of appreciating all the small things. What are you most thankful for today?

The fact that I have the ability to make what makes me happy and share it with others.

The pilot for animated series “Lily the Unicorn”, which is based on your book and produced by The Jim Henson Company was released on Amazon this summer. What was the feedback like and what’s next for the show?

I don’t know. My goal was to make something fun that was also a part of me, I think the pilot was okay, but not my favorite process or my favorite end result. I’m not sure what happens next.

You are constantly sharing your art and interacting with your readers and fans on social media. For a lot of people, (myself included), your drawings have become a source of inspiration and a though-provoking experience. People are even getting your drawings tattooed. Did you ever think that you art would make such a huge impact on people’s lives? Does it still feel surreal when you get this kind of feedback?

It would be irresponsible to make art in today’s landscape and not at least anticipate the potential for success, that said “success” is a relative and scalable term. It’s super fun to see where people take things after they’ve left your head.

Thinking of yourself as a soul on Earth, what do you think your purpose is? And in what way do you think one person can make the world a better place?

I gotta figure it’s more gray than all that. Not so clearly defined as one person = one purpose. Maybe each day is a series of small purposes, some exciting and rewarding, some perfunctory, some downright tragic, each contributing to the greater universal whole. If your goal is to make the world a better place, first consider that the world will end one day, and then work backward from there based on time.

You started The Awesome World Foundation 6 years ago as a way to give back and share more books by donating a book for every book sold. You were able to tour around the country giving away books and reading at schools, hospitals, and bookstores. Tell us about this experience.

It’s a great gift to be able to interact with people. Touring for me is the most genuine release of energy in my career. It’s what I want to do most of all – travel, meet people, learn from them, share with them, and continue forward.

If there were a perfect soundtrack for this year of your life, which song would it be?

Who are the current peers in your field who inspire you?

I love radiolab a lot. That’s inspiring to me.