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FLINT, Michigan — Color crawls up the walls of Pauly Everett’s studio, layer over layer, until the bricks disappear beneath years of work. Paint cans, brushes, and drippings from old paintings cover the floor, proof that the work never really stops. The room breathes with every new piece in a style that doesn’t feel forced; it’s rhythm, motion, and breath—a pulse that never quits. “I just paint every day,” he told me. “That’s all I know how to do.”
He’s been grinding since nineteen, when something inside him snapped into focus. “I realized I could make a better living off art than anything else,” he said. From pop-up shows on the sidewalk to group exhibitions and the rise of Flint Underground, Everett built a name the only way he knew how: by painting nonstop and helping others do the same. “Flint Underground cracked open in 2009,” he said. “It’s always just been the rotating crew of everybody that wants to push creative things forward. Family and community…get the art out there.”
The work became its own discipline. “Dedication is a thing,” he said. “Art has given me all these beautiful things in the world. It literally saved my life in a way.” He doesn’t pretend it’s a straight line. “You fail a million times,” he said. “From the smallest things like submitting to something and not getting accepted, but all those failures are beautiful oysters of learning.”…