I still remember the first gallery that treated me like a professional rather than a hobbyist. It was a small natural-history gallery in a town I'd driven past a hundred times, and the owner didn't just hang my work, she asked about my process. Asked what pigments I used, whether I'd done the studies myself, wanted to know about the specimen sourcing. That was the moment I thought, this person actually sees the craft, not just the product.

It taught me to tell the difference between a gallery that wants a wall filler and one that genuinely values the work. The ones that ask questions, that show curiosity about how you make things, those are the keepers.

What was your first gallery that took you seriously, and how did you know it was the real thing rather than just a polite yes?