Alexandra Finkeldey
Captured by Pano Media
Momentum Isn’t Linear
In this talk, Alexandra Finkeldey shares an honest look at momentum from the inside of exhaustion. As an illustrator known as Scatterbee, her work spans editorial, publishing, murals, personal painting, and children’s books. From the outside, it looks like steady success. Internally, it often feels like resistance, hesitation, and deep fatigue.
Alex traces her path from a highly academic trajectory into healthcare and occupational therapy to a breaking point where burnout forced her to confront what was missing. Years of treating art as a hobby left her creative tank empty, even as her career appeared stable and impressive. Reconnecting with illustration became less about ambition and more about survival.
She walks through how her illustration practice began quietly and imperfectly. Posting work before feeling ready, showing up to markets without experience, and saying yes before knowing how became repeated acts of trust. Momentum, for her, was built through visibility, community, and deadlines that created gentle pressure to move forward.
Alex reframes inertia not as failure, but as a condition that needs structure, care, and support. She shares practical tools that help her work through it: clear deadlines, accountability through community, working alongside others, and focusing outward by supporting peers when motivation is low. These strategies help transform paralysis into motion without forcing constant productivity.
She closes by reframing momentum as elastic rather than fixed. Energy rises and falls. Neither peak performance nor burnout defines who you are. The goal is a middle pace that allows for rest, creativity, and sustainability. Momentum does not require speed. It requires listening, patience, and permission to move differently.
artbyscatterbee.com
@scatterbee
