I've been meaning to come back to this comment all day and just never had time. Thank you for the kind words. Flattery will get you everywhere. Hahaha
You know, I didn't initially come to Steem to teach people about Steem, I didn't come to curate. I came to learn about crypto currency and write some fiction. But the more I got into the platform, the more it's well being mattered to me.
I'm glad you have found my stuff useful, that is what it is for! Steem is like a rough neighborhood with little cliques and bad areas, you gotta weed your way through until you find where you fit.
It takes awhile to catch your bearings, but with hard work and determination, you will do it! You already have the right mindset, and your art is really good!
On a personal note for you, one of the things that curators look for in the art category is new pieces along with some process photos. The process photos, or a video if you wanna go that far, are proof that the work belongs to you and you didn't just grab some picture off the internet and share it as your own. Unfortunately, that happens every day.
By all means share your older work, but also bring new things to Steem along with some process proof, then curators can really give you a decent boost.