Sylvester Enzio Stallone (born 1946) celebrates a birthday today. Born in the tough streets of New York's Hell's Kitchen, Sly studied drama at the University of Miami and was discouraged from pursuing acting by his teachers.

“I grew up with a pretty profound complex of inadequacy. And I thought the only way to override that was through creating an imposing exterior.”

So he pumped up his body into larger-than-life characters like Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, becoming an international superstar. His roles celebrated the underdog, triumphing over great odds and rising in the face of adversity.

In 1976, Stallone wrote the Rocky script in longhand and refused to let anyone else play the part of the prizefighter. In Rocky’s words: “Believe in yourself, and you can do anything.”

But beneath Stallone’s distinctive voice and brawny exterior beats the heart of a sensitive, articulate artist. Long before his Hollywood fame, he found solace in painting—earning enough money from his art in college to make it to Los Angeles.

His method is raw and expressive. He squeezes color straight from the tube, splashing energy and emotion onto the canvas in bold, physical strokes. His paintings often feature clocks or watches, symbolic reminders that “Time well spent is hard to accomplish, while time lost is a tragedy.”

For Stallone, painting isn’t a hobby. It’s another way to fight: against loss, against time, against silence. It's where his heart says what his fists can’t.