#035: Finding Your Audience: The Hidden Path Between Creation and Connection With Kevin Whitehurst

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And what I've found is the one mistake I made in the very beginning was not promoting myself.

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You know I put my art out there and you know I'm like.

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Well, if they like it, you know I'm going to get a response.

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And what I've found through some of the professional training I've had and some of the other experiences I've had, is that people really want to be able to connect with the artist and know who that artist is.

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Thank you for saying that and calling that out.

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Hello, you're listening to For the Love of Creatives podcast.

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I'm Maddox, I'm here with co-host Dwight and our guest today is Kevin Whitehurst.

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Welcome, kevin, thank you.

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I thank you for having me I'm glad with co-host Dwight, and our guest today is Kevin Whitehurst.

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Welcome, kevin, thank you.

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Thank you for having me, I'm glad to be here, we're glad to have you.

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So, just so the listeners know, we met you at a recent Creative Mornings and had a lovely conversation, and then Kevin invited us to an art opening that we had.

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So we've gotten a little bit of chance to get acquainted.

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But today we're going to go deeper.

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Kevin, tell the audience a little bit about yourself.

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Hi, I'm Kevin Whitehurst and I'm the creator and owner of Arthealthnutcom.

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So I'm an entrepreneur, I'm an artist, I'm a writer, and I have a long history of how I got to where I am today.

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I had a career in healthcare technology for over 33 years, and that career ended a couple of years ago.

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I made a conscious decision that I wanted to pursue my passion, and so my passion is painting.

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I do oil paintings and I have been a painter all of my adult life that I can remember, and never did anything professionally with it, and so the opportunity presented itself for me to do something, and, rather than retiring and, you know, just kicking back, I wanted to do something fun and something I have a lot of passion about and something that I could give back.

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So I do oil paintings and I also do some creative writing.

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Well, and for those of you that are.

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Oh, go ahead, Dwight, I'm sorry.

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I was just going to ask how were you introduced to oil painting?

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Oh, it's an interesting story.

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I've been asked that before, dwight.

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So I love art.

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I'm a person that loves art.

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When I was in my 20s if you can imagine loving art and not having any money to buy it I used to look at art and I would say, oh, I can paint that.

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Maybe I'll just create my own art for my home, because I like a home filled with art and all of that.

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So it was really self-motivated.

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I am a self-taught painter.

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I have since, over the years, taken art classes and things like that, but I'm pretty much self-taught, and so oil was the first medium that I bought.

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So oil was the first medium that I bought and I absolutely love oil because it allows me to blend colors and things like that.

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So I've tried acrylic and I do work with acrylic a little bit, and I've worked a little bit with watercolors, but my preference is oil, no-transcript.

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So yeah, that's how it actually started.

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I started painting abstract art.

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Color is the big thing for me.

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So you know when I would look at my apartment at that time and what colors I want and what sort of style I want, and I would just start creating and of course, it was hit or miss in the beginning, um, but um, I was really obsessed with it um for for a very long time when I first started.

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So I I stick, you know, I stuck with it Um after there's sometimes, you know, I went through spells where I didn't paint.

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I would go a full year and not paint at all, but I always went back to it.

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Found your way home.

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Yes.

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Well, for the listeners that are watching this on YouTube, those are his paintings in the background.

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Yes, your work is very unique, very unique and very interesting.

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Yeah, they are by design, introspective and thought-provoking.

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The Art Health Nut.

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If you don't mind, I can tell you about that name.

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What's my next question?

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So go for it.

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So everyone has heard of a health nut, and a health nut is a person obsessed with health, and you typically would see someone obsessed with nutrition or obsessed with working out and things like that.

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So, adding art to that, you're just obsessed with all forms of art.

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So I felt that described me best.

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I'm obsessed with art, all forms of art, so it's not just, you know, paintings, it's music, it's food, it's fashion, it's all of those things.

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And to me that's what an art health nut is, is someone who's just obsessed with all of these art forms.

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And so art health nut was, you know, sort of created from that.

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It's really a description of my personality, you know, and the type of person I am.

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The health component I wanted to stay with health because that has been my career, all of my, you know, the last 33 years I worked in healthcare and I have, like this, utmost respect for caregivers, like nurses and you know nurse practitioners and doctors and therapists.

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I've worked with all those types of people and they're wonderful people and I absolutely love that community.

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And so you sort of marry that with art and that's really the concept behind it.

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Now, it's really art for people, it's really for people who have a strong mind.

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Some people get it wrong when they see Art Health Nut and they think, oh, this is art, this is healing art.

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And for Penn it's like no, no, no, this is actually art for people that actually have a pretty healthy brain.

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They feel pretty good about where they are in their life.

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They feel they're strong minded, they feel good, they're optimistic.

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That's who I paint for.

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Hmm, I love that because I was one of the people that was thinking that it had to do with you know, painting your emotions out on a canvas and and working through you know it's kind of a bonus it's almost like a visual journal, maybe.

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It can be.

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I mean I feel like it's a bonus.

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I mean I definitely love the fact that, you know it has that effect on on some people, you know, and when I paint the art, I'm a pretty strong, you know, strong-willed person, you know.

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So when I'm talking about, let's say, critical thinking, so I have a painting called the Fascinating Score and it is, I mean, you know, he's at the free throw line with the basketball, but the basketball is the globe, it's the world, ok, and the concept behind that is, you know, opportunities only come, you know, once in a while.

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Here's your opportunity to actually make things happen.

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To actually make things happen and so by making the right decisions and being able to do that.

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That's kind of the message behind that.

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And then it was a great decision and it was a fascinating score.

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So that's one example of kind of the mindset behind some of the artwork.

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And we enjoyed getting to walk through the collection and see several.

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There were several themes of seeing I don't know some metaphors come to life and just being able to see the characters.

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I enjoyed the descriptions that kind of gave color to what it was that we were seeing.

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And you know, maddox, you're absolutely right, they're all very emotionally driven.

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You know most of my art Because I'm an emotional person and you know that's reflected in my art because I'm an emotional person and, um, they, you know that's reflected in my art, um, and I think it helps people that, uh, you know people who, uh, have bought my art and and love my art, they, they, they all tell me the same thing.

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It just makes them feel really, really, really good, you know, about themselves.

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So I would say there is a lot of symbolism in your art.

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Yeah, you really absorb the piece and look at it in the smaller aspects, you know there's like a main character, like a face, but then if you begin to look at the smaller details, there's all this symbolism that I know has meaning to it.

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You know, look at the smaller details, there's all this symbolism that I know has meaning to it.

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You know, and, as you said earlier, because you know those symbols have meaning to them and I may not know what they mean, it is very thought provoking.

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Definitely thought provoking.

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Not one piece could you have in your house without someone questioning oh, this is interesting, let's, let's take a look.

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Tell me about this.

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You know, and I love talking about it.

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It's, it's, it's just a wonderful thing to be able to express myself in that way, and I always love the stories that people make up when they look at your art or you know, or my art, you know, they, they, they see all these things that I didn't paint in there, you know, but it's fascinating to me that what people will draw out of it that may or may not be there, Maddox, that is the most fascinating part of this whole experience is, and that's why I have those launch parties right.

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So when someone sees the art and what they see in it, it's always something I never would have imagined.

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You know that other people see and I think that's the beauty of art.

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You look at art and you can see things and and you know it's just a wonderful thing.

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You know you saying that makes me want to question you a little bit further about the launch, because we know that many of our viewers are fellow artists or other forms of creatives and you have a rather unique thing that you do with this launch.

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That's well, to be real honest, it's maybe the first time I've seen anything quite like it.

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We attend a lot of art things, but the way you approach this, the way you approached us the invitation, the way you approached us the invitation, I would love for you to kind of share kind of a breakdown of that, because this might be something that could open up doors for other artists to show their art, because sometimes it's not really easy to get representation in a gallery.

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Oh, absolutely, and I'm a very independent person and a self-driven person and you know, sometimes, when things aren't available to you, for example, you know, if so, my art isn't in the galleries yet.

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But I have a home and I have a gallery at my home.

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So I will invite friends, colleagues, art buyers, everyone to my home and I set up, you know, as you can see, the ground level as a gallery.

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But the thing about the launch party is, as an artist, you know we work really, really hard on our work.

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You know we're painting, you know, sometimes, you know, it's several weeks, it could be months, where I'm working on these paintings and you really need a boost right when you're ready to show this art.

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And I always like to do collections because that's just how I'm wired.

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I don't feel I could convey what I'm feeling in just one painting.

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So there's more than likely gonna be 10, you know, 10 or 12.

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But having an audience that is intimate, that are comfortable, you're in your own environment, they're there, you can talk to them, you can, you know, have conversations about the art, you can really express yourself in a very open way about why you painted it and what it really means.

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You can have fun by listening to other people and what they see in the art.

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You know that's always intriguing.

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And then there are also things that you learn about the painting that you think twice about.

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You know what someone may see or may think about it and you're thinking, oh, I definitely did not want that message to get out, that's not what it meant, you know.

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So that happens from time to time.

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But I like the intimacy.

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But remember, I'm an art health.

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I love to cook, so I cooked all the food.

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And so again I wanted you to cook.

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I love.

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They were like you cooked all this food.

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Why did you, why didn't you have a catering line?

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Cause I love to cook.

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I cooked the food.

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I baked all the cakes.

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I had five cakes.

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You know that I baked from scratch.

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I didn't get really, really into my music because I think, like things just happened so fast at the party and I couldn't quite get into my music side of it.

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But that's all fine, so it was a blast.

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I hope that answered your question.

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Oh yeah, no, no Great, I've got more questions, but I want to draw a little bit of a visual for the listener, because you said the first level of my home is the gallery and, just to be clear, it looked like a dining room and a kitchen and a living room.

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It was fully furnished, it was lovely, it was very comfortable.

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So it built in this warmth that galleries don't have.

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You know, galleries are very stark.

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When you go into them, there's usually zero furniture.

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It's a concrete floor, the walls are all white, it's very bright spotlights and although you did have some spotlights around the room, but there was art on every wall on the first floor there was probably, I would say, way more than 10 or 12 pieces.

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I thought I had about 30 pieces displayed.

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Yes, yes, yes, yes.

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But you know, when you throw in the combination of your, it was your living room, in your dining room, and you cooked all the food.

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And I also want to say that the day we met him at creative mornings, he walked up to us and he invited us and he pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to us and it was a personal invitation.

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He does not put this out on social media, it's not open to the public, it is by invitation only and he handpicks the people that he wants to come to this, which is what we do when we host events.

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Come to this, which is what we do when we host events.

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We curate the guest list because, well, I mean obvious reasons, you know obvious reasons, and it made for just a very unique experience, a very wonderful evening, and you know, I think, that everybody that was there had an interest in art.

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Everyone had an interest in art and it was good.

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And another thing for the listeners out there I sold six paintings that night from that party, six original, wow.

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So I mean it's definitely worth it and I didn't have to go through.

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You know what I mean.

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Another channel right to sell my art and show my art.

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Well, you cut out the middleman telling me that what I'm doing, go with my intuition right, go with my instincts.

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My journey has been quite a challenge as an artist.

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If you can imagine being a businessman for technology for 33 years and at an executive level, like what my life was like then versus now.

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You know, I used to spend my time in meetings, strategic planning and meeting with clients and conventions and things like that.

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Now I'm cleaning paintbrushes, you know, I'm going through digital images of my art and looking for backgrounds to, you know, present it and all of those different things.

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So it's a completely different world.

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But what I struggled with was the whole promotion side of it, the marketing side of it.

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I cannot tell you how many zeros that I've had to deal with in paying people money who don't listen and who don't listen to you know what your vision is Right, and so they're sort of promoting me.

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They were like promoting me and I was like, well, that's really not me, you know, and you're paying people thousands of dollars to help you with social media.

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I didn't have experience with that, so I paid someone to help me with that multiple times and it was like, okay, I don't want to get on a roll here, but it has not been easy and what I have found?

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I always revert back to my intuition and do what feels right for me and it seems to work.

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So I'm definitely not conventional right for me and it seems to work.

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So I'm definitely not conventional.

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Well, I think you know you sold six paintings.

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It worked really well because in my recent research I've learned that most galleries get a 50% cut of every piece of your art that they sell.

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They do Now?

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I mean, granted, you put a lot of time and energy and money into serving like a big spread of food, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't equal to 50% of the take.

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The cooking thing was a piece of cake, man.

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And you love to do that anyway, so that wasn't like Love to do it.

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Yeah, what gallery are you you gonna go to where you get cream cheese, pound cake and coconut cake?

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exactly only yours only yours.

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You know, um, kevin, what?

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What wisdom would you have for somebody?

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Because we know that there's only a small percentage of artists that get into a gallery.

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That's not easy to do, and everybody else is left trying to peddle their art in whatever way that they can.

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What words of wisdom would you have for artists that are maybe challenged or struggling the way you've described that?

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You have struggled or been challenged.

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Well, hopefully I have some words of wisdom.

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I mean, I'm just wired to not give up.

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You know, if I believe in something, I'm going to stick to it.

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So perseverance is really important for an artist.

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But what I've learned?

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So I'm still learning, right, it's two years in this journey for me.

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As you know, an artist in business beginning was not promoting myself.

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You know, I put my art out there and you know I'm like well, if they like it, you know I'm going to get a response.

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And what I've found through some of the professional training I've had and some of the other experiences I've had, is that people really want to be able to connect with the artists and know who that artist is.

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Thank you for saying that and calling that out.

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Yes, it's very important and it's I'm getting there.

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Like me, being on this podcast is, you know, definitely a big leap for me To just talk about me and and I thank you guys so much for having me on here because I'm getting more comfortable with it.

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But you have to.

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People need to know that.

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You know the person that that painted the art, what it means, why are they painting it?

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And so I'm learning things like that.

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So now I'm kind of on this role here where I'm doing more to get people to know me, okay, and as well as the art.

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You know, I've come to realize just recently it's come to me that people that buy art art collectors, they're not really buying your art, they're buying you and the art comes along with it with the deal.

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You know, I really do believe that we see so many artists that are putting their art out all over social media, artists that are putting their art out all over social media while they're hidden in the shadows.

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They don't put themselves out on social media, they put their art out on social media.

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And I think that it's not an either or it's an, and Social media is tricky in my opinion and, of course, you know, I admittedly am sort of old school in that sense.

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In my opinion, you know, because you want to interact with people, you want people to know you, you want people to like you and you want to show appreciation for people who have, like, good content.

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You know, one of the things I love about it is, you know, as an art health nut, like I follow all of these DJs and these music producers and then these you know unknown singers and people like that.

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I absolutely love all of that, you know.

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And then these people who are, you know, professionally trained to talk about, you know, well-being and things like that.

00:25:06.395 --> 00:25:09.405
I follow a lot of people like that and love those people.

00:25:10.127 --> 00:25:32.861
What I do not like about it are people who just have an opinion and it's, you know, to a point where, if you don't agree with them you know what I mean it's just a unnatural way to interact with people.

00:25:32.861 --> 00:25:42.060
If you're gonna just, you know, disagree with someone, uh, and you want to fight with them through comments or whatever, to me that's noise.

00:25:42.060 --> 00:25:47.461
To me that's a complete waste of time, uh, for me, because it's gonna ruin my day.

00:25:47.461 --> 00:25:52.054
Like I want to go in my studio and paint, you know, and I want to paint something positive.

00:25:52.054 --> 00:25:55.358
I don't want to go in my studio and paint, you know, and I want to paint something positive.

00:25:55.358 --> 00:25:56.840
I don't want to, you know.

00:25:56.840 --> 00:26:00.526
Respond to someone who had this, you know, weird experience that you know.

00:26:02.213 --> 00:26:04.568
I don't respond to comments like that.

00:26:04.568 --> 00:26:07.196
Right, I don't give it any oxygen at all.

00:26:07.970 --> 00:26:10.010
But I absolutely love the social media.

00:26:10.010 --> 00:26:32.207
I'm telling you, my music playlists have improved tenfold since I got on social media because I get to hear music you know what I mean that I absolutely love from these DJs, these producers, these, you know, and all age groups too, and then all over the world too.

00:26:32.207 --> 00:26:34.272
It's not just like in the United States.

00:26:34.272 --> 00:26:39.349
I'm following people in South Africa, people in France and different places like that.

00:26:39.349 --> 00:26:44.075
So it's a wonderful thing.

00:26:44.075 --> 00:26:44.775
I love that.

00:26:45.476 --> 00:26:55.025
You know, another thing that I noticed about you that I really appreciated was you have printed collateral.

00:26:55.025 --> 00:27:06.976
When we entered your home that night, you had a table with brochures that you had created that showed your art and told a little bit about your background and your philosophy.

00:27:06.976 --> 00:27:13.718
And it's amazing to me how many places we're in where I'll say somebody do you have a business card?

00:27:13.718 --> 00:27:15.829
No, you can find me on Instagram.

00:27:15.829 --> 00:27:31.019
And they think that's all they have to do is just have an Instagram account, that the only way you can contact them is by messaging them on Instagram, and I just think that's short-sighted.

00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:31.840
I agree.

00:27:32.950 --> 00:27:33.972
I don't think that it's.

00:27:33.972 --> 00:27:48.859
I don't want to put it down and say it's bad, but I think that if you're giving people one way to connect with you and it's on social media, when not all people do social media, you have limited your audience considerably.

00:27:50.192 --> 00:27:52.231
Yeah, absolutely, and it's.

00:27:52.231 --> 00:27:54.159
There's so many channels, right.

00:27:54.159 --> 00:28:00.923
I mean, instagram would only be one of them, albeit a very important one for artists.

00:28:00.923 --> 00:28:06.321
My advice to artists now I have a technology background, so I embrace technology.

00:28:06.321 --> 00:28:27.721
When I look at my budget, you know, and all that I spend to run this business and everything I'm trying to do, I'm speaking to artists out there who don't have a budget or they don't have a lot of money to spend on promotion and other things.

00:28:28.643 --> 00:28:43.502
But these apps and the technology out there, right, that can create your, you know, your brochures for you, and all of these different things, they're not very expensive.

00:28:43.502 --> 00:28:45.053
I mean, it's very minimal.

00:28:45.053 --> 00:28:47.298
We're talking a few hundred bucks a year.

00:28:47.298 --> 00:28:48.520
You know what I mean.

00:28:48.520 --> 00:28:56.064
We're not talking like hundreds of dollars a month, you know, and it's worth using them and letting them do this.

00:28:56.064 --> 00:29:14.471
Now, I struggled in the beginning because, honestly, I have about 15 different apps on my phone just for when my art is done, and I've taken a picture of it and had it digitized, how I'm going to promote it and everything.

00:29:14.471 --> 00:29:16.356
I have like 15 different apps or whatever.

00:29:16.356 --> 00:29:21.355
But I'm telling you those apps are not expensive at all and they are worth it.

00:29:21.355 --> 00:29:22.738
It's like a tool.

00:29:22.738 --> 00:29:24.781
It's like a paintbrush right.

00:29:24.781 --> 00:29:38.039
So if you're going to go out and you're going to spend 12 bucks or 15 bucks or 20 bucks for paintbrushes or a paintbrush or whatever, well, I mean, you're not even going to spend that much for some of these apps.

00:29:38.642 --> 00:29:41.751
Well now, when you say apps, are you talking about social media?

00:29:41.751 --> 00:29:44.921
You're talking about platforms, where you sell your art.

00:29:45.450 --> 00:29:55.343
No, I'm talking about tools to allow you to present your work in a professional, eye-catching way.

00:29:55.343 --> 00:30:00.094
So one app, for example you know what I mean like Smartest.

00:30:00.094 --> 00:30:01.417
I love Smartest.

00:30:01.417 --> 00:30:03.571
It is like the best thing since sliced bread.

00:30:03.571 --> 00:30:06.101
You have that.

00:30:06.101 --> 00:30:12.698
And then there are several other apps that I use to create, you know, to create my posts.

00:30:12.698 --> 00:30:16.673
You know my reels, my videos, things like that I'm.

00:30:16.673 --> 00:30:22.271
You know, I'm just talking about this because it's really not expensive in the broad scheme of things.

00:30:22.271 --> 00:30:24.457
You know you're spending money on paint.

00:30:24.517 --> 00:30:33.420
You're spending money on paintbrushes and cleaners and you know all these things, it's it's worth it.

00:30:33.681 --> 00:31:03.369
Keep in mind that there there may be some artists with ambitions that really wants to, wants to make a go at giving their art to an audience, but they may not be able to bridge that gap between creating the art that they love and finding the people, who, who would love to have appreciate it yeah, so could you kind of walk us through?

00:31:03.590 --> 00:31:03.851
what?

00:31:03.851 --> 00:31:05.673
What that process is.

00:31:05.673 --> 00:31:07.174
Well, do I?

00:31:07.174 --> 00:31:11.881
You know, that was kind of the learning curve for me of finding the right audience.

00:31:11.881 --> 00:31:15.526
You know, I'll tell you my story.

00:31:15.526 --> 00:31:31.622
You know I was not on social media before I started this journey, because the social media was handled by a marketing department and they would just basically come in and interview me and do whatever social media they needed.

00:31:31.622 --> 00:31:33.076
Now it's all on me.

00:31:34.390 --> 00:31:41.365
So the first thing I did not like that I had to do was Facebook.

00:31:41.365 --> 00:31:46.938
In order to have a Facebook business page, I had to have a Facebook page.

00:31:46.938 --> 00:31:52.452
Well, naturally, on Facebook it's all my family, it's all my friends, it's all my colleagues, whatever.

00:31:52.452 --> 00:31:54.155
None of these people want to buy my art.

00:31:54.155 --> 00:31:58.701
Yeah, they'll say, oh, I like your art, I like your art, you know, they're just liking my stuff.

00:31:58.701 --> 00:31:59.823
No one's buying anything.

00:31:59.823 --> 00:32:04.863
That's not my audience, okay.

00:32:04.863 --> 00:32:18.597
And so that was kind of the first thing that I realized, because of the way that Facebook holds you prisoner to have this Facebook page.

00:32:18.597 --> 00:32:21.904
Everyone's following me there and no one's following me on my business page.

00:32:21.904 --> 00:32:28.311
So the business page brings no value.

00:32:28.311 --> 00:32:30.075
Now, I'm sure some of the listeners out here may have figured it out.

00:32:30.075 --> 00:32:32.038
I would love to hear how to figure that one out, but Instagram has been wonderful.

00:32:32.038 --> 00:32:42.211
First things first.

00:32:42.211 --> 00:32:46.656
I would suggest not necessarily trying to follow all the artists that are on Instagram, because those aren't necessarily your buyers either.

00:32:46.656 --> 00:33:07.753
I think having an art community following is important, but when you look at what type of art you paint, why you paint it, okay, so what type of people you know would buy that type of art.

00:33:07.773 --> 00:33:22.500
Now I am trying to find people who think like me, who are wired like me, you know, and it's tricky on social media, but what I found is you don't always focus on just, you know, posting your art.

00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:25.351
You're talking about things like what's important to me?

00:33:25.351 --> 00:33:28.295
Well, you know, nutrition is important to me.

00:33:28.295 --> 00:33:31.480
Well-being is important to me.

00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:37.632
You know aesthetics, like I love stuff like interior design.

00:33:37.632 --> 00:33:48.732
You know I love music, you know, and it's not just any music, right, like, I listen to a certain type of music.

00:33:48.732 --> 00:34:04.597
So I am looking, I am connecting with people who like music, the same music that I like and I'm finding that those people are engaging more with me, with my art, and more interested in my art, you know.

00:34:04.678 --> 00:34:07.403
So your niche is tricky.

00:34:07.403 --> 00:34:22.458
It's really really tricky, but it's not just following artists or just, you know, getting all these followers, you know who would take a step back right, who would really appreciate this art?

00:34:22.458 --> 00:34:22.851
You know.

00:34:22.851 --> 00:34:26.221
You know you as the artist, as the painter, you appreciate it.

00:34:26.221 --> 00:34:30.721
But you need to find people who are kind of wired the way that you are.

00:34:30.721 --> 00:34:36.360
You know, unless you're the type of artist like you're painting something completely different.

00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:37.672
Like mine is more.

00:34:37.672 --> 00:34:46.023
It's more theme oriented, it's more humanistic, it's more emotionally driven.

00:34:46.023 --> 00:34:52.215
So I have to find people who are wired that way.

00:34:52.215 --> 00:35:07.184
But if you're painting like airplanes and things like that, you know you're going to need to find people who are really into planes, you know, or someone that you know maybe they have aspirations in that area.

00:35:09.670 --> 00:35:14.063
Sure, and I think it goes beyond just tuning the algorithm.

00:35:14.063 --> 00:35:17.072
I think that there's a way that we're circling back.

00:35:17.072 --> 00:35:47.146
Maddox made the comment earlier about how when someone's buying art, they're buying you, but it's a really old principle where you just got to show up and be real and relatable, and that's what you're trying to have translate through the fog that is the algorithm that's always trying to dissect you and try to figure out what to present to you next.

00:35:48.989 --> 00:35:49.309
Absolutely.

00:35:49.309 --> 00:36:02.039
And the other thing I would add is, again, I'm one that I go with my own intuition and what I'm feeling, you know, and I see, and I do look at what other artists are doing.

00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:22.630
Obviously, you know thing about how they want to present themselves, but I am a creative person and I like to try different things and do things that are not just eye-catching but are really creative.

00:36:22.630 --> 00:36:27.592
And I think the creativity extends beyond the canvas.

00:36:27.592 --> 00:36:43.461
Okay, You've got to get beyond the canvas, and I think people are just starving for something not just unique, but something positive.

00:36:43.461 --> 00:36:59.556
Consider, my audience is one that is, you know, optimistic, and or, you know, maybe they're not optimistic but they need to see some sign of optimism.

00:36:59.556 --> 00:37:12.304
You know what I mean Not doom and gloom or you know something weirdly comical, you know, that doesn't really enhance your life.

00:37:12.304 --> 00:37:25.396
You know what I mean, you know, and I think it's, you know, just kind of a sign of me, you know, and my, you know, maturity and aging or whatever.

00:37:25.396 --> 00:37:29.793
What's really important to me, and what's really important to me is value.

00:37:29.793 --> 00:37:32.422
Like, am I getting value out of this?

00:37:32.422 --> 00:37:39.559
And I mean value like, is it worth the laugh, Is it worth the thought, Is it worth the tears.

00:37:39.559 --> 00:37:52.440
You know, or you know, I think each artist has their own personality, they have their own strengths, they have their own style.

00:37:54.230 --> 00:37:59.849
They have their own personality, they have their own strengths, they have their own style, they have their own creativity, and I think they need to just be themselves right.

00:37:59.849 --> 00:38:16.635
Just, you know, I was told by several people, Dwight, that there are millions and millions and millions of people in the world and there are people who are going to love your art.

00:38:16.635 --> 00:38:24.940
So don't compare yourself to other artists, Don't compare yourself to what they're doing or their you know techniques.

00:38:24.940 --> 00:38:38.440
There are people out there that will love your art and I have found that to be true and that has given me peace, like from the stress right Of worried about, oh, are they gonna like my art?

00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:40.014
Or, you know, am I?

00:38:40.014 --> 00:38:57.659
You know, there are millions and millions of people in the world and you will find them, and that's my encouragement for all artists you, someone will find your art, they will find them, and that's my encouragement for all artists Someone will find your art, they will find you, and they will fall in love with it.

00:38:59.911 --> 00:39:02.076
That's beautiful and words of true wisdom.

00:39:02.076 --> 00:39:04.742
I love that.

00:39:04.742 --> 00:39:09.012
So I want to go in a different direction for a minute.

00:39:09.012 --> 00:39:11.858
You were in the tech world.

00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:18.456
You were you know, a corporate person for many, many years.

00:39:18.456 --> 00:39:21.760
How did you?

00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:23.643
You had two lives.

00:39:23.643 --> 00:39:32.844
You were a creative and an artist here and then over here you were, you know, probably left brain executive and tech.

00:39:32.844 --> 00:39:42.574
And how did you manage the energetic you know from back and forth when you'd go back and forth?

00:39:42.574 --> 00:39:48.739
It's like you because we tend, as humans, kind of to silo ourselves a little bit or to compartmentalize maybe.

00:39:48.739 --> 00:39:51.135
How was that for you?

00:39:51.269 --> 00:39:55.476
Because I think some of us really you mean like business versus the art side?

00:39:55.476 --> 00:39:59.253
Yeah Well, you know.

00:39:59.253 --> 00:40:00.697
Unfortunately I suppressed.

00:40:02.150 --> 00:40:05.900
You said you painted through the entire career as a tech person.

00:40:07.311 --> 00:40:08.434
I did off and on.

00:40:08.434 --> 00:40:11.340
I mean often I had to, unfortunately I had to suppress it.

00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:22.351
Sometimes I did off and on.

00:40:22.351 --> 00:40:25.876
I mean often I had to, unfortunately I had to suppress it sometimes.

00:40:25.876 --> 00:40:29.481
You know there, you know, I look back on my career and I was, you know, thinking what was I doing in my 20s, 30s?

00:40:29.481 --> 00:40:33.246
You know, I've always been a hard worker, I've always been a person to give it my all.

00:40:33.246 --> 00:40:53.659
You know, I'm going to do the very best and I'm very loyal, but the intensity gets really like I noticed, like my late 30s, my 40s, the intensity was so strong I had to paint to deal with the stress.

00:40:53.659 --> 00:41:03.784
I mean, my life was first of all and I love Minnesota, but I lived in Minnesota for 22 years.

00:41:03.784 --> 00:41:06.235
I was born and raised in Alabama.

00:41:06.235 --> 00:41:09.543
Now I've lived in six major cities in the country.

00:41:09.543 --> 00:41:18.293
Six major cities in the country.

00:41:18.313 --> 00:41:20.300
My average year, you know, half of the year I am up at the crack of dawn.

00:41:20.300 --> 00:41:29.416
The first thing I'm worried about is the guy going to show up on time to shovel the snow so I can get out, and fortunately I had someone great who would do that.

00:41:29.416 --> 00:41:30.317
The snow was trouble.

00:41:30.317 --> 00:41:39.146
I'm driving in the snow to MSP to catch a flight, okay, to go somewhere.

00:41:39.146 --> 00:41:41.849
And sometimes it wasn't the most pleasant meeting.

00:41:41.849 --> 00:41:50.224
It could be like one of our largest customers who was angry and ready to like cancel their subscription.

00:41:50.224 --> 00:41:54.538
So there I am to help save the day.

00:41:54.538 --> 00:41:58.778
I mean, that's just one example of what my life was like.

00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:02.449
And then I had a huge I had the largest division.

00:42:02.449 --> 00:42:04.594
So you know a lot of responsibility.

00:42:04.594 --> 00:42:06.237
Lovely people I had.

00:42:06.237 --> 00:42:10.976
Lovely, you know, directors and managers working with me and people I loved them all.

00:42:10.976 --> 00:42:12.460
They were just wonderful people.

00:42:12.460 --> 00:42:14.766
Directors and managers working with me and people I loved them all.

00:42:14.766 --> 00:42:15.829
They were just wonderful people.

00:42:15.829 --> 00:42:20.436
But then you realize, like you're responsible for these they're, you know they're.

00:42:20.436 --> 00:42:20.836
They're locked in.

00:42:20.836 --> 00:42:33.521
I don't mean like just because they have a job and you know you're their boss or whatever, but they also need a chance to advance and grow in their career and as their leader, to advance and grow in their career and as their leader, you're responsible for that as well.

00:42:33.521 --> 00:42:46.012
Okay, so that's kind of a difference in how some leaders think right, you know you're looking at this person, you want this person to grow and get better, you know.

00:42:46.012 --> 00:42:54.559
So all of that the reason I'm mentioning that is all of that is stressful, okay, so you had all of that, so I had to paint and or do something.

00:42:54.559 --> 00:42:57.262
Music, food, you know.

00:42:58.704 --> 00:43:01.686
I was pretty good about working out and stuff like that.

00:43:01.686 --> 00:43:03.978
But, it was hard.

00:43:04.871 --> 00:43:08.041
What I'm hearing you say is painting was your soul saver.

00:43:08.831 --> 00:43:10.878
It was Absolutely.

00:43:16.951 --> 00:43:28.672
Let me tell you, I painted some crazy stuff back then, I bet, because that's got to come out of you one way or the other, so I'm going to take us in another direction again.

00:43:28.672 --> 00:43:29.413
I loved what you shared, though.

00:43:29.413 --> 00:43:32.617
It all makes perfect sense, and I think you navigated it really well.

00:43:32.617 --> 00:43:36.505
Tell me a little bit about how community plays into all of your creative life.

00:43:38.632 --> 00:43:47.322
I recently relocated to Dallas so I'm still getting, you know, acquainted with the community.

00:43:47.322 --> 00:43:49.978
I moved here in February.

00:43:49.978 --> 00:43:52.559
But community is very important to me.

00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:53.989
I mean I'm a sociable person.

00:43:53.989 --> 00:44:03.556
Anyone that knows me they'll call me an extrovert, they'll call me sociable, they'll call me gregarious, like I'm a very outgoing person.

00:44:03.556 --> 00:44:11.778
But there is a side of me where I'm a little more laid back, like I actually like being at home.

00:44:11.778 --> 00:44:19.297
But as far as the community I want to, it's very important to me.

00:44:19.297 --> 00:44:28.800
Uh, maddox, um, I want to be able to give back Um, and I've only started um with what you know I want to do there.

00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:35.971
I mean I feel like my art, you know, I want to do there.

00:44:35.971 --> 00:44:37.934
I mean I feel like my art is a gift that I can share with the community.

00:44:37.934 --> 00:44:41.882
And you know my biggest challenge is time.

00:44:41.882 --> 00:44:47.132
Not enough hours in the day to paint as much as I want and to do as much as I want.

00:44:49.054 --> 00:44:51.818
I think that's bound to be kind of a universal challenge.

00:44:54.621 --> 00:45:04.199
I mean I know people, though, that will ignore everything but what they want to do, so I do know, people.

00:45:04.219 --> 00:45:07.672
But yeah, you're right it is universal.

00:45:07.873 --> 00:45:12.302
Yeah, yeah, we all wish we could clone ourselves to do more of the things that we love.

00:45:12.302 --> 00:45:12.402
Yeah.

00:45:14.405 --> 00:45:16.086
Yeah, Well, and you?

00:45:16.086 --> 00:45:20.250
Know time is one of those non-renewable resources.

00:45:20.250 --> 00:45:25.934
It depends on how you want to deal with it.

00:45:25.934 --> 00:45:39.222
We can be trapped by that whole concept of there being time decay, or we find a way to just focus on that thing that really fills us up.

00:45:39.222 --> 00:46:00.461
And if for you that means spending time curating a group of friends and family to come around and to celebrate you and your art and all of the things that you're creating, then what better use of that non-renewable resource is there?

00:46:02.445 --> 00:46:03.146
Absolutely.

00:46:03.146 --> 00:46:05.811
I mean, time is really important.

00:46:05.811 --> 00:46:19.358
I think about how I'm spending my time, when opportunities arise or when someone is reaching out to me to do something or to go somewhere.

00:46:19.358 --> 00:46:21.786
You know.

00:46:21.786 --> 00:46:24.210
One good example is like traveling.

00:46:24.210 --> 00:46:30.407
You know, in my earlier career, you know, I traveled all the time.

00:46:30.407 --> 00:46:36.085
Whatever, I'm like a Delta million miler, okay, that'll tell you how much I traveled.

00:46:36.085 --> 00:46:39.588
Okay, but I used to get on the plane and sleep.

00:46:39.588 --> 00:46:43.771
I'm one of those people that can sleep on a plane, but now I don't sleep.

00:46:44.351 --> 00:46:58.922
I have my sketchbook, and so what I have found is, when I take a sketchbook on the plane and take, I have in a plastic bag pencils and a pencil sharpener and eraser and I and before you know it, I'm there.

00:46:58.922 --> 00:47:04.077
It is the best way to spend the time.

00:47:04.077 --> 00:47:06.445
But also, you're doing something right.

00:47:06.445 --> 00:47:09.755
So I'm sketching out what I'm gonna paint.

00:47:09.755 --> 00:47:13.931
I wouldn't call myself a sketcher, right, like a person that draws.

00:47:13.931 --> 00:47:22.438
I can draw and I can draw it to the point where I can paint something beautiful, but it has to be painted, okay.

00:47:22.438 --> 00:47:41.940
So, but yeah, the community get right to get the motivation to get out and do more.

00:47:41.940 --> 00:47:58.197
As sociable as I am, and it just seems like everybody is connected through, you know, social media and other outlets, but I'm kind of an in-your-face type of person, so I prefer face-to-face connection with people.

00:47:58.197 --> 00:47:59.606
So I prefer face-to-face connection with people.

00:47:59.606 --> 00:48:08.059
You know, sure, you know it makes sense when it makes sense to connect in other ways, that makes sense.

00:48:08.059 --> 00:48:12.356
But I like the face-to-face and human connection with people.

00:48:13.085 --> 00:48:13.726
I do as well.

00:48:13.766 --> 00:48:30.942
I want to use my art to you know, that's going to be kind of my end to the community and you know and how I'm going to connect with the community and actually do something positive.

00:48:30.942 --> 00:48:35.670
Right, we have an arts community here.

00:48:35.871 --> 00:48:37.817
They won't quit Right.

00:48:37.817 --> 00:48:41.373
We have an amazing arts community here.

00:48:41.373 --> 00:48:42.996
I use the word community loosely.

00:48:42.996 --> 00:48:45.710
We have artists here.

00:48:45.710 --> 00:48:48.378
There's a lot of galleries to go to.

00:48:48.744 --> 00:48:50.990
There's more openings than possibly.

00:48:50.990 --> 00:48:56.134
Yeah, love the art community and DFW.

00:48:56.134 --> 00:48:57.947
I love it, it's one of the best.

00:48:57.947 --> 00:49:02.907
And I've met some great people my father, so my father is 91.

00:49:02.907 --> 00:49:11.454
He'll be 92 in August and I sent him pictures of the launch party, but I also sent him pictures of all the events that I attend.

00:49:12.054 --> 00:49:21.586
He's like you've only been in Dallas for four months and you've met all those people and I said, yeah, I said, but a lot of it has to do with Dallas.

00:49:21.586 --> 00:49:23.391
I haven't changed.

00:49:23.391 --> 00:49:33.298
I was the same way when I lived in San Antonio and it was like a fraction of engagement with people that I've had just in this short time in Dallas.

00:49:33.298 --> 00:49:38.530
So Dallas is a very sociable, friendly place.

00:49:38.530 --> 00:49:40.871
Kind of reminds me of DC.

00:49:40.871 --> 00:49:47.597
I lived in DC in the 90s and people used to ask me well, do you miss DC?

00:49:47.597 --> 00:49:51.161
I said yeah, it's one of the most sociable places I've ever lived.

00:49:51.161 --> 00:49:58.945
See Dallas very similar.

00:49:58.945 --> 00:50:00.889
You know, obviously, different places, different.

00:50:00.889 --> 00:50:13.137
You know part of the country, but the people and when it comes to their social, social experiences and their approach to towards you know, integrate, engaging and interacting with people very similar.

00:50:14.025 --> 00:50:19.217
There's more opportunities here than one could ever begin to take advantage of.

00:50:19.217 --> 00:50:19.958
There's so much.

00:50:21.525 --> 00:50:26.773
Well, you know, some artists are not extroverts and that may surprise some people.

00:50:26.773 --> 00:50:29.628
Some artists are introverts, they want to be left alone.

00:50:29.628 --> 00:50:30.070
A lot, I think.

00:50:31.106 --> 00:50:34.972
We hear a lot of stories of isolation, lots of stories of isolation.

00:50:35.244 --> 00:50:37.172
But they need to get out.

00:50:37.172 --> 00:50:53.900
I have a painting you saw the painting at the lunch party called the Extrovert, and that painting is about we need both, we need extroverts and introverts and just finding that balance.

00:50:54.322 --> 00:50:54.784
Yes, we do.

00:50:54.905 --> 00:51:05.197
So you'd be surprised, like I have friends who are introverted, like they're and I'm so extroverted, right, but my friends are introverted and I think it's like a great balance.

00:51:05.197 --> 00:51:17.391
So they really look to me when they need like that social push or whatever, and then I need them when okay, kevin, just you know, chill out.

00:51:18.092 --> 00:51:20.155
I'm'm in the middle, I'm an ambivert.

00:51:20.155 --> 00:51:23.248
I can, you know, be social, I very social.

00:51:23.248 --> 00:51:26.293
And then I have my times when I need to be in solitude.

00:51:26.293 --> 00:51:36.673
So yes, I'm I'm that way sometimes yeah well, this, this has been awesome kevin well, I appreciate it.

00:51:36.813 --> 00:51:42.000
I you know I obviously have a lot of passion for what I do.

00:51:42.740 --> 00:51:42.920
Yes.

00:51:43.144 --> 00:51:49.436
And a lot of, a lot of aspiration, a lot of dreams, you know.

00:51:49.436 --> 00:52:05.574
But that's what's me where I am today, like I've, you know, I've always been optimistic and, you know, driven for accomplishing the things that I want to do, and I think you know it's kind of like a mind over matter thing.

00:52:05.574 --> 00:52:15.347
You know, there really is something to well, you can do this you know, yes, I agree very much my mother.

00:52:16.070 --> 00:52:17.614
I left home at 17.

00:52:17.614 --> 00:52:23.606
I was turning 18.

00:52:23.606 --> 00:52:29.456
I just turned 18 when I left home and I went in the Air Force and my mother said my mother's 85.

00:52:29.456 --> 00:52:31.827
She was talking to me here recently.

00:52:31.827 --> 00:52:35.657
She said you've always done whatever you said.

00:52:35.657 --> 00:52:37.483
Whatever you said you're going to do, done whatever you said.

00:52:37.483 --> 00:52:40.632
Whatever you said you're going to do, you've always done it.

00:52:41.295 --> 00:52:41.976
Always done it.

00:52:44.985 --> 00:52:46.005
That is a beautiful quality to have.

00:52:46.005 --> 00:52:46.927
Mr Dwight is the same way.

00:52:47.427 --> 00:52:53.030
Yeah, yes, thank you for your service, kevin so we're doing something a little bit different.

00:52:53.030 --> 00:52:57.751
This time we're trying something new and you get to be the guinea pig.

00:52:58.893 --> 00:53:01.213
Oh, I hope I, I hope I serve you well.

00:53:02.715 --> 00:53:03.574
I'm sure you will.

00:53:03.574 --> 00:53:08.958
So we have one final question, and this is the big question.

00:53:08.958 --> 00:53:18.202
Okay, in your current real-time creative life, what is the biggest pain point?

00:53:25.545 --> 00:53:31.177
That challenge that, if it were solved, would be a game changer for you?

00:53:31.217 --> 00:53:32.400
Oh, can I take a minute to process that you may?

00:53:38.041 --> 00:53:41.929
Of course, because I've already told you about time being a big challenge.

00:53:41.929 --> 00:53:44.717
So I guess I'm going to move beyond the time, because time has been a challenge.

00:53:44.717 --> 00:54:29.360
Well, the biggest challenge to my creativity, I'd have to say that discipline, the discipline right For me in the structure and how I go about my day, all right, so what's different about me than what I was before, when I was, you know, in this corporate world and all of that?

00:54:29.360 --> 00:54:36.108
There was a lot of structure and a lot of you know, I'm in date demands and things like that.

00:54:36.108 --> 00:54:48.358
Well, as an artist, I have some of that, but not nearly as much, you know, and so, but because of that I don't think I am as productive as I can be.

00:54:48.900 --> 00:54:54.764
And you know, we talked about the Dallas community, the art community.

00:54:54.764 --> 00:55:25.768
There's just so many things that are going on and because of my lack of structure, I haven't been able to attend all of the things that I want, because either you know it's just, you know I waited too long, or you know I did something like that, something like that, but the game changer would be I'm very process oriented.

00:55:25.768 --> 00:55:43.260
That's my technical background, so I'm still my brain is working on both sides, you know, having a structure to how I go about my work and my business and all the things, just really having it down to a science.

00:55:43.260 --> 00:55:47.038
Like you know how most businesses, they have a business model.

00:55:47.038 --> 00:55:52.092
Right, there's a business model and that's how people operate, you know.

00:55:52.092 --> 00:55:56.990
And then you know they have their strategic plans, they have their operational plans and all of that.

00:55:56.990 --> 00:56:01.565
Well, as an artist, you know, I didn't really think about it in that context.

00:56:01.565 --> 00:56:07.297
Right, I just want to paint, right, and so we fly by the seat of our pants, don't we?

00:56:07.465 --> 00:56:43.782
Yeah, and I think if I and I'm learning because I've been working with artists in business, which is a professional organization that actually coaches me on actually how to run an art business and it's been wonderful and I've learned a lot come to me that make me believe that that structure is absolutely critical.

00:56:43.782 --> 00:56:48.175
It's absolutely critical if you're really going to be successful.

00:56:48.175 --> 00:56:50.465
You know.

00:56:50.465 --> 00:56:52.873
So, when I figure it out, I'll let you know.

00:56:54.244 --> 00:56:58.096
Please, please because I have some ideas.

00:56:58.096 --> 00:56:59.208
I have some ideas.

00:56:59.208 --> 00:57:03.047
It's a very unique business and I'm like a sponge right now.

00:57:03.047 --> 00:57:05.172
Right, everybody's telling me things.

00:57:05.172 --> 00:57:07.387
Everybody's telling me the right way.

00:57:07.387 --> 00:57:09.873
You know, social media is like at me.

00:57:09.873 --> 00:57:13.103
Like you know, do this, do that.

00:57:13.103 --> 00:57:18.476
My feeds are just filled with people saying you need to do this, you need to do that.

00:57:18.476 --> 00:57:22.311
And then I'm paying for services, for people to tell me what to do.

00:57:22.311 --> 00:57:24.271
Well, I'm the type of person.

00:57:24.271 --> 00:57:33.128
Well, I'm gonna take it all in and I'm gonna decide what I believe and what I think will work and I'm gonna create my own.

00:57:33.128 --> 00:57:34.251
Kevin.

00:57:34.994 --> 00:57:35.476
I love it.

00:57:35.476 --> 00:57:37.072
You're not a sheep all day for you.

00:57:37.364 --> 00:57:38.630
I am not a sheep.

00:57:38.630 --> 00:57:40.014
I am far from it.

00:57:41.989 --> 00:57:42.550
I love that.

00:57:42.550 --> 00:57:43.213
Thank you.

00:57:43.213 --> 00:57:46.523
We need more people like you Absolutely.

00:57:46.724 --> 00:57:47.105
Yeah.

00:57:48.007 --> 00:57:53.574
I love your answers and I think you nailed it and I really, really resonate with what you said.

00:57:53.574 --> 00:58:01.137
Like I'm, I'm in that moment I went oh my God man, he's describing your, your, your challenge.

00:58:01.137 --> 00:58:07.277
That yeah, yeah, right there with you, kevin, this has been amazing.

00:58:07.277 --> 00:58:10.628
Yes, I enjoyed it.

00:58:10.929 --> 00:58:21.708
I I love talking to you guys and I really enjoyed your company, by the way, when you came to the party, and thank you so much for that.

00:58:21.708 --> 00:58:24.617
I'll have to send you guys the pictures that finally got them back.

00:58:25.405 --> 00:58:28.032
Yeah, we had a great time and we met some lovely people.00:58:28.032 --> 00:58:31.367


Some of your friends and neighbors were really nice folks.00:58:32.708 --> 00:58:40.327


Yeah, I love that about Dallas and yeah, it's just a wonderful thing it's.00:58:40.327 --> 00:58:43.715


I couldn't be happier right now at this point in my life.00:58:43.715 --> 00:58:47.496


I mean, obviously I want to paint I'm able to do that.00:58:47.496 --> 00:58:54.898


You know, I'm following my passion and I just feel really really good about it.00:58:55.525 --> 00:59:01.757


It very much does sound like you're living the dream really really good about it.00:59:01.797 --> 00:59:03.824


It very much does sound like you're living the dream.00:59:09.088 --> 00:59:09.972


We have one life.00:59:09.992 --> 00:59:11.097


Maddox Exactly, and it doesn't end at 60.00:59:11.137 --> 00:59:12.262


I just want to throw that in there.00:59:12.262 --> 00:59:19.235


I'm glad to know that, because I'd have been gone for a long time if it did oh this was great.00:59:19.414 --> 00:59:28.864


Thank you, I love this time of my life I never would imagine when I was younger that I would be doing what I'm doing now.00:59:30.132 --> 00:59:31.063


Well, it's a nice surprise, isn't it?00:59:31.063 --> 00:59:36.056


Definitely Thank you for sharing your story and yourself with us.00:59:38.628 --> 00:59:39.670


We feel honored.00:59:39.670 --> 00:59:40.753


Well, I'm honored to be here.00:59:40.753 --> 00:59:42.795


So thank you both of you so much.