As Great as the Greats

One of Jo’s daily inspirational creations, find more cool stuff on her IG @winelipz

Above is a finely crafted infographic created by Jo (@winelipz), inside of which you’ll find Justine Musk’s answer for how to be as great as those with extreme and affluent success (ie, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc).

Whether or not you agree with Justine, you can’t deny that she has had first hand experience in witnessing one of those “greats”. It’s difficult to decipher if you are on the path to greatness, or if the reason why your peers and the people on your journey get pissed off is because you’re simply screwing up and sabotaging your chances.

It feels nice to be able to check off points on a list of things that match up to your own experience. But even that can’t distract you from the drive that seems to isolate you from everything and everyone else. The thing that really pushes someone all the way into that greatness is shedding whatever fear or resentment they had for who they really are.

Let everything else go.
Accept what you are and move forward with nothing to hold you back. Fear nothing that can’t kill you. Find out what you enjoy, what you truly believe in, and keep after it. If it’s what you truly desire, there will always be enough time. There will always be space. There will always be enough money. Because no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, you will always make it happen. And if you find yourself facing defeat, knee deep in responsibility for something without the means to create results, you own that failure. But without allowing it to destroy your momentum. Keep going. Keep coming up with ideas and keep trying to make them happen.

Here is another answer she gave to the question, “Will I become a billionaire if I am determined to be one and put in all the necessary work required?” From, Business Insider.

“Shift your focus away from what you want (a billion dollars) and get deeply, intensely curious about what the world wants and needs. Ask yourself what you have the potential to offer that is so unique and compelling and helpful that no computer could replace you, no one could outsource you, no one could steal your product and make it better and then club you into oblivion (not literally). Then develop that potential. Choose one thing and become a master of it. Choose a second thing and become a master of that. When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life. The world doesn’t throw a billion dollars at a person because the person wants it or works so hard they feel they deserve it. (The world does not care what you want or deserve.) The world gives you money in exchange for something it perceives to be of equal or greater value: something that transforms an aspect of the culture, reworks a familiar story or introduces a new one, alters the way people think about the category and make use of it in daily life. There is no roadmap, no blueprint for this; a lot of people will give you a lot of advice, and most of it will be bad, and a lot of it will be good and sound but you’ll have to figure out how it doesn’t apply to you because you’re coming from an unexpected angle. And you’ll be doing it alone, until you develop the charisma and credibility to attract the talent you need to come with you.

Have courage. (You will need it.) And good luck. (You’ll need that too.)”

A New Way to Art

Humans seem to like things that are nice and tidy.

Things that are easy to look at, understand, and especially easy to do. Marketing knows that.
TV knows that. Music knows that.
As a general rule, if it isn’t clean and simple, it’s hard for the mass public to swallow. This rule applies to almost everything. Even art career paths.

I’m not saying that the task of getting oneself through school in one piece with a passing GPA isn’t difficult. Or that being able to financially sustain yourself and put in good work is easy. BUT the linear A to B to C path is a pretty cut and dry, clean and simple kind of plan.

School (A) gets degree (B) gets job (C). Most career choices use this formula. Albeit there may definitely be hustle involved, especially fishing in whatever job market you’re in. But there is still that definitive guideline that allows for specific progress tracking and milestones. A lot of people require this guideline to be able to continue to function as a content human being. They need the stability and security of knowing they are “x” amount of time away from their finish line.

As an artist, you have to figure all that out yourself. And there is no finish line.

There is no formula for art paths. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing isn’t as significant as figuring out how to survive in that kind of majorly independent lifestyle. And art careers really are a kind of lifestyle. Your entire sense of confidence, discipline, motivation, and sleep cycle have to adapt around your art making. If you have to keep a day job, then it revolves around both your day job and your art making. If you have a kid, new relationship, mental illness, whatever additional responsibility or life-thing that requires energy and attention, you have to know how to balance it all with your incessant need to make art. You have to find it without excuses, without burning out, and with your desire still fueled by your own motivation. Ignoring all the haters and brokenhearted, brokendreamed people who want to convince you that your art isn’t worth the effort. Meltdowns are allowed, but you have to pick yourself up, wipe yourself off, and keep going.

It takes a certain kind of person that not only craves to make these things that the public for the most part doesn’t understand, but who also has the tenacity to keep moving forward within that craving despite heavy, adverse currents. This type of person usually has little need of what the school system provides in the way of those guidelines that were mentioned earlier. They make their own lives and they make it for what they love to do.

A study from 2014 showed that of “2 million art graduates nationally, only 10%, or 200,000 people, make their primary earnings as working artists.” Of the 1.4 million artists that the study found, only 16% of them held degrees in art. What going to art school doesn’t teach you is that you are either in it for life — hustling and juggling, pursuing an entrepreneurial career propelled by pure grit– or you’re not in it at all. What you pay for in art school is the discipline of an enhanced technique and skill that is reminiscent of Renaissance painters (which you either learn and enjoy or don’t). The other very real necessities of making a living as an artist, from networking to sales, you have to figure out on your own. Grad school is a ticket into certain circles which give you bragging rights on paper and names to casually drop in conversation. Otherwise it’s mostly a lifetime worth of debt. If you can get into one debt-free, kudos to you.

We’re so used to using formulas to make things look and feel nice and tidy. But sometimes the things we want are just not that simple. If you are an artist, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go to art school, much less grad school.

But it also doesn’t even mean that you have to jump into all the entrepreneur things either. You can go the Bob Ross way and just do it for Public Broadcasting. You can become a teacher. You can just do it for your own sanity.

Or you can do it your own way entirely. Like Dan Schultz.

 

Dan Schultz, originally from New Mexico, had his first encounter with career driven artists when he started art school in Colorado, studying commercial art. He jumped in and never looked back. From that decision in dedicating his journey to fine art, his work has been nationally recognized in Southwest Art Magazine, American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of America, the California Art Club, the list goes on. He is also currently represented by galleries in New Mexico, Colorado, Montecito, Ca, and last but not least, in his own gallery.

Dan Schultz Fine Art Gallery & Studio has been up and running for the last seven years in Downtown Ojai. Schultz shows and sells his art out of his gallery, along with running various workshops and art how-to’s. He manages his own website, marketing, and social media. He’s actually very tech savvy and has a background in graphic design.

Amidst the sea of plein aire lanscapes and portraits, you’ll notice shots with Twitch (from the Ellen show) and Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) on his social media. Which has a very decent following on both his IG and FB page. Honestly, for someone doing it relatively solo, this is impressive. A perfect example of what I mean by “a certain type of person.” Schultz gets criticism for both his landscape and figurative work, but he goes on  to create them anyway — in the style and touch that he has made his own. Social media marketing and website maintenance isn’t rocket science, but with a family, a gallery, and an art practice, it is without a doubt a commitment and a discipline. Dan Schultz, an artist running his own gallery showing and selling his own art, is the epitome of the new schema of the artist career path.

I had a chance to visit Schultz’ gallery and studio in Ojai a few weeks ago. He is absolutely humble about his experience and his extensive artistic achievements. During our chat we talked of divine purpose and doing what makes your heart sing versus what’s popular on the market. Surrounded by all of his beautiful, award-winning pieces, and backed by his ten thousand followers, Schultz felt all the time like a modest mentor. Without any excuse or complaint, he had all the encouragement in the world for this emerging artist.

Though the manner in which he’s succeeding is a little different, his advice had the same old adage:

Paint what you enjoy painting and just keep at it.

It seems so simple a statement and it comes from so many a seasoned artist. But it’s true. You just need to keep making art and keep showing the world the passion that you can’t seem to contain. At a certain point it won’t matter whether or not you have those names to drop; people will be noticing your art. Which really is what it should always be about in the first place.

To add to Schultz’ words of wisdom,

Decide what your idea of “success” looks like. 

Of all the things that aren’t discussed or are omitted, figuring out what a successful career looks like to you and accepting that is one of the most crucial. Imagine doing everything you could and putting all your energy and time into someone else’s idea of what “real” artistic success looks like. Imagine finding that type of success and realizing it was never what you actually wanted to begin with. Ultimately, this is your livelihood, your journey, your life — so it’s your choice. Save yourself the time and trouble. Figure it out NOW. Write it down, tell a friend, just identify what it is you want out of all this art stuff.

And THEN do it until you die.

 

 

*****
You may have noticed that I didn’t go into a lot of detail about Dan’s art. That’s because, you need to SEE this art. Not online or through my words, but face to face. Take a trip to Ojai, chill, go horseback riding, take a hike, and look at Dan Schultz’s artwork. What he has spent his whole life crafting. Talk to him about it. Go be a person and live a little.

https://www.danschultzfineart.com/

Also, while you’re there. If you like books, there’s a crazy outdoor bookstore that literally has one million books and sells them by the honor system. They have first edition copies, rare comics, ancient poetry and art books. I’m not even going to tell you what it’s called. You have to find it. 

Good luck!