August 11, 2025 • 60 mins
What happens when a high-powered tech executive trades boardroom meetings for a canvas and paintbrushes? Kevin Whitehurst's journey from 33 years in healthcare technology to becoming "The Art Health Nut" reveals powerful lessons for creatives forging their own path to fulfillment.
Kevin's story demolishes the myth that artistic success requires traditional routes. Instead of chasing gallery representation, he transformed his home into an exhibition space, personally inviting curated guests to experience his emotionally-charged, symbolic oil paintings. The result? Six paintings sold in one evening—without the 50% gallery commission. His approach blends hospitality (he cooks from scratch) with intimate connection, proving authenticity fuels stronger sales than anonymous gallery walls.
"The one mistake I made early on was not promoting myself," Kevin confesses. His breakthrough came when he realized collectors aren’t just buying artwork—they’re buying the artist. That shift helped him focus on connecting with people who share his values rather than chasing followers. For artists struggling with visibility, Kevin offers both tech-savvy tips and soul-nourishing wisdom: "There are millions of people in the world who will love your art. Don’t compare yourself to other artists."
Most compelling is Kevin’s revelation that painting rescued him from corporate burnout. "I painted some crazy stuff back then," he says, describing how creativity became a pressure valve. Now fully immersed in his art, his biggest challenge mirrors what many creatives face: building structure in freedom.
Join us for a heart-forward conversation that explores the emotional terrain of creative entrepreneurship. Whether you're making a pivot or deepening your practice, Kevin’s journey offers rich inspiration and guidance.
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Kevin Whitehurst Studio
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And what I've found is the one mistake I made in the
very beginning was notpromoting myself.
You know I put my art out thereand you know I'm like.
Well, if they like it, you knowI'm going to get a response.
And what I've found throughsome of the professional
training I've had and some ofthe other experiences I've had,
(00:34):
is that people really want to beable to connect with the artist
and know who that artist is.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Thank you for saying that and calling that out.
Hello, you're listening to Forthe Love of Creatives podcast.
I'm Maddox, I'm here withco-host Dwight and our guest
(01:02):
today is Kevin Whitehurst.
Welcome, kevin, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I thank you for having me I'm glad with co-host
Dwight, and our guest today isKevin Whitehurst.
Welcome, kevin, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Thank you for having me, I'm glad to be here, we're
glad to have you.
So, just so the listeners know,we met you at a recent Creative
Mornings and had a lovelyconversation, and then Kevin
invited us to an art openingthat we had.
So we've gotten a little bit ofchance to get acquainted.
(01:30):
But today we're going to godeeper.
Kevin, tell the audience alittle bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Hi, I'm Kevin Whitehurst and I'm the creator
and owner of Arthealthnutcom.
So I'm an entrepreneur, I'm anartist, I'm a writer, and I have
a long history of how I got towhere I am today.
I had a career in healthcaretechnology for over 33 years,
(02:00):
and that career ended a coupleof years ago.
I made a conscious decisionthat I wanted to pursue my
passion, and so my passion ispainting.
I do oil paintings and I havebeen a painter all of my adult
life that I can remember, andnever did anything
(02:21):
professionally with it, and sothe opportunity presented itself
for me to do something, and,rather than retiring and, you
know, just kicking back, Iwanted to do something fun and
something I have a lot ofpassion about and something that
I could give back.
So I do oil paintings and Ialso do some creative writing.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, and for those of you that are.
Oh, go ahead, Dwight, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I was just going to ask how were you introduced to
oil painting?
Oh, it's an interesting story.
I've been asked that before,dwight.
So I love art.
I'm a person that loves art.
When I was in my 20s if you canimagine loving art and not
having any money to buy it Iused to look at art and I would
(03:17):
say, oh, I can paint that.
Maybe I'll just create my ownart for my home, because I like
a home filled with art and allof that.
So it was really self-motivated.
I am a self-taught painter.
I have since, over the years,taken art classes and things
like that, but I'm pretty muchself-taught, and so oil was the
(03:40):
first medium that I bought.
So oil was the first mediumthat I bought and I absolutely
love oil because it allows me toblend colors and things like
that.
So I've tried acrylic and I dowork with acrylic a little bit,
and I've worked a little bitwith watercolors, but my
preference is oil, no-transcript.
(04:23):
So yeah, that's how it actuallystarted.
I started painting abstract art.
Color is the big thing for me.
So you know when I would lookat my apartment at that time and
what colors I want and whatsort of style I want, and I
(04:45):
would just start creating and ofcourse, it was hit or miss in
the beginning, um, but um, I wasreally obsessed with it um for
for a very long time when Ifirst started.
So I I stick, you know, I stuckwith it Um after there's
sometimes, you know, I wentthrough spells where I didn't
paint.
I would go a full year and notpaint at all, but I always went
(05:11):
back to it.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Found your way home.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Well, for the listeners that are watching this
on YouTube, those are hispaintings in the background.
Yes, your work is very unique,very unique and very interesting
.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, they are by design, introspective and
thought-provoking.
The Art Health Nut.
If you don't mind, I can tellyou about that name.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
What's my next question?
So go for it.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So everyone has heard of a health nut, and a health
nut is a person obsessed withhealth, and you typically would
see someone obsessed withnutrition or obsessed with
working out and things like that.
So, adding art to that, you'rejust obsessed with all forms of
art.
So I felt that described mebest.
(06:11):
I'm obsessed with art, allforms 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.
And to me that's what an arthealth nut is, is someone who's
just obsessed with all of theseart forms.
And so art health nut was, youknow, sort of created from that.
(06:36):
It's really a description of mypersonality, you know, and the
type of person I am.
The health component I wanted tostay 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 youknow nurse practitioners and
(07:00):
doctors and therapists.
I've worked with all thosetypes of people and they're
wonderful people and Iabsolutely love that community.
And so you sort of marry thatwith art and that's really the
concept behind it.
Now, it's really art for people, it's really for people who
(07:25):
have a strong mind.
Some people get it wrong whenthey see Art Health Nut and they
think, oh, this is art, this ishealing art.
And for Penn it's like no, no,no, this is actually art for
people that actually have apretty healthy brain.
They feel pretty good aboutwhere they are in their life.
They feel they're strong minded, they feel good, they're
(07:48):
optimistic.
That's who I paint for.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Hmm, I love that because I was one of the people
that was thinking that it had todo with you know, painting your
emotions out on a canvas andand working through you know
it's kind of a bonus it's almostlike a visual journal, maybe.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It can be.
I mean I feel like it's a bonus.
I mean I definitely love thefact that, you know it has that
effect on on some people, youknow, and when I paint the art,
I'm a pretty strong, you know,strong-willed person, you know.
So when I'm talking about,let's say, critical thinking, so
(08:34):
I have a painting called theFascinating Score and it is, I
mean, you know, he's at the freethrow 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
(08:55):
know, once in a while.
Here's your opportunity toactually make things happen.
To actually make things happenand so by making the right
decisions and being able to dothat.
That's kind of the messagebehind that.
And then it was a greatdecision and it was a
fascinating score.
So that's one example of kindof the mindset behind some of
(09:21):
the artwork.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
And we enjoyed getting to walk through the
collection and see several.
There were several themes ofseeing I don't know some
metaphors come to life and justbeing able to see the characters
.
I enjoyed the descriptions thatkind of gave color to what it
(09:49):
was that we were seeing.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
And you know, maddox, you're absolutely right,
they're all very emotionallydriven.
You know most of my art BecauseI'm an emotional person and you
know that's reflected in my artbecause I'm an emotional person
and, um, they, you know that'sreflected in my art, um, and I
think it helps people that, uh,you know people who, uh, have
(10:13):
bought my art and and love myart, they, they, they all tell
me the same thing.
It just makes them feel really,really, really good, you know,
about themselves.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So I would say there is a lot of symbolism in your
art.
Yeah, you really absorb thepiece and look at it in the
smaller aspects, you knowthere's like a main character,
like a face, but then if youbegin to look at the smaller
details, there's all thissymbolism that I know has
meaning to it.
(10:45):
You know, look at the smallerdetails, there's all this
symbolism that I know hasmeaning to it.
You know, and, as you saidearlier, because you know those
symbols have meaning to them andI may not know what they mean,
it is very thought provoking.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Definitely thought provoking.
Not one piece could you have inyour house without someone
questioning oh, this isinteresting, let's, let's take a
look.
Tell me about this.
You know, and I love talkingabout it.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
It's, it's, it's just a wonderful thing to be able to
express myself in that way, andI always love the stories that
people make up when they look atyour art or you know, or my art
, you know, they, they, they seeall these things that I didn't
paint in there, you know, butit's fascinating to me that what
(11:37):
people will draw out of it thatmay or may not be there, Maddox
, that is the most fascinatingpart of this whole experience is
, and that's why I have thoselaunch parties right.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So when someone sees the art and what they see in it,
it's always something I neverwould have imagined.
You know that other people seeand I think that's the beauty of
art.
You look at art and you can seethings and and you know it's
just a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know you saying that makes me want to question
you a little bit further aboutthe launch, because we know that
many of our viewers are fellowartists or other forms of
creatives and you have a ratherunique thing that you do with
this launch.
That's well, to be real honest,it's maybe the first time I've
(12:30):
seen anything quite like it.
We attend a lot of art things,but the way you approach this,
the way you approached us theinvitation, the way you
approached us the invitation, Iwould love for you to kind of
share kind of a breakdown ofthat, because this might be
something that could open updoors for other artists to show
(12:52):
their art, because sometimesit's not really easy to get
representation in a gallery.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Oh, absolutely, and I'm a very independent person
and a self-driven person and youknow, sometimes, when things
aren't available to you, forexample, you know, if so, my art
isn't in the galleries yet.
But I have a home and I have agallery at my home.
So I will invite friends,colleagues, art buyers, everyone
(13:34):
to my home and I set up, youknow, as you can see, the ground
level as a gallery.
But the thing about the launchparty is, as an artist, you know
we work really, really hard onour work.
You know we're painting, youknow, sometimes, you know, it's
several weeks, it could bemonths, where I'm working on
these paintings and you reallyneed a boost right when you're
(13:55):
ready to show this art.
And I always like to docollections because that's just
how I'm wired.
I don't feel I could conveywhat I'm feeling in just one
painting.
So there's more than likelygonna be 10, you know, 10 or 12.
But having an audience that isintimate, that are comfortable,
(14:19):
you're in your own environment,they're there, you can talk to
them, you can, you know, haveconversations about the art, you
can really express yourself ina very open way about why you
painted it and what it reallymeans.
You can have fun by listeningto other people and what they
(14:41):
see in the art.
You know that's alwaysintriguing.
And then there are also thingsthat you learn about the
painting that you think twiceabout.
You know what someone may seeor may think about it and you're
thinking, oh, I definitely didnot want that message to get out
(15:01):
, that's not what it meant, youknow.
So that happens from time totime.
But I like the intimacy.
But remember, I'm an art health.
I love to cook, so I cooked allthe food.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And so again I wanted you to cook.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I love.
They were like you cooked allthis food.
Why did you, why didn't youhave a catering line?
Cause I love to cook.
I cooked the food.
I baked all the cakes.
I had five cakes.
You know that I baked fromscratch.
I didn't get really, reallyinto my music because I think,
like things just happened sofast at the party and I couldn't
quite get into my music side ofit.
(15:40):
But that's all fine, so it wasa blast.
I hope that answered yourquestion.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Oh yeah, no, no Great , I've got more questions, but I
want to draw a little bit of avisual for the listener, because
you said the first level of myhome is the gallery and, just to
be clear, it looked like adining room and a kitchen and a
living room.
It was fully furnished, it waslovely, it was very comfortable.
So it built in this warmth thatgalleries don't have.
(16:13):
You know, galleries are verystark.
When you go into them, there'susually zero furniture.
It's a concrete floor, thewalls are all white, it's very
bright spotlights and althoughyou did have some spotlights
around the room, but there wasart on every wall on the first
floor there was probably, Iwould say, way more than 10 or
(16:36):
12 pieces.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I thought I had about 30 pieces displayed.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
But you know, when you throw inthe combination of your, it was
your living room, in yourdining room, and you cooked all
the food.
And I also want to say that theday we met him at creative
mornings, he walked up to us andhe invited us and he pulled an
envelope out of his pocket andhanded it to us and it was a
(17:06):
personal invitation.
He does not put this out onsocial media, it's not open to
the public, it is by invitationonly and he handpicks the people
that he wants to come to this,which is what we do when we host
events.
Come to this, which is what wedo when we host events.
We curate the guest listbecause, well, I mean obvious
(17:31):
reasons, you know obviousreasons, and it made for just a
very unique experience, a verywonderful evening, and you know,
I think, that everybody thatwas there had an interest in art
.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Everyone had an interest in art and it was good.
And another thing for thelisteners out there I sold six
paintings that night from thatparty, six original, wow.
So I mean it's definitely worthit and I didn't have to go
through.
You know what I mean.
Another channel right to sellmy art and show my art.
(18:11):
Well, you cut out the middlemantelling me that what I'm doing,
go with my intuition right, gowith my instincts.
My journey has been quite achallenge as an artist.
If you can imagine being abusinessman for technology for
(18:35):
33 years and at an executivelevel, like what my life was
like then versus now.
You know, I used to spend mytime in meetings, strategic
planning and meeting withclients and conventions and
things like that.
Now I'm cleaning paintbrushes,you know, I'm going through
(18:58):
digital images of my art andlooking for backgrounds to, you
know, present it and all ofthose different things.
So it's a completely differentworld.
But what I struggled with wasthe whole promotion side of it,
the marketing side of it.
I cannot tell you how manyzeros that I've had to deal with
(19:20):
in paying people money whodon't listen and who don't
listen to you know what yourvision is Right, and so they're
sort of promoting me.
They were like promoting me andI was like, well, that's really
not me, you know, and you'repaying people thousands of
dollars to help you with socialmedia.
(19:41):
I didn't have experience withthat, so I paid someone to help
me with that multiple times andit was like, okay, I don't want
to get on a roll here, but ithas not been easy and what I
have found?
I always revert back to myintuition and do what feels
right for me and it seems towork.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
So I'm definitely not conventional right for me and
it seems to work.
So I'm definitely notconventional.
Well, I think you know you soldsix paintings.
It worked really well becausein my recent research I've
learned that most galleries geta 50% cut of every piece of your
art that they sell.
They do Now?
I mean, granted, you put a lotof time and energy and money
(20:24):
into serving like a big spreadof food, but I'm pretty sure it
wasn't equal to 50% of the take.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
The cooking thing was a piece of cake, man.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And you love to do that anyway, so that wasn't like
Love to do it.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah, what gallery are you you gonna go to where
you get cream cheese, pound cakeand coconut cake?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
exactly only yours only yours.
You know, um, kevin, what?
What wisdom would you have forsomebody?
Because we know that there'sonly a small percentage of
artists that get into a gallery.
That's not easy to do, andeverybody else is left trying to
(21:11):
peddle their art in whateverway that they can.
What words of wisdom would youhave for artists that are maybe
challenged or struggling the wayyou've described that?
You have struggled or beenchallenged.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Well, hopefully I have some words of wisdom.
I mean, I'm just wired to notgive up.
You know, if I believe insomething, I'm going to stick to
it.
So perseverance is reallyimportant for an artist.
But what I've learned?
So I'm still learning, right,it's two years in this journey
(21:51):
for me.
As you know, an artist inbusiness beginning was not
promoting myself.
You know, I put my art outthere and you know I'm like well
(22:15):
, if they like it, you know I'mgoing to get a response.
And what I've found throughsome of the professional
training I've had and some ofthe other experiences I've had,
is that people really want to beable to connect with the
artists and know who that artistis.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Thank you for saying that and calling that out.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Yes, it's very important and it's I'm getting
there.
Like me, being on this podcastis, you know, definitely a big
leap for me To just talk aboutme and and I thank you guys so
much for having me on herebecause I'm getting more
comfortable with it.
(22:49):
But you have to.
People need to know that.
You know the person that thatpainted the art, what it means,
why are they painting it?
And so I'm learning things likethat.
So now I'm kind of on this rolehere where I'm doing more to
get people to know me, okay, andas well as the art.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You know, I've come to realize just recently it's
come to me that people that buyart art collectors, they're not
really buying your art, they'rebuying you and the art comes
along with it with the deal.
(23:33):
You know, I really do believethat we see so many artists that
are putting their art out allover social media, artists that
are putting their art out allover social media while they're
hidden in the shadows.
They don't put themselves outon social media, they put their
art out on social media.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
And I think that it's not an either or it's an, and
Social media is tricky in myopinion and, of course, you know
(24:20):
, I admittedly am sort of oldschool in that sense.
In my opinion, you know,because you want to interact
with people, you want people toknow you, you want people to
like you and you want to showappreciation for people who have
, like, good content.
You know, one of the things Ilove about it is, you know, as
(24:44):
an art health nut, like I followall of these DJs and these
music producers and then theseyou know unknown singers and
people like that.
I absolutely love all of that,you know.
And then these people who are,you know, professionally trained
to talk about, you know,well-being and things like that.
(25:06):
I follow a lot of people likethat and love those people.
What I do not like about it arepeople who just have an opinion
and it's, you know, to a pointwhere, if you don't agree with
them you know what I mean it'sjust a unnatural way to interact
(25:32):
with people.
If you're gonna just, you know,disagree with someone, uh, and
you want to fight with themthrough comments or whatever, to
me that's noise.
To me that's a complete wasteof time, uh, for me, because
it's gonna ruin my day.
Like I want to go in my studioand paint, you know, and I want
to paint something positive.
I don't want to go in my studioand paint, you know, and I want
(25:54):
to paint something positive.
I don't want to, you know.
Respond to someone who had this, you know, weird experience
that you know.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
I don't respond to comments like that.
Right, I don't give it anyoxygen at all.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
But I absolutely love the social media.
I'm telling you, my musicplaylists have improved tenfold
since I got on social mediabecause I get to hear music you
know what I mean that Iabsolutely love from these DJs,
these producers, these, you know, and all age groups too, and
(26:30):
then all over the world too.
It's not just like in theUnited States.
I'm following people in SouthAfrica, people in France and
different places like that.
So it's a wonderful thing.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You know, another thing that I noticed about you
that I really appreciated wasyou have printed collateral.
When we entered your home thatnight, you had a table with
brochures that you had createdthat showed your art and told a
little bit about your backgroundand your philosophy.
(27:06):
And it's amazing to me how manyplaces we're in where I'll say
somebody do you have a businesscard?
No, you can find me onInstagram.
And they think that's all theyhave to do is just have an
Instagram account, that the onlyway you can contact them is by
messaging them on Instagram, andI just think that's
(27:30):
short-sighted.
I agree.
I don't think that it's.
I don't want to put it down andsay it's bad, but I think that
if you're giving people one wayto connect with you and it's on
social media, when not allpeople do social media, you have
limited your audienceconsiderably.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, absolutely, and it's.
There's so many channels, right.
I mean, instagram would only beone of them, albeit a very
important one for artists.
My advice to artists now I havea technology background, so I
embrace technology.
When I look at my budget, youknow, and all that I spend to
(28:12):
run this business and everythingI'm trying to do, I'm speaking
to artists out there who don'thave a budget or they don't have
a lot of money to spend onpromotion and other things.
But these apps and thetechnology out there, right,
(28:34):
that can create your, you know,your brochures for you, and all
of these different things,they're not very expensive.
I mean, it's very minimal.
We're talking a few hundredbucks a year.
You know what I mean.
We're not talking like hundredsof dollars a month, you know,
and it's worth using them andletting them do this.
(28:56):
Now, I struggled in thebeginning because, honestly, I
have about 15 different apps onmy phone just for when my art is
done, and I've taken a pictureof it and had it digitized, how
I'm going to promote it andeverything.
I have like 15 different appsor whatever.
(29:16):
But I'm telling you those appsare not expensive at all and
they are worth it.
It's like a tool.
It's like a paintbrush right.
So if you're going to go outand you're going to spend 12
bucks or 15 bucks or 20 bucksfor paintbrushes or a paintbrush
or whatever, well, I mean,you're not even going to spend
that much for some of these apps.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Well now, when you say apps, are you talking about
social media?
You're talking about platforms,where you sell your art.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
No, I'm talking about tools to allow you to present
your work in a professional,eye-catching way.
So one app, for example youknow what I mean like Smartest.
I love Smartest.
It is like the best thing sincesliced bread.
You have that.
(30:06):
And then there are severalother apps that I use to create,
you know, to create my posts.
You know my reels, my videos,things like that I'm.
You know, I'm just talkingabout this because it's really
not expensive in the broadscheme of things.
You know you're spending moneyon paint.
You're spending money onpaintbrushes and cleaners and
(30:29):
you know all these things, it'sit's worth it.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Keep in mind that there there may be some artists
with ambitions that really wantsto, wants to make a go at
giving their art to an audience,but they may not be able to
bridge that gap between creatingthe art that they love and
(30:55):
finding the people, who, whowould love to have appreciate it
yeah, so could you kind of walkus through?
Speaker 1 (31:03):
what?
What that process is.
Well, do I?
You know, that was kind of thelearning curve for me of finding
the right audience.
You know, I'll tell you mystory.
You know I was not on socialmedia before I started this
journey, because the socialmedia was handled by a marketing
(31:26):
department and they would justbasically come in and interview
me and do whatever social mediathey needed.
Now it's all on me.
So the first thing I did notlike that I had to do was
Facebook.
In order to have a Facebookbusiness page, I had to have a
Facebook page.
(31:46):
Well, naturally, on Facebookit's all my family, it's all my
friends, it's all my colleagues,whatever.
None of these people want tobuy my art.
Yeah, they'll say, oh, I likeyour art, I like your art, you
know, they're just liking mystuff.
No one's buying anything.
That's not my audience, okay.
And so that was kind of thefirst thing that I realized,
(32:16):
because of the way that Facebookholds you prisoner to have this
Facebook page.
Everyone's following me thereand no one's following me on my
business page.
So the business page brings novalue.
Now, I'm sure some of thelisteners out here may have
figured it out.
I would love to hear how tofigure that one out, but
Instagram has been wonderful.
First things first.
(32:42):
I would suggest not necessarilytrying to follow all the
artists that are on Instagram,because those aren't necessarily
your buyers either.
I think having an art communityfollowing is important, but
(33:04):
when you look at what type ofart you paint, why you paint it,
okay, so what type of peopleyou know would buy that type of
art.
Now I am trying to find peoplewho think like me, who are wired
like me, you know, and it'stricky on social media, but what
I found is you don't alwaysfocus on just, you know, posting
your art.
You're talking about thingslike what's important to me?
(33:25):
Well, you know, nutrition isimportant to me.
Well-being is important to me.
You know aesthetics, like Ilove stuff like interior design.
You know I love music, you know, and it's not just any music,
(33:46):
right, like, I listen to acertain type of music.
So I am looking, I amconnecting with people who like
music, the same music that Ilike and I'm finding that those
people are engaging more with me, with my art, and more
interested in my art, you know.
So your niche is tricky.
(34:07):
It's really really tricky, butit's not just following artists
or just, you know, getting allthese followers, you know who
would take a step back right,who would really appreciate this
art?
You know.
You know you as the artist, asthe painter, you appreciate it.
But you need to find people whoare kind of wired the way that
(34:30):
you are.
You know, unless you're thetype of artist like you're
painting something completelydifferent.
Like mine is more.
It's more theme oriented, it'smore humanistic, it's more
emotionally driven.
So I have to find people whoare wired that way.
(34:52):
But if you're painting likeairplanes and things like that,
you know you're going to need tofind people who are really into
planes, you know, or someonethat you know maybe they have
aspirations in that area.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Sure, and I think it goes beyond just tuning the
algorithm.
I think that there's a way thatwe're circling back.
Maddox made the comment earlierabout how when someone's buying
art, they're buying you, butit's a really old principle
where you just got to show upand be real and relatable, and
(35:33):
that's what you're trying tohave translate through the fog
that is the algorithm that'salways trying to dissect you and
try to figure out what topresent to you next.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Absolutely.
And the other thing I would addis, again, I'm one that I go
with my own intuition and whatI'm feeling, you know, and I see
, and I do look at what otherartists are doing.
Obviously, you know thing abouthow they want to present
themselves, but I am a creativeperson and I like to try
(36:17):
different things and do thingsthat are not just eye-catching
but are really creative.
And I think the creativityextends beyond the canvas.
Okay, You've got to get beyondthe canvas, and I think people
are just starving for somethingnot just unique, but something
(36:42):
positive.
Consider, my audience is onethat is, you know, optimistic,
and or, you know, maybe they'renot optimistic but they need to
see some sign of optimism.
You know what I mean Not doomand gloom or you know something
(37:08):
weirdly comical, you know, thatdoesn't really enhance your life
.
You know what I mean, you know,and I think it's, you know,
just kind of a sign of me, youknow, and my, you know, maturity
and aging or whatever.
What's really important to me,and what's really important to
me is value.
(37:29):
Like, am I getting value out ofthis?
And I mean value like, is itworth the laugh, Is it worth the
thought, Is it worth the tears.
You know, or you know, I thinkeach artist has their own
personality, they have their ownstrengths, they have their own
(37:52):
style.
They have their own personality,they have their own strengths,
they have their own style, theyhave their own creativity, and I
think they need to just bethemselves right.
Just, you know, I was told byseveral people, Dwight, that
there are millions and millionsand millions of people in the
(38:12):
world and there are people whoare going to love your art.
So don't compare yourself toother artists, Don't compare
yourself to what they're doingor their you know techniques.
There are people out there thatwill love your art and I have
found that to be true and thathas given me peace, like from
(38:32):
the stress right Of worriedabout, oh, are they gonna like
my art?
Or, you know, am I?
You know, there are millionsand millions of people in the
world and you will find them,and that's my encouragement for
all artists you, someone willfind your art, they will find
them, and that's myencouragement for all artists
(38:53):
Someone will find your art, theywill find you, and they will
fall in love with it.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
That's beautiful and words of true wisdom.
I love that.
So I want to go in a differentdirection for a minute.
You were in the tech world.
You were you know, a corporateperson for many, many years.
How did you?
(39:21):
You had two lives.
You were a creative and anartist here and then over here
you were, you know, probablyleft brain executive and tech.
And how did you manage theenergetic you know from back and
forth when you'd go back andforth?
(39:42):
It's like you because we tend,as humans, kind of to silo
ourselves a little bit or tocompartmentalize maybe.
How was that for you?
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Because I think some of us really you mean like
business versus the art side?
Yeah Well, you know.
Unfortunately I suppressed.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
You said you painted through the entire career as a
tech person.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
I did off and on.
I mean often I had to,unfortunately I had to suppress
it.
Sometimes I did off and on.
I mean often I had to,unfortunately I had to suppress
it sometimes.
You know there, you know, Ilook back on my career and I was
(40:27):
, you know, thinking what was Idoing in my 20s, 30s?
You know, I've always been ahard worker, I've always been a
person to give it my all.
You know, I'm going to do thevery best and I'm very loyal,
but the intensity gets reallylike I noticed, like my late 30s
, my 40s, the intensity was sostrong I had to paint to deal
(40:52):
with the stress.
I mean, my life was first ofall and I love Minnesota, but I
lived in Minnesota for 22 years.
I was born and raised inAlabama.
Now I've lived in six majorcities in the country.
Six major cities in the country.
(41:18):
My average year, you know, halfof the year I am up at the crack
of dawn.
The first thing I'm worriedabout is the guy going to show
up on time to shovel the snow soI can get out, and fortunately
I had someone great who would dothat.
The snow was trouble.
I'm driving in the snow to MSPto catch a flight, okay, to go
(41:38):
somewhere.
And sometimes it wasn't themost pleasant meeting.
It could be like one of ourlargest customers who was angry
and ready to like cancel theirsubscription.
So there I am to help save theday.
I mean, that's just one exampleof what my life was like.
(41:58):
And then I had a huge I had thelargest division.
So you know a lot ofresponsibility.
Lovely people I had.
Lovely, you know, directors andmanagers working with me and
people I loved them all.
They were just wonderful people.
Directors and managers workingwith me and people I loved them
all.
They were just wonderful people.
But then you realize, likeyou're responsible for these
(42:19):
they're, you know they're.
They're locked in.
I don't mean like just becausethey have a job and you know
you're their boss or whatever,but they also need a chance to
advance and grow in their careerand as their leader, to advance
and grow in their career and astheir leader, you're
responsible for that as well.
Okay, so that's kind of adifference in how some leaders
think right, you know you'relooking at this person, you want
(42:44):
this person to grow and getbetter, you know.
So all of that the reason I'mmentioning that is all of that
is stressful, okay, so you hadall of that, so I had to paint
and or do something.
Music, food, you know.
I was pretty good about workingout and stuff like that.
But, it was hard.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
What I'm hearing you say is painting was your soul
saver.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
It was Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
Let me tell you, I painted some crazy stuff back
then, I bet, because that's gotto come out of you one way or
the other, so I'm going to takeus in another direction again.
I loved what you shared, though.
It all makes perfect sense, andI think you navigated it really
well.
Tell me a little bit about howcommunity plays into all of your
creative life.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
I recently relocated to Dallas so I'm still getting,
you know, acquainted with thecommunity.
I moved here in February.
But community is very importantto me.
I mean I'm a sociable person.
Anyone that knows me they'llcall me an extrovert, they'll
(43:59):
call me sociable, they'll callme gregarious, like I'm a very
outgoing person.
But there is a side of me whereI'm a little more laid back,
like I actually like being athome.
But as far as the community Iwant to, it's very important to
me.
(44:19):
Uh, maddox, um, I want to beable to give back Um, and I've
only started um with what youknow I want to do there.
I mean I feel like my art, youknow, I want to do there.
I mean I feel like my art is agift that I can share with the
community.
And you know my biggestchallenge is time.
(44:41):
Not enough hours in the day topaint as much as I want and to
do as much as I want.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
I think that's bound to be kind of a universal
challenge.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
I mean I know people, though, that will ignore
everything but what they want todo, so I do know, people.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
But yeah, you're right it is universal.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yeah, yeah, we all wish we could clone ourselves to
do more of the things that welove.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Yeah, Well, and you?
Know time is one of thosenon-renewable resources.
It depends on how you want todeal with it.
We can be trapped by that wholeconcept of there being time
decay, or we find a way to justfocus on that thing that really
(45:38):
fills us up.
And if for you that meansspending time curating a group
of friends and family to comearound and to celebrate you and
your art and all of the thingsthat you're creating, then what
better use of that non-renewableresource is there?
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Absolutely.
I mean, time is reallyimportant.
I think about how I'm spendingmy time, when opportunities
arise or when someone isreaching out to me to do
something or to go somewhere.
You know.
One good example is liketraveling.
(46:24):
You know, in my earlier career,you know, I traveled all the
time.
Whatever, I'm like a Deltamillion miler, okay, that'll
tell you how much I traveled.
Okay, but I used to get on theplane and sleep.
I'm one of those people thatcan sleep on a plane, but now I
don't sleep.
(46:44):
I have my sketchbook, and sowhat I have found is, when I
take a sketchbook on the planeand take, I have in a plastic
bag pencils and a pencilsharpener and eraser and I and
before you know it, I'm there.
It is the best way to spend thetime.
But also, you're doingsomething right.
(47:06):
So I'm sketching out what I'mgonna paint.
I wouldn't call myself asketcher, right, like a person
that draws.
I can draw and I can draw it tothe point where I can paint
something beautiful, but it hasto be painted, okay.
So, but yeah, the community getright to get the motivation to
(47:40):
get out and do more.
As sociable as I am, and itjust seems like everybody is
connected through, you know,social media and other outlets,
but I'm kind of an in-your-facetype of person, so I prefer
face-to-face connection withpeople.
So I prefer face-to-faceconnection with people.
You know, sure, you know itmakes sense when it makes sense
(48:05):
to connect in other ways, thatmakes sense.
But I like the face-to-face andhuman connection with people.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
I do as well.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
I want to use my art to you know, that's going to be
kind of my end to the communityand you know and how I'm going
to connect with the communityand actually do something
positive.
Right, we have an artscommunity here.
Speaker 2 (48:35):
They won't quit Right .
We have an amazing artscommunity here.
I use the word communityloosely.
We have artists here.
There's a lot of galleries togo to.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
There's more openings than possibly.
Yeah, love the art communityand DFW.
I love it, it's one of the best.
And I've met some great peoplemy father, so my father is 91.
He'll be 92 in August and Isent him pictures of the launch
party, but I also sent himpictures of all the events that
(49:10):
I attend.
He's like you've only been inDallas for four months and
you've met all those people andI said, yeah, I said, but a lot
of it has to do with Dallas.
I haven't changed.
I was the same way when I livedin San Antonio and it was like
a fraction of engagement withpeople that I've had just in
(49:31):
this short time in Dallas.
So Dallas is a very sociable,friendly place.
Kind of reminds me of DC.
I lived in DC in the 90s andpeople used to ask me well, do
you miss DC?
I said yeah, it's one of themost sociable places I've ever
lived.
See Dallas very similar.
(49:58):
You know, obviously, differentplaces, different.
You know part of the country,but the people and when it comes
to their social, socialexperiences and their approach
to towards you know, integrate,engaging and interacting with
people very similar.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
There's more opportunities here than one
could ever begin to takeadvantage of.
There's so much.
Speaker 1 (50:21):
Well, you know, some artists are not extroverts and
that may surprise some people.
Some artists are introverts,they want to be left alone.
A lot, I think.
Speaker 2 (50:31):
We hear a lot of stories of isolation, lots of
stories of isolation.
Speaker 1 (50:35):
But they need to get out.
I have a painting you saw thepainting at the lunch party
called the Extrovert, and thatpainting is about we need both,
we need extroverts andintroverts and just finding that
balance.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
Yes, we do.
Speaker 1 (50:54):
So you'd be surprised , like I have friends who are
introverted, like they're andI'm so extroverted, right, but
my friends are introverted and Ithink it's like a great balance
.
So they really look to me whenthey need like that social push
or whatever, and then I needthem when okay, kevin, just you
(51:16):
know, chill out.
Speaker 2 (51:18):
I'm'm in the middle, I'm an ambivert.
I can, you know, be social, Ivery social.
And then I have my times when Ineed to be in solitude.
So yes, I'm I'm that waysometimes yeah well, this, this
has been awesome kevin well, Iappreciate it.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
I you know I obviously have a lot of passion
for what I do.
Speaker 3 (51:42):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (51:43):
And a lot of, a lot of aspiration, a lot of dreams,
you know.
But that's what's me where I amtoday, like I've, you know,
I've always been optimistic and,you know, driven for
accomplishing the things that Iwant to do, and I think you know
(52:03):
it's kind of like a mind overmatter thing.
You know, there really issomething to well, you can do
this you know, yes, I agree verymuch my mother.
I left home at 17.
I was turning 18.
I just turned 18 when I lefthome and I went in the Air Force
(52:25):
and my mother said my mother's85.
She was talking to me hererecently.
She said you've always donewhatever you said.
Whatever you said you're goingto do, done whatever you said.
Whatever you said you're goingto do, you've always done it.
Speaker 2 (52:41):
Always done it.
Speaker 3 (52:44):
That is a beautiful quality to have.
Mr Dwight is the same way.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, yes, thank you for your service, kevin so we're
doing something a little bitdifferent.
This time we're tryingsomething new and you get to be
the guinea pig.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Oh, I hope I, I hope I serve you well.
Speaker 2 (53:02):
I'm sure you will.
So we have one final question,and this is the big question.
Okay, in your current real-timecreative life, what is the
biggest pain point?
Speaker 1 (53:25):
That challenge that, if it were solved, would be a
game changer for you?
Speaker 2 (53:31):
Oh, can I take a minute to process that you may?
Speaker 1 (53:38):
Of course, because I've already told you about time
being a big challenge.
So I guess I'm going to movebeyond the time, because time
has been a challenge.
Well, the biggest challenge tomy creativity, I'd have to say
(54:01):
that discipline, the disciplineright For me in the structure
and how I go about my day, allright, so what's different about
(54:24):
me than what I was before, whenI was, you know, in this
corporate world and all of that?
There was a lot of structureand a lot of you know, I'm in
date demands and things likethat.
Well, as an artist, I have someof that, but not nearly as much
, you know, and so, but becauseof that I don't think I am as
(54:45):
productive as I can be.
And you know, we talked aboutthe Dallas community, the art
community.
There's just so many thingsthat are going on and because of
my lack of structure, I haven'tbeen able to attend all of the
(55:06):
things that I want, becauseeither you know it's just, you
know I waited too long, or youknow I did something like that,
something like that, but thegame changer would be I'm very
process oriented.
That's my technical background,so I'm still my brain is
(55:27):
working on both sides, you know,having a structure to how I go
about my work and my businessand all the things, just really
having it down to a science.
Like you know how mostbusinesses, they have a business
model.
Right, there's a business modeland that's how people operate,
(55:51):
you know.
And then you know they havetheir strategic plans, they have
their operational plans and allof that.
Well, as an artist, you know, Ididn't really think about it in
that context.
Right, I just want to paint,right, and so we fly by the seat
of our pants, don't we?
Yeah, and I think if I and I'mlearning because I've been
(56:12):
working with artists in business, which is a professional
organization that actuallycoaches me on actually how to
run an art business and it'sbeen wonderful and I've learned
(56:33):
a lot come to me that make mebelieve that that structure is
absolutely critical.
It's absolutely critical ifyou're really going to be
successful.
You know.
So, when I figure it out, I'lllet you know.
(56:54):
Please, please because I havesome ideas.
I have some ideas.
It's a very unique business andI'm like a sponge right now.
Right, everybody's telling methings.
Everybody's telling me theright way.
You know, social media is likeat me.
Like you know, do this, do that.
My feeds are just filled withpeople saying you need to do
(57:17):
this, you need to do that.
And then I'm paying forservices, for people to tell me
what to do.
Well, I'm the type of person.
Well, I'm gonna take it all inand I'm gonna decide what I
believe and what I think willwork and I'm gonna create my own
.
Kevin.
Speaker 2 (57:34):
I love it.
You're not a sheep all day foryou.
Speaker 1 (57:37):
I am not a sheep.
I am far from it.
Speaker 2 (57:41):
I love that.
Thank you.
We need more people like youAbsolutely.
Speaker 1 (57:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (57:48):
I love your answers and I think you nailed it and I
really, really resonate withwhat you said.
Like I'm, I'm in that moment Iwent oh my God man, he's
describing your, your, yourchallenge.
That yeah, yeah, right therewith you, kevin, this has been
amazing.
Yes, I enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (58:10):
I I love talking to you guys and I really enjoyed
your company, by the way, whenyou came to the party, and thank
you so much for that.
I'll have to send you guys thepictures that finally got them
back.
Speaker 2 (58:25):
Yeah, we had a great time and we met some lovely
people.
Some of your friends andneighbors were really nice folks
.
Speaker 1 (58:32):
Yeah, I love that about Dallas and yeah, it's just
a wonderful thing it's.
I couldn't be happier right nowat this point in my life.
I mean, obviously I want topaint I'm able to do that.
You know, I'm following mypassion and I just feel really
(58:54):
really good about it.
Speaker 2 (58:55):
It very much does sound like you're living the
dream really really good aboutit.
Speaker 1 (59:01):
It very much does sound like you're living the
dream.
Speaker 2 (59:09):
We have one life.
Speaker 1 (59:09):
Maddox Exactly, and it doesn't end at 60.
Speaker 2 (59:11):
I just want to throw that in there.
I'm glad to know that, becauseI'd have been gone for a long
time if it did oh this was great.
Speaker 1 (59:19):
Thank you, I love this time of my life I never
would imagine when I was youngerthat I would be doing what I'm
doing now.
Speaker 2 (59:30):
Well, it's a nice surprise, isn't it?
Definitely Thank you forsharing your story and yourself
with us.
Speaker 1 (59:38):
We feel honored.
Well, I'm honored to be here.
So thank you both of you somuch.
And what I've found is the one mistake I made in the
very beginning was notpromoting myself.
You know I put my art out thereand you know I'm like.
Well, if they like it, you knowI'm going to get a response.
And what I've found throughsome of the professional
training I've had and some ofthe other experiences I've had,
(00:34):
is that people really want to beable to connect with the artist
and know who that artist is.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Thank you for saying that and calling that out.
Hello, you're listening to Forthe Love of Creatives podcast.
I'm Maddox, I'm here withco-host Dwight and our guest
(01:02):
today is Kevin Whitehurst.
Welcome, kevin, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I thank you for having me I'm glad with co-host
Dwight, and our guest today isKevin Whitehurst.
Welcome, kevin, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Thank you for having me, I'm glad to be here, we're
glad to have you.
So, just so the listeners know,we met you at a recent Creative
Mornings and had a lovelyconversation, and then Kevin
invited us to an art openingthat we had.
So we've gotten a little bit ofchance to get acquainted.
(01:30):
But today we're going to godeeper.
Kevin, tell the audience alittle bit about yourself.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Hi, I'm Kevin Whitehurst and I'm the creator
and owner of Arthealthnutcom.
So I'm an entrepreneur, I'm anartist, I'm a writer, and I have
a long history of how I got towhere I am today.
I had a career in healthcaretechnology for over 33 years,
(02:00):
and that career ended a coupleof years ago.
I made a conscious decisionthat I wanted to pursue my
passion, and so my passion ispainting.
I do oil paintings and I havebeen a painter all of my adult
life that I can remember, andnever did anything
(02:21):
professionally with it, and sothe opportunity presented itself
for me to do something, and,rather than retiring and, you
know, just kicking back, Iwanted to do something fun and
something I have a lot ofpassion about and something that
I could give back.
So I do oil paintings and Ialso do some creative writing.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, and for those of you that are.
Oh, go ahead, Dwight, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I was just going to ask how were you introduced to
oil painting?
Oh, it's an interesting story.
I've been asked that before,dwight.
So I love art.
I'm a person that loves art.
When I was in my 20s if you canimagine loving art and not
having any money to buy it Iused to look at art and I would
(03:17):
say, oh, I can paint that.
Maybe I'll just create my ownart for my home, because I like
a home filled with art and allof that.
So it was really self-motivated.
I am a self-taught painter.
I have since, over the years,taken art classes and things
like that, but I'm pretty muchself-taught, and so oil was the
(03:40):
first medium that I bought.
So oil was the first mediumthat I bought and I absolutely
love oil because it allows me toblend colors and things like
that.
So I've tried acrylic and I dowork with acrylic a little bit,
and I've worked a little bitwith watercolors, but my
preference is oil, no-transcript.
(04:23):
So yeah, that's how it actuallystarted.
I started painting abstract art.
Color is the big thing for me.
So you know when I would lookat my apartment at that time and
what colors I want and whatsort of style I want, and I
(04:45):
would just start creating and ofcourse, it was hit or miss in
the beginning, um, but um, I wasreally obsessed with it um for
for a very long time when Ifirst started.
So I I stick, you know, I stuckwith it Um after there's
sometimes, you know, I wentthrough spells where I didn't
paint.
I would go a full year and notpaint at all, but I always went
(05:11):
back to it.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Found your way home.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Well, for the listeners that are watching this
on YouTube, those are hispaintings in the background.
Yes, your work is very unique,very unique and very interesting
.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, they are by design, introspective and
thought-provoking.
The Art Health Nut.
If you don't mind, I can tellyou about that name.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
What's my next question?
So go for it.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So everyone has heard of a health nut, and a health
nut is a person obsessed withhealth, and you typically would
see someone obsessed withnutrition or obsessed with
working out and things like that.
So, adding art to that, you'rejust obsessed with all forms of
art.
So I felt that described mebest.
(06:11):
I'm obsessed with art, allforms 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.
And to me that's what an arthealth nut is, is someone who's
just obsessed with all of theseart forms.
And so art health nut was, youknow, sort of created from that.
(06:36):
It's really a description of mypersonality, you know, and the
type of person I am.
The health component I wanted tostay 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 youknow nurse practitioners and
(07:00):
doctors and therapists.
I've worked with all thosetypes of people and they're
wonderful people and Iabsolutely love that community.
And so you sort of marry thatwith art and that's really the
concept behind it.
Now, it's really art for people, it's really for people who
(07:25):
have a strong mind.
Some people get it wrong whenthey see Art Health Nut and they
think, oh, this is art, this ishealing art.
And for Penn it's like no, no,no, this is actually art for
people that actually have apretty healthy brain.
They feel pretty good aboutwhere they are in their life.
They feel they're strong minded, they feel good, they're
(07:48):
optimistic.
That's who I paint for.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Hmm, I love that because I was one of the people
that was thinking that it had todo with you know, painting your
emotions out on a canvas andand working through you know
it's kind of a bonus it's almostlike a visual journal, maybe.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It can be.
I mean I feel like it's a bonus.
I mean I definitely love thefact that, you know it has that
effect on on some people, youknow, and when I paint the art,
I'm a pretty strong, you know,strong-willed person, you know.
So when I'm talking about,let's say, critical thinking, so
(08:34):
I have a painting called theFascinating Score and it is, I
mean, you know, he's at the freethrow 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
(08:55):
know, once in a while.
Here's your opportunity toactually make things happen.
To actually make things happenand so by making the right
decisions and being able to dothat.
That's kind of the messagebehind that.
And then it was a greatdecision and it was a
fascinating score.
So that's one example of kindof the mindset behind some of
(09:21):
the artwork.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
And we enjoyed getting to walk through the
collection and see several.
There were several themes ofseeing I don't know some
metaphors come to life and justbeing able to see the characters
.
I enjoyed the descriptions thatkind of gave color to what it
(09:49):
was that we were seeing.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
And you know, maddox, you're absolutely right,
they're all very emotionallydriven.
You know most of my art BecauseI'm an emotional person and you
know that's reflected in my artbecause I'm an emotional person
and, um, they, you know that'sreflected in my art, um, and I
think it helps people that, uh,you know people who, uh, have
(10:13):
bought my art and and love myart, they, they, they all tell
me the same thing.
It just makes them feel really,really, really good, you know,
about themselves.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So I would say there is a lot of symbolism in your
art.
Yeah, you really absorb thepiece and look at it in the
smaller aspects, you knowthere's like a main character,
like a face, but then if youbegin to look at the smaller
details, there's all thissymbolism that I know has
meaning to it.
(10:45):
You know, look at the smallerdetails, there's all this
symbolism that I know hasmeaning to it.
You know, and, as you saidearlier, because you know those
symbols have meaning to them andI may not know what they mean,
it is very thought provoking.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Definitely thought provoking.
Not one piece could you have inyour house without someone
questioning oh, this isinteresting, let's, let's take a
look.
Tell me about this.
You know, and I love talkingabout it.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
It's, it's, it's just a wonderful thing to be able to
express myself in that way, andI always love the stories that
people make up when they look atyour art or you know, or my art
, you know, they, they, they seeall these things that I didn't
paint in there, you know, butit's fascinating to me that what
(11:37):
people will draw out of it thatmay or may not be there, Maddox
, that is the most fascinatingpart of this whole experience is
, and that's why I have thoselaunch parties right.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So when someone sees the art and what they see in it,
it's always something I neverwould have imagined.
You know that other people seeand I think that's the beauty of
art.
You look at art and you can seethings and and you know it's
just a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know you saying that makes me want to question
you a little bit further aboutthe launch, because we know that
many of our viewers are fellowartists or other forms of
creatives and you have a ratherunique thing that you do with
this launch.
That's well, to be real honest,it's maybe the first time I've
(12:30):
seen anything quite like it.
We attend a lot of art things,but the way you approach this,
the way you approached us theinvitation, the way you
approached us the invitation, Iwould love for you to kind of
share kind of a breakdown ofthat, because this might be
something that could open updoors for other artists to show
(12:52):
their art, because sometimesit's not really easy to get
representation in a gallery.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Oh, absolutely, and I'm a very independent person
and a self-driven person and youknow, sometimes, when things
aren't available to you, forexample, you know, if so, my art
isn't in the galleries yet.
But I have a home and I have agallery at my home.
So I will invite friends,colleagues, art buyers, everyone
(13:34):
to my home and I set up, youknow, as you can see, the ground
level as a gallery.
But the thing about the launchparty is, as an artist, you know
we work really, really hard onour work.
You know we're painting, youknow, sometimes, you know, it's
several weeks, it could bemonths, where I'm working on
these paintings and you reallyneed a boost right when you're
(13:55):
ready to show this art.
And I always like to docollections because that's just
how I'm wired.
I don't feel I could conveywhat I'm feeling in just one
painting.
So there's more than likelygonna be 10, you know, 10 or 12.
But having an audience that isintimate, that are comfortable,
(14:19):
you're in your own environment,they're there, you can talk to
them, you can, you know, haveconversations about the art, you
can really express yourself ina very open way about why you
painted it and what it reallymeans.
You can have fun by listeningto other people and what they
(14:41):
see in the art.
You know that's alwaysintriguing.
And then there are also thingsthat you learn about the
painting that you think twiceabout.
You know what someone may seeor may think about it and you're
thinking, oh, I definitely didnot want that message to get out
(15:01):
, that's not what it meant, youknow.
So that happens from time totime.
But I like the intimacy.
But remember, I'm an art health.
I love to cook, so I cooked allthe food.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And so again I wanted you to cook.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I love.
They were like you cooked allthis food.
Why did you, why didn't youhave a catering line?
Cause I love to cook.
I cooked the food.
I baked all the cakes.
I had five cakes.
You know that I baked fromscratch.
I didn't get really, reallyinto my music because I think,
like things just happened sofast at the party and I couldn't
quite get into my music side ofit.
(15:40):
But that's all fine, so it wasa blast.
I hope that answered yourquestion.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Oh yeah, no, no Great , I've got more questions, but I
want to draw a little bit of avisual for the listener, because
you said the first level of myhome is the gallery and, just to
be clear, it looked like adining room and a kitchen and a
living room.
It was fully furnished, it waslovely, it was very comfortable.
So it built in this warmth thatgalleries don't have.
(16:13):
You know, galleries are verystark.
When you go into them, there'susually zero furniture.
It's a concrete floor, thewalls are all white, it's very
bright spotlights and althoughyou did have some spotlights
around the room, but there wasart on every wall on the first
floor there was probably, Iwould say, way more than 10 or
(16:36):
12 pieces.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I thought I had about 30 pieces displayed.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
But you know, when you throw inthe combination of your, it was
your living room, in yourdining room, and you cooked all
the food.
And I also want to say that theday we met him at creative
mornings, he walked up to us andhe invited us and he pulled an
envelope out of his pocket andhanded it to us and it was a
(17:06):
personal invitation.
He does not put this out onsocial media, it's not open to
the public, it is by invitationonly and he handpicks the people
that he wants to come to this,which is what we do when we host
events.
Come to this, which is what wedo when we host events.
We curate the guest listbecause, well, I mean obvious
(17:31):
reasons, you know obviousreasons, and it made for just a
very unique experience, a verywonderful evening, and you know,
I think, that everybody thatwas there had an interest in art
.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Everyone had an interest in art and it was good.
And another thing for thelisteners out there I sold six
paintings that night from thatparty, six original, wow.
So I mean it's definitely worthit and I didn't have to go
through.
You know what I mean.
Another channel right to sellmy art and show my art.
(18:11):
Well, you cut out the middlemantelling me that what I'm doing,
go with my intuition right, gowith my instincts.
My journey has been quite achallenge as an artist.
If you can imagine being abusinessman for technology for
(18:35):
33 years and at an executivelevel, like what my life was
like then versus now.
You know, I used to spend mytime in meetings, strategic
planning and meeting withclients and conventions and
things like that.
Now I'm cleaning paintbrushes,you know, I'm going through
(18:58):
digital images of my art andlooking for backgrounds to, you
know, present it and all ofthose different things.
So it's a completely differentworld.
But what I struggled with wasthe whole promotion side of it,
the marketing side of it.
I cannot tell you how manyzeros that I've had to deal with
(19:20):
in paying people money whodon't listen and who don't
listen to you know what yourvision is Right, and so they're
sort of promoting me.
They were like promoting me andI was like, well, that's really
not me, you know, and you'repaying people thousands of
dollars to help you with socialmedia.
(19:41):
I didn't have experience withthat, so I paid someone to help
me with that multiple times andit was like, okay, I don't want
to get on a roll here, but ithas not been easy and what I
have found?
I always revert back to myintuition and do what feels
right for me and it seems towork.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
So I'm definitely not conventional right for me and
it seems to work.
So I'm definitely notconventional.
Well, I think you know you soldsix paintings.
It worked really well becausein my recent research I've
learned that most galleries geta 50% cut of every piece of your
art that they sell.
They do Now?
I mean, granted, you put a lotof time and energy and money
(20:24):
into serving like a big spreadof food, but I'm pretty sure it
wasn't equal to 50% of the take.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
The cooking thing was a piece of cake, man.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And you love to do that anyway, so that wasn't like
Love to do it.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yeah, what gallery are you you gonna go to where
you get cream cheese, pound cakeand coconut cake?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
exactly only yours only yours.
You know, um, kevin, what?
What wisdom would you have forsomebody?
Because we know that there'sonly a small percentage of
artists that get into a gallery.
That's not easy to do, andeverybody else is left trying to
(21:11):
peddle their art in whateverway that they can.
What words of wisdom would youhave for artists that are maybe
challenged or struggling the wayyou've described that?
You have struggled or beenchallenged.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Well, hopefully I have some words of wisdom.
I mean, I'm just wired to notgive up.
You know, if I believe insomething, I'm going to stick to
it.
So perseverance is reallyimportant for an artist.
But what I've learned?
So I'm still learning, right,it's two years in this journey
(21:51):
for me.
As you know, an artist inbusiness beginning was not
promoting myself.
You know, I put my art outthere and you know I'm like well
(22:15):
, if they like it, you know I'mgoing to get a response.
And what I've found throughsome of the professional
training I've had and some ofthe other experiences I've had,
is that people really want to beable to connect with the
artists and know who that artistis.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Thank you for saying that and calling that out.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Yes, it's very important and it's I'm getting
there.
Like me, being on this podcastis, you know, definitely a big
leap for me To just talk aboutme and and I thank you guys so
much for having me on herebecause I'm getting more
comfortable with it.
(22:49):
But you have to.
People need to know that.
You know the person that thatpainted the art, what it means,
why are they painting it?
And so I'm learning things likethat.
So now I'm kind of on this rolehere where I'm doing more to
get people to know me, okay, andas well as the art.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You know, I've come to realize just recently it's
come to me that people that buyart art collectors, they're not
really buying your art, they'rebuying you and the art comes
along with it with the deal.
(23:33):
You know, I really do believethat we see so many artists that
are putting their art out allover social media, artists that
are putting their art out allover social media while they're
hidden in the shadows.
They don't put themselves outon social media, they put their
art out on social media.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
And I think that it's not an either or it's an, and
Social media is tricky in myopinion and, of course, you know
(24:20):
, I admittedly am sort of oldschool in that sense.
In my opinion, you know,because you want to interact
with people, you want people toknow you, you want people to
like you and you want to showappreciation for people who have
, like, good content.
You know, one of the things Ilove about it is, you know, as
(24:44):
an art health nut, like I followall of these DJs and these
music producers and then theseyou know unknown singers and
people like that.
I absolutely love all of that,you know.
And then these people who are,you know, professionally trained
to talk about, you know,well-being and things like that.
(25:06):
I follow a lot of people likethat and love those people.
What I do not like about it arepeople who just have an opinion
and it's, you know, to a pointwhere, if you don't agree with
them you know what I mean it'sjust a unnatural way to interact
(25:32):
with people.
If you're gonna just, you know,disagree with someone, uh, and
you want to fight with themthrough comments or whatever, to
me that's noise.
To me that's a complete wasteof time, uh, for me, because
it's gonna ruin my day.
Like I want to go in my studioand paint, you know, and I want
to paint something positive.
I don't want to go in my studioand paint, you know, and I want
(25:54):
to paint something positive.
I don't want to, you know.
Respond to someone who had this, you know, weird experience
that you know.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
I don't respond to comments like that.
Right, I don't give it anyoxygen at all.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
But I absolutely love the social media.
I'm telling you, my musicplaylists have improved tenfold
since I got on social mediabecause I get to hear music you
know what I mean that Iabsolutely love from these DJs,
these producers, these, you know, and all age groups too, and
(26:30):
then all over the world too.
It's not just like in theUnited States.
I'm following people in SouthAfrica, people in France and
different places like that.
So it's a wonderful thing.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You know, another thing that I noticed about you
that I really appreciated wasyou have printed collateral.
When we entered your home thatnight, you had a table with
brochures that you had createdthat showed your art and told a
little bit about your backgroundand your philosophy.
(27:06):
And it's amazing to me how manyplaces we're in where I'll say
somebody do you have a businesscard?
No, you can find me onInstagram.
And they think that's all theyhave to do is just have an
Instagram account, that the onlyway you can contact them is by
messaging them on Instagram, andI just think that's
(27:30):
short-sighted.
I agree.
I don't think that it's.
I don't want to put it down andsay it's bad, but I think that
if you're giving people one wayto connect with you and it's on
social media, when not allpeople do social media, you have
limited your audienceconsiderably.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, absolutely, and it's.
There's so many channels, right.
I mean, instagram would only beone of them, albeit a very
important one for artists.
My advice to artists now I havea technology background, so I
embrace technology.
When I look at my budget, youknow, and all that I spend to
(28:12):
run this business and everythingI'm trying to do, I'm speaking
to artists out there who don'thave a budget or they don't have
a lot of money to spend onpromotion and other things.
But these apps and thetechnology out there, right,
(28:34):
that can create your, you know,your brochures for you, and all
of these different things,they're not very expensive.
I mean, it's very minimal.
We're talking a few hundredbucks a year.
You know what I mean.
We're not talking like hundredsof dollars a month, you know,
and it's worth using them andletting them do this.
(28:56):
Now, I struggled in thebeginning because, honestly, I
have about 15 different apps onmy phone just for when my art is
done, and I've taken a pictureof it and had it digitized, how
I'm going to promote it andeverything.
I have like 15 different appsor whatever.
(29:16):
But I'm telling you those appsare not expensive at all and
they are worth it.
It's like a tool.
It's like a paintbrush right.
So if you're going to go outand you're going to spend 12
bucks or 15 bucks or 20 bucksfor paintbrushes or a paintbrush
or whatever, well, I mean,you're not even going to spend
that much for some of these apps.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Well now, when you say apps, are you talking about
social media?
You're talking about platforms,where you sell your art.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
No, I'm talking about tools to allow you to present
your work in a professional,eye-catching way.
So one app, for example youknow what I mean like Smartest.
I love Smartest.
It is like the best thing sincesliced bread.
You have that.
(30:06):
And then there are severalother apps that I use to create,
you know, to create my posts.
You know my reels, my videos,things like that I'm.
You know, I'm just talkingabout this because it's really
not expensive in the broadscheme of things.
You know you're spending moneyon paint.
You're spending money onpaintbrushes and cleaners and
(30:29):
you know all these things, it'sit's worth it.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Keep in mind that there there may be some artists
with ambitions that really wantsto, wants to make a go at
giving their art to an audience,but they may not be able to
bridge that gap between creatingthe art that they love and
(30:55):
finding the people, who, whowould love to have appreciate it
yeah, so could you kind of walkus through?
Speaker 1 (31:03):
what?
What that process is.
Well, do I?
You know, that was kind of thelearning curve for me of finding
the right audience.
You know, I'll tell you mystory.
You know I was not on socialmedia before I started this
journey, because the socialmedia was handled by a marketing
(31:26):
department and they would justbasically come in and interview
me and do whatever social mediathey needed.
Now it's all on me.
So the first thing I did notlike that I had to do was
Facebook.
In order to have a Facebookbusiness page, I had to have a
Facebook page.
(31:46):
Well, naturally, on Facebookit's all my family, it's all my
friends, it's all my colleagues,whatever.
None of these people want tobuy my art.
Yeah, they'll say, oh, I likeyour art, I like your art, you
know, they're just liking mystuff.
No one's buying anything.
That's not my audience, okay.
And so that was kind of thefirst thing that I realized,
(32:16):
because of the way that Facebookholds you prisoner to have this
Facebook page.
Everyone's following me thereand no one's following me on my
business page.
So the business page brings novalue.
Now, I'm sure some of thelisteners out here may have
figured it out.
I would love to hear how tofigure that one out, but
Instagram has been wonderful.
First things first.
(32:42):
I would suggest not necessarilytrying to follow all the
artists that are on Instagram,because those aren't necessarily
your buyers either.
I think having an art communityfollowing is important, but
(33:04):
when you look at what type ofart you paint, why you paint it,
okay, so what type of peopleyou know would buy that type of
art.
Now I am trying to find peoplewho think like me, who are wired
like me, you know, and it'stricky on social media, but what
I found is you don't alwaysfocus on just, you know, posting
your art.
You're talking about thingslike what's important to me?
(33:25):
Well, you know, nutrition isimportant to me.
Well-being is important to me.
You know aesthetics, like Ilove stuff like interior design.
You know I love music, you know, and it's not just any music,
(33:46):
right, like, I listen to acertain type of music.
So I am looking, I amconnecting with people who like
music, the same music that Ilike and I'm finding that those
people are engaging more with me, with my art, and more
interested in my art, you know.
So your niche is tricky.
(34:07):
It's really really tricky, butit's not just following artists
or just, you know, getting allthese followers, you know who
would take a step back right,who would really appreciate this
art?
You know.
You know you as the artist, asthe painter, you appreciate it.
But you need to find people whoare kind of wired the way that
(34:30):
you are.
You know, unless you're thetype of artist like you're
painting something completelydifferent.
Like mine is more.
It's more theme oriented, it'smore humanistic, it's more
emotionally driven.
So I have to find people whoare wired that way.
(34:52):
But if you're painting likeairplanes and things like that,
you know you're going to need tofind people who are really into
planes, you know, or someonethat you know maybe they have
aspirations in that area.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Sure, and I think it goes beyond just tuning the
algorithm.
I think that there's a way thatwe're circling back.
Maddox made the comment earlierabout how when someone's buying
art, they're buying you, butit's a really old principle
where you just got to show upand be real and relatable, and
(35:33):
that's what you're trying tohave translate through the fog
that is the algorithm that'salways trying to dissect you and
try to figure out what topresent to you next.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Absolutely.
And the other thing I would addis, again, I'm one that I go
with my own intuition and whatI'm feeling, you know, and I see
, and I do look at what otherartists are doing.
Obviously, you know thing abouthow they want to present
themselves, but I am a creativeperson and I like to try
(36:17):
different things and do thingsthat are not just eye-catching
but are really creative.
And I think the creativityextends beyond the canvas.
Okay, You've got to get beyondthe canvas, and I think people
are just starving for somethingnot just unique, but something
(36:42):
positive.
Consider, my audience is onethat is, you know, optimistic,
and or, you know, maybe they'renot optimistic but they need to
see some sign of optimism.
You know what I mean Not doomand gloom or you know something
(37:08):
weirdly comical, you know, thatdoesn't really enhance your life
.
You know what I mean, you know,and I think it's, you know,
just kind of a sign of me, youknow, and my, you know, maturity
and aging or whatever.
What's really important to me,and what's really important to
me is value.
(37:29):
Like, am I getting value out ofthis?
And I mean value like, is itworth the laugh, Is it worth the
thought, Is it worth the tears.
You know, or you know, I thinkeach artist has their own
personality, they have their ownstrengths, they have their own
(37:52):
style.
They have their own personality,they have their own strengths,
they have their own style, theyhave their own creativity, and I
think they need to just bethemselves right.
Just, you know, I was told byseveral people, Dwight, that
there are millions and millionsand millions of people in the
(38:12):
world and there are people whoare going to love your art.
So don't compare yourself toother artists, Don't compare
yourself to what they're doingor their you know techniques.
There are people out there thatwill love your art and I have
found that to be true and thathas given me peace, like from
(38:32):
the stress right Of worriedabout, oh, are they gonna like
my art?
Or, you know, am I?
You know, there are millionsand millions of people in the
world and you will find them,and that's my encouragement for
all artists you, someone willfind your art, they will find
them, and that's myencouragement for all artists
(38:53):
Someone will find your art, theywill find you, and they will
fall in love with it.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
That's beautiful and words of true wisdom.
I love that.
So I want to go in a differentdirection for a minute.
You were in the tech world.
You were you know, a corporateperson for many, many years.
How did you?
(39:21):
You had two lives.
You were a creative and anartist here and then over here
you were, you know, probablyleft brain executive and tech.
And how did you manage theenergetic you know from back and
forth when you'd go back andforth?
(39:42):
It's like you because we tend,as humans, kind of to silo
ourselves a little bit or tocompartmentalize maybe.
How was that for you?
Speaker 1 (39:51):
Because I think some of us really you mean like
business versus the art side?
Yeah Well, you know.
Unfortunately I suppressed.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
You said you painted through the entire career as a
tech person.
Speaker 1 (40:07):
I did off and on.
I mean often I had to,unfortunately I had to suppress
it.
Sometimes I did off and on.
I mean often I had to,unfortunately I had to suppress
it sometimes.
You know there, you know, Ilook back on my career and I was
(40:27):
, you know, thinking what was Idoing in my 20s, 30s?
You know, I've always been ahard worker, I've always been a
person to give it my all.
You know, I'm going to do thevery best and I'm very loyal,
but the intensity gets reallylike I noticed, like my late 30s
, my 40s, the intensity was sostrong I had to paint to deal
(40:52):
with the stress.
I mean, my life was first ofall and I love Minnesota, but I
lived in Minnesota for 22 years.
I was born and raised inAlabama.
Now I've lived in six majorcities in the country.
Six major cities in the country.
(41:18):
My average year, you know, halfof the year I am up at the crack
of dawn.
The first thing I'm worriedabout is the guy going to show
up on time to shovel the snow soI can get out, and fortunately
I had someone great who would dothat.
The snow was trouble.
I'm driving in the snow to MSPto catch a flight, okay, to go
(41:38):
somewhere.
And sometimes it wasn't themost pleasant meeting.
It could be like one of ourlargest customers who was angry
and ready to like cancel theirsubscription.
So there I am to help save theday.
I mean, that's just one exampleof what my life was like.
(41:58):
And then I had a huge I had thelargest division.
So you know a lot ofresponsibility.
Lovely people I had.
Lovely, you know, directors andmanagers working with me and
people I loved them all.
They were just wonderful people.
Directors and managers workingwith me and people I loved them
all.
They were just wonderful people.
But then you realize, likeyou're responsible for these
(42:19):
they're, you know they're.
They're locked in.
I don't mean like just becausethey have a job and you know
you're their boss or whatever,but they also need a chance to
advance and grow in their careerand as their leader, to advance
and grow in their career and astheir leader, you're
responsible for that as well.
Okay, so that's kind of adifference in how some leaders
think right, you know you'relooking at this person, you want
(42:44):
this person to grow and getbetter, you know.
So all of that the reason I'mmentioning that is all of that
is stressful, okay, so you hadall of that, so I had to paint
and or do something.
Music, food, you know.
I was pretty good about workingout and stuff like that.
But, it was hard.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
What I'm hearing you say is painting was your soul
saver.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
It was Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
Let me tell you, I painted some crazy stuff back
then, I bet, because that's gotto come out of you one way or
the other, so I'm going to takeus in another direction again.
I loved what you shared, though.
It all makes perfect sense, andI think you navigated it really
well.
Tell me a little bit about howcommunity plays into all of your
creative life.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
I recently relocated to Dallas so I'm still getting,
you know, acquainted with thecommunity.
I moved here in February.
But community is very importantto me.
I mean I'm a sociable person.
Anyone that knows me they'llcall me an extrovert, they'll
(43:59):
call me sociable, they'll callme gregarious, like I'm a very
outgoing person.
But there is a side of me whereI'm a little more laid back,
like I actually like being athome.
But as far as the community Iwant to, it's very important to
me.
(44:19):
Uh, maddox, um, I want to beable to give back Um, and I've
only started um with what youknow I want to do there.
I mean I feel like my art, youknow, I want to do there.
I mean I feel like my art is agift that I can share with the
community.
And you know my biggestchallenge is time.
(44:41):
Not enough hours in the day topaint as much as I want and to
do as much as I want.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
I think that's bound to be kind of a universal
challenge.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
I mean I know people, though, that will ignore
everything but what they want todo, so I do know, people.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
But yeah, you're right it is universal.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yeah, yeah, we all wish we could clone ourselves to
do more of the things that welove.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Yeah, Well, and you?
Know time is one of thosenon-renewable resources.
It depends on how you want todeal with it.
We can be trapped by that wholeconcept of there being time
decay, or we find a way to justfocus on that thing that really
(45:38):
fills us up.
And if for you that meansspending time curating a group
of friends and family to comearound and to celebrate you and
your art and all of the thingsthat you're creating, then what
better use of that non-renewableresource is there?
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Absolutely.
I mean, time is reallyimportant.
I think about how I'm spendingmy time, when opportunities
arise or when someone isreaching out to me to do
something or to go somewhere.
You know.
One good example is liketraveling.
(46:24):
You know, in my earlier career,you know, I traveled all the
time.
Whatever, I'm like a Deltamillion miler, okay, that'll
tell you how much I traveled.
Okay, but I used to get on theplane and sleep.
I'm one of those people thatcan sleep on a plane, but now I
don't sleep.
(46:44):
I have my sketchbook, and sowhat I have found is, when I
take a sketchbook on the planeand take, I have in a plastic
bag pencils and a pencilsharpener and eraser and I and
before you know it, I'm there.
It is the best way to spend thetime.
But also, you're doingsomething right.
(47:06):
So I'm sketching out what I'mgonna paint.
I wouldn't call myself asketcher, right, like a person
that draws.
I can draw and I can draw it tothe point where I can paint
something beautiful, but it hasto be painted, okay.
So, but yeah, the community getright to get the motivation to
(47:40):
get out and do more.
As sociable as I am, and itjust seems like everybody is
connected through, you know,social media and other outlets,
but I'm kind of an in-your-facetype of person, so I prefer
face-to-face connection withpeople.
So I prefer face-to-faceconnection with people.
You know, sure, you know itmakes sense when it makes sense
(48:05):
to connect in other ways, thatmakes sense.
But I like the face-to-face andhuman connection with people.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
I do as well.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
I want to use my art to you know, that's going to be
kind of my end to the communityand you know and how I'm going
to connect with the communityand actually do something
positive.
Right, we have an artscommunity here.
Speaker 2 (48:35):
They won't quit Right .
We have an amazing artscommunity here.
I use the word communityloosely.
We have artists here.
There's a lot of galleries togo to.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
There's more openings than possibly.
Yeah, love the art communityand DFW.
I love it, it's one of the best.
And I've met some great peoplemy father, so my father is 91.
He'll be 92 in August and Isent him pictures of the launch
party, but I also sent himpictures of all the events that
(49:10):
I attend.
He's like you've only been inDallas for four months and
you've met all those people andI said, yeah, I said, but a lot
of it has to do with Dallas.
I haven't changed.
I was the same way when I livedin San Antonio and it was like
a fraction of engagement withpeople that I've had just in
(49:31):
this short time in Dallas.
So Dallas is a very sociable,friendly place.
Kind of reminds me of DC.
I lived in DC in the 90s andpeople used to ask me well, do
you miss DC?
I said yeah, it's one of themost sociable places I've ever
lived.
See Dallas very similar.
(49:58):
You know, obviously, differentplaces, different.
You know part of the country,but the people and when it comes
to their social, socialexperiences and their approach
to towards you know, integrate,engaging and interacting with
people very similar.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
There's more opportunities here than one
could ever begin to takeadvantage of.
There's so much.
Speaker 1 (50:21):
Well, you know, some artists are not extroverts and
that may surprise some people.
Some artists are introverts,they want to be left alone.
A lot, I think.
Speaker 2 (50:31):
We hear a lot of stories of isolation, lots of
stories of isolation.
Speaker 1 (50:35):
But they need to get out.
I have a painting you saw thepainting at the lunch party
called the Extrovert, and thatpainting is about we need both,
we need extroverts andintroverts and just finding that
balance.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
Yes, we do.
Speaker 1 (50:54):
So you'd be surprised , like I have friends who are
introverted, like they're andI'm so extroverted, right, but
my friends are introverted and Ithink it's like a great balance
.
So they really look to me whenthey need like that social push
or whatever, and then I needthem when okay, kevin, just you
(51:16):
know, chill out.
Speaker 2 (51:18):
I'm'm in the middle, I'm an ambivert.
I can, you know, be social, Ivery social.
And then I have my times when Ineed to be in solitude.
So yes, I'm I'm that waysometimes yeah well, this, this
has been awesome kevin well, Iappreciate it.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
I you know I obviously have a lot of passion
for what I do.
Speaker 3 (51:42):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (51:43):
And a lot of, a lot of aspiration, a lot of dreams,
you know.
But that's what's me where I amtoday, like I've, you know,
I've always been optimistic and,you know, driven for
accomplishing the things that Iwant to do, and I think you know
(52:03):
it's kind of like a mind overmatter thing.
You know, there really issomething to well, you can do
this you know, yes, I agree verymuch my mother.
I left home at 17.
I was turning 18.
I just turned 18 when I lefthome and I went in the Air Force
(52:25):
and my mother said my mother's85.
She was talking to me hererecently.
She said you've always donewhatever you said.
Whatever you said you're goingto do, done whatever you said.
Whatever you said you're goingto do, you've always done it.
Speaker 2 (52:41):
Always done it.
Speaker 3 (52:44):
That is a beautiful quality to have.
Mr Dwight is the same way.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, yes, thank you for your service, kevin so we're
doing something a little bitdifferent.
This time we're tryingsomething new and you get to be
the guinea pig.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Oh, I hope I, I hope I serve you well.
Speaker 2 (53:02):
I'm sure you will.
So we have one final question,and this is the big question.
Okay, in your current real-timecreative life, what is the
biggest pain point?
Speaker 1 (53:25):
That challenge that, if it were solved, would be a
game changer for you?
Speaker 2 (53:31):
Oh, can I take a minute to process that you may?
Speaker 1 (53:38):
Of course, because I've already told you about time
being a big challenge.
So I guess I'm going to movebeyond the time, because time
has been a challenge.
Well, the biggest challenge tomy creativity, I'd have to say
(54:01):
that discipline, the disciplineright For me in the structure
and how I go about my day, allright, so what's different about
(54:24):
me than what I was before, whenI was, you know, in this
corporate world and all of that?
There was a lot of structureand a lot of you know, I'm in
date demands and things likethat.
Well, as an artist, I have someof that, but not nearly as much
, you know, and so, but becauseof that I don't think I am as
(54:45):
productive as I can be.
And you know, we talked aboutthe Dallas community, the art
community.
There's just so many thingsthat are going on and because of
my lack of structure, I haven'tbeen able to attend all of the
(55:06):
things that I want, becauseeither you know it's just, you
know I waited too long, or youknow I did something like that,
something like that, but thegame changer would be I'm very
process oriented.
That's my technical background,so I'm still my brain is
(55:27):
working on both sides, you know,having a structure to how I go
about my work and my businessand all the things, just really
having it down to a science.
Like you know how mostbusinesses, they have a business
model.
Right, there's a business modeland that's how people operate,
(55:51):
you know.
And then you know they havetheir strategic plans, they have
their operational plans and allof that.
Well, as an artist, you know, Ididn't really think about it in
that context.
Right, I just want to paint,right, and so we fly by the seat
of our pants, don't we?
Yeah, and I think if I and I'mlearning because I've been
(56:12):
working with artists in business, which is a professional
organization that actuallycoaches me on actually how to
run an art business and it'sbeen wonderful and I've learned
(56:33):
a lot come to me that make mebelieve that that structure is
absolutely critical.
It's absolutely critical ifyou're really going to be
successful.
You know.
So, when I figure it out, I'lllet you know.
(56:54):
Please, please because I havesome ideas.
I have some ideas.
It's a very unique business andI'm like a sponge right now.
Right, everybody's telling methings.
Everybody's telling me theright way.
You know, social media is likeat me.
Like you know, do this, do that.
My feeds are just filled withpeople saying you need to do
(57:17):
this, you need to do that.
And then I'm paying forservices, for people to tell me
what to do.
Well, I'm the type of person.
Well, I'm gonna take it all inand I'm gonna decide what I
believe and what I think willwork and I'm gonna create my own
.
Kevin.
Speaker 2 (57:34):
I love it.
You're not a sheep all day foryou.
Speaker 1 (57:37):
I am not a sheep.
I am far from it.
Speaker 2 (57:41):
I love that.
Thank you.
We need more people like youAbsolutely.
Speaker 1 (57:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (57:48):
I love your answers and I think you nailed it and I
really, really resonate withwhat you said.
Like I'm, I'm in that moment Iwent oh my God man, he's
describing your, your, yourchallenge.
That yeah, yeah, right therewith you, kevin, this has been
amazing.
Yes, I enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (58:10):
I I love talking to you guys and I really enjoyed
your company, by the way, whenyou came to the party, and thank
you so much for that.
I'll have to send you guys thepictures that finally got them
back.
Speaker 2 (58:25):
Yeah, we had a great time and we met some lovely
people.
Some of your friends andneighbors were really nice folks
.
Speaker 1 (58:32):
Yeah, I love that about Dallas and yeah, it's just
a wonderful thing it's.
I couldn't be happier right nowat this point in my life.
I mean, obviously I want topaint I'm able to do that.
You know, I'm following mypassion and I just feel really
(58:54):
really good about it.
Speaker 2 (58:55):
It very much does sound like you're living the
dream really really good aboutit.
Speaker 1 (59:01):
It very much does sound like you're living the
dream.
Speaker 2 (59:09):
We have one life.
Speaker 1 (59:09):
Maddox Exactly, and it doesn't end at 60.
Speaker 2 (59:11):
I just want to throw that in there.
I'm glad to know that, becauseI'd have been gone for a long
time if it did oh this was great.
Speaker 1 (59:19):
Thank you, I love this time of my life I never
would imagine when I was youngerthat I would be doing what I'm
doing now.
Speaker 2 (59:30):
Well, it's a nice surprise, isn't it?
Definitely Thank you forsharing your story and yourself
with us.
Speaker 1 (59:38):
We feel honored.
Well, I'm honored to be here.
So thank you both of you somuch.
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