We were lucky to catch up with Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik recently and have shared our conversation below.
Isaac, thanks for taking the time to share your lessons with our community today. So, let’s jump right in – one of the most essential skills for unlocking our potential is self-discipline. Where does your self-discipline come from?
Self-discipline? I’ve got two things that drive me. One is something a college advisor told me about writing, which I think applies to nearly everything: “if you want to write well, write every day.” So as a visual artist, I try to draw every day. It might not be something good, but it’s something. The other motivational force in my creative life is that I just enjoy what I do – it’s the thing I do when i’m procrastinating about *other* stuff. And since I don’t care as much about the other stuff (like, for example, fixing the patio cover), I’m content to just cut paper and cut more paper and I keep cutting paper and I guess that seems like self-discipline.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’ve got a new show coming up, with a lot of work inspired by two seemingly disconnected ideas: some CRAZY stuff I’ve been reading in the Bible, and a recent trip to Scotland with my wife. My art is usually inspired by traditional Jewish texts – either inspiring, or challenging, or confusing, or whatever – and I’ve been reading the book of Zechariah, which features a prophet detailing these visions and dreams and interpreting them for the populace. I took that, plus stories about mythical mystical creatures like the Leviathan, plus sketches I made while traveling through Scotland visiting places like Loch Ness and Ben Nevis, and the work just started flowing. Sinous, winding sea creatures… mysterious floating horns… a stone with seven eyes… so much of my recent work is a celebration of the weird and the magical and the unexplainable in our lives.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Ideas are the hard part – or if not hard, the thing you can’t force. You have them, or you find them. But tools are the thing that help bring those ideas to life. So, tools:
Don’t be afraid of them.
Learn all about them, use them as much as you can, and don’t be limited by what other people tell you they can do.
Learn what they’re supposed to do, so you can figure out what you can do with thewm you’re NOT supposed to do.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My wife has been a constant source of inspiration and ideas in my work. She has encouraged me, listened to me, and made me feel like what I’m doing matters – in some ways there’s nothing more important than knowing someone likes what you’re doing, or respects your efforts, or is willing to see a lot of junk because they know eventually you’ll make something good, and that person makes you want to make something good. She believes in me, and that’s been enough to let me figure out the rest of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nicejewishartist.com
- Instagram: nicejewishartist
