Meet Brandon Allebach

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brandon Allebach a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brandon, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

Having Holt Oram Syndrome, the shortening of arms and missing digits, sure gets noticed in a room. Looking at me, I can’t say it was effective or successful in places like the gym at school or at job interviews – places I probably wasn’t suited for. I overcame that stigma and social challenge when I embraced the arts for a living. Specifically, it happened one day when I walked in a gallery and I could hear the owners talking with customers, saying something about the paint on my clothes. They were amazed I had painted what was in front of them, amazed I did that! People realize I use my hands to paint my art. They can see the passion on my paint-stained clothes, the smile in my face, and energy in my voice. It all resonated because I was proud of who I was, and what I do with these hands.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m just a guy who loves to paint. Art was always embraced in childhood and adolescence, and when I lived on my own after high school, I had a lot of bare walls. I filled them with large intricate drawings and started making them for friends. When I moved to Albuquerque to be near family I had even larger bare walls! I went to community college majoring in art history and simultaneously had enough art for an art show one summer of 2008 where family and friends helped me setup. I was shy and had no idea what I was doing. It all happened so fast but by the end of the year I decided this was what I wanted to do with my life; make cool people cool art.
Professionally, I’m in the process of scaling up my styles for larger canvases and possible future murals. It’s actually been much more challenging than I thought! What I live for, what I truly love to do, is just paint. Painting in the flow state where time is meaningless and seeing a creation come alive as an extension of my thoughts and feelings is what never gets old. I recently acquired a 72-count set of Liquitex paint and am having fun using colors and palettes I’ve never tried before. I try to spend as much time exploring and messing around as I can, being less technical and more intuitive. The most unique and creative things happen when I “make a mistake” and enjoy the journey rather than focus on a destination.
An organization that makes this possible for me is Art Lifting, an organization that champions artists with disabilities. They have an active and ongoing collection of my art, available on their website.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Play – Art takes me back to that exploratory, messy, innocent place in my childhood where finger painting and crafts was imagination turned a physical creation. Tapping into that playful intuitive expression allows me to paint new concepts and techniques I haven’t tried before. It allows me to have fun and not take it so seriously. It also breaks the painters-block I’ve had – staring at a blank canvas for hours saying to myself “what do I do?”
Embrace mistakes – While I’ve taken art classes, most of my learning has been from trying and failing. But by failing, I learn what I would do differently next time. Critically analyzing my art gives me insight to future changes in my approach, from my technique, composition, rhythm, depth of inspiration, etc. I believe that doing this over and over creates an artists’ individual style – the way they do things differently.
Do it your way – Everyone has an opinion, an idea, a bit of advice. Don’t try to be everything to everyone – we couldn’t even if we tried! Rather, be unique in how and why you paint, how you display, exhibit, and communicate your art to others. It’s what allows the art and the artist to stand out from the rest.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I met a kid in drawing class far superior in skills than any in the class. But he failed the class because no matter what the teacher asked he wouldn’t even attempt it. He would draw something else amazing and beautiful, but that inability to adapt to a different medium, technique or approach kept him from making anything different.
Personally, I got into this because I loved it, and people supported me. Little did I know that I had to be a photographer, framer, shipper, accountant, and salesperson! I like to think of the 80/20 percent relationship when identifying and managing my weaknesses. Woody Allen said about success, “80 percent is just getting there”. I think for an artist it means the 80% is our talent and passion, the part that’s easy because we care about it. But the remaining 20 percent is wearing all the other professional “hats” to make it a continued and long-term success. It takes true dedication to get good at things you suck at, to make your art more accessible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.BrandonAllebach.com
• Other: https://www.ArtLifting.com