We recently connected with Bruce Helander and have shared our conversation below.
Bruce, 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?
When you realize early on that you have a natural talent that most do not know at some point you want to expand professionally which requires thoughtful goals that can only be achieved through discipline… everyday… every hour… working on multiple fronts… like a circus juggler..!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My story is certainly an interesting journey. I was born in Kansas where I embraced a strong work ethic. My mother had attended the Rhode Island School of Design and naturally had an important influence on my interests, and she inspired my own creativity. I began to collect found objects that I would discover in secondhand stores as well as printed materials from vintage magazines that I would cut up and rearrange into compositions without knowing the terminology for the technique. I later learned I’d been creating a collage, which comes from the French word ‘coller’ and means ‘to glue.’
Like many young male artists, I struggled with dyslexia and had a very difficult time deciphering the basics of reading, writing, math, and science. I was a complete failure in those categories and frustrated that even with a high IQ, it was almost impossible for me to grasp basic academic skills. Recognizing my learning disabilities and academic challenges, my mother encouraged me to concentrate on what I did best, which was to make artworks. So, art turned out to promote self-esteem and a pat on the back from teachers and classmates. My father, who was drop dead handsome, was Swedish and my mom was a beautiful woman who loved to dance and involve me with creative projects. My dad, who owned an IGA grocery store, showed me how to paint window signs on butcher paper that advertised sale items. This was, without me realizing it, my first professional learning experience, which gave me confidence and the satisfaction that I could succeed in something. Calligraphy came next and I excelled in addressing envelopes embellished with cartoon characters that eventually were incorporated into my artworks.
After graduating from high school, I applied to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and against my guidance councilor’s recommendation that I was wasting my time, was accepted. I majored in Illustration and later received a master’s degree in Painting. I managed to keep three part-time jobs during the school year and later was appointed the acting Provost and Vice President for Academic affairs at the age of 29. As I was concerned that I would get too comfortable with an academic position and lose my ambition to become a professional artist, I moved to Palm Beach, Florida to set up a studio and a gallery on Worth Avenue, and developed my career that allowed me to learn the business side of art.
I’m proud to say that I am a full-time artist with works in over 50 museum collections including the Guggenheim, Whitney and Metropolitan Museums. I was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2014 and am a former White House Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts.
I stay focused on professional projects and exhibitions, as well as writing on art for a number of publications including the Huffington Post and WhiteHot Magazine of Contemporary Art. We also write, design, and publish books on other artists, with one of the most recent on glass artist Dale Chihuly. I love that I am involved with a creative process seven days a week, which stimulates creativity and happiness.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The most impactful qualities that have been game changers in my career were studying art at a renowned art school with a superior faculty, being influenced by ambitious and talented people, and having a strong work ethic. My advice to those just starting out is to immerse yourself into the subject or skill that you are pursuing, read constantly about others who are super achievers in the career that you are interested in, and work day and night. I don’t take vacations. Vacations from what I love!? When I do take a break, it normally is connected to a show opening that I travel to and then stay over a few extra days.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Producing hardcover books for artists and photographers—at the moment, we are working on three separate books. Another area of growth in the last year is writing art reviews for the WhiteHot Magazine of Contemporary Art, and I’m proud to add it to my distinguished list of publications to which I have contributed. We also work weekends in our expansive south Florida gardens, tending to orchids of many varieties as well as growing bananas, pineapples, papaya, grapes and, believe it or not, coffee!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brucehelander.com
- Instagram: @bhelander
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BruceHelander
Image Credits
Tyler Sargent/Sargent Photography Robert Kirschner/Passport Publications
