Meet Derrick Kearney

We recently connected with Derrick Kearney and have shared our conversation below.

Derrick, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

Trial and error. That’s the quick answer to your question. I had to try out many things before I could find my purpose. In some ways, I feel that it has been here the entire time. It is as if God wants me to share creativity, awareness, and joy with others. I was an expressive kid who began singing and snapping photos at a young age. I have a photo that you could call my inner child pic. It’s me at age four standing out front of the house in New Jersey. I am in front of a moving truck wearing a sporty tank top with a camera around my neck. At this point, Mom and I were on our way to Palatka, a small town in northeast Florida that is also an incubator for big dreams. I was tucked away in a space with the family church literally within arm’s length from my bedroom window. The house at that time was packed with generations of extended family constantly in and out for Sunday services with my grandmother at the church next door and to watch professional wrestling with my grandfather on Saturday evenings. It was around this same time that I would first discover the audio and visual creativity of Prince Rogers Nelson. I mean just imagine the look on their faces when all of the other kids in the kindergarten and 1st grade class want to hear the ABC song or Mary Had A Little Little Lamb and I’m over here singing along to 1999 and Little Red Corvette. In middle school, I discovered the sousaphone which in high school became the tuba. That took me to university in the big city. I would explore the rave scene on weekends getting into DJing for events throughout the area. After leaving school I hoped to somehow get on air with a radio station. One night while working at a restaurant I asked a friend who worked in the building with some of the radio folks who were there at the time if she knew of any openings. She pointed to a guy at the other end of the table and said that he needed an editor. Little did I know it was for video editing. But that began a fifteen-year career in television news. I would eventually trade the sunrises of Jax Beach for the sunsets of St Pete which at the time worked better for my night schedule. There is such a rich heartbeat of vibrant energy in that area I feel that infects into residents. I remember going to the old Dali Museum when it was next to journalism school downtown and looking at all of these crazy-looking framed masterpieces thinking that there is no way I could make something like this. Then I would come back a few weeks later and look at the same painting trying to think of ways that I could. I was never really into drawing, preferring to play with abstract and liquid-type designs over recreating set shapes with my hands holding a tool. There was a story inside that I knew God wanted me to tell, but I didn’t know how to tell it and considered myself too busy with life to begin. Art was that thing I would walk past at music festivals, remembering how cool I thought it would be to sell as a child. That all began to change for me at the end of 2016. I found myself sitting in the middle of a field overnight by a fire. Others were sitting with me of various ages. All of them talked and sang in languages I still to this day do not understand. A lady offered for me to eat a compact substance I will best describe as mud with sticks and drink a cup of water she says that she brought specially from her homeland. As the water drums tune for the next musical offering I remind myself that I am at this San Pedro ceremony to help me heal from the kidney stone likely brought about due to a past year filled with stress, trauma, and loss. I returned from that experience to not only an external house but also an internal body and mind needing to be refilled. I guess it was at that point I traded getting drunk for exploring art. I can remember going to a festival for my birthday those years and the first one I am pictured with beer in each photo whereas by year three it is only water. The last festival took place a few months after the medical experience, I would begin to explore painting as an adult shortly afterward. At first, I was content with just making simple landscapes while exploring other forms of creative healing. Sketching was a tip that I had picked up from a therapist on how to release emotions on whatever is going on around you currently. I got into practicing qigong at home and listening to frequency tones while meditating. I logged my dreams, remembering how I would find myself blowing sparkles in a glowing room onto a colorful surface. One day I decided to take all of those dreams which were starting to become nightmares they repeated so much and bring them to the surface. An emotional release transmuted into something more physical than tears. After weeks of gathering materials and watching tutorials, I mixed my first batch of paint for fluid pouring. Genesis was going to be a birthday gift to myself. A clock made using an old vinyl record from a damaged collection that I would paint with some hopefully cool colors before cutting with the hot knife. I had very cheap red, blue, yellow, and white that were mixed with glue and water using WD-40 for cells in the cup. Figured it would be a project I could work on for a few weeks between things. The next day as the paint dried I returned to work only to find out that my services were no longer needed. After a moment I simply replied that at least I have time now to paint. I returned home and decided to try again on other records from that damaged collection with some different colors. I figured it would be easier to test colors together versus using a canvas each time which I would have to purchase new. I began to record the painting sessions to rewatch them, kind of like how an athlete will rewatch tapes of their last match or game. COVID became the perfect opportunity where me could share it with others. I began with sharing prints that were done on cloth masks with friends and family which guided me into exploring the world of fashion. I am also sharing the videos from my painting sessions online. That has given me opportunities to teach classes and workshops. It all comes back to the same kid in a tank top with a camera looking to explore whatever comes next. He’s now back on the side of the state with sunrises, looking to make sure that he shares something that will make others smile.

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?

As I mentioned before my name is Derrick R. Kearney and I am a multi-disciplined creative artist. I am particularly known for fluid abstract and folk creations using different mediums including oil, acrylic, watercolor, and soft pastel. I have a growing catalog of canvas paintings and a collection of pieces done with materials such as wood cutouts and repurposed vinyl records. I have been sharing these paintings along with tutorial process videos as Shamanic Innovations, giving a nod to the personal healing journey that I have experienced over the past decade. My art combines sound and ceremony to create an experience unique to each viewer. As light breaks through the darkness, my usage of shifting metallics and blacklight glowing provides your soul with stimulation. I am truly honored to be able to share my creations with folks around the world using social media and for them to enjoy the artwork in person.

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

Three qualities are …. Don’t be afraid to start. Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to succeed. Looking back a lot of my journey has been spent observing. Watching others do so that I could see if it was something I wished to try or just thought looked cool. But there are only so many times you can view a tutorial before you give it a go. I think for me the hardest part of painting anything is starting, so just begin. Next, realize that you’re going to make mistakes. That’s why pencil drawing includes an eraser. I have a growing stack of paintings where the colors didn’t dry correctly, or where the paint cracks in areas. Maybe the surface wasn’t level and the masterpiece runs off the side, or something else disrupts the wet paint before it can dry. Sometimes the colors just didn’t mix well together leaving me with a surface filled with mud. You might not get it right each time you try but you will get somewhere each time for trying. When it comes to life, keep going. Spend some time doing the things that will bring you closer to what you want. Be sure of course to network, pray, and take lots of breaks to refocus the mind, but not too many that you lose sight of the goal. Sometimes you will need to try something else. Eventually one day you can find yourself where you wanted to be all along without even realizing it. When you do get there, take a moment to look over your surroundings. Have a moment between yourself and God to be grateful for just how far you’ve come. You can cry and laugh when needed as part of that reflection. Be sure to share the moments with others as well. But the first thing is to just start…

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I guess this is the “how do I deal with burnout” question. When you walk into my office nowadays the first two things you might notice will be a sketchbook and a yoga mat. I like to take breaks, dividing my work into smaller chunks. It’s way more manageable for me. Rest is just as important for activity as the eraser is in pencil drawing. When I was working in news initially as a video editor we would get a stack of tapes and a paper copy of the script. I would piece together the story in order for my finished video. Then I would have to set up this whole process again with a brand new set of everything, repeating dozens of times until I had enough newly recorded video tapes that each contained individual stories for the show. I would then cart these tapes over to a different room and play them in sequential order corresponding with the live on air show happening. There were four different decks for playback (providing they all worked) and I would need to remember to rewind each tape after it played just in case it needed to be used again. Now if reading that just gave you anxiety imagine living it on repeat five times a week. Back then I didn’t really take breaks how I do now. I was into travel and music sure, but didn’t explore creativity and the within. Now I am more reflective. I will also just find a different project or task to take my mind off whatever is blocking me. Sometimes just stopping for a meal is all I need to get me past the issue. I love cooking. One of the things I picked up as a kid was how to prepare my own food. Being able to share meals with others is a blessing. So overwhelmed, I might stop for a moment, stretch, say a prayer, have a bite to eat, play some music, jot down some notes, look out the window or into a picture and wonder for just a moment. Then after breaking down the larger into something smaller he takes a deep breath and continues.

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