We were lucky to catch up with John Berry recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi John, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
My journey with risk? That’s a good question. Each time I have come to a crossroad in my career or in my work, I’ve always approached it from the standpoint of, “what do I want to do” or “where do I want to see myself in a year”. This has not always resulted in decisions that make sense, but usually in decisions that are best suited to my personality and my desire to communicate through my paintings in an honest and genuine way. So, I guess that is “risk”, but to me it’s always been staying true to who I am and what I want to communicte. Be genuine and vulnerable.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I like to think I tell stories. Or more to the point, I like to express through paint the human experience we all commonly share. Many pieces of my work are an expression of thoughts or feelings I have and experiences that have happened to me. But I think they are also common to most everyone on this planet. So at times, what I do may seem to come from a selfish point. But when I see a sparkle of recognition in others as they view my work, I realize that they too have felt the same way. It’s very satisfying. I currently work with five art galleries around the country that sell my art. Initially out of college, I worked as a freelance illustrator. Working with editorial and coporate entities all over the world. This was exciting but demanding work. The deadlines and even at times, what seemed like a lack of creativity, drove me to reconsider what I actually wanted to be doing. At this point, somewhere around 2001, I realized that maybe I just wanted to create what I wanted to create and not be tied down to someone else’s ideas or even a structured idea from a magazine article or the like. So I walked away from the illustration world and began just painting. That sounds simple, but it reality it was not. It took a lot of contemplation and risk to acutally figure out what I wanted to say in my own art. What a journey it has been and continues to be.
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?
#1. Persistance. Never give up. I mean it, never give up. #2. Creativity. When you are self guided in your work, what is it that keeps you focused or gives you excitement?
#3. Always be willing to learn and begin again.
I am not sure how you can develope these skills. In some respects, you either have it or you don’t. Honestly, I have always thought there are a million ways to make a living. So what do you actuallly want, really want to do? As opposed to what you “think” you want to do? I’ve discouraged many people from wanting to become an artist. This may sound harsh, but I realized I could save them a lot of time, pain and anguish by having them rethink what they actually wanted to do. Because in the end, I also know, that you cannot discourage someone who is really is an artist.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
The most powerful tool for discouragement or feelings of being overwhelmed, is to just get to work. Do one thing. Then do another. Do not look to far down the road. Putting your head down and pushing forward, even if you do not currently know the directioin to go is the remedy for these feelings. The best words of advice I’ve ever heard were, Quit your crying and get to work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/john-berry
- Instagram: john.paul.berry
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRZFi1tAYunMHRzkSLPXoYA/featured
