We were lucky to catch up with Matt Willey recently and have shared our conversation below.
Matt, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I think, as an artist, my work ethic is woven into the drive to complete whatever I am making. I was trained in art school by contemporaries of the modern art movement. There was no coddling in those days. You had to defend your work in critiques and really believe in what you were creating. I was trained to be an artist as much as I was trained to “make things.” Once I got it through my head that I was an artist, and artists make things, I naturally found a path for that practice. Even today, when I am stuck, I think “Well, Matt, it’s not going to paint itself!” and that gets me going.
Also, although I paint “bees” for a living nowadays, I never had a plan B . I really never wanted to do anything that didn’t involve painting. At this point, that involves activism and an organization to support the art-making, but the essence of it is still in painting.
The work ethic itself was definitely exemplified by my dad, as well. He got up every day and went to work in the business world (and seemed to really love it). Also, a lot of the artists of my generation (including me) had the delusional 1980s mentality that abundance would simply come if you work hard and don’t give up. By the time I realized that might not be true, I had the habits in place to keep going.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an artist and the founder of The Good of the Hive – a global art project based in my personal commitment to hand-paint 50,000 honey bees in murals around the world.
Mission: To get people curious about the planet we live on through the lens of art, bees and storytelling.
Vision: A world filled with people that see and experience the connectedness of all things.
The entire project started from an interaction with one tiny honeybee in my studio in Manhattan in 2008. That moment has grown into 52 murals, and over 10,000 hand-painted bees on 4 continents.
I never intended to become an activist and I most definitely had about as little interest in nature as you can imagine before I met that bee. But there it was, this strange connection that flipped a paradigm switch in me. Suddenly I couldn’t see anything the same and that included the art I was making.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Don’t stop. Making art is not that hard. Beginning is excruciatingly difficult. The blank canvas is terrifying. Just start. Make a mess and erase it, but get the energy moving.
2. Don’t get too lonely. As artists, we are equipped to be by ourselves. It is often just a part of the job. But make sure you connect with others. As hard as it is to make murals and paint while people watch (especially if I am not pleased with where it is going at the time), I do get uplifted by the human interaction.
3. Realize that money and recognition are not what makes an artist (or anyone) successful. If you are in that mindset, you are not aligned with your muse. Your muse doesn’t give a crap about getting written about or getting paid. They are there to divinely inspire YOU to bring something into this world that has never been here. Making art is like giving birth but arguably more painful because the pain can last a decade (or a lifetime) and still be there. But like parenthood, if you do it, you will be surprised, challenged, terrified and blissed out by the wonder of the process. Can we ask for more from life than that?
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I have two particular challenges right now that I am facing.
1. The Good of the Hive is at an inflection point where it wants to change (grow/expand), but I have to figure out how to do that successfully without losing the vibe and the power in the story. It is coming at a time when I am at the edge of my bandwidth each day. This is where most small businesses fail and I think the same holds true for projects like mine. How do we expand what is good and bring in the right people to help, without overextending and losing the beauty and power?
2. I have added a film project on top of painting murals around the world and although I know the passion for the project is going to bring it to fruition, there is more to think about and plan on a daily basis than I ever thought I was capable of. It is requiring that I flip from hyper organized to being in complete creative flow several times a day and that is no small feat.
Contact Info:
- Website: TheGoodoftheHive.com
- Instagram: @thegoodofthehive
- Facebook: @thegoodofthehive
- Linkedin: Matt Willey
- Twitter: @goodofthehive
- Youtube: The Good of the Hive
Image Credits
All Images © The Good of the Hive 2024 Photo Credits: Matt Willey, John DuPre and Thom Dodd
