We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sharif Carter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sharif, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
As an artist, I recently found myself falling into a rut of monotony with my paintbrush. After 10 years of building my portfolio with a particular theme and style, my creativity was beginning to fade. Yes, it’s important to establish a definitive brand for yourself, but I found it hindering me from reaching the next phase of creative growth. In other words, my sinusoidal path as an artist was beginning to straighten, and I do not like straight lines.
To keep the creativity alive, I began traveling more and immersing myself into different cultures. Photography is another passion of mine, so with camera in hand I began to roam and soon discovered the beautiful world of street art. I found myself getting lost in the creative environments of some of the best street artists in Lisbon Portugal and now the alleyways and trendy neighborhoods of Melbourne Australia.
After visiting over 50 street art sites, I’m anxious to see how the visuals will impact my next phase of artwork.
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?
At this point in my life, I’ve hit the pause button on my engineering career and have taken a laissez-faire approach on life. After a couple of decades trying to please others in the daily grind, I’m now focused on myself and my journey. The globe is now my home and art is my most valuable tool. Art is my communicator when I don’t wish to speak, my release when I don’t want to scream aloud, and my solace when I need mental stability. I travel from country to country with art as my companion to see how I’m influenced by other cultures and people.
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?
In my world, there will never be three identifiable skills that I deem as the most impactful in my journey. As a creative, it’s impossible for me to quantify such a definitive set of skills. One skill may influence another, and in turn may influence an infinite number of other skills all deemed either valuable or invaluable. However, I do believe being kind to others, having faith, and taking breaks to enjoy the highs of life are qualities that have kept me afloat during challenging times.
Alternatively, I found failures that occurred as a byproduct of executing so called “skills for success” to be the most value to me. Reflecting back on my life’s journey, I’ve always admired my ability to rebound from failures. It takes failures to perfect skills, or all skills arise from a series of failures. It takes failure to grow and mature. How do you know if you need to climb higher if you’ve never fallen down? Basically, I love to fail because I have faith to rise again. Plus, my middle name, Iman, means ‘to have faith’.
I do find it mesmerizing how my use of a 0.5mm mechanical pencil has always and will continue to be the heart of my creative and analytical journey. From drawing impossibly detailed architectural drawings as a 14-year old nerdy kid in middle school, to drafting race car schematics in college, to sketching the beginning curves of a dancer in a painting as a professional artist today, everything in my life begins when that mechanical pencil touches the surface. So, my advice for folks reading this is to find your “mechanical pencil” and embrace it.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I’ve been reading a book by Michael Pollan called “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” which, in the beginning chapters, discusses the duality of good and evil between Zea mays, aka corn, and nitrogen. One being the foundation of human survival and the other to sustain population growth and demand. The synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen gases by German scientist, Fritz Haber, revolutionized soil fertilization which accelerated crop production to save millions of people. However, the poisonous gases derived from that same technique was used as a deadly weapon killing millions during World War I.
Lately I’ve been fascinated with food and it’s historical impact on humankind. From its molecular composition, how it’s cultivated, and how it can be re-engineered to reduce it’s impact on the longevity of earth’s resources.
As an engineer, I always want to use my skills to have a positive impact on how we navigate this planet. However, we must be cautious of the negative impacts that may arise from any discoveries along the way. This book has been a solemn reminder of that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sharifcarterart.com
- Instagram: @sharifcarter
- Facebook: @sharifcarterart
Image Credits
all images taken by me
