Meet Trevett Allen

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Trevett Allen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Trevett below.

Trevett, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience comes from the same place as my challenges, making things. Being able to bounce back from frustrating obstacles did not come to me naturally. I was easily frustrated when I was little. A healthy dose of ADD added an extra layer of difficulty. Luckily, when I hit that phase of being a little boy of maybe 8 years or so, my obsessions with dinosaurs and animals as well as space and astronauts got me drawing and inventing elaborate stories. Spending time in a Flow state is really important for my mental balance and resilience in particular. That’s always been true for me. This is both my blessing and my curse; my favourite flow activities were outside of school and later on, outside of work. The frustrations in my youth improved with drawing, became honed by competitive swimming, and has been preserved when I discovered poetry, painting, improvisational theatre, and music. I really think the tension between obstacles and flow really were my training ground. So, I guess resilience has been a habit more than any kind of intrinsic virtue. I think its essential to develop it both in things you really want to do — The Arts for me — and then to practice it with things that really terrify you. My current terror project is learning Salsa. I really struggle with dancing, so during a recent rough patch I decided I would attempt to learn it well. So far, I’m no longer horrible.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My life keeps pushing me towards entrepreneurial ventures. Running maker spaces in Detroit and Atlanta began to push me further in that direction than selling art had done for me. Teaching technology in Hong Kong pushed me even more directly into the path of a lot of entrepreneurs, and I started to get really interested in what everyone was doing. Now that I am living in Spain, I actually taught classes in entrepreneurialism in Seville. So, now that I’m in a part of Spain where there aren’t a lot of art jobs. Life pushes us towards the things we need when we take the time to pay attention. Most of the irritation in my life comes from failing to notice when life is trying to guide me in a certain direction but I fail to take note.

Over the past year I’ve been taking what I learned teaching during the pandemic and putting my classroom speeches into practice. For the same reason I enjoy learning to dance, I am really learning a lot about marketing. The challenge is real and I am learning how to find who needs what I offer most authentically. Everything else is either fun or just takes work. Bringing all of my interests into integrated offerings makes for learning that is more exciting and powerful.

I have taught a lot of subjects over the years but the threads that connect them have always been unlocking student’s authentic inspiration. Regardless of the subject, activatingan intrinsic interest and then building a sense of craft engages all students in the pursuit excellence. I have managed to help students create art portfolios that tell powerful and beautiful stories that come from their heart and community. These portfolios have gained them entry into some of the best art schools on the planet, I have helped students design and pitch projects that have gained national recognition, big cash prizes, and I think the reason that keeps happening is actually really simple. I seem to have a natural talent to inspire people to unlock what they really want to do. When we work from our true purpose, the results transform the artists as well as the final product.

Another reason I get different results most teachers do not (we all have unique strengths) is that I have a naturally interdisciplinary approach. The sketchbook is my favourite weapon of mass instruction. I see sketchbooks as both studio and creative space. I can sing, dance, draw, design, write, reflect, write songs and paint with poetry. I have used them to build furniture and camping trailers capable of highway speeds but you will also find daily tasks, silly notes, and grocery lists. So, whether I am teaching art or technology, my courses always weave in material science, philosophy, psychology and language learning. Learning how to learn and thinking about our thinking is powerful. In my approach and in my teaching, there is one central item of study: the creative process as the engine of innovation and discovery.

My business is called ApoKrino and I chose the ancient greek meaning because I understand the term to mean “well-considered.” I think that’s the obligation of the teacher, the artist, and the student: creation of excellence. This is the path to the design our best life.

– ApoKrinoArts focuses on Art School admission and top marks on portfolio assessments.
– ApoKrinoMastery is the intense study of the sketchbooks of the masters to create art processes as an art form in itself with a heavy dose of psychology and brains science incorporated.
– ApoKrinoLife is the art of exploring and designing your creative life through sketchbooks
– ApoKrinoTech is a program I am developing that incorporates science and engineering with art and culture for students of art and for young designers and inventors who want to invent anything from inovative art to the next app or the next handheld device.

All classes are personally designed. Cohorts are preferred to maximise learning to collaborate and talk about art in English. Call, email, or Instagram to talk or sign up for classes. I’m currently looking for new scheduling software and that will be available again on my website soon. This really is a profoundly different way to learn and create. Come experience the powerful results and feel free to ask for a free portfolio review or creative project consultation!!!

Email: trevett@apokrino.com
Website: www.apokrino.com
Instagram: @trevettallen – My personal art
Instagram: @apokrinoarts – Art program lesson work
Substack: @trevettallen – My writing about art and all things interdisciplinary
Redbubble USA: https://www.redbubble.com/people/trevettallen/shop?asc=u&ref=account-nav-dropdown – where I sell some of my work for US delivery
Redbubble Spain: https://www.redbubble.com/people/TrevettAllenArt/shop?asc=u&ref=account-nav-dropdown – where I sell art for delivery in Spain

Apps teaching sketchbook principles will soon be on the app store in late 2025 and I’m writing a children’s book for my boys: hopefully soon to be on Kindle

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

Courage and adaptability are near the top. Paying attention to what’s going on around you while being connected to what you want to do inside is key. Once you have an idea where to go, then its all about learning to take feedback and manage your attention. Obviously balance between philosophy and execution are key.

In my Substack — Notes on the Living Arts — I write some about fear and creativity. I also write about David Galenson’s observations about the life cycles of creatives. Finding role models who fit your thinking and creative style is powerful and learning from other people’s life experiences is invaluable.

But more than anything else, be bold in putting your real self out into the world. There is real magic in the world but it requires a certain kind of courage of us. Knowing how to avoid energy sucking situations but staying real will bring you the experiences and connections you need to grow and excel.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

This has always been one of my central challenges. For whatever cosmic purpose, I have never been in the places where I find mentors. My solution was to become that mentor I needed. Its why I became a teacher. I think my path was unnecessarily difficult and I repeated easily avoidable mistakes.

After teaching design thinking for 13 years in my Maker Space roles, I really value the power of collaboration. In fact I try to teach students in cohort groups whenever possible. We are social beings and it improves most of what we do. One plus one equals at least three when we collaborate.

I would love to hear about what you want to do. I will help how I can.

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