Refusing to Specialize, Creative Clones Self

"Jack-of-all-trades" has a real nasty sting to it. Yet after reviewing the job postings recently, that's what employers seem to be after. Sort of.

Problem is finding the right combination of skills. Most frequently the ability to design front and back end on websites. Well, that won't work for this guy because I'm not a code jockey.

Other than that, is there any way to stay diverse?

@SpencerReady: "@mloreno Nope. Unfortunately, while looking for a job you really want, you have to advertise only exactly what you want to do."

My skills are a little different. Graphic Design, Filmmaking, Industrial Design, all are good skills in and of themselves, but together the make a stange multi-headed Hydra that sends up warning flares to potential employers that this guy is clearly "Master of None."

What do I say to that?

Well, you have a good point.

Clearly there is some Zen to selective ignorance, but all of my interests are my babies and I can't bare to kill a single one. Especially when I'm not currently being paid for any of them.

One set of advise says to create single-minded portfolios and resumés, but is it really better to show very little experience than to show diverse experience? Which things go on which iteration of the newly split self? How flexible is the definition of each job?

So, the pairing begins.

How do you prune your resumé? I'd like some good input on this one, please.

Why Art? Why now?

Earlier this year, the TED prize was awarded to JR, a French street artist. In his presentation, he requested that everyone participate in a global art project to “turn the world inside out.” He has a very specific vision of how anyone could participate in this by pasting photographs. A year ago, Rockwagon began to dream of a similar project. Just like JR, we want to turn the world inside out, but we have our own methods.

While studying renaissance art in 2005, I was in and out of cathedrals all over Europe looking at the original pieces. No prints or reproductions, these were the canvasses the artists had toiled with. It was breathtaking to encounter the brushstrokes and pigment in their actual physicality. Near the end of my studies, I began to notice something hollow and haunting about the rooms where the pieces hung. Often these spaces were empty or under-utilized. When we would spill back out onto the street outside, there was no shortage of people, but they had no idea what incredible treasures were inside. I wondered, “is this what was intended when the art was made?”

After a little prodding into historical accounts like Vasari’s “The Lives of the Artists,” I discovered that no, the paintings were not meant to be entombed. They were visual aides! The church had commissioned them to help tell their greatest stories and to reach a mostly illiterate population. They were intended to help transport the viewers to a different time and place so that they could grow and deepen their understanding. Armed with this understanding of art as instructive, character building media, I recast my purpose as an artist. My job is not to make pretty things that make pretty homes. My job is to use my inborn gift of observation to help others refocus and see the world from new perspectives, to remove boundaries of time and space and help people feel things they may have always known.

Never have I ever

Graphic Design, for me is merely a means to an end. The end is having the capital to do other more interesting projects.

My actual thinking went something like "I'll be a graphic designer so that I can make my own posters when I make my films." In that case, it was having the sweat capital in order to save myself money later while making films. I have ignored the impulse to make films, and have instead focused on other artistic pursuits like painting. The painting, however, has led back around to the film-making.

Does Graphic Design still support this endeavor? Should I turn to other mainline professions? Or is it as I fear; it really is the best home for the creative type as we plug on doing what we love on the sidelines?

Possible Cities for Adventure

Vienna
Dresden
Berlin
Stockholm
Dublin
London
Paris
Florence
Naples
Rome
Milan
Athens
Zurich

Who else has famous paintings in their old churches?

Dreamline No. 2

Leave the country.

Long term: Perhaps something like this.

Short term:

Kyle and I are painting live at TEDxOKC and they want us to pitch our idea of traveling across Europe painting in front of cathedrals. We will set up a Kickstarter account to raise funds for the trip and subsequent DVD production of the journey.

(I'm thinking of all sorts of logistical hiccups already, which is good. We like to see them before being onsite. Carry on-)

The first window to go is the month of May. The next is August, but airfare will be higher as it's the height of tourist season... which is a double edged sword. More travelers to see the works performed, more travelers to get in the way. I welcome opinions on this point.

Possible incintives for fund raising include DVDs, thank you notes, archival prints, and for major contributors, personalized live paintings. How do we feel about having a personalized live painting skyped in to your event? How important would it be to keep the finished painting?

So much for finding a Muse first.
The air is electric.

Dreamline No. 1

I made a small but important step this morning. I went through my underwear drawer and pulled out all of the pairs that I know are uncomfortable. I then wadded them up and threw them away.

It seems silly, but it feels good to liberate myself from those uncomfortable tyrants. Sometimes things exercise the strangest power over you because you paid something for them.

Enough. They are out of my life.

While I've been reading The 4-Hour Workweek, I've been trying to grasp what it is that I would want/want to do if time and money were no object. It's actually kind of hard. I've been trying to be rational for so long that I've killed a lot of my wild desires.

I did think of one thing though- I want to wear clothes that fit. Not just what is sorta my size and is on sale. It's such a small thing, but I feel like it would make a difference. I'm tired of mass-market clothes that are designed for a non-existent "average person," I need to find a really good tailor.

The funny thing about dreaming about what I would want if I removed imaginary obstacles is that looking at what I want- it doesn't seem unreasonable at all.

Doable right away even.

Hm.

Updating Portfolios, Jobs Boards.... there are so many of them.

Heres a fun little gizmo that Coroflot.com puts out for their profile pages:

view my portfolio:
coroflot.com/mloreno

Hopefully that will open up some of my portfolio viewing.

I still don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. There's a big difference between "can do" and "will do" that people with more maturity seem to have a better grasp on than I do.