I pride myself on thinking outside of the box. I’ve actually won quite a few contests by thinking just a tad different then everyone else. I like it and it’s fun! A few weeks ago I went to Dallas for a work conference. Going in I thought that it would be full of suits and boring conversation trying to network your way into an investment worth a million dollars…boy was I wrong.
There were suits and lots of networking but it was an incredible experience! The speakers alone were worth the pain of leaving my boys for the longest time to date. I got to watch President George W. Bush teach us how to be leaders and Eric Whitacre talk about how he grew a huge social media following and create the first virtual choir. The most amazing keynote speaker was the last speaker at the closing ceremony.
Before attending, my boss and I, talked about how we should have booked an early morning flight so we could get back to our families early instead of later that afternoon; we had no idea what we were about to see. Quite a few of the advisors were not at the closing ceremony. They. Missed. Out.
At the beginning of the conference we were given a booklet containing the itinerary and schedule for all of the classes. Each speaker had a mini biography explaining the talk. The little byline for the closing speaker was that he’s a graffiti artist out of California and he’s going to give us some tips on creative thinking. His name is Erik Wahl.
The stage was set up with drawing paper on three different easels. There was a table with supplies on it right in the middle. When Erik came on stage he talk very briefly and then said something like, I’ve always found it better to show you what I mean, rather than tell. Show he did. He grabbed a black canvas from behind an easel and set it up and began his performance. I say performance because he didn’t just paint. He didn’t just draw. Once the music came on he danced, drew and painted with his entire being. He used paint brushes at first but then he was painting with his hands and arms. We all watched, tired from the previous nights, wanting to go home but as the song Beautiful Day blasted from the speakers his painting came to life. In four-ish minutes it takes for that song to play Erik painted Bono. It was incredible.
I remember thinking, this guy could finish a years worth of work by listening to ONE CD!
Erik lured us in and won our attention. He told us that he was when he was four his preschool teacher didn’t think his drawing of a blue duck (or something like that) was right and that he couldn’t draw. He didn’t do anything art related for decades. A big catastrophe sent him into bankruptcy and depression. Erik said that he continued in this downward spiral of depression for months. A friend of his, attempting to pull him out of the hole, said he should travel. Being recently bankrupt he didn’t have the luxury to travel so he went to a store and bought some paint brushes. The rest is history.
He talked about fears and perceptions painting between subjects. We listened to two more songs and saw two more painting performances.
I started the conference never hearing of Erik Wahl, now I will never forget. Check out this video I took of the last performance.
Much love,
Jes xoxo