Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brad Wegscheid. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Brad, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I do recall the moment I decided I wanted to be an artist. That would be as impossible as remembering when I decided I wanted to walk. It has always just been. Kids are curious by nature and I guess I never outgrew that. I have always taken apart, created, assembled and made new. Kids make up games and adventures with their friends and toys. Those adventures need props of course. All my art is creation, trying new, having fun and often I still tell stories. So I have always played and I have never stopped! I don’t sit still well and have not run out of things to try yet, so I guess I will continue being an artist.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Early on I knew I had to be in a creative field but I also knew life unfortunately required money so I was lost. I knew no one who made money making anything, much less art. So I figured I would be a train driver. I am quite happy that never panned out.

Growing up I did not know any artists who did art as a hobby or as a profession. My mom made a lot of crafts and did a lot of sewing when we were kids and that was the only creative adult I knew. When I was in 10th grade I heard about this public arts high school in Golden Valley, MN so I applied. I was accepted and that was two of the best years of my life! I was surrounded by only creative adults and all sorts of weird kids who did weird things in weird ways. It was pure magic! At the Perpich Arts High School, then the Minnesota Center for Arts Education, I decided perhaps commercial art would be a good mix of creative and “regular job”. So after leaving the arts high school I went to Northern Michigan University. I graduated from NMU with a BFA in Graphic Communication and got to hang out with more creative adults and weird kids.

I did commercial art for a few decades in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I worked for large high speed web press printing plants, corrugated point of sale manufacturers, and recreational equipment manufacturers. I got to do mundane things such as “This end up” arrows for brown boxes to making standees for such companies as Nintendo.

I still sit in front of my computer and create but it is not ten hours a day anymore and I am happy for it. The years of doing graphic design were amazing. Not only do I have the photography, layout and design skills to use on all my projects but I also developed a very thick skin for taking critique of my work. I think every artist should do commercial art for a few years because it has been my experience that when you do commercial art everyone tells you what is wrong and how to do your work. As a commercial artist you have to balance the wants with the best solution and very often just call it done.

Now I do mostly sculpture and a small bit of drawing and graphic design. I work with clay, cement, metal and wood. My biggest problem is deciding what kind of artist I am. Am I a ceramic artist? Am I a wood worker? Am I a sculptor? I do small works and sell things here and there but I am trying to focus on large works in public spaces. Each large work is a brand new set of challenges and opportunities to create something new. I love the challenge and problem solving required for large works and the satisfaction after months of work getting to stand back and watch people react to the finished work. Applying for proposal for art requests takes a lot of time. I have no desire to be well known, i like my anonymity too much, but it would be nice and less hectic to be well enough known that project ideas are brought to me instead of me having to seek each one out.

So I will keep creating and making so long as some of my work is appreciated by others and most important that my work is making people smile! I like the pleasing, whimsical, humorous and strange. I have no intentions of doing any heavy work or making any statements with my work. Thanks to years of graphic design under my belt I know when someone critiques my work it is but one opinion among many and in no way means the work is bad or has no value. I love harsh criticism because there is nothing to learn if all you hear is “that is great”. When someone does not like my work I can try and learn and grow or if need be just mark it up to their opinion and move on.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Because I am not 100% reliant on my artwork to pay all my bills my mission has just been to make people happy. I do not want to make 1,000 cups a day. I do not want to just do one thing. Some of my works I make a aeries of like my raku fired fish, but most of my work is a one off unique sculpture. I want my smaller works hanging or sitting in peoples home to really be something unique. I want to work to draw in people so they have to take a closer look. I want the work to be have enough texture and detail that the viewer has to keep getting closer to get a full appreciation of the work. Much of my work is also just simple fun and because of the colors or subject matter it makes people smile. I prefer my work to not just be wallpaper or elevator music.

All of my larger public works have texture, color, or design elements that encourage people to interact with the work or stop so they can get a better appreciation.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The reward of being an artist is sanity. I know this seems odd because so many artists are viewed as oddballs but I assure you the creativity gives them balance. When you create you have to be bold, do your own thing and make decisions. There are plenty of crafts and set by step art forms, and those are great to pursue as well but original art takes thinking and problem solving. If you are creative you have a desire and often a need to make. You want to try new things and make new things. How can you be unhappy if you are creating? You don’t have time to slip into flat earth silliness or worry about the color of your neighbors house if you are occupied and busy creating.

On the rare occasion I get stressed it is because I have neglected my creativity. When I worry, get down or need a reset going into my studio and being creative fixes almost everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.macaronicircus.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/macaronicircus
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/macaronicircus
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/bradwegscheid