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

Todd, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

To be honest, I never really thought about it. I’m always searching for things that keep me interested and engaged. I can tend to get bored with things after a while. It’s probably why I was in the tech industry for over 20 years. There was always something new to learn. Things constantly changed and evolved. I created my own software company. Which gave me the opportunity to provide solutions in various industries. While I truly appreciated the financial rewards, the cumulative stress and health issues that started to arise and made me start to rethink the things that I really valued. So, life balance started to become a priority. I turned back to art to sort of turn things off. I started carrying a sketchbook as a way to document and pass the time while I traveled. I then had a desire to paint again. It was a real challenge due to my hectic schedule. This was one of the main reasons that led me to watercolor. It was compact and portable. I could take a small setup with me anywhere.

When my wife and I moved from NYC to Nashville, TN we decided I’d take a break to clear my head and figure out what I wanted to do next. This led me to painting en plein air or painting subjects on location. I was already kind of doing this already. It was just a natural progression. It’s become the basis of my work. Once we were settled in Nashville, I treated painting like it was my full-time gig. Learning what I could to improve, and then isolating myself to practice. This quickly turned into me showing and selling my work as well as teaching. It was soon thereafter, I was happier, certainly less stressed as well as on my way to being able to make a living.

I don’t know how much I’d really change other than to acknowledge that I could’ve started earlier and did painting on the side in order to make a smoother transition.

Todd, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always been inquisitive about learning anything that I find interesting. My wife calls me a tinkerer. I think more like what a “Maker” can be defined as nowadays. I’ve done a variety of things such as playing music, working in the restaurant and construction industries, before getting into the tech industry. I believe we build upon all our previous experiences. Even if they don’t seem so apparently related. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but I seem to have things find me instead of the other way around. I tend to do things out of necessity. I work in many mediums besides watercolor, such as charcoal, and clay/digital sculpting. Each one helps me find a way to express myself and work through various challenges.

When I first turned back to art, it was just a way for me to decompress, clear my head, and keep the stress at bay. I never intended to do this for a living. Before moving to Nashville, I had traveled and worked remotely for many years. So I’m fairly comfortable in my own skin. But once we were settled, I found that I wasn’t prepared for how isolated I would be. Often not seeing another person for days, especially since my wife was still traveling for business. A friend suggested I try plein air painting. I initially did that just to get out of the house. I loved it from the first day. The locations became the backdrop of the crazy stories I’d create in my head as I would draw and paint. People started coming up to me and asked where they could see or buy my work. I’d explain I was just doing it for myself. As this kept happening, I thought, why not, I could sell some paintings to buy supplies. It was a way I could support my new habit. We have such a supportive art community here in Nashville. It’s not just music. As I met other artists, they’d ask if I teach or give workshops. I love sharing whatever I know. I’m a firm believer in that if you want to learn something at a deeper level, teach it to someone. So, I started giving workshops. We learn so much from each other.

I’m truly fortunate that there are people that are interested in what I do. And if I can pass something along to a fellow artist that resonates with them and moves them further along their journey that’s fantastic.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The arts in general can be a tough sell. Especially when compared to academia. I think many of us overlook what skills creative people use all the time. Honing any craft can be a solitary one. The focus is on the end result instead of the skills that are used in the actual process, My perspective on this is based on having lived both sides – a very technical and analytical one and now a very creative one. There are a lot of parallels between the two.

I once was asked to give a talk to some high school students and their parents. It was part of an art event that the students put on for their annual show. The topic I was asked to talk about was “how to make a living with art”. As you can imagine, there were many parents in attendance ready to provide damage control as they paid a great deal of money for their kids to attend this school and their expectations were not to have their kids lead the life of a starving artist. I gave a background on myself and the various careers I had. I went on to talk about the skills that we as artists use, which I also used every day in my tech career. Learning any craft well by itself requires many skills. There’s the technical side – learning and becoming efficient using the tools and materials. Then there’s the creative side – what you ultimately do with those tools. We discussed running it as a business. This is often overlooked. Painting is a very small portion of my day.

Times change and evolve. Being in the tech business, a lot of my work was to provide automation and intelligent program solutions. This certainly hasn’t slowed down. Who would’ve thought that being a content creator on YouTube would be a good career choice when it first emerged. I also shared my experiences of trying to achieve some life balance. I now know the importance of both. Remember you can do art just to have fun too.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of what I do is that I absolutely love the process of creating. No matter what it is. Painting, drawing, sculpting, cooking, riding a motorcycle, 3D printing. It doesn’t matter. The act of performing and getting better at the craft is kind of therapeutic. I get completely in the zone while working on how to go from nothing and working through the process of learning something new, experiment and continue to improve. There’s just nothing like it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://toddsaal.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toddsaal/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/todd.saal

Image Credits

No photo credits needs. All photos were taken by me