Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabe Schillman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Gabe, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
For the last 6 years, I’ve been fortunate to earn my living as a full-time professional artist.
My career as a visual artist began when I was given an old bag of oil paints and I decided to paint a portrait- I painted songwriter and artist Tom Waits and the painting didn’t turn out too bad. I had no idea what I was doing. I used Dawn Dish soap as my cutting agent and dollar store watercolor brushes. That was about 7 years ago.
I had the audacity to have some business cards printed up that said “Gabe Schillman: Professional Portrait Artist”, despite only having painted a few portraits at that point. And so began my career. I painted every day, sometimes completing 3 or 4 paintings a day. I owned a construction company at that time and would work 10hr days, not before waking up 3 hours early to paint and staying up late after work to paint some more.
Within a year of my first painting, I opened an art studio in Newaygo, MI. I had no idea what I was doing but made it work- very well. The studio featured a beautiful gallery and working studio space for myself and other artists. The Studio hosted concerts, standup comedy, public speakers, and more- it functioned as a community center featuring a wide range of art classes and events.
I effectively sought out relationships with museums, galleries, and business owners that I could contribute to positively and also benefit from. If they couldn’t see how my services could be beneficial, I would show them and insist- eventually they would see or they would miss out- their loss. Being intentional makes all the difference- I learned that I could make anything happen when I was intentional and specific about the thing I wanted- same concept as writing out a grocery list, you’re going to get what you intend to get.
There is no other magic formula or some secret way of “speeding up” the process- the process is “intention” and persistence. Write down what you want and then go after it until you have it- ignore your doubts and lack of know-how, you’ll figure out the “how”- the right people will come into your life and show you how when you are determined, passionate, and persistent. That’s how it works, there is no other way.
Gabe, 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?
My family really wasn’t very art-focused, though I had a few relatives that encouraged creativity enough that art became an interest at a young age. At 15 I taught myself how to play guitar and started a band- within a very short period of time the band had secured management and recording contracts. After touring regularly throughout my teens on the success of my first studio project, I eventually made it to Nashville, TN where I wrote and recorded songs professionally for Little Chuckie Records and Lunacy Records and toured regularly across the country.
I moved back to MI and opened a public art studio in Newaygo, MI that featured a beautiful gallery, working studio space for myself and other artists, as well as performance and event space. The studio was a community success and provided an opportunity for me to teach myself portraiture working exclusively in oils. In a very short period of time, my portraiture was being shipped around the world with museum and gallery features as well as business and municipality/ public works. My painting style is unique and distinctive while my process is fast and loose. My background in music performance allowed me to comfortably demonstrate my painting style publicly and live demos have become a regular part of my career.
I’d say the main cause of success in whatever I have pursued has been intention- If you are intentional, you’ll get what you intend on getting, it’s very simple. Every single thing that exists in the world that isn’t nature originated as a thought and was manifested into reality- that’s the only way it happens, the only way. I don’t believe people are enamored with art as much as they are with the process that it came into existence- art is the purest and simplest demonstration of manifestation in real-time and that blows people’s minds. It’s fantastic
The success of my portraiture and Studio allowed me the opportunity to record my 3rd studio music project that released in early 2020 titled “Born of Flame” and is available on all major streaming and download platforms. My most recent studio project is a Christmas single cowritten with Illinois’ own Sophie Coyote that will release Thanksgiving Day, 2022 titled “This Christmas Season (Please Be Mine)” at www.ThisChristmasSeason.com
My customers are receiving something very special when they order one of my portraits and I have hundreds upon hundreds of customers that can attest to that. Each painting starts first with a custom-built stretcher and covered with premium gessoed canvas; gallery-wrapped & ready to hang. My portraits are free-hand oil on canvas using pro-quality oil paints. An oil on canvas portrait is an effective way to preserve a legacy; to keep a name alive and a conversation going. With the dilution of the value of photographs thanks to smart phones and digital photography, an oil on canvas portrait becomes that much rarer and more cherished; respected. My portraiture service is only becoming more sought after and valued.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
The first book that any aspiring artist should read, re-read, and then read again, is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill. This book describes and details the creative process in great detail; it demonstrates over and over and over again how that process is used to bring any thought, goal, or desire into existence. If you do not learn this very simple process, not only are you doomed to fail perpetually, but I also predict you will not even make it past the starting line.
The second book any aspiring artist should read is “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Learning how to talk to people, how and why people think the way they do, and what you can do to better present yourself is a very close second to learning the process of manifestation.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Our society is set up to destroy creativity- that is/ was intentional. The ruling class needed workers to fuel the industrial revolution and all they had was a country full of independent entrepreneurs, not obedient factory workers like they needed. Prior to the industrial revolution, the vast majority of the country was self-employed and experiencing an artistic renaissance of music, art, dance, theater, literature, architecture, exploration, and invention. In order to create a class of obedient workers, the education system was structured to create complacent, obedient, “non-creatives”. Bells to alert us when we start, stop, and break. Asking permission for basic bodily functions. Scheduled eating & “breaks” that start and stop with a bell. For some reason, we maintain and defend this same system to this day. Dumb.
The truth is: We’re all creatives- we are all artists. We all have the ability to bring that which only exists in our minds into fruition. There isn’t one person more capable of this than another, as long as the mind is intact. Your body could be completely broken, but if the mind is intact, that mind can accomplish great feats and tremendous successes in almost anything it can dream up. There are no exceptions to this.
If this was taught instead of our current “everyone is the same except for a few people who are special” system, we would experience progress unlike any throughout world history.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.KingGabe.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gabeschillman/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArtistGabeSchillman
- Twitter: @TheWoodlingBook
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCASVIJeGz68_2wEC7k8-eTA
Image Credits
Gabe Schillman