We were lucky to catch up with Jose Calabres recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jose, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I think the question could seems simple, but like everything related to art, the answer can be deeper than expected.
First of all, we should define what it means to be happy. I suppose that being happy is a consequence of achieving happiness, right? but achieving happiness is not an easy thing. It is not easy because happiness is in itself a distant goal to reach, but because the very concept of happiness depends on what we can appreciate not in a long way to go, but because of the thousands of small treasures that we find on that path towards supposed happiness. Happiness is not a goal, but a moment. Happiness is, for me, every moment.
I think that if we walk looking for happiness as a goal, we become blind to the treasures along the way, because we are blind, joust looking the goal to reach.
We make ourselves incapable of enjoying the little moments that providence gives us every second. Many people spend their lives trying to reach a goal, and they do not achieve it, and thus, they go through life without happiness, without joy, without living. Others reach the desired goal, and when they reach it they are disappointed because it is not what they expected. These live frustrated, bitter, sad. Many others live trying to be something they are not. They won’t reach anything ever.
However, there are others who can see the beautiness in every little thing, like a sunset, the sound of the sea, or a starry night, and those are who can fill the world with magic… some call them artists… there are those who call them crazy… I’m part of the crazy ones I guess.
I’m happy. Certainly. I am happy for being an artist, if a need to name it in someway, because I have the opportunity to show the magic of existence to some people who can’t see it, but are interested in see it. I am also happy because I have come to understand that important things that fill us with light cannot be created or bought. I have found happiness in the breeze, in the smell of coffee with my beloved wife every day, in the hug of my daughter, in seeing my father smiling, my sister happy with her son,my mom smiling when I visit her… I am happy because I feel that when I am no longer here on this plane, there will be at least one person who will remember me with love. How not to be happy about that?
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
ABOUT MYSELF
I am primarily a learner. I have spent my life genuinely interested in learning all I can about everything I can. I am an inveterate curious by nature. Everything that happens in the world interests me and everything that refers to the human spirit and its conscience catches my attention.
I grew up on a farm far from the city. My parents are prominent artists in several Latin American and European countries. My sister plays the cello, and I started playing the violin at 6 or 7 years old. I started writing my own stories book at age 9, and finished writing my first book of short stories at 12. At 20, I became a video editor, at 22 I became a TV producer, at 25 I became a filmmaker and at 27 publish a book.
I made ceramics with my parents since I can remember until today. But I am also a proud peasant from the Venezuelan Andes. I grew coffee since I could start walking. I helped my parents with the crops on our farm and take care of the animals. I think that made me learn to appreciate the beauty of work that rewarded us with food on our table. That taught me that work pays off, and that if we appreciate and care for the land, it will rewards us.
how you got into your industry?
We made pottery with clay we recollected from our own farm. So I learned that in addition to giving us food, the earth also gave us magic. I lived on that farm almost my whole life. In it I wrote my story and then my daughter wrote part of hers. Then we moved to the US. Here, we have discovered another world, full of other languages and other means to create. But we also learned that tools and technology are nothing more than means to work and create, not the creation itself. The artist is responsible for creating using the tools he chooses, but the creation does not depend on the tool, but on the artist. In my case, I couldn’t say how I started in this world of art. I simply don’t know or have known any other world than that of art. Everything I do and everything I see is seeing with the eyes of an artist, with eyes of wonder, surprise, like the eyes of a child who sees for the first time a world full of color and shapes.
What I do? I couldn’t say it in one sentence. I am a designer, I am a potter, I am a musician, I am a farmer, I am a producer, I am a filmmaker, I am a father, I am a son, a husband, a ceramist, a painter, a sculptor… What am I? I am one more inhabitant of this planet, full of the same illusions and dreams as anyone, but above all, I try to be happy.
What type of products/services/creative works you provide?
Currently I work besides my father and my wife making art with ceramics, but I also work on visual projects with projection screens that we can mix with sounds and textures within three-dimensional structures. We created something that I like to call “multimedia sculptures”. We work with the mixture of multiple disciplines such as painting, bodypaint, sculpture, modeling, video mapping, electronic music and ceramics among other things. But we also make ceramic pieces and paintings in our studio for more traditional clients and exhibitions. We are currently working on an exhibition that we will have shortly in a renowned gallery in NYC.
What problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others?
That is a very funny question! In the fields of work in which I have developed I have always managed to stand out positively thanks to the variety of things I have learned throughout my life. I have somehow managed to accumulate a kind of mental library full of knowledge so varied in such an absurd way that in a certain way I am able to solve almost any problem that comes my way with the tools I have around. Growing up in Latin America helped me a lot in this regard. Our farm, where I always lived, was a bit far from the city, so any problem that comes we basically had to solve it by ourselves since there was neither time nor money to wait for a specialist to help us. Thus, I learned mechanics to repair our vehicles, plumbing and electricity to repair our house, masonry, irrigation systems, excavation to remove clay from the mine and make ceramics, crops, harvest, and then that grew more every day with my other activities like playing the violin, playing with orchestras, going to school, doing my homework, reading, making videos, using cameras, writing, repairing the computer and much more! This has given me the opportunity to know how to do many things and to be very independent.
For many, knowing a lot about something makes them specialists. The problem is that when something happens outside of your specialty, you are completely useless and vulnerable. In the case of the artist, the rule is not to become a specialist in something, but be an specialist in everything. What precisely makes it so difficult to be an artist is that the artist must be filled with all the knowledge in the world to be able to create. How can someone create a sculpture of Hermes if he knows nothing about proportions or anatomy? How can you create it if you have no idea of Greek mythology? How can you print a wince if you don’t know pain? Part of being an artist is being a great student of the universe that surrounds us and everything in it. That is why he never stops studying, learning, being curious, and most important of everything: an artist knows that he will never reach the knowledge and will be always just an apprentice. Accept that is hard for many.
In my case, the ability to learn how to do a little of everything has given me many opportunities to grow in all the areas in which I have undertaken. If I had to define a title for what I do, without fear of being wrong I could say that I am a “solution finder” on my filmmaker position, and a decent “story teller” on my artist side.
What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc?
I am very proud of my family. They are the best and I am who I am because of them. There’s nothing like a perfect family, but if you know where to look and try to understand the other person position, you will find that your family is the best teacher ever. I am a firmly believer of the idea that family is everything, and I try always to do everything besides them, because they are my strength. I have not many friends, but I am very very proud of have the best friends in the world. They are my most valuable treasure.
My parents are very recognized artists. My dad is 4 times national Arts award winner with more than 150 exhibitions around the world and his pieces are keep in the most amazing collections of the world, like Vatican, United Nations, and many more. I recently won an Emmy award as producer and scriptwriting among many other recognitions. My sister is one of the most talented violoncello players of Latin America. My mom is an exclusive and talented jeweler and ceramist, and my wife is the most talented artist in every arts field I ever meet. She is really amazing! The love of my life, my daughter is the most exquisite and beautiful creator I never seen. She is so talented! unfortunately she doesn’t believe me when I say it because, of course, I am her dad and I am always wrong, but I have to say that she is really amazing and I am very proud of her. Something tells me that maybe she could be a great writer also, but I don’t want to push her, so she will be whatever she wants to be, and I am sure she will be great.
However, I am not proud of them (or myself) because any award or recognition that any of us reached. None of us do art following an award. We do art because we don’t know to do anything else, and even if we fell into the most deep poverty and misery, we would keep doing art with anything we could get, because art is just our life. When I see someone like any member of my family, who is stubborn enough to follow a path as ungrateful as the path of art and not give up after each one of the thousands of falls that are suffered before the sought-after work finally appears even if be shy before the eyes of its creator, it is then when I recognize in that person worthy of the magic that art gives us, an artist. It’s not the awards or the recognition. It is the obstinacy, the hunger, the cold, the desperation, the suffering, the pain, what makes an artist, because it is in the lack and in the darkness where one learns to value the most important thing, like a small loaf of bread or a drink of fresh water. Only those who manage to survive misfortune and darkness and still see the beauty of a starry night can understand what art is. Only those can be artists.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
No. Looking at the world of yesterday with today’s perspective and knowledge is an absurd idea. We cannot judge the past with the perspective of the present. The realities of each time correspond to their own time, and it is this acceptance of the moment and its validity in history that has brought us to the present. We are nothing without our past. We are TODAY where we are because of the path we have all traveled as humanity, as a society, and finally, as individuals. I think we should start by accepting ourselves as we are in order to continue moving forward. Only then can we continue learning. Anchoring ourselves in what could have been, or what could become, is nothing more than a trap of the conscience to not let us see who we are and what we are TODAY, which is what really matters, because what we are today will be the past tomorrow and if we did nothing today, tomorrow, which is our future, we will be sorry for what we did or did not. Today I can say that every fall, every pain, every agony and every disappointment nurtured me to be better today. We learn from the bad. Only the ego benefits from the good, which grows and makes us blind. The only thing that I think is valuable in life is that WE ALL HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN AND GROW, but it is up to each person to choose what remains of each battle.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I don’t think that one or another person’s understanding of something has anything to do with being creative or not. The truth is that in most cases we never understand anything. In the context of life we are presented with so many things on a daily basis that it is difficult to understand them all. However, when we take a moment of peace, of mental silence, of respite, we can FEEL what surrounds us, and then we discover for a second how beautiful everything is. It’s like lying on the grass and closing your eyes with the sun on your face in the middle of a delirious day and for a second feeling the warmth of the sun on your face. Listen to the thousands of musical voices that surround us and makes a vocal symphony. Feeling the breath and the heat on the skin embraced by the king star that covers us with its infinite energy… knowing that you are alive… for a second at least… you don’t need to understand, you just need to feel.
The work of art is a curious piece, because what we consider art does not depend on a museum or an author. Museums are full of great works with great names that say nothing. The work only becomes art when the viewer interprets it and finds something in it that moves him. Many works need to explain the context in which they were made to understand and interpret them. If we get the information, the piece will develate to us the secrets of her creation and meaning. Maybe we will feel it, and that’s ok. But there are a few that go beyond the context and are by themselves a story that can touch us with the beauty of how it had being made, or the force it can proyect, or the significance of just be there in front of us… that is, my dear friend, a truly work of art. There’s no many of them. But as I said, it will always be the viewer who will have the final word on whether or not that piece is art.
We have become accustomed to living fast-paced lives as robots who only sleep, eat, work, and pay for stuff. Life is so much more! And even if we are drowning in the dark well of everyday life, there is always a minute to breathe. We don’t need to know animal anatomy to enjoy the beauty of a bird. You don’t have to be a painter to marvel at the colors of autumn. The only thing that is needed to value life is to be attentive to the small treasures that the road gives us. We are not what we do. What we do is just a trade. We are much more. Don’t be blind looking to reach the goal at horizon. Look where you are step on now, and you will find wonders! Let’s not forget it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @KnoxvilleHandmadeArts
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackiecalabres
Image Credits
(Person in the big Furias Sculptures) Pepe Calabres