We recently connected with Sean Badock and have shared our conversation below.

Sean, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

Over the years I have had many different jobs. Some I enjoyed others that I did not. And ultimately I came to the same conclusion, that I wanted to work for myself doing things that I enjoy. I do enjoy working for other people and helping other people especially. I still do handy work because I like to work with my hands and I enjoy learning practical things and helping people (I also make some money doing it and saves me money knowing how to do things myself). At some previous jobs I realized I did not align with what the company or owners believed or did. Or how they treated people. And I just felt like I did not want to work doing something I did not care much about, for someone I did not admire or like much. Having these jobs that I did not like gives me better perspective to enjoy what I do even more. It helps me work hard, which is something I have learned from playing sports and working different jobs.

I worked at a law firm where I did some tasks and at the time I thought about becoming a lawyer, but I realized I did not really enjoy what they did. I worked in a warehouse and worked my butt off but felt no appreciating or like I was progressing or moving anywhere. I worked for uber and learned to do my own work as I saw fit. I worked in a restaurant kitchen and enjoyed some of the things I learned but also realized how tough it was and how under appreciated these workers are. I worked for myself fixing things, building things, making things and felt that I enjoyed it and liked that I was helping someone else at the same time. I felt that I was progressing and could improve constantly.

There really is no shortage of lessons and stories I have learned from previous jobs and experiences. I would recommend trying as many things as possible. Even if you do not like the job you have, save some money and plan how you will leave that job and take it for what it is.

My parents both owned their own business so I felt that I learned a great deal from them and after having other jobs I saw how much I wanted to work for myself. It is extremely stressful and difficult and everything comes back on you so by no means is it easy and there is much sacrifice but I enjoy what I do.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Sean Badock. I am from St. Louis Missouri and I am an artist, creator, builder, fixer and whatever else. Mostly I will focus on art though. I remember being young in preschool and enjoying making a painting and giving it someone’s mom and really enjoying that. As I grew older I remember enjoying being in art classes even when it was not the “cool” thing to like. I always played sports, but art felt like a good balance too. We had parents who would present art works from various artists and would give a presentation about the work of art. I just remember being so interested in those every time. When high school came around I took art class as a freshman and had a great teacher who really opened even more art and technical skills to me. I would say high school is where I really enjoyed art because I had a quality teacher and we were always doing different mediums and disciplines. For instance one semester we would focus on drawing and we would do figure drawing, charcoal, pencil, small studies, final projects and a whole bunch in between. And the next semester we would do clay sculpture. They all kind of worked together and you learned how to see as an artist. My favorite part is there is endless room for improvement and improvisation. There is a right way to do some things and a technical ability that aids in a proper drawing, but once you learn that you can sort of expand wherever you want either with realistic drawing painting sculpture or whatever. And you can become very narrow and specified in that discipline or you can expand and do something totally different with that skill set. You can create something for the sheer beauty of it and of the craft or you can make something that has much meaning behind and throughout the work.

I make drawings (charcoal, pencil, digital, pen) and paintings (oil, acrylic, watercolor). I enjoy learning and trying new things as well though. I also do some woodworking too. I believe when I am making something for someone I am creating a feeling. Sometimes it is a drawing of their dog who they love and every time they see it they get a feeling from it. Other times it is something that I created and I believe the viewer creates their own decision and feelings, but if they know that I made it they will get a piece of me and of who I am as a part of the experience as well. Thoughts are extremely important to humans and when someone gets some art of mine I want them to receive a feeling and thought of greatness. With my art comes a piece of me and I want to share my hard work and enjoyment of life. We have things all around us that say something about us, but with art you get to say something about it. I create an image and you get to say what you want about it yourself. If you want what I have to say about it too then you can have that as well. But I like to have the experience, thought, and feelings come from the viewer until they ask me what it means or what its about. Sometimes its just an interesting thing, but behind it I have put my life experience (joy, sadness, frustration, anger, all the different emotions I have while making some art). Other times it has a whole story and meaning behind it. This is what I enjoy about art, there really is never one answer or explanation, like life and like humans things are incredible complex, changing, and not perfect. I just know I enjoy creating and want to give something good to the world. And motivate others to be better.

I want anyone who supports me to know that I am extremely grateful. I work very hard at making things and work other jobs so that I can make things. It just always seems like I come back to art even if I am very frustrated with it or am busy I feel like I need to make things. I get an immense amount of satisfaction from creating art, even if it’s not very good to someone else. I just feel like it is a human experience put into an object. I am proud that I have continued to make art, even when financially it doesn’t seem smart or sustainable. I want to continue to be better at whatever I am doing and I want people that support me to do the same. The world can be a better place and I think we need to strive to be better and help each other on that journey.

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

Supporting artists in our society is difficult at times. In a capitalistic society it can be easy to support artists and difficult as well. I think it just comes down to people recognizing and wanting to support the human experience. Not everything is about money and making money (it seems like it is and helps obviously to have money). But at the core of the human experience I think we need connection and sharing. We have so many complex feelings and ideas and I think art is a great way to promote and spur connection and feelings. I think services like patreon can be very beneficial, but I always feel weird and uncomfortable about asking someone to donate or give me money so it has been awkward,

I have thought about starting a company or collective that helps artists navigate their endeavors. I felt when I was younger (and I still feel this way) that I do not know how or what to do to promote my work. I think it would be nice to have a group of people that can help an artist promote their work or get into shows or deal with financial things. Because as a creative sometimes you are really good at your craft, but not so good at those other aspects. It would be nice to have a group that can sit down with you and go over what you want to focus on and what you want to delegate to other people in the company. It would also be a good way to link clients and creatives. I know these things exist, I am not aware of them, but I guess finding someway to make this a cheap option and give creatives some direction and support without too much or any financial strain.

Ultimately it comes down to society wanting art and creatives, which I believe is desired. For me it seems like financial situations always prevents me from creating more. It’s unfortunate sometimes, but finances dictate a lot. So i suppose society can spend money on creatives by buying their work or services, but also valuing their work. Looking for commissions or donating money can help a creative have confidence in their work, but also gives them the time to work on their craft.

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 think everyone has struggles so non creators can understand, but might not be aware. I think as a creative you are putting a part of yourself into whatever you do. Some jobs people are quite detached from and you do not feel a personal connection to. But as a creative I think whatever we do it is some sort of reflection of us (I know everything we do is a reflection of us) but it feels like this is you and people get to openly judge you. Some people say as a creative you need to remove that in order to show your work, which might be slightly true, but I feel like if I remove that then my experience and creation will not be what it would be to the best of my ability. What I create is a part of me and I am slightly vulnerable when I make something. Someone might say that sucks and internally do I think I suck then? Am I not good enough? Should I just quit? Or if someone says something is great do i take that with a grain of salt because maybe they are just being nice or am I the best ever?

I think the internal doubts are always there and questioning yourself and your ability is constant. Learning to cope and ride the waves of it I think is important for your creative work, but also life in general.

I have also learned to not take things personally someone might say something you made sucks, and really it might not be very good. Maybe they are trying to make you feel bad. But if they are saying that to be constructive then it is helpful, but I have a feeling if they are trying to be constructive then they would add more or word it differently. You have to make what you make with everything you have, put it out there, get criticism, review the criticism, even the bad criticism, and then either listen to it or don’t. I would not recommend removing the personal aspect from it though because then you would lose some of what makes your creation so awesome.

Contact Info:

• Website: seanbadock.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanbadock/
• Twitter: @seanbadock
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-oqZ0icUY7NOk-AkBoAejg