We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Spencer Schwab a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Spencer, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Leaving the past behind to pursue my passions and dreams. For most of my life I followed what I thought was a stable path through life, I had a successful career building and troubleshooting complex computer systems. I worked hard and long hours constantly striving to make sure that all the humans on the other sides of the machines that I toiled to keep running as smooth as possible would provide a seamless experience. In 2019 I started to write and in 2020 I began to paint. My Neighbor Pat had gifted me some canvas. I found some of my sons Ikea tempura paint and began to apply to one of the canvases. One after another I would produce another work of art. I had painted some in High school and maybe twice more since then, I did my best to balance painting and working in the technology field. in the Spring of 2021 it all changed. My covid vaccine caused me to develop a rash and blister in my mouth. Doctors thought it was one of my medications. I looked for info to see if it could have been a reaction to the original vaccine. I was unable to find anything. A few weeks later I had my follow-up or second dose. I don’t remember much after that and my memory has been challenged since. I learned I suffered much inflammation, an acquired brain injury, chronic fatigue, vision abnormalities, and a numerous list of other symptoms. This is the beginning of major change for me. I had to change what I knew about medical treatment and choose to find alternatives. I am grateful for all the doctors, healers, and practitioners that have come into my life since this all occurred. I realized that the human body is complex and interconnected just like the complex computer systems that I used to work on. I relied on and learned about Naturopathic medicine, energy medicine, yoga, and how important laughter and state of mind are to healing. I was lucky enough to find an online community of others that had sustained injuries similar to mine. Together we started a group in Washington State to help others like us communicate and learn from each other’s experiences. Together we met with senate and congressional representatives and advocated for change. I lost friends and had past coworkers tell me how brave I was. These actions were defiantly against the socialized normalized narrative. My recovery has been slow. I realized pretty quickly that my ability to have the career that I had in the past had faded. I decided to focus on painting and writing. In December of 2023 I had my first solo art show. Since I have sold paintings and regularly recite my poetry and various local venues. I joined a writer’s group that meets in a pub called the tipsy typers. I plan to finish my first book this spring. I serve as a board member on the Newcastle Arts Council here in Washington state. I am determined to transition into a viable career as an artist, I know that by making the transition to making a living by following my creative passions. others will follow to find and pursue the passions of their own. By taking risk I am now stepping into the life I want to live. To create in the way that my soul yearns. to communicate through various mediums and to use my experiences to help others find their way to more fulfilling lives and to find their way back to health.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
For my paintings I am told by other artists that my brush strokes are unlike anything they have seen. For me I capture my experience, emotion, and energy and transfer them into the paint and onto the canvas. I am always experimenting and playing with new ways to move paint around my canvas. My medium of choice is acrylics. I prefer to have many tubes of different colors vs mixing colors. My current technique is to dip my brush in 3 or more colors one after the other and then to glance at the paint on the brush and then pull it across the canvas while twisting it slowing the paint to flow and mix in real time on the canvas itself. The paintings themselves serve as calibration points. A place where once can come back to tune into the energy and or meaning that they are able to sense when they are in its presence, one painting some forget me nots. I painted for my Neighbor Pat. The one that gave me the canvases that started it all back in 2020. Forget me nots where her and her husband Kens favorite flowers, I had such with her several months after she moved away. She talked about the painting and how every morning when she rises, she see the forget not flowers everywhere she goes and remembers her loving husband, My paintings serve as portals of positivity and light. They have exuded the energy to comfort and the energy to help heal wounds and process emotions, As more my writings, they are meant to capture my life lessons in healing, finding the present moment, and finding happiness. Encoded with in the rhymes of the words are messages and frameworks to help others end their own suffering, to provide perspective and clue on how to place a human vessel into a state of healing and enlightenment. I dream that this world transforms. Not into another technology revolution, not into another war, not even into another retail Mecca. I dream of a new renaissance. Where creation through creativity is celebrated and revered. Where we can each slow down and enjoy life without all of the manufactured struggles that we have faced in the past, that we can live to gather in peace, love, and harmony. My organization is called 4Humans LLC. I have always had an affinity for the number four. Also, I felt it fitting to honor the four artists that started the great renaissance of the past, they are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. Funny enough later I realized these are also the names of the Teenage Ninja Turtles that I grew up watching on TV.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I believe that we all have the ability to create. That we would need to choose to try. Choose to break the mold. To choose to be vulnerable. I have learned it is through the process of creating that we are able to move through stuck places and traumas and really discover who we are. I believe that we were not meant to work, that we were meant to play. That creating is the same as playing. That when we can continue to explore new things and break out of mundane cycles that time slows down just like it did when summertime came around in grade school. Here is a poem that captures many options for anyone to try and find their creative outlets.
Key 3 is Creativity:
Channel your fears
Channel your shame
Let it flow
Your not to blame
Channel your heart
Channel your smile
Let it glow
You’ll shine for a mile
Express yourself
Find a way
Let go and create
Start today
Draw on a napkin
Paint on a rock
Twirl on one foot
Write a short squawk
Unlock the next level
Make it fun
Release and make
Even a pun
Doodle a little
Carve a lot
Build with bricks
It will hit the spot
Pound some metal
Blow some glass
Beat a drum
Walk barefoot on grass
Sing out loud
Hum a song
Act out a scene
It won’t take long
Create what you can
Create today
Share yourself
It will all be ok
Dig deep inside
Let it all out
Make something new
Energy released all about
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think people should begin to invest in the works of artists and creatives. That by doing so they can surround themselves with the energies and insights that went into creating each unique piece. They can be inspired by these works which also, can only be created by humans and not by machines. I believe that these items will become very valuable in the future as society shifts into new paradigms
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.spencerschwab.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sschwab444/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sschwab4
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerschwab
- Twitter: http://www.x.com/spencerschwab
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@spencerschwab
Image Credits
Spencer Schwab