Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zachary Reece. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Zachary thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
I often say that I was born an artist before a human. Every way I perceive my surroundings is met with a creative drive that wishes to make others smile, or at least think differently.
Very young, I didn’t understand why so many people enjoyed such similar values, when there were so many different values to choose from. I guess I’m hinting toward “mainstream” pleasures. This was my first clue as to being moderately anti-establishment. When adolescence came, that stage fueled a defiant and confident nature that could be synonymous with “punk.” Then, adulthood rendered all of those feelings to be a more true artistic integrity and true to thyself. Independently minded, at the risk of non-inclusion. Those feelings have always felt right, never wrong.
The culmination of these feelings are defined by the full-time job I have now worked for 10 years and absolutely love, working for the local government of my own town. I manage the Communications office for the City of Brighton, Colorado, with my contribution to the workflow being graphic design and marketing. Would a teenage art punk from the 80s ever imagine working such a position? He might, if he only knew that he could use his own power of creative, independent thought to inspire a community to think for themselves, while branding their city’s communications with attractive and consistent imagery and engagement that inspires.
I still pursue my fine art career alongside my civic career, as that fine artist drive is overpowering and has much to share, but I don’t strive to make that my full-time replacement. I thrive on the balance of the community-driven focus for 40+ hours a week, knowing the rest of my time is devoted to artistic endeavor. Plus, the left-brain activity of my job creates that much more desire for the right brain to cut loose!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Until my mid twenties, I created with many mediums, leaning more toward surrealistic oil painting. Then, I had a project based in pointillism with pen and ink and realized that this process was most meditative, no matter how long it took. I stuck with it, practicing and creating pieces with traditional medium for 15 years, and now drawing circles and dots digitally for over a decade. I lose myself in the abstraction of each inch at a time, only to find the beautifully rendered portrait to come together in the end. I have to print everything I sell to canvas, paper, acrylic or metal much like photographers always have, but I really have come to prefer it that way.
One of the comments I get regularly about my work is, “wow, you have a lot of patience!” I answer, “not really, I live for the moments in every dot and circle. It’s when I reach the end of a piece that I lose my mind, just wanting to draw forever, without having to stop and figure out what the next piece should be.”
In those mid twenties, I also decided to not strive for being a full-time “starving artist,” but put myself through art school to learn the multimedia ways of graphic design, the most obvious choice to maintaining my creative integrity while paying the bills. Commercial graphics was the real money-maker for me. That education satiated the performer in me with video; the singer/songwriter with audio; then lastly, how to publish digital communications properly in an ever-changing world… circa 1996, so that was crucial. That was the crux of a world transitioning from analog to digital.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I don’t know if this is true for all artists, but at a young age, I came to understand that creativity and entertainment were to be the focus of my existence. That confidence rose to the point of wanting to be big, be known. Famous visual artist, or actor, or musician… I let go of that as I reached 40 years of age. It was incredibly liberating to free myself from the chains of dreaming big.
I am not discouraging “aiming for the stars,” some are destined for that, we need them. I’m only saying that I discovered how unwilling I was to make the personal sacrifices just to attain celebrity, or historical successes. Those sacrifices, from what I have seen, can be lived through the true joys of a happy marriage, the pride of contributing to my local community, helping to liberate and encourage other artists, maintaining an average middle-class American lifestyle, or just the struggles of balancing these things while remaining to be a truly Cosmic Kid. Life is rich in so many ways, but I have to spend heart, to receive heart. Just being sure to do it as creatively as possible.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I whiled away at art consistently since I was five years old, until I was 30. I remained mostly private, meaning that I didn’t attempt to show outside of my own circles and home as I concentrated on my career as a multimedia designer. At the turn of the 21st century, my dear artist friend Marcelo Rodriguez encouraged me to join him in building DenverArtists.com. He needed to hone his skills at web development, I needed to do the same in web design. We created an online community that offered Colorado artists a local network and free online gallery space to promote themselves. This was pre-social media, when the technical literacy of being online in these ways was rare. This site was a complete success, but ended suddenly (not by our choice) in 2015 as we were on the cusp of any monetary success from it. Our marketing had reached the point of having nearly 1,000 respectable artists on board and showcasing someone on *Fox channel’s Good Day Colorado, an artist per week.
While persevering with DenverArtists.com for over a dozen years, I became very involved in my local art circles of Brighton, where I claimed my new turf. Committees dedicated to the progression of arts, as well as curating the fine art displays and receptions of the new (2009) *Armory Center of Performing Arts. Filling the walls with brilliant members of DenverArtists.com, while fostering other local talent and youth in the Brighton area.
My own rewards in these efforts that I spent fostering other artists was the education in the real world of professional art at that time. So, when our website crashed in 2015, I was devastated… but quickly understood that it was a cosmic sign to focus on my own fine art career. Immediately, I created what I would consider to be my first true masterpiece, and with encouragement from others, entered it into a large locally judged show and won the Best in Show blue ribbon. Honestly, I didn’t expect it… during the show I was capturing photos of the other winners for the sake of my communications position for the city, ready to snap the winner… then they announced my name. Hole-in-one! Confidence soared to the level of an established professional, not rockstar, but validated for all of my blood, sweat and tears. I have consistently (alongside my full-time civic communications career) shown all around the Denver area, especially Brighton, and have been a resident artist at *Valkarie Gallery in Lakewood for seven years.
I am proud of all of the community-based efforts that I have made while focussing on my own creative perseverance.
*REFERENCE LINKS:
https://www.valkariefineart.com
http://brightonarmory.org
https://www.zacharyreece.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.zacharyreece.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xaxdead
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zachary.reece/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2l2RpFxwZHhj2Zwdgc1kwg
- Other: My one music video, all original content: https://youtu.be/XXCvP1Mpe8M I’ll make more soon enough!
Image Credits
All images are my own, photos and artwork.