61. SPECIAL GUEST SERIES 2 OF 3 – THE CREATIVE PROCESS AND BEING IN THE FLOW WITH BARRY MACK

Guest Barry Mack 2 of 3

Adrian Schermer  00:02

Hello future millionaires and welcome back to the get rich slow podcast. We are your hosts Adrian Schermer, Robert Delavan, and Lance Johnson. Good morning, gentlemen.

Robert Delavan  00:11

Good morning

Lance Johnson  00:12

Good morning.

Adrian Schermer  00:13

You can find us online Apple podcasts, Spotify, audible Amazon music, YouTube, and something called Stitcher. Today we’ve got our special guest, Barry Mack with Barry Mack Art. Good morning, Barry. Good to have you back. Today we’re gonna speak with Barry Mack with Barry Mack Art. Barry is a dynamic artist who creates art specific to your needs and this episode is all about what Barry’s got going on right now and a little bit about how he makes his art. So, Barry, let’s get you started.

Barry Mack  00:49

Yeah. Good morning, guys. Good to be here. I really enjoyed our first session. I’m excited about this one.

Robert Delavan  00:53

Yeah, and I’m looking forward to this. So, this is episode two of three. So, let’s have some fun with this one.

Barry Mack  01:00

Yeah, absolutely.

Lance Johnson  01:05

All right, Barry, let me kick this off. What are you inspired by most?

Barry Mack  01:10

Yeah, you know, these are all great questions and I appreciate all these questions you guys come up with. I’m actually inspired by working. I love what I do.

Lance Johnson  01:21

Awesome. I like what I do. When you love what you do, it’s not really work, right?

Barry Mack  01:26

No, it is.

Adrian Schermer  01:29

I agree with that.

Barry Mack  01:32

You know, most inspiring thing and you know, if I get up and start working at 6, and I knock off at 12 at night, I’m not more tired. I’m less tired. I actually have to discipline myself to go to bed. I’m just energized by what I do. It’s a cool thing.

Robert Delavan  01:50

So, was there a journey to get to that point, like that always the case?

Barry Mack  01:59

No, I think that’s a great question. I think I worked into it slowly. It’s almost like a train, you know, leaving the station. You build momentum and eventually when you do it for a while and you really love it and you build up. You know, some real passion around it. It’s kind of sneaks up on you. I didn’t…

Adrian Schermer  02:22

Can you turn it on? I feel like inspiration for me just comes it’s either there. It’s not I don’t get an opportunity 2 am, I’m like, I gotta write this down. My wife goes crazy.

Barry Mack  02:35

Yeah, it’s not a matter of turning it on. It’s just when I started working, I just automatically go into flow. You know, it’s just, I love it.

Lance Johnson  02:43

Yeah, I mean, I feel the same way about the job I do and the companies around is I’m sicker than a dog this last 10 days. But yeah, how are you even thought once to take a day off? I just, it’s never really like work, right? So, when you’re sick, you still play, you know, unless you’re like bedridden. It’s the same way with me and it’s I love that because I never when I’m driving in, I don’t think I’ve ever had a thought no matter how hard the markets gone down or somebody got hit hard finances. I’ve never had a question about coming in to work which is I guess other people do and I’ve never had that feelings ever.

Robert Delavan  03:32

So, let me share this. Barry, give us your thoughts actually Lance major and same thing. The core stuff that I do the people portion, the building something you know, more out of the some of the parts, right? That energizes me and I’m like I love that portion of it. The one of the things that I’ve learned about it really a big mentor of mine has actually been Lance over the last decade has been you know in this concept brilliant at the basics and teaching you know to work smarter and you know to an element harder but also smarter. It’s this concept of delegate out what doesn’t put you in flow and you know different things like that. So, that’s the piece like I want to explore for the audience before we move on is like all say, Yeah, I love actually my work. I don’t love every aspect of my work and generally speaking the aspects of my work that drain me, those are the ones that I want to systematize and get off my plate.

Barry Mack  04:44

That’s a really good point, Rob. In fact, there’s a great book out called I forget the name of it now but it’s about only doing what you’re good at and delegate.

Robert Delavan  04:55

And I mean when you say Barry that you know so, fill us in on that at 6am Till, you know, midnight, your that’s your creative process, right? But I’m sure there’s things that you’re, you know, just like, Okay, let’s figure out how to get somebody that’s really good at that to do it so that you can actually create.

Barry Mack  05:19

No, that’s true. Yeah, but the question is what inspires me the most and that’s doing the thing I love create.

Robert Delavan  05:25

Yeah, and then that’s the beauty of I know for a fact that Lance, Adrian, Barry, you know, as we’ve got to know each other, there are huge elements of our jobs and what we do that literally, fill us up, and that’s a lot of fun.

Barry Mack  05:42

Oh, yeah. Yeah, for everybody. It’s a wonderful thing. I wish everybody could experience it. You know, it just pains me when I hear that people hate to go to their job.

Adrian Schermer  05:51

I picture like people say their battery you know what, like a social battery to extroverts, introverts. You know, some people are supercharged by being around people. Some people are super truly being alone and then they feel like they’re expending that that energy and I think a big part of life is just trying to find those things that make you feel more full and getting rid of those things that are draining on your human energy.

Barry Mack  06:15

Yeah, that book is by Gay Hendricks, and I forget the name of it. It’s something like yeah, I don’t remember. But you know, it’s basically living. Oh, it’s something about your genius zone. You want to look at that.

Lance Johnson  06:27

Okay. I’m not sure I have a genius zone.

Robert Delavan  06:34

Me neither. But I’m not. I’m pretty sure Lance has one.

Barry Mack  06:39

You guys gotta genius zone.

Adrian Schermer  06:40

The genius zone, the breakout process.

Lance Johnson  06:44

[Cross talk].

Barry Mack  06:49

It’s just what you love to do.

Adrian Schermer  06:52

Yeah, that’s cool. All right, Barry. So, why are the arts relevant in today’s world? It’s a polarized and uncertain world. Why does it matter?

Barry Mack  07:06

Yeah, that’s a great question and my take on it is the arts and I want to expand the definition of arts, okay? To my mind, sports are also part of the arts, I think, maybe I believe that’s sports also a form of art. So, sports, arts, dancing, painting, poetry, whatever. It creates a sense of togetherness, it’s, you know, create a sense of unity. It’s a common language if you will, you know, it transcends political boundaries. It transcends all kinds of stuff. You know, a good example of this is a couple that came into the gallery the other day, you know, him and I had never met the husband before and he came in and he saw my work and he immediately went into like, a half an hour talk about what it meant to him. I had never talked to him. He never read about my work. But he instantly got it and it was what do you call it a point of commonality and I think the arts do this in general. Sports do it. The arts do it and I think it’s a wonderful thing. It brings people together. Now that’s what I’m getting at.

Adrian Schermer  08:19

Did you agree with his analysis of your art or were there some differences there?

Barry Mack  08:25

Yeah, blew me away. Absolutely blew me away. In fact, I really could hardly believe it I was here. Just amazing. So, amazing that the arts communicate the way that they do and those force do the same thing. You know, when you’re watching a great athlete, it’s totally inspiring and here’s the other book for you guys. I know you’re into sports but check out the rise of Superman by Steven Kottler. It is an amazing book about extreme athletes. It will blow you away.

Adrian Schermer  08:58

We’re gonna have a book list and the notes on this one guy. It is the genius zone by the way I pulled it up.

Robert Delavan  09:04

We’ll put that in the show notes also for disclosures, so you know…

Lance Johnson  09:12

It’s steven Kottler?

Barry Mack  09:14

Yeah, K-O-T-T-L-E-R. You’re gonna love it. It’s all about extreme athletes and the things that they do I mean, it’s the title kind of gives you what the rise of Superman and the things that these guys are doing, its mind blowing. It’s like literally superhuman what they’re doing.

Robert Delavan  09:31

Interesting and what you’re saying like whether it be sports or poetry, physical art medium, dancing, you know, all of the different things and I believe that’s why it was the arts was capitalized here in the question is the so you’re speaking a same language, right? Like, it’s a universal language. Somebody from Japan, somebody from Italy and somebody from Portland, Oregon, can all appreciate different levels, whatever that meeting is to them is what I’m hearing…

Barry Mack  10:07

And would you guys agree that sports is part of this?

Adrian Schermer  10:10

Absolutely! Yeah. When I think about it, I wouldn’t have if you had asked me the beginning of this is our sports and art, I think my brain would have exploded. But it makes a lot of sense.

Lance Johnson  10:20

It’s gonna have a difficult time explaining to my kids that poetry and playing hockey.

Adrian Schermer  10:28

There’s an art school there.

Robert Delavan  10:31

That’s an interesting comparison. But well, like so Lance, you’re the only person, at least unless Barry surprises us with some background that I don’t know about. You’re the only person here of the four of us that I know, that’s played like, relatively elite, I mean, not like, you know?

Lance Johnson  10:53

I played against [Inaudible 10:54]. I used to play against Portland timber players when I was here, after college.

Robert Delavan  11:03

So, I mean, you know, like, these guys are next level, and they play at a level that maybe say a more amateur person or less accomplished person is playing at, like only your very best, right? Like, and you hit that flow point and athletes talk about that. Barry, when you work from 6 am you know, creating till midnight, and you’re in that flow for….

Barry Mack  11:31

That’s exactly what I’m talking about.

Robert Delavan  11:33

So, you hit it and there is like, there’s an art, like, there’s a sweet spot, there’s a flow that we all reach, and I know we get it, you know, and somehow people can appreciate that if they take the time to watch.

Barry Mack  11:49

Well, yeah, I mean, think about the Olympics, you know, that’s something that brings people together from all over the world and crosses political boundaries, religious boundaries, all that stuff. So, yeah.

Robert Delavan  11:57

Okay, I get it.

Adrian Schermer  12:02

There I ask, where do we draw the line? I mean, design is art, right? Like every object in our world is art in some degree because we, you know, it’s designed with purpose. Where do you draw line, Barry?

Barry Mack  12:14

Yeah, well, that’s a great question and that’s actually the meaning of pop art. You know, the idea behind pop art is that everything is art. You know, it’s a subjective thing. I don’t know if everybody’s gonna agree with that.

Adrian Schermer  12:31

I’m gonna say mortgages are not art. So, there must be something, there’s got to be a line somewhere.

Robert Delavan  12:36

That’s a whole another life. You know, I mean, honestly, actually, I’ve seen both Lance and Adrian. There is like an art to, you know, the financial world. There’s an art to putting together the solution that really works well. Tailored everybody’s needs are individual, right? So, I don’t know there’s something there? Well, I don’t know that works.

Barry Mack  13:07

How about define it like this? The arts are something that you practice and get really good at until it’s inspiring. It’s inspiring to watch extreme athletes, it’s inspiring to watch great artists performers, you know, I mean, that’s how I define it. What do you guys think?

Adrian Schermer  13:26

I love that. I might be an artist, after all, because I’m inspired. I mean, we’re inspired to this podcast, right, we’re inspired to spread the knowledge and to do better.

Barry Mack  13:34

There you go.

Lance Johnson  13:34

Okay. I think what you’re alluding to is that there’s an egocentricness to everybody’s life and you’re an artist so the way you see everything around you comes from that centre point of being an artist and so I don’t know if I necessarily agree 100%. I don’t disagree but from your point of view, there’s an artistry to everything layered over as you look at your world there’s an artistry that I don’t know if I could see unless I had a Captain Crunch decoder. I see it from the financial world. That’s what I kind of see and it what I’m learning is that your point of view, and I want to want to ever take it away from you. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with it, but I see why you see it that way. I don’t necessarily see it that way. I I see it from a….

Barry Mack  14:37

Yeah, no, I get it. When I look out in the world, I don’t see perfection beauty everywhere. I’m just saying that you know, when I think about the arts and again, including sports, back to the question, the arts are relevant because they bring people together. So, universal.

Lance Johnson  14:58

Absolutely. I see that. Yeah, I see that.

Robert Delavan  15:01

Yeah, and there’s an ability for all, you know, you like, you know, Lance and Barry and Adrian, to inspire others at the top of our craft which is an interesting concept.

Lance Johnson  15:17

The way I look at it is, is if there’s a an accident, right, it’s always amazing to me 10 people can see the exact same accident, and you get eight different stories of what happened on that accident and I think this applies here is, is you can see 10 people can see my life, Rob’s life, Barry’s life, whatever, and you’re gonna get eight different versions of what you’re seeing and where I learned today, based on this is that’s an interesting parallel of how art feathers into everything around his world. But yeah, like I said, is I would have logistically a hard time explaining to my kid that poetry is the same as hockey or, you know?

Barry Mack  16:07

It’s a cultural notion, Lance. If you break it down and explain to him that poetry and hockey is something that you practice that and get really good at. I mean, come on.

Robert Delavan  16:19

Yeah. Good point. Okay, cool. I love it. So, Barry, why are you doing a podcast today?

Barry Mack  16:36

I think the podcast is one of the best ways to enhance the online know, like, and trust factor. You know, I’m sure you’ve heard that, and you know, of all the things that you can do and, you know, we’re becoming an online world, of all the things that we can do. I think a podcast is really effective at that. A good podcast, people get to see you, they get to listen to you, you know, it builds that know, like, and trust factor. That’s why I think it’s great.

Robert Delavan  17:06

Yeah, the interesting concept with the podcast is like, I get these new waves of change from like, my kids and Lance, you and I’ve had a lot of conversations because our kids are roughly the same age. Like, when I grew up, I watched cartoons, right? Like, in the morning, you know, Saturday morning, get up, you know, mom and dad are still sleeping, like that sort of thing, right? You know, because remember, I’ll give a shameless, rambling rod. Lance, I don’t know that you saw that on the East Coast. But, you know, like, it was kids watching, you know, being interviewed, and then watching cartoons and like, that was like, the highlight of the morning on Saturday. Well, my kids, there’s 100 or 1000s more cartoon options and they watch YouTube videos and most of its like, how to and like how the world works and the other day, I caught him watching a YouTube video on like, how, like, a farm that was shearing sheep and he’s watching a YouTube video.

Adrian Schermer  18:19

I love that.

Robert Delavan  18:19

Like, I mean, it just it was kind…

Adrian Schermer  18:21

Like the how it’s made videos, right? I love those when I was a kid. I was obsessed.

Barry Mack  18:25

And I got a video the other day of a guy up in some kind of a, I don’t know what it was, he was flying, and this eagle comes along. I mean, you could see down it, I have no idea how high up but this eagle lands on his kite with him. I mean, it’s just the coolest thing, never see anything like it.

Robert Delavan  18:44

Well, and this concept with the podcast is, you know, we have this opportunity to know like and trust each other because we actually have a platform of disseminating our ideas are, you know, these concepts, great debate, you know, some of my favorite ones are where we actually like, you know, okay, do we agree with each other? Do we not and, you know, that’s the point is we can explore this stuff and you can see this stuff, listen to it, all that sort of thing and there’s a whole universe of information out there that we, you know, couple decades ago, three decades ago, four decades ago, like wasn’t even, you know, like, remember the Jetson’s life was supposed to be a certain thing. Well, we’re living that compared to where we were 40 years ago. It just looks very different. So, I don’t know coming back to podcasting. Maybe I didn’t make my point. But I probably didn’t. Lance did I wander [Cross talk].

Lance Johnson  19:41

I’m not sure we’re in Oregon.

Robert Delavan  19:46

As long as we’re in the universe, I mean, this podcast thing.

Barry Mack  19:49

Let me throw out another interesting concept that got hidden the other day. You know, a lot of people when they hear their voice recording for the first-time guys complained to this. You don’t like it, right? You hear your voice for the first time you see your voice on video or you see yourself in video and you’re like, oh my god, you know, so my point is when you do a podcast you actually get to know like and trust yourself which is amazing concept.

Robert Delavan  20:16

Okay. So, that’s a big why of why you’re doing a podcast also I’m sure?

Barry Mack  20:20

I don’t do it for that reason but that’s a what would you call it a….

Robert Delavan  20:25

Fringe benefit. There we go yeah, that’s a fun concept. We can share this, and we’ve really enjoyed this. I do have to point out though is the outfit very for our watchers in addition to listeners, you know, all I don’t know the dozens of you out there because everybody listens. Barry, you’re looking sharp.

Barry Mack  20:52

Yeah, no, I seriously I wear so that I don’t take myself too seriously. It’s the fun factor. No kidding. So, over the top.

Adrian Schermer  21:08

That wraps up number two or three on the get rich slow podcast interview with Barry Mack. We’re gonna have this as a series. Next episode we’re gonna talk a bit about where Barry is headed in the future. Barry where can we find you?

Barry Mack  21:21

You can find me at BarryMackart.com. Email me [email protected]. My phone number 971-348-1890 and sea gallery and the Bridgeport area.

Adrian Schermer  21:37

Call Barry guys, just call him. He’s super fun. There’s so many stories that I wanted to cram into this podcast and honest or this episode series at least.

Barry Mack  21:48

But don’t even think about [Inaudible 21:49].

Adrian Schermer  21:51

Call Barry. Ask them about motorcycles? Ask him about the first piece art? Well, I liked that. You know, Barry, you made this point. I’m gonna ramble real quick. But you know, people buy art, not just because they like the picture, or the painting or whatever it is the piece, the sculpture. A big part of buying art is the connection that you make with the artist, you’re gonna look at that piece of art and go, I talked to the guy who did that, you know, it’s not just hanging and it’s some ethereal idea of a human being. You’re gonna have conversations ideally with the artist and that’s a powerful thing is that people who buy art from you get to talk to you and build a personal connection.

Barry Mack  22:29

Yep, and you get to know what the art is about. My art is about freedom. It’s about you know, having a great time and exploring all the things we talked about living in flow, that’s what it’s about and if you get that then looking at the art has a whole different meaning.

Adrian Schermer  22:45

Absolutely. Add Barry Mack on social media, get a taste of what his art is, like, see if it’s a good fit for you. Connect with Barry, as you said, BarryMackart.com. I like that everything’s nice and simple. It’s the name. We are your get, rich, slow podcast team. Thanks so much for joining us and we look forward to speaking with you again next time, Barry.

Barry Mack  23:07

Awesome, guys. Thank you.

Adrian Schermer  23:08

Oh, and before I forget, we do have some events coming up. If you want to find out what’s going on in the local area. You want to come and meet up with us folks. Roi-FA.com/events. We’ve got some learning grows some wine. What are we calling the wine? I’m forgetting the title. Summer bash. There was a fun name for it. Sip and mingle. We got the summer bash coming up. Few of those in August and then, yeah, some photos with Santa in November. All right. Well, that was a good one.

Robert Delavan  23:36

Thank you, guys.

Adrian Schermer  23:37

We catch you next time guys.