The Beerhorst effect

Like I said in the previous post, finding fellow artists in Grand Rapids was a challenge when I moved here a couple years ago. Admittedly, I am not good at socializing for its own sake. I’d prefer to stay home, either working in the studio, spending time with my wife and kids, or both. But not finding anyone of like mind was slowly killing me. I had heard of Rick Beerhorst somewhere, and had seen some of his work online, but had never met him. So when I saw on Facebook that he was going to put a band together, I decided I would do it even if the musical experience was horrible, just to meet some other artists in town. As it turns out, the musical experience has been great. And I snagged Adam and DJ (bass player and drummer) to back me up too. But most of all, it’s been a real blessing to have gotten to know Rick, Brenda and their whole family.

I don’t want to embarrass them, but I routinely refer to the Beerhorst model when thinking about how to live my life and raise kids. The Beerhorsts are a family of artists (kids too) who support themselves by selling artwork. In short, living the way I’ve always wanted to live. And seeing them do it has given me the courage to stand behind the decision I had made last year to do just that. No more working jobs we don’t like just to have a salary. It’s scary sometimes, but no matter how tight the money gets, it feels better than being trapped by a salary ever did.

Artist lore has it that one must choose between being an artist and being a passable parent. Or between artist and happiness. Or being an artist means a heavy dose of self-destruction. I certainly have wrestled with that on occasion (how nice of me to say “on occasion”). Rick and Brenda have shown that to be a myth. Since meeting them, I see that being a real working artist doesn’t have to mean you’re a narcissistic asshole to anyone who cares about you. I have tried to not make the choice between my inner artist’s voice and my family. To my surprise not only are my children happier, I’m getting just as much (if not more) accomplished while including the kids than I ever did by trying to keep the two worlds separate. Which also means I’m happier. The best kind of vicious cycle: Dad/artist is happier, which makes for happier kids, which means Mom and Dad don’t have to do as much reprimanding, which means happier parents AND kids.

Case in point: Rick needed promo shots done for the band. I am a photographer. Perfect. Except that I am also in the band. I hate using the timer or a remote. You can always see in the photos that my mind was still behind the camera when the shutter clicked. So I brought my 10 year old daughter Lily along for the shoot. I set it up, got exposure and lights set, then handed the camera over to Lily (who incidentally has a great eye). It was fun to watch her work. The speedlights had a hard time keeping up with her. Here’s her best one:

I also got to shoot the whole Beerhorst gang (The Beerhorst family plus Cameron and Rachael Van Dyke and Matthew Paul Fowler) for their ArtPrize entry. Groups are never easy for me, but this was a lot of fun to shoot, and these pics are really making the rounds on the ol’ internet.