Interview with Drew Harris

Drew Harris is a visual artist who lives and works in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In September, he opened his first gallery exhibition in Chicago in 20 years. During a side trip to his native Canada, we sat down to talk about his career, and the business of being a self-sustaining artist.

Watch: https://youtu.be/Y1y3NUBkIkA

Unedited Transcript.

Jim Allan: Drew Harris Has over 40 years experience as a visual artist graphic designer and visual arts writer So welcome. How you doing?

Drew Harris: I'm very well, Jim. Thank you been a long time.

Jim Allan: It has been a long time

Drew Harris: Thank you for this opportunity.

When was that reunion that we just spoke about that's the last time

Drew Harris: I believe it was probably in 2006. 16 years.

Jim Allan: I have pictures from that night Anyway, that's what it that's what it says in the marketing material in your most recent show in Chicago, but you don't live in, Chicago I do not you do not live in Canada. You've spent most of the last 20 years living and working in or near Kuala Lumpur, which is in Malaysia

Drew Harris: Yes, indeed.

Jim Allan: How did you end up in Kuala Lumpur in the first place?

Drew Harris: I left in 1990 between 1990 and 91 To go traveling and went through Southeast Asia, you know China and Thailand and Nepal down through Australia and Australasia I happened to be living in Bali Indonesia just we had stopped for a couple of months to sort of get our heads straight and Fellow came along and happened to buy one of my works I happen to be painting so he bought the work brought it back to Singapore And that subsequently went into an exhibition it was the work on the front cover of a big art fair and after that he opened a gallery in Kuala Lumpur and he invited me as the first artist the first international artist to show and hence I began a 17 year career with that gallery in KL and I just kept going back year after year one or two shows and that's how I ended up Where I am today.

Jim Allan: So the last I think we just decided the last time I saw you was 2006 about 2006. There was a reunion. I definitely saw you in 1998 because some friends Commissioned a painting a painting as a wedding present for my new new bride and me Now you just you were upstairs you just saw this painting for the first time in 24 years I should have had cameras rolling on you just for the documentary footage I mean at this point you must have created hundreds if not thousands of Works, so what goes through your mind when you see something that you've created But you haven't seen it for a long time

Drew Harris: It's always a surprise and it's always a really pleasant surprise to see work Particularly when it's a it means something to a number of people so these friends who commissioned the work And to you there's a special connection Which means you know a greater amount of people were engaged in this process of making this piece. So when I see it There's something There is something that draws me back to that moment.

Jim Allan: So you remember the studio

Drew Harris: Yeah, I remember what I wrote in it I was doing a lot of text or writing into the surface of the painting And to see it today there are still elements

Jim Allan: you seem surprised. You probably forgot that you completely

Drew Harris: completely I I have done a lot of work. I've done a lot of Commission works You know, I'm really honored that after all of these years you see 24 years that piece is still you know Prominent holds a prominent place in your you don't

Jim Allan: I mean you don't see an old work and you see the flaws or

Drew Harris: of course I do.

Jim Allan: Yeah, I hate that brush. I was using or anything or technique or whatever.

Drew Harris: Oh, of course Yeah, there are a number of time, of course So yeah, well I try there are elements that have stayed with me and your painting is a good example of that I'm still using the elements that I created in 96. I'm still using today in 2022 so the piece that you have has all the strongest components of my career

Jim Allan: So if someone again brought out a painting, do you remember all your paintings? Do you do would you recognize them all

Drew Harris: I would recognize every one of my paintings if it was but I might not remember exactly the time or the and in most cases I'm working in a series or Or a thematic of that particular time so I can I can ballpark Roughly the the years that I was working on that, but I definitely recognize the periods in which I work

Jim Allan: Yeah, so I mean going back to the their the early 90s I mean in all honesty, you've always been an inspirational figure to me.

Drew Harris: Oh, thank you

Jim Allan: Yeah, you had a corporate job But you always wanted to be an artist a painter and somewhere along the line You just said Screw it screw it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it right and that's because then somebody like me is going you know You know what? I mean in a nice way if Drew can do it. I can do it, but he's like he's got the guts to Quit his job. I'm not sure go for it.

Drew Harris: Yeah, it might have been a bit of guts But it was a little bit of stupidity at the time to you know realizing that I I was giving up a career That could well that was a recession too. There was there was a recession, you know, and right

Jim Allan: There's always a recession for those kids watching

Drew Harris: There's always a recession coming but that was right in the middle of it because that's when I was starting as well Yes, and and that was you know seen by family and friends as being kind of a ridiculous move I owned a house in Toronto. I had a very good paying job. It was a progressive company. We were doing well But it was a choice I had to make I couldn't do 18-hour days anymore You know working as a designer a young family and a painting career the three elements just couldn't work Together so at the time you were painting for yourself at nights and on the weekends or I was painting at night And trying to get in, you know as many exhibitions I could Just group small exhibitions and it was my real love. I it was a passion. So I thought well Yeah, I can't keep this going for the next 20 years One would have to give and that was the design business

Jim Allan: Yeah, but I guess my point is you're you're you're a guy who just you know, frickin went out and did it so Hats off to you, but and I know it's not all glory, right? No, and maybe we can talk some of that week. We kind of got you know, you you you had a break, right? someone Found you with connections and Bob painting and then then you're on a cover of something Yes, and then you're in I also think there's an element that

Drew Harris: The one thing I was blessed with with which was the business aspect a lot of artists young artists particularly and I was in my what 30s late 20s and early 30s They don't have the business aspect or I Don't know that I wouldn't say business acumen, but I had that business Philosophy, you know deeply ingrained So I had this ability to be able to to have the confidence to walk up really to anybody in any Corporation and say here's my portfolio. Would you like to look at it? So there was that element that I That saved me. So during a recession you You you know you take your chance right And if you have both aspects I understood the markets I could follow the markets I understood Economics so I saw that Asia might be Actually rising in there in there, you know economic sector So did you stay over there because that's what you were making. I was bouncing back and forth So I was doing when the North American, you know economy was was rising. I would do shows in Chicago In New York Toronto, right Vancouver and as it's sort of settled or tamed The Asian market would rise again. So I had I had my foot in both markets

Jim Allan: They miss you a bit and then then you come back or is that the idea?

Drew Harris: Yeah. Well, I could see that the the the markets that I needed You know, you always have to get your work into a market that is That's progressive. It's it's not going to recession It's it's or it is coming out of a recession So there's positivity in the market and you you locate those and you think okay Well, if you know you keep your foot in those markets So that you can you can work through all of the ebb and flow of the of those markets

Jim Allan: So you talking about Singapore Malaysia, so who is back then who's buying who's buying your paintings back then because they're always fairly large scale

Drew Harris: Yeah, well, I'm again as I say I was very blessed to to meet one of the better dealers in South Asia and He had he also I must say Had the courage and the balls as it were to go and and build His brand and that brand became synonymous with you know, really good work Really good international artists. So I was I was very lucky very fortunate because I was there right there at the very beginning

Jim Allan: So are you are you marketed as this exotic exotic Canadian guy or

Drew Harris: I used to be Now I'm yeah back then it was it was fantastic because I was bringing contemporary work Which was just beginning to be recognized in that Asian Mount South Asian market For years it had been a very traditional and the universities weren't really focused on contemporary work Then as we entered the market They started to see a need for contemporary work. And since there's been a number of really top universities in South Asia producing really fantastic work So and and artists so my career as a as a young artist started there I built connections with you know, countless number of collectors and they built relationships with me for 20 years At the end of that 20 years or so or 20 30 years There's a new set of artists coming up. So and there's a new set of collectors So again, it's just repeat and then those collectors will build 20 or 30 year careers with these young artists today. So it's a natural movement So I'm not as as sought after as it were in that market

Jim Allan: Right.

Drew Harris: They tend they're tending to go back to the younger artists and I was the younger artist then

Jim Allan: So I'm gonna I was gonna ask you about Chicago near near the end There's a 20-year gap in yeah in having shows in Chicago Is that part of the appeal than going to Chicago? Let's get reconnected with my Chicago friends

Drew Harris: to a certain degree Again, you know people have short-term memories.

Jim Allan: So 20 years ago is a long time.

Drew Harris: Oh, right long time ago There are only a few people that remembered my work and once you as an artist Or anybody in business or in performing arts or whichever you leave a market for 20 years it's a struggle to get back in I Was fortunate because the the gallery that I contacted Actually remembered my work from 20 years ago.

Jim Allan: So it's the same gallery.

Drew Harris: No, it's a different gallery a different dealer and He recognized my name and my work And he was the one that invited me in so that makes you feel pretty good It was very it was again serendipitous. I had just made a call randomly To this fella. So you're calling from from Asia. I'm trying to drum up Gallery. Oh, okay, and he was the first guy.

Jim Allan: You don't have an agent or anything.

Drew Harris: No, I do it all on my own I'm not repped by any galleries except for now in Chicago, right? In Malaysia and Indonesia, you know, I became an independent in 2000 well shortly after you and I last saw one another tooth 2007 or 2008 I just thought you know, I've had gallery representation for 17 years It's time to just go it on my own.

Jim Allan: So at a show like the one You had in Chicago What makes it successful for you? What how selling all the paintings or how would you how do you define success in that situation?

Drew Harris: That's a well, that's a great question. I think the first success we we all must as artists We try to achieve that that first success is actually getting it done Completing the task getting it there being responsible for getting it there on time and on schedule, right? Yeah, that is the first success and once you've done that now it's out of your control really you also have to feel that you have done your job as best you can and There are a lot of times when you finish a show You know, like it has said you never finish it you kind of abandon it, right? There are shows that you abandoned Because of timing and so forth but you as long as you got the show there and Committed and completed your commitment That's one success then the rest is really up to the public. So it's out of your control at a certain point It's out of my control and now it comes down to you know public perception You know good example of that might be I did a show In Malaysia at one point and I had put large graphic X's in the paintings and they were it was part of a series I was doing personal series yes and when So I was very happy with the show and I very happy with the work I got the work to to Kuala Lumpur. We announced the show We we created the catalog we had the opening and The show didn't do well It didn't do well at all. In fact,

Jim Allan: which means it doesn't sell

Drew Harris: it didn't sell it didn't sell it didn't get the reaction and We couldn't figure out why and someone pointed out to us that in the culture of the Asian culture the X is really considered a It's it's a it's a symbol that is not Comfortable superstitious, they're very superstitious about the X because the X means It could be a death thing. It could be In business it could you know jeopardize business So this X is really important and I had no idea So I had done everything I could do to create a good body of work But I didn't do my research and that was a failure in the end So the success was I got it there the failure was the fact that I just didn't do my homework and So that's one one element. But generally if you do your homework and you feel good about a show After the getting it there getting it on the walls and showing up then the success is This kind of thing, you know where I get to speak, you know do interviews talk about the work talk about me

Jim Allan: Well, I mean do you how do you define success in general? I mean do you do you consider yourself successful?

Drew Harris: I'll certainly I do Merely for the fact that I've just stuck it out for as long as I have I think Success is you know granted to those Whether we're for whatever reason we've stuck it out for 40 years, you know, there's a success right there We've beat all odds What you want to do and still doing what I want to do there have been the challenges I was we discussed I Do feel successful Monetarily that's always gonna be Crap shoot, you know, you do it You don't know how you're gonna do and there can be long periods of drought where you start to question what you do But if you have means to overcome that That's often for the young artists taking job on you know as they build their creative content For me, I I can't do anything else. So I simply I write So that supplements some income but really It's the that's the painting so it can go for long droughts and you can begin to question and you think Is this success or is this just? Stupidity sometimes, you know, I still I'm pounding my head against the wall but in the end we I believe in myself I believe in what I do and That's the first success really that is what is successful to me in the end and I'm still here doing what I do. So knock on wood

Jim Allan: Okay, yeah, so my father-in-law okay, he's a retired psychiatrist And he just wrote a book about Willem de Kooning

Drew Harris: Wow

Jim Allan: abstract expressionist painter in the 40s 50s 60s. I think I didn't worse 1970s a contemporary of Jackson Pollock. Mm-hmm One thing that came up De Kooning would often destroy his work Whatever he'd been working on that day he'd destroy it and start over day after day painting after painting You know and some sometimes the people watching would be appalled hey, hey Willem that was That looked like a pretty good painting that you just wrote off the artist What's your process like do you destroy work? Do you do you walk away from paintings come back? How do you how do you work?

Drew Harris: Yeah, well like de Kooning I mean you again one of my biggest influences the whole New York school of painters the abstract painters The 50s and 60s with de Kooning and Klein and Motherwell Rothko You know, they all had that same process we paint until we know we've got something and if the painting is not working It's set aside You can always come back to it and if it doesn't work and the one thing I you know I always mention paintings have a spirit. They're living spirits the the what you put on canvas is Is is it's a give-and-take with a with a canvas you as the artist and the canvas it's one you become one

Jim Allan: Do you have multiple canvases going on at once?

Drew Harris: Oh, yeah, and you develop a relationship with your canvas I know it sounds kind of flaky, but so you it will tell you whether it's gonna work or not And if you are intuitive enough, and if you are in tune with your process You'll know it immediately and you'll know when a painting is forcing you to stop or pushing you away It's just something about the flow of paint and the canvas has a has a Hate to sound a spiritual and way out there, but it really does have its own personality and it and it has Has a voice and if you force it You'll never get what you want and So there's many paintings that I know as I'm creating them This is not working. It's telling me it's not working so I can set those aside But those come back and they can come back years later So you go right to canvas you're not sketching things out in pencil or anything you go right to I go right to canvas Right. Yeah with the thematic.

Jim Allan: So you have a something in mind like I'm gonna I have a thematic in mind So it might be like you might all like variations on a theme that you've been yeah like the magnetic North you this is your theme.

Drew NHarris: Yes. Now I'm gonna start a new painting Yeah, but it's not gonna be identical to the last one. That's gonna be somewhat connected to Matt Yeah, and I work in series. So if you look back on the history of my work really about 2000 About 2000 I started Being very concerned with our environment and as an abstract painter, I mean, what can you do with abstraction? So my thematics were always about the weather There there was a Series called the thought series it was about again about the environment my thoughts towards the environment when you were inspired by satellite That's right, yeah and that with the fragile earth series again and as abstraction work I Try to bring in some narrative that will allow the viewer to really think about the work I'm not painting specific Things about earth. It's just a feeling you have to feel the canvas and one of the concepts behind as an example the fragile earth is that This whole concept as a news reader and as someone that's concerned with culture and environment We don't put Lines on our earth, you know the if for example Canada and the US we have the longest Undefended border in the world. We don't actually go and paint a line that tells you this is Canada This is the US we it's a it's a psychological line So we have resources in Canada that the US doesn't the US has resources that we don't have All over the world. There is this so in my works It talks about economy it talks about religious values it talks about Resources it talks about greed So, you know when if you look through parts of the world where you've got countries, you know Almost put together in a kind of kaleidoscope of divisions there are stronger countries in there and they are taking the resources or they are Politically stronger or they are religiously stronger. We don't go and put lines on our but we define each country by its By these elements. So this is what I was trying to do in my work as if looking down from a satellite If you look at a NASA image There are no lines on the planet. It's this is our natural planet But we ourselves have divided it through greed through religion that kind of thing. So this is the kind of message So I take that I think the next series after that was Pardon me. I think I did the peninsula series and again, it was about the area that I grew up in Canada and The country I live in currently right now is a peninsula So there was there was some element there and it was about the land. So this is how I move from Series to series.

Jim Allan: Do you do you experiment a lot?

Drew Harris: I do in the studio. I do you're trying to evolve

Jim Allan: You don't want to repeat yourself too much. I guess

Drew Harris: Well, I think there's all there's an element of repetition that you Perhaps it's mark making that I'm known for that. I'm comfortable with that makes That makes me who I am as a painter But yeah, I don't like to repeat There are many painters out there that have found a technique or subject matter and they just keep you know, flogging it to death You don't want to get bored of yourself I get bored very easily so you're restless and then you want to move on to Absolutely.

Jim Allan: Yeah, but again, you don't destroy any paintings?

Drew Harris: Oh, of course you do. Oh, I do but not violently or

Jim Allan: Well, you know there have been you get frustrated while you're doing it

Drew Harris: Yeah, but it and in fact some of the the paintings that are most Successful are the ones that I've gotten to the point where I've I've I've given up and I've said, okay, I'm powerless. I'm powerless over this painting. You tell me what you want It's defeated me. It has defeated me. Yeah, and when I go back into it I go back into it with a whole different feeling and a whole You know relationship with the canvas. I stopped trying to force it In some cases I get angry with it, you know, I lay it on the floor. I walk on it You know, I've done everything from drive cars over paintings just to get something that You know you almost it's it's like pushing your friend by poking at them all the time until they react And this is what you do with a canvas you poke at it Until it finally bounces back it bites back and that's when you've got a good relationship

Jim Allan: So I find out I find a good night's sleep is good And then you because you're still thinking about stuff Probably then you wake up in the morning and I you know when it comes to video edit I could suddenly do a hundred little edits of course I'd say, you know in the morning and where it was a slog the night before do you wake up? Suddenly have the answer to yesterday's problem.

Drew Harris: Absolutely, and I think that that has been something I think a lot of us employ I Started doing this in university and in college was the You know step aside from it as a designer. I had to learn to do that There were many days as you recall back in the business when the solution wasn't there and I had to you know Step aside go for a walk go for a sleep You know, whatever you needed to do you you come back an hour later or a couple of hours later or the following? Morning and the answer is there You just at some point can't see it so I Recognize that now as a painter 30 some odd years now 35 years I recognize that feeling that if I can't find the solution I have to walk away So I put the paintings away and I can come back to them The follow-up day maybe even a few hours and the solution is there there's something there.

Jim Allan: How do you know when you're finished though?

Drew Harris: A particular painting because the painting will tell you when it's finished. I fully believe there's nothing more You you know, I look at paintings as I go We've referred to this at the beginning of our discussion today in that, you know, I see old paintings and I say well What could I have done? differently then and There often times I don't have an answer for that I don't think there is anything I could do at that time the paintings tell you if you're listening acutely Again, it sounds a little out there But if you listen the painting will just tell you when it's done You made reference to politics and just and things Influence influencing you and certainly just the state of the world in a gallery setting or even

Jim Allan: Do you feel comfortable standing beside, you know a potential Buyer or collector whatever you want to do. Do you feel comfortable explaining your art? Is that is that a cool thing or are you offended by that?

Drew Harris: No, and again, yeah, I'm gonna immediately see not you see not at all and most don't But what I try to do is I try to encourage them to think beyond the visual they have to feel it There's a my paintings resonate a certain. I don't know. It's got a certain mood They're not always the happiest paintings. They're not always the brightest paintings. Some of the darkest paintings I've done evoke the strongest message and For an individual for each person So every person that looks at that painting will feel something differently and there's a really important part of my career And that is there's a word taxu, which actually ironically is the name of the gallery that we started in Malaysia and Taxu is a Sanskrit word or in fact, it's been used in the Balinese language of a spiritual connection to something so as an example, you might have a gallery full of my own art and You as the viewer have come in there's 20 paintings and for some reason you are drawn to one painting and that's That's what buyers buy That's what buyers look for in a show for for the 19 other paintings. You're not drawn to it So there's a there's a word taxu and it's very important in our career that Someone will be connected to that painting and they're the usually the ones that purchase it I can't explain the work. I just say if you feel something and it feels right compositionally Size wise and it's right for you

Jim Allan: So I know just enough art theory to be dangerous so You know about five years into my university career I finally went to a lecture about you know composition for instance Yes, and I can remember like why haven't I learned this? I guess I could have bought a book or look right looked it up I didn't know what I didn't know. Right? So, I mean I can stand in front of a painting and you know I can't articulate why I like it It's just something

Drew Harris: there's the taxi

Yes, or or it may make you uncomfortable, you know on purpose. Maybe that was the artist intent like

Jim Allan: do normal rules of composition for instance apply to What you do?

Drew Harris: Oh Certainly you can't make a painting that is uncomfortable like I'm not a I'm not an artist that is provocative I'm not trying to To make my viewership nervous. I don't want them Uncomfortable in my work. I want people comfortable in my work. I know the artists that I am I can make people uncomfortable But I don't choose to do that. It's not my nature. I want people to enjoy my work, but I also want them to think it through Composition is part of that you have to have an understanding of good Composition when you put a work a two-dimensional work on the wall

Jim Allan: Do you consciously go out and break rules do you sometimes ?

Drew Harris: of course Yeah. Yeah, I have to and and That keeps me on my toes that that's what keeps getting me up in the morning I I wake up and I think what rule can I break today? Certainly. Yeah, and that again, you know if any You know if we understand marketing marketing is about breaking rules We're breaking rules all the time in our marketing in in corporate marketing We always have to try things and things that were were unacceptable ten years ago are now acceptable. So it's You know and and what if? Whatever we're doing today Everybody's trying to have that one thing that no one else has done and and pushing it to the point of slight uncomfortable All right, you know and I think there's that edge that Good marketers and good companies using and employing good marketing Will always bring you to edge to the edge. They won't take you over So that's really so every day. Yeah, I have to think of something new and I'm inspired by everything I see Instagram Facebook There are certain elements you think Now I could take that and I could do it. There was a

Jim Allan: did you ever see Hannah and her sisters? There was a I was yeah, there's certain Scenes and movies that I just remember for some reason and the guys. Yeah, there's a small scene where the guy Goes to see Max van Cito. So my Max von Cito was a painter in New York and so the Daniel Stern was you know a music rock star and he Sony brings him up and then he's looking at in his private private showing in his gallery and then and then he makes a comment like Oh I like this painting because it'll it'll match my couch, right? Right with that with that. So what what pisses you off? Would that piss you off because the painter kicked him out max van von Cito kicked Daniel Stern out What what pisses you off something must what well I have to agree I mean if you really want to know that probably pisses off a lot of artists

Drew Harris: Yeah, it's surface but it's not it's not necessarily rude it's it's ill-informed People come and let's be honest. And I mean we can't Deny it. I mean people still put art to match their decor I I'm the first one to admit it. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do as many commissions had I Had that I mean I have to work with design teams. I have to work with a designer in Hong Kong That says well, you know, we're looking for eight paintings They have to have red in them. They have to have white in them and they have to go with our rugs and you say You know the elitist artists might say well, I'm not gonna do that. That's under me and I'd say Absolutely, but you are gonna get what I give you and I will find that balance that you are comfortable with And that I'm comfortable with but don't tell me what to paint in other than Scale right and some suggestions. I'm not gonna fight a client

Jim Allan: So I could say I could say to you I got this huge wall.

Drew Harris: Yes a huge painting but and And of course, you know if I'm doing my job, right? I want to know First of all the environment that it's right and is it a home environment? But I also want to know a bit about you so I would just say, you know We're I'm gonna come over and we're gonna have coffee we're gonna see it and we're gonna talk you're talking about commissions And so you try to connect with your customer in that situation. Anyway, it's it's it's it's it's a hundred percent essential When I get a commission I do as much Interviewing as I can and if I have the opportunity I'll take we'll go for dinner. I get to know the people I get to see little things about them and something will will click and They the painting again will come about because I have a better understanding of them if I'm just simply doing What I feel like doing the the established artists and I probably wouldn't get work Because you it's a give-and-take you have to work and you Jim Allan, you know, you have to live with my work Has to be something you are comfortable with and if I'm going to create something that is Not about you is not does not fit your environment We both have lost You know, you're not gonna respect what I do and you surely won't respect the painting and I have disrespected you because I Listen, you know, I've done I don't know but I can't I can't even give you the figure on how many commissions I've done corporate commissions and these are relatively big commissions.

These are prestigious commissions in hotels in The corporate market in China in Australia here in Canada in the US and The it Without I think Only maybe one out of the entire Commission process that I didn't get it right. All right, and it's I struggled with it and I happened to be a 40 foot painting 40 feet by 10 feet And it was a struggle and it wasn't me. It was the third person between client myself it was that individual that was directing me through the client and They couldn't get it right. They just simply didn't know how to tell me what was required and This is not a small painting. It's for 40 some odd feet I did finish it but I got to the point where I said to the client and to the to my direct client I Think I just have to do what I intuitively feel is right I'm not going to follow what you said in order to finish this project. Otherwise, I'm giving up and You're gonna have to find somebody new It'd be wildly discouraging. I'm sure those kinds of conversations it was but it was encouraging because it convinced them that their direction wasn't Quite articulate enough so I needed to do it and I was allowed to do it and it's one of the better paintings I've ever done and it's in the Sheraton Macau. It's a It's been you know, I pride myself in knowing that I Can say ninety nine point nine percent of every of all the commissions I've done have been successful only because perhaps we have to We have to listen intently. We have to be engaged. We can't be shy We have to ask the questions we need to ask and that's really that's the key important thing if the questions don't get asked and there's no answer to your question and You don't ask it. You are going to be left in the dark

Jim Allan: Here's a quote from your most recent bio to so Drew is a firm believer in Mentoring and freely sharing his experiences with other artists whether they're just starting out in mid-career or Season veterans and then so that the word that jumped out at me there was freely Are you is this something you do for free? Are you are you? charged for it free so

Drew Harris: Actually, it's one of the most important things I do today and I have you know had a long very illustrious career I've traveled the world with my work. It's been great. There is a To a certain degree. It's not a best before date But is you get to a point in your career where you really have seen a lot and there's a lot of young Artists that have not experienced what I have experienced and and yourself There are a lot of producers and writers and cameramen. They haven't had the experience. So we become a knowledge base So I work with a company called the artist next level and out of Chicago hence my Chicago connection and What we try to do is we're mentoring young artists young artists Mid-career and even senior artists that are perhaps stuck They're not quite sure what they're gonna do. They need help with their social media all aspects including websites business How to propose to museums that kind of thing and what we have a wellness program As part of it. So you have to be well, you have to be mentally well in your artistic career to to be able to handle the challenges and then they have my Aspect which or Participation which is studio practice. You have to know how to operate a studio. You have to know how to ship paintings you have to know what it is to Pull your emotions out in your work to create strong work and a lot of artists a lot of new artists are scared To do that. They're not quite sure how to do that And I just mentor along and I'm sounding board for a lot of these people they can ask the questions and I can When available I can advise them.

Jim Allan: So it's a paid session So in Chicago, I noticed that you went away for a little weekend getaway or something That was actually right in the gallery itself.

Drew Harris: We did it. It's called we evolve and this is our fourth We started doing it during the pandemic on zoom. So we had up to 60 artists two-day paid Two-day workshop, so it went through the wellness as I say the business The all the social media and then I Critiqued the each of the artists work and we had a dialogue for about 20 minutes for each artist They could explain what they were doing and what they wanted to do. What was their intention? So I'm really just a guidance to say this is possibly what you could how you could move and This is within a peer group So it's really important for these for these artists and I've been very fortunate to be included in this So now we're taking this on the road Around the world and we can do this two days. It's proven method We're seeing great change. Not not each not every artist Changes as we'd hoped but some take a little bit more nurturing and some of those come back for the second time So it's a it's an ongoing process and I think it's I think it's required right now because artists Don't have access to this information and this expertise We're all senior artists that are, you know heading up this artist next level So we have some experience and we can you know pass that off to the next generation.

Jim Allan: So there you go I mean you've been in North America for a few weeks, but You miss Canada when you're Not here, I'm sure you miss being in the studio back in Kuala Lumpur Don't you it's almost time to go home, right? So you and I don't I mean I don't want it's you know after being home for in this past two and a half weeks

Drew Harris: The the joy of this the of Canada the color of Canada I don't enjoy the cost of Canada these days it has It's it has gone so crazy and cost here But it is my home and I get to speak to people like you I get to see people such as yourself and Colleagues that you would know that we had mutual colleagues together. I got to see a lot of these people I got a lot, you know Downtime with these people where I could really enjoy their company I mean you're getting out right before the snow comes like it can feel it in the air. So Yes Someone said you know before the end of October. Yeah Where I'm going we'll never have snow, but I I'm hopeful every day I'll mail some to you. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you in a crate I really appreciate you know our conversation and I I know you know, I have many questions to ask you now You know what you've been doing and and the many years that you've been doing so So well and so professionally and we're obviously haven't seen most of what I've done so We can do we can do that off

Jim Allan: But I do want to thank you for coming through. It's the chance. I really appreciate it. And I hope you found it an interesting talk I tried to ask questions. Hopefully you don't always get asked Maybe even try to piss you off a little bit with

Never never is how much do you make in it? No, okay, that's that's the that's Million dollar I got it. I'll see you there you go. I got it out of you. Yeah.

Jim Allan: Thanks for coming.

Drew Harris: Thank you. Appreciate it I really appreciate it, too It's a it's a nice way to to leave Canada with a conversation with you and to talk about a long career

Jim Allan: Good to see you, too