Goosebumps rise on my cold arms, though I’m covered with a cozy green flannel shirt, a sweater, and a blanket draped over my shoulders. The sky is dingy gray, one giant cloud with a slight hint of blue popping out in the distance, providing hope that maybe spring is making its way to us. Sleet drizzles from the sky, building up icy patches on the dry brown winter grass that crunch under my feet as I make my way out to my studio across the yard. Upon arrival my hot cup of coffee is barely warm, but the cranked-up heat inside is welcoming.

Sadly, there are people in this world who are not having a cozy morning. This week I communicated with Vera Kavera, who is a pastel artist living in Ukraine. I had reached out to see if she was OK, and though she was, she was clearly frightened. She told me the first morning she awoke to the sounds of bombs.

No human, no child, none of us should ever have to experience that kind of fright.

As you know, I avoid political topics because everyone has an opinion. But today, I can’t write this little note without acknowledging what is on all of our minds.

Also this past week, I reached out to my dear friend artist Nicholai Dubovik, simply saying that I know there is a possibility our two countries could be in conflict, and if communication is cut off, I wanted them to know they are loved. He replied that he too loved us.

War is always awful, even though it may be justified by some, but it takes on a new face when you have friends whose lives are being impacted. I know a few other artists in Ukraine, and my heart breaks for them.

The feeling of helplessness overcomes me. I asked Vera how I could help, because I was lost, and she simply asked that we keep her in our prayers. One of my employees suggested that maybe we should suggest people buy her video, because she will be needing more money. But I felt that would appear opportunistic. But if that works for you, I’m sure she would love your support.

Throughout history, small voices, individual voices, have had a big impact, either because they are the relentless squeaky wheel, or because they organize and gather others for protests or to contact their representatives. I can’t tell you what to do. You have to follow your heart.

When I learned about prayer, I was told to use names, and to be specific about the outcome you are asking for. I try not to look at God as Santa Claus or a “genie in a bottle” for my own gain.

But I do call on God when I have needs for others, or for myself.

Years ago, my accountant called me and said, “Eric, we cannot meet payroll next week. I’ve called everyone who owes us money, and no one is sending anything this week.” So I asked the exact amount, and I got on my knees in my office and I asked God to provide that exact amount. The following day Marty called from one of the big networks and asked if he could prepay next year’s advertising so he could get it on the books for the current year. I told him yes, and when the check arrived, it was the EXACT amount, to the penny. That convinced me of the power of prayer and being specific.

I’m praying for my friends over there, and I’m praying for a swift end to this insanity. You may not believe what I believe, so I don’t want to try to force that on you. But if you would, consider closing your eyes and asking your God to intercede and end this.

Eric Rhoads

Bam, Slam, Crash!

Startled out of a cozy dream, I jump out of bed and quickly look out the window to see a plastic patio chair flying across the backyard like a reckless pilot in an air show, banging into the gnarly twisted oaks, bouncing off the rocks, and bumping across the weeds until it gets stuck at the back fence.

The old screen door is slamming repeatedly as the wind moves it. The trees are rattling and swaying fiercely. You can hear the wind howl like a coyote. Perhaps spring really does roar in like a lion.

The Four Seasons

There is something profound about the seasons and their relationship to life. Spring is new beginnings and birth, summer is life, fall is old age, and winter is the freeze, the end. As I think about spring, I cannot stop thinking about new beginnings, about the excitement of seeing what blooms in life and in business. The seeds get planted at the start of the year, when we set goals and resolutions and the flowers will pop up soon.

I love everything about new beginnings. I love change, even though it’s our nature to resist it. I love to break what’s not broken, to disrupt what needs disrupting.

Making Change

My wife, Laurie, loves to move furniture around, change out rugs, and disrupt our house. I’m always resistant at first, because I’m comfortable, settled, cozy. Yet, the change is always better; it makes me appreciate our home in fresh ways. It’s healthy to have our lives disrupted, even when it’s unpleasant at first.

But it’s hard to be disruptive, because, as my friend Roy Williams says, “It’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle.” Some of us would rather just stay cozy.

Think about disruptions that have occurred in your life that you resisted or did not embrace, but that ended up making your life better. Disruptions are like spring flowers.

“If you had told me I’d…”

Fill in the blank. I hear it all the time.

We eventually embrace what we initially resist. We adapt. And usually, we see improvement in our lives.

But disruption in life, and businesses, rarely comes from ourselves. Our friend Dawn walked into our house last Sunday after church and pointed out a decorating idea we had not thought of. And it was better. But we could not see it because we look at the house every day.

Too Close to See It

Kodak held the patents on the digital camera. They invented it, but the executives of the company resisted it because it was not about film, which was the business they thought they were in.

A friend who was head of digital for the Washington Post claims he told executives that their Internet content would become more popular than their printed newspaper, but they did not believe him. So he was instructed not to publish stories on the Internet until the paper had been out for 24 hours.

Break It

The way to disrupt is to look at the way things are done, find what you hate about it, figure out how to break it, and figure out what would make it better. People on the inside can rarely see what they should be doing, how they should be changing. Instead, people from the outside can disrupt because they see what can be better. Elon Musk, a co-founder of Paypal, looked at rockets and made them better, looked at cars and made them better. Jeff Bezos looked at books, and distribution, and made all of our lives better.

Why does this matter?

Disruption makes things and people better.

My grandfather had a business selling meat slicers, scales, and meat cases. Supermarkets disrupted him, put packaged meat out, and his business died. He could not see it because he was on the inside.

My goal, as a business owner, is to try to break it at every possible opportunity. It’s not easy, because I cannot see what I need. That’s also true in life. I need others to help me see how my life could be better. We all do.

By making a point to seek feedback, even things we don’t want to hear, we get better. We grow. We change, and we make ourselves or our businesses better. And we need to continually do this to ourselves even though we resist.

Are you set in your ways?
Do you need to be disrupted?

Are you stuck and don’t know it?

Do you have someone who can help you disrupt?

If you want to get disrupted, listen to your kids. They are willing to point out how we need to change, and I’ve found that they are right more often than not.

We’ve all had terrible things happen to us, disasters, deaths, and other unpleasant things, and we come out on the other side different in some ways. I did not like when my dad died, but I grew up in new ways because of it (which he had told me happened to him when my grandfather died).

Embrace disruption. Embrace change. Seek others who can help you disrupt. Life will be more interesting and invigorating.

After all, comfort is nice, but being stuck isn’t.

Eric Rhoads

PS: If you hang with me this year, you’ll see some very interesting disruptions. I can’t tell you more.

One disruption we were forced into because of COVID was launching virtual conferences to replace our in-person events that were canceled. We learned that thousands of people who could not attend in person love the three-day conferences online. And we are continuing them beyond quarantines because people are getting value. Our next one is PleinAir Live, which is March 9-12. Join us by visiting pleinairlive.com. Disrupt yourself by learning to paint.

Here are some things going on at my company, Streamline Publishing, Inc.

—–

PleinAir Salon Entry Deadline

$30,000 Art Competition/Deadline: February 28, 2022

Enter this monthly online competition to win cash prizes and recognition. Monthly category winners will be entered into the annual competition, where the Grand Prize is $15,000 cash and the cover of PleinAir Magazine.

Enter one of our 18 categories in plein air and studio painting.

Learn more. 

3rd Annual PleinAir Live Virtual Conference

Virtual Event: March 9-12, 2022

Beginner’s Day: March 9

March 6 is the last day to save up to $300 on a ticket.

Replays available if you can’t make the date.

PleinAir Magazine presents PleinAir Live, a 4-day online training event featuring 30 of the world’s top landscape and plein air artists doing demonstrations and presentations. Join thousands of artists from around the world to take your work to the next level and learn about the plein air lifestyle and how to become a part of it.

Learn more. 

9th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo

In-Person Event: May 16-20

Location: Santa Fe, NM

Basics Course: May 16

Kevin Macpherson Pre-Convention Workshop: May 16-17

Main Event: 17-20

March 17 is the last day to save $400 on a ticket. 

Plein Air Magazine presents the 9th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo, a gathering of plein air artists and over 60 top instructors teaching on multiple stages in multiple mediums. Daily painting at a group in iconic locations. Giant Expo Hall of plein air-specific art materials. Art Marketing Boot Camp. Attendance limited.

Learn more. 

11th Annual Publisher’s Invitational Paint Out in the Adirondacks

Artist Retreat: June 11-18, 2022

Location: Paul Smith’s College Near Saranac Lake, NY

Join Eric Rhoads, publisher of Inside Art, PleinAir, and more, for a one-week artist retreat, painting in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. Paint with the group or alone, all meals and lodging provided. Meet new friends, paint multiple pieces daily. All meals together, plus group events, cocktail parties, singing and music, portrait painting, and more. A great way to get better fast or to learn the ropes of plein air painting. This is not a workshop or training event.

Learn more.

7th Annual Fall Color Week

Artist Retreat: October 6-13, 2022

Location: Acadia National Park, Maine

Join Eric Rhoads, publisher of Inside Art, PleinAir, and more, for a one-week artist retreat, painting in the beautiful fall color during peak color week at Acadia National Park in Maine. Paint with the group or alone, all meals and lodging provided. Meet new friends, paint multiple pieces daily. All meals together, plus group events, cocktail parties, lobster dinner, singing and music, portrait painting, and more. A great way to get better fast or to learn the ropes of plein air painting. This is not a workshop or training event.

Learn More.

Paint Russia

Painting Trip and Tour: September 15-29, 2022

Location: Russia

A rare opportunity to paint in the cities and countryside of Russia, along with sightseeing, museum visits (including a private entry into the Hermitage Museum), art studio visits, visits to the two great art academies, and painting with Russian masters. The trip starts in St. Petersburg, then to the small villages inland, then to Moscow, and ends with the village and exact paint spots painted by the great Russian masters like Repin, Serov, Levitan, and others. Hosted by Eric Rhoads. Limited to 50 people. Join the waiting list. This is a one-time trip; it will not be repeated.

Learn More.

The Time Is Now for Legacy

Warmth is the first thing I feel as I step out to the long covered back deck of this Texas ranch house. Sun is blasting my eyes, throwing hot orange against the tree trunks, and the tall blades of grass are casting long shadows. But it won’t last long and will be gone before I finish.

It’s been a while since I’ve come to you with something fresh and new. Thanks to my team for setting up the repeats to fill in during a brief illness. Happily, I’m 150% back, filled with energy, and my brain is on fire with all the things I want to do in ’22.

Two Weeks Straight

I often suggest two-week vacations to my team members. Some like to do that, others like to take a week at a time. In my own case, it takes me a week to relax, and then that second week is to play while relaxed. The same thing happens if you’re stuck in bed. You lose the stress and see your mind open up.

Ali, my very overqualified assistant, will tell you the conversation after every time I take some time off.

“I’m going to make some changes. I need more time to think, more time to work on ideas, and less time ‘doing things.’”

She agrees, and then two weeks later, I’m back in my 150mph routine and nothing has changed.

But this time will be different, I tell myself. This time I’m going to make changes.

But will I?

There is nothing like a relaxed brain, the removal of stress, along with a prepared mind. I know what I need to change, but will I? A betting bookie would lay odds that I continue to repeat my normal behavior and change does not occur. And then, the next vacation or break, I’ll say the same things, have good intentions, but then go back to the grindstone.

What about you?

When you get the cobwebs out, where do you want to be, and what are you going to do about it?

In my case there is usually a bag of good excuses to help me rationalize my addiction to work. Things like, “I know I need some help, but can I really afford it?” Or, “I don’t have time to train someone to take up some of my responsibilities.”  Or, “No one can do it like I can.”

Of course, the contents of that bag are complete BS.

If you or I want to make change, only you or I can do it. We cannot rely on outside sources, we cannot rely on circumstances, and we have to stop making excuses.

Making a New Plan

Knowing this, I made a plan while I was resting. In fact, with ample time to think, I went into detail, including a plan to not allow myself to fall back into the same old habits. And one day of my illness, I got out of bed, went to the couch, and, with scratchy throat, made a phone call to explore bringing someone on board to take over some of the things I want to remove from my massive list of responsibilities. This fall, I also was able to hire someone else to do the same for different responsibilities, and it’s made a huge difference. And I’ve discovered that not only am I not needed, others can do it better.

Taking a Risk

Now I have to admit, there were decades when I could not afford to hire anyone to help me. But my discovery is that if I don’t take some risk and get some help, it stunts my growth, slows my success, and exacerbates my problems. As a result, I’ll not have to wear my cape with the red “S” anymore. After decades of being Superman, it’s time for others to fight my battles.

So what will I do with all this extra time? After all, I’m not interested in or ready for retirement and boredom.

Legacy Projects

A friend who did this, a very famous and important artist, said, “I’m going to spend the next couple of decades on legacy projects.” He used that opportunity to write books that needed to be written, take care of projects that would make things easier for his family once he was gone, and do things that make even more of a difference.

What’s Next

I’m not going anywhere. I intend to keep doing my daily livestreams and my podcasts, hosting my virtual conferences like next month’s PleinAir Live, teaching marketing on stage at the Plein Air Convention, and hosting painting events like Fall Color Week and the Publisher’s Invitational in the Adirondacks. But it’s time to work on the legacy projects … the books I need to write, the exhibitions I need to mount, the courses I need to record, the museums I want to create, and a few dozen other very worthy projects. But I’m hopeful I can step off the high-speed merry-go-round of minutiae and focus on what also needs to be done.

It’s not about my legacy. It’s about the legacy of making the world a much better place, making the art world better.

Our Last Breath

The reality is that you and I never stop till our lungs exhale their final breath. Our brains work, our bodies work, and we still have interests and important things that need to be done. Some tell themselves they are out of time or energy, while others allow the passion for their projects to drive them to completion.

Which are you?

Andrew Carnegie said he spent the first half of his life amassing wealth and planned to use the second half to give it away. It’s my hope that my second act will be about giving back. Making sure that projects the world needs to be done, get done.What about you?

Most of us have lost some important people in our lives in the past couple of years. Some related to the pandemic, others not. Just this week I lost a 45-year-old second cousin who has spent his life building his career to provide for his family. But what about the legacy projects?

Count on Nothing

Recently I told my lawyer that I wanted to get my planning done now, not wait for another 30 years like others I know who feel fairly secure that they’ll be around. But we can’t count on anything, which is why we all should consider building legacy into our daily lives, not waiting till we’re gray. Happily I’ve done a fair amount, but looking back, I could have done more. It did not all have to be about career-building.

Find the time. Identify your special gifts, and seek ways to leave something special behind, the legacy or gift you can leave the world. Do not delay. Find a way, find the time. You’ll never regret it.

Eric Rhoads

PS: A year or two ago I set a goal to teach a million people to paint. I’m guessing I’m not there yet, but I do know we’ve been exposed to hundreds of thousands who are learning because of the efforts we’ve taken. That makes me happy. That’s legacy work, because it changes lives and breathes confidence into people who never before could paint. But I need to reach more people, train more people, and open their eyes to what they don’t believe is possible. You can help by spreading the word.

For the last two years I had to cancel the Plein Air Convention, which prompted us to invent PleinAir Live, an online training conference that takes place over 4 days. We’ve run it twice, and have reached thousands. It’s coming up again in March and has proven to be the answer for hundreds and hundreds who cannot escape to attend our live events. We’ve had people in 50+ countries attend these events. We’ve taught thousands to paint. And we have the world’s finest as our instructors. If you’re tired of golf, or looking for something fun and different in your life, take a risk (it’s 100% money back guaranteed). You’ll never regret it.

Oh, and by the way, the Plein Air Convention & Expo will take place in Santa Fe this May. So you can come and learn in person, though attendance will be limited.

When I started our art instruction video business, Streamline Art Video, a decade ago or more, we did things differently and used Hollywood-level production to give a better experience. When the pioneer in that business died, we were asked to carry on the Johnnie Liliedahl legacy. Then, when the founder of Creative Catalyst passed, we were asked to carry that legacy on as well. We’ve kept all three brands around for years, but we discovered it was getting confusing, so right before Christmas, everything became one brand… PaintTube.TV, which has hundreds of art instruction videos in one place. And will soon be on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon, and others. Oh, and by the way, at the convention in May, we’re presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to co-founder Ralph Liliedahl. It will be a proud moment.

There is always a lot going on … so I thought I would post a calendar of all the things in the plan (so far) for the year.Important Dates

Plein Air Salon Entry Deadline

$30,000 Art Competition/Deadline: March 31, 2022

Annual Winners Will Be Announced Live at PACE on May 17 in Santa Fe, NM.

Enter this monthly online competition to win cash prizes and recognition. Monthly category winners will be entered into the Annual Competition where the Grand Prize is $15,000 cash and the cover of PleinAir Magazine. Enter one of our 18 categories in plein air and in studio painting.

Learn more. Share

3rd Annual Plein Air Live Virtual Conference

Virtual Event: March 9-12, 2022

Beginners Day: March 9

March 6 is the last day to save up to $300 on a ticket

Replays available if you can’t make the date.

PleinAir magazine presents Plein Air Live, a 4-day online training event featuring 30 of the world’s top landscape and plein air artists doing demonstrations and presentations. Join thousands of artists from around the world to take your work to the next level and learn about the plein air lifestyle and how to become a part of it.

Learn more. Share

9th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo

In-Person Event: May 16-20

Location: Santa Fe, NM

Basic Course: May 16

Kevin McPherson Pre-Convention Workshop: May 16-17

Main Event: 17-20

Last Day to save $500 is February 14th

Plein Air Magazine presents the 9th Annual Plein Air Convention, a gathering of plein air artists, over 60 top instructors teaching on multiple stages in multiple mediums. Daily painting at a group in iconic locations. Giant expo hall of plein air specific art materials. Art marketing Boot Camp. Attendance limited.

Learn More.    Share

11th Annual Publisher’s Invitational Paint Out in the Adirondacks

Artist Retreat: June 11-18, 2022

Location: Paul Smith’s College Near Saranac Lake, NY

Join Eric Rhoads, Publisher of Inside Art, PleinAir, and others, for a one week artist retreat, painting in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of Upstate, NY. Paint with the group or alone, all meals and lodging provided. Meet new friends, paint multiple pieces daily. All meals together, plus group events, cocktail parties, singing and music, portrait painting and more. A great way to get better fast or to learn the ropes of plein air painting. This is not a workshop or training event.

Learn More.

7th Annual Fall Color Week

Artist Retreat: October 6-13, 2022

Location: Acadia National Park, Maine

Join Eric Rhoads, Publisher of Inside Art, PleinAir, and others, for a one week artist retreat, painting in the beautiful fall color during peak color week at Acadia National Park in Maine. Paint with the group or alone, all meals and lodging provided. Meet new friends, paint multiple pieces daily. All meals together, plus group events, cocktail parties, lobster dinner, singing and music, portrait painting and more. A great way to get better fast or to learn the ropes of plein air painting. This is not a workshop or training event.

Learn More.

Paint Russia

Painting Trip and Tour: September 15-29, 2022

Location: Russia

A rare opportunity to paint in the cities and countryside of Russia, along with sightseeing, museum visits (including a private entry into the Hermitage Museum), art studio visits, visits to the two great art academies, and painting with Russian Masters. The trip starts in St. Petersburg, then to the small villages inland, then to Moscow, and ending with the village and exact paint spots painted by the great Russian masters like Repin, Serov, Levitan and others. Hosted by Eric Rhoads. Limited to 50 people. Join the waiting list. This is a one time trip, which will not be repeated.

Learn More.