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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Little Things

If I listen closely, I can hear an orchestra of a million small raindrops falling on the leaves of the deep green forest behind me. A small drizzle makes a huge impact when multiplied.

These forests are rejuvenated with tens of thousands of massive trees, reaching into the sky, too high for me to reach and certainly to climb, yet our ancestors here had cleared these forests just a hundred years before.

Small seeds falling in big winds replanted over a million bare acres of beauty, now preserved forever wild in this Adirondack park.

Little Can Be Big

Whether seedlings, small winds, or tiny droplets, small things can make a big difference. A giant ship in a hurricane-force wind among huge waves can change course to a new direction with a captain’s slight touch on a small wheel controlling the rudder. A small board can lift a large load with a fulcrum in the right place. A large load is lifted by a small pulley system. Huge forest fires are started by small sparks.

Where in your life have small things made a big impact?

For me, small words motivated massive action, resulting in a lifetime career.

When I asked my 14-year-old self what I wanted to do with my life, my answer was radio. But my aunt told me radio people are bad: “You don’t want to be a part of that industry. Radio people are evil.” But I wanted to be on the radio, and, knowing I’m not bad and I’m not going to be evil, her words made me mad and determined to prove her wrong. The result was a long, fruitful (and still ongoing) career in and around radio. And when I saw bad practices in radio, I set out to change them. For instance, women were treated horribly, sexually harassed by clients and management, so I used my magazine to raise awareness, do articles, create awards and lists, and over 30-plus years have had

Positive or Negative?

Words are small, seemingly innocent things, yet one frequently repeated statement from my dad — “You can do anything you set your mind to” — built my internal confidence. Though no one else, it seemed, believed in me, my parents’ constant encouragement launched me.

What small words of yours are having a big impact?

You and I have choices. Our words can be encouraging or discouraging.

I had no idea.

A few years ago I received a call from a man I barely remembered. He said, “One night over dinner you told me, ‘You are really smart, and you’ll own your own radio stations one day.’ I did not believe it at the time, but those words echoed in my head. No one else ever believed in me. You did, and that small spark encouraged me. I ended up owning one, then two, and now several radio stations.”

“The tongue can no man tame; it is a restless evil, filled with deadly poison.”

— James 3:8

“So the tongue is also little, it can boast great things.”

— James 3:5

What if we all watched our tongue? What if we held back the temptation to lash out and spew negativity, and instead projected encouragement and belief in others?

We would change the world.

Your small, seemingly innocent words can have an impact. Words can ring in our thoughts for decades. They can set us on fire or burn us at the stake.

How will you use your words today?

Eric Rhoads

PS:

This week I’m hosting just under 90 people at my Fall Color Week artist retreat. We’re having a blast and wish you were here. (Next retreat is my Publisher’s Invitational in June.)

I’m really excited about our next virtual art conference, Realism Live, which I’m hosting in November with the world’s finest artists as instructors, teaching figures, portraits, still life, landscape painting, and more. There’s even a Beginner’s Day. Check it out before registration bonuses disappear.

I feel like I’m inside a cloud. It’s dark, gray, chilly, and I can see very little definition in the clouds in the sky. Drizzle taps lightly on the roof in a slow, repetitive pattern, and the lake is calm other than an occasional ripple from the loons, who are packing their bags in preparation for their southern journey.

Hot lemon and sage tea fills my old metal camping cup as I snuggle with the dogs and an old green-and-red-striped Pendleton blanket. I hope sunshine and warmth return for just a few more weeks before my artists’ retreat here in the Adirondacks and our return to Texas.

Flashbacks have frequented my frontal cortex because of the huge number of old photos I found when emptying my dad’s place, which is now officially someone else’s summer home. I had forgotten how much I forgot, including a picture of me at the FBI.

A Visit to the FBI

As a kid about 12 or 13, I wanted nothing more than to become an FBI agent, which was glorified by the TV show called The FBI with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. My friend Randy and I started our own FBI club (there were just the two of us as members). We were even on local TV talking about our crime-solving club. Because I worked at my dad’s printing press in the summer, I printed my own stationery with the words “FBI, Jr.” at the top. And on that stationery, I’d write letters to J. Edgar Hoover, the true hero at the FBI (at the time no one was aware of his alleged “other life”). I always received signed replies (including a request to stop using the stationery), and I still have them somewhere.

One summer my dad announced we were taking a vacation to Washington, D.C. So I fired off another letter, got an invite, and showed up on the day and time suggested at the invitation of Mr. Hoover. But when we got there, the agent who greeted us said, “Mr. Hoover isn’t here today; he was called away on an important case.” But he added, “I’ve been told to give you a VIP tour.” So we toured everywhere behind the scenes. They even took us down to the FBI gun range, fired some machine guns, and gave my brothers and me the targets. (I’ll post a photo on my Instagram @Ericrhoads of me at the FBI.)

Though my dream of joining the FBI was broken when I was told I had to be a lawyer or an accountant to become an agent, I never gave up my passion for doing the right thing. I’ve always been the guy who likes to follow the letter of the law, even when no one would ever know.

In hindsight, I’m far too creative to have spent my time looking at someone’s books for fraud, but I love the idea of law-following (though not rule-following, which is another story for another day).

Most of us are law followers. But I often ask myself, what if I were guaranteed no one would ever know, no one would ever find out — would I break the law then?

My answer to that question is very clear to me. But then I ask, what if there were no accountability, no God? How would I behave if I knew there would be no repercussions? What about you?

Is law-breaking ever justified?

I can honestly say I’ve never hated anyone in my life — except that one kid who sat behind me in 7th grade math. I was his punching bag; he never stopped bullying and abusing me. And at that age I could not process it logically, only emotionally. And though I never would have gone so far as to get violent, I sure would not have minded if he was suddenly abducted by aliens.

What about you? Did you ever hate someone so much that you start thinking the end justifies the means?

Have you ever searched your soul? I’ve put together a few scenarios to consider.

Take the test now.

1. Let’s say a doctor gives you the wrong medication, and it causes you a lifetime illness. You’re convinced he did it knowingly, so you have him arrested. You are certain he wronged you, and he ends up going to prison. But later, you find out it was not him, but someone else who was responsible for the error. Would you let that doctor sit in prison and rot? Or would you come to his rescue even though you’ve been injured for life?
2. Or let’s say there’s a candidate for mayor you strongly oppose. You don’t like her personality or her politics. So you vote against her, and, happily, she loses the election. But you later discover the election was rigged in favor of her opponent. You are the only person who knows, and you have conclusive evidence. Your choice is to reveal the truth, or keep quiet because you can’t stand the idea of her becoming mayor. Would you hide what you know, even though she legally won? Or would you want the law followed to maintain the integrity of elections?
3. What if there was a Sunday School teacher you loved? You get to know him, have him over to your house dozens of times, and think he’s the world’s greatest and most high-integrity guy. But then you find powerful evidence that there is something truly evil about him, something unforgivable. Would you reveal what you know? Or would you tell yourself it can’t be real and continue to believe in him despite everything?
4. You have a favorite cousin, one who can do no wrong, one you adore. Suddenly you find out he’s been molesting the neighbors’ kids for years. No one knows but you. Would you turn in the cousin you love?
5. You run a business and find out your product is harming people — maybe even killing them. But you’re making a huge amount of money selling that product. Again, no one will ever know what you’ve learned. Would you sweep it under the rug? Or would you confess, knowing you could be sued and probably put out of business?

Life is filled with ethical dilemmas. And what we say we will do and what we really do when we’re faced with them are often two different things.

Anticipate Your Decisions

A wise friend once told me that you need to answer the tough questions before you face them.  There is no clarity when we’re faced with emotional dilemmas and our judgment is clouded by hatred, love, the prospect of financial gain or loss, or potentially hurting someone we love or ourselves.

Once you’ve crossed the line between good and evil, it will affect you forever. Even if you ultimately change, you’ve got to live with your decisions for the rest of your life.

Sometimes if feels like anything goes, that evil is excusable because everyone else is doing it. But do you want to be that person?

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” — Mark 8:36

Getting even.

There is a lot of anger in our world today, driven by the state of the world, by politics, and by health concerns. A natural instinct is to want to get even, to make “them” pay and to right all the wrongs. Knowing where you stand on the issues will offer you clarity when you’re faced with needing to make up your mind about difficult challenges.

Remember, the high road is always the right road.

Eric Rhoads

PS:

Laurie and I (mostly Laurie) have spent 120 days working daily on getting my dad’s property ready to sell, which resulted in 12 tons from 42 dump runs. Now the house is empty, sold, and happily, we can move on.

As you may know, I was supposed to be in Russia at this time, but it, and our fall fine art trip was cancelled. Since we’ve not had a summer vacation, and since I would have been gone anyway, I’m taking some time off to enjoy what’s left. I’ll be back on my daily show after Fall Color Week and the drive home.

Fall Color Week is happening, and there are close to 100 of us gathering to paint outdoors daily. There is still room for you. It’s really a lot of fun.

My next virtual online art convention promises to be amazing, with a world-class lineup of the finest artists on earth. It’s in November, when most of us will be indoors anyway. If you want to learn to paint, or take your art to a higher level, this is your chance. Check it out.