Do What You Love

I THOROUGHLY Love what I do and wanted to gift Gary Vee this painting with zero expectations. I heard a phrase “want to be happy, have zero expectations.” Thanks for that one Gary… Each aspect of a painting is done with intention, beginning with the orientation of the painting. While many things are now done vertically on Social Media, where Gary got his start was a horizontal version of Wine Library TV on YouTube all those years ago. That is why I decided to create it horizontally and not vertically.

Over the years, I heard that Gary wanted to buy the Jets and didn’t know why, until recently. After hearing him speak about why, I knew I had the heart of the painting quite literally. I heard about the special “Five” he gives his Mom and the heart is made up of the Jet’s footballs. The phrase that got me which is why I hand stenciled the phrase “From not being able to buy a sweater to buying the entire team.” I thought that would bring the heart of the work together. After watching his 2024 NYU commencement speech, I heard he is NOT doing it for the riches, nor for the followers…simply for the love of the game. I can relate to working as a way that is relaxing similar to how others play golf or lay on the beach.

On the bottom left, I added the eight different books Gary has published along with some other fun phrases that really connected with me. After sketching out the TED talk screen, then the YouTube “Episode 1 of Wine Library TV” I decided it was to paint. I added an “Easter egg” after I took the subliminal layer photo and began painting. As I was getting ready to paint, I was a little nervous…which quickly went away after I started painting.

Gary is a vibrant person and as I was doing yoga earlier in the day before painting, yellow came to me as the base layer. I began painting with yellow. I say in my book, “Start, Don’t think. Feel” and I did that. I was listening to my jazz music and got to painting, adding in purple which was the color of his Day Trading Attention book. From there, I simply began selecting colors that I felt would enhance it. I love texturing paintings and this one has a mosaic, cloth type of feel that felt to me like a culmination of the many video and posts that Gary has shared with his millions and millions of followers. There always comes a place in a painting where you need to let the painting cure and it needs to be completed for the day and see that it is done or allow another treatment to occur.

I got a different perspective after taking some time while I dropped off the painting to my friend Zach, to get illuminated and ordered other components to complete the illumination. While all that was happening I was working out the metal plaque to hang next to the painting with my friend Brad. Several design team members were working on the details so I could have this ready to ship on August 1st, and have all the details on my site for when I arrive at VeeCon.

After taking a week, I decided it needed another treatment and tried to peel back some of the paint to let the center display through the illumination and made a mistake on the work, similar to what happens in life when we are doing things, not everything works out as planned.

I started painting with my favorite colors and after mixing in sand and whites and blues and oranges, I ended up with a very green painting. Regardless of what I did, the green kept carrying through. After a point of frustration, because it wasn’t doing what I thought it SHOULD do (don’t should all over yourself). Something we can all relate when we are attempting to “do this one thing in life” while “other things are happening in life.” as they are supposed to. I added in some other colors, used some texture tools and got the painting to a richer place in terms of color and LOVE how it turned out.

Most of the subliminal layer is completely covered up. It’s not at all what I thought, though that is why I capture the process. Similar to life, most of your “work” is largely, unseen…I felt the layer that you know is at the heart of this and your life is underneath the layers and layers and layers of love.

You can follow the paintings story through a video.

The journey to create this and the heart that I put into was my goal to share something I love doing to someone who loves what he is doing.  I created this as a huge appreciation for the messages that he is sharing that a lot of people hear.

I am grateful Gary is using his platform to eradicate sentences like “nice guys finish last.” Be Kind. Be Aggressive. I wanted to capture and provide a thank you for the work that he has put in over the years. Thank you Gary!

Why I painted this

I discovered Gary in 2008 after replacing the morning news with watching TED talks and really connected to Gary’s talk: “Do what you love, No Excuses.” 2008 was a particularly challenging year, known as the Great Recession. For myself, after almost a decade in advertising sales, I was looking for my next career because I wasn’t doing what I loved and was seeking it with my whole heart.

After a couple of coaches and a few Tony Robbins events in 2010, I quit my advertising sales job in Phoenix, AZ in 2011 to pursue an entrepreneurial adventure. Five days after I quit my job, Gary was visiting Tempe, AZ minutes from where I lived for a “Thank You Economy” book signing. I met and shared with Gary the inspiration and result from his 2008 TED talk in this video. I was excited to start my adventure NOT knowing anything about the journey ahead.

As Gary will attest, the entrepreneurial journey is challenging and failing happens often so I “kept failing”…AND more importantly kept LEARNING! One of those being, it’s okay to “move the ladder if you see it’s leaning against the wrong wall.” While I was finding my way through all the details of starting and building a business, I realized there was a point where I needed to simply act and do, instead of finding more inspiration or ideas to add into a growing list of great ideas. In 2020, after 9 years of various “ladder-moving” experiences, I decided to pursue and launch my art business. As the pandemic hit, I quickly decided “it was not a quarantine, it was a chrysalis” and I was following the path of what felt authentic. Since then, I have stepped into more authenticity becoming an abstract artist, specifically known for “Subliminal Story Art.” This is a new sub-genre where each painting has a story. I refer to it as “art with intention, embedded with meaning.”

While I have appreciated the feedback from those I share it with, this process has allowed me to let go of the “likes” and create the work I know is done, and I love creating and then sharing. I realize not everyone is going to like my paintings, and the creative process of writing a story in conjunction with a painting feels fantastic to me.

I have been focused on growing my art when I arrived in Bend, OR in 2021 and officially relocated in early 2022. I have discovered some creative ways to find others to assist me while growing my art business.  After 13 years, a lot of sweat and tears I feel like I found the very things I am here to do and am constantly curious and looking to grow, improve, and ensure the things I’m doing fall in alignment with my company core values. 1. Wonder Through Learning. 2. Community 3. Joyful Gratitude 4. Full Sincerity 5. Relationship Through Creation.

Without further ado, I invite you to enjoy and “Do What You Love.”

In Joy!
Mark