In Springdale, Joan Corodova asks Lyman Whitaker about his path making a living in art.
Lyman Whitaker
Persistence.
Joan Cordova
Persistence.
Lyman Whitaker
Yeah, that takes you a long ways. It's way stronger than confidence.
Joan Cordova
Do you remember the first thing you made?
Lyman Whitaker
Yeah, you remember those pink pearl erasers? I took four thumb tacks and put them on them so it had wheels. And that was probably real early, five maybe.
But I think I knew that I didn't fit. It became real evident in elementary school. They'd say, "Why can't this guy learn?" They moved me to the front. They checked my hearing, my eyes, my intelligence. Everything checked out, but I just had trouble.
The way the system was structured didn't fit the way my mind was structured. But it takes a long time for me to unravel. I'm dyslexic, and, you know, I have some other learning problems.
When I started college, the one thing that kept me in college was sculpture. I loved that part. Then seeing the Museum of Modern Art in New York, I think that kind of lit the fire.
And then when I — we — moved down to St. George, we'd send out invitations, and I'd invite two or three other artists, and we'd just bring all our stuff and put it out. People would show up, and we actually sold them things. One of them was my very first wind sculpture.
I did just a small one on a day when I was just kind of tired of trying to succeed and, you know, burdened down. I was just gonna play today, so I got a little shaft, and I made — pounded out a few little copper doo-dads on it, and mounted it with some little ball bearings so it would turn. Somebody came by and bought it. I was amazed.
And I had a thing: when something sells, don't make an exact copy, but stay in that area. So I made another one, and I was just setting it up, and somebody came by and bought it. I thought this is a good sign, so I just kind of kept making them and different pieces communicate different things.
You create something that has a little personality, but the spiritual aspect of it is something actually people have shown me, not something I discovered or intended.
Like one lady came up and said she had a death in the family, and she said, "I just go out and look at this wind sculpture", — which I used to call wind machines, I still like that better. She said, "it just calms me down."
I once was working, really struggling, kind of make a living at art. And one time I thought, I'm not really a religious person, but I somehow kept prayer from religion. I thought — I just said a prayer. "I hope I can make something beautiful." It was just a prayer, and it seemed like it got answered.
And I realized it was just fun. Being me, being an artist is a lot of fun. I have had the privilege of working with my hands and working outdoors and basically doing what I want. In fact, I started really being successful when Stacy got pregnant and quit her job. And I thought you got something that works. Just focus on this area. She did the marketing. And my brother, who's really mechanically good — I'm good, but he's another dimension. So together, we've cobbled together a business that's supported me and 20 other people.
