Meet Bill Oberlander | Artist and writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bill Oberlander and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bill, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m from a very small town in southwestern North Dakota. I grew up a latchkey kid, and as the oldest of three and the only boy in the family I spent a lot of time alone entertaining my imagination. I believe I was already naturally inclined to be creative, and the liberties of my childhood allowed me to fully foster the desire to build, invent and create. I enjoyed being outside and going on adventures, narrating the story as I went. At this point in my life, I’m reflecting back on how I lived as a child and the importance of building and creating original things was to me throughout my life and I’m finally starting to recognize it as an indelible part of who I am and as something I can use, hopefully, to the benefit of others.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m not quite in the realm of a professional artist, but I continue to work toward this in some semblance. I primarily work as a scrap metal sculptor, although I can’t decide if I’m a scrap metal artist or an artist who uses scrap metal. My focus being more so in finding a primary and organic-looking shapes in some piece of scrap and bringing it out of the inorganic material. I believe that using scrap metal as a medium is currently a very important means of expression, as it gives new life to obsolete items and reconciles some of the costs of progress by taking those remnants and making something wonderful for the future out of them. I also use my blog to write, and consider writing to be another vehicle of expression in my life. My artistic philosophy could probably be summed up as testing my creativity in as many mediums as possible, to sprinkle my life with creative endeavors, maximizing imaginative potential. Was it easy to get to where I am today? No, the biggest hurdle for me, as for most artists is always self-doubt/self-criticism. As much as doing these things satisfies my soul, I don’t want them to just be for me, I want them to add value to others. That may sound like ego, but it really is about answering a call you feel deep inside, and not wanting to selfishly guard it. Letting it be evaluated by the world, whether it turns out good or bad, I’ve reached the point in my life where if I don’t bet on myself, who will bet on me. The biggest takeaways from this journey, and what I would advise anyone is, stop thinking about it and just start doing it, you have to move. It’s going to be messy, some of it won’t turn out as expected, but you have to do it. My entire onus is motivating everyone to scratch their creative itch, it will all add to the total beauty of the world.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Obviously, art museums and galleries. I’m a used bookstore fan, there is a lot of forgotten treasures there. My wife and I like to visit architectural salvage places to draw inspiration from, outside of that any restaurant or café’ that has a touch of local flair. Where we live there isn’t a lot of these options available, so part of my mission is to add more art to the region.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are many people that have helped and encouraged me along the way. I’ve had the benefit of always being in the company of creative people. As a young man on my own, my friends and I played original music together, always preferring to make our own entertainment. Perhaps the most influential person, if I were to put it all on one person, would be my wife, Erin. I’ve had the great fortune of being married to someone who is creative and inspiring in her own respect and that helps motivate me to keep pushing, especially when it comes to getting out of my comfort zone. Making art, doing original work in any respect is inherently an act of vulnerability, you’re laying yourself bare to the world and asking it to evaluate you. My personality type makes it difficult for me to want to do this sometimes and Erin is very good about encouraging me to let it all out there.

Website: www.curmudgeondevo.com www.arcandburn.com

Instagram: Bill Oberlander

Twitter: @wordsbywilliam2

Facebook: Bill Oberlander

Image Credits
Photo by Rick Gion