Artist

Chad Wys, 31

Artist

Peoria, Illinois

Website: chadwys.com

Instagram: @chadwys

Blog: chadwys.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/chad.wys

Twitter: twitter.com/chadwys

Society6: society6.com/chadwys

Listen: How to pronounce Chad Wys

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Nocturne 110 on the cover of The Picture of Dorian Gray

What is your job title?

I suppose at some point I became an artist.

Do you work for a company or organization — if so, what?

No, I consider myself either freelance or self-employed.

How long have you been doing this work?

In various degrees for the length of my life, to an earnest degree for about a decade.

Sight Line

Where are you from?

Born, raised, and stuck in Peoria, Illinois.

What other lines of work have you had?

I can’t say that I’ve been a professional at anything else.  But I’ve had numerous odd jobs in my youth—the most significant of which has been my role as a student (but I generally paid the schools, not the other way around).  I’ve worked in a bookstore, in a department store, and at video store (back when we used our VCRs).

What does your work consist of?

It’s always challenging and unsavory to define who I am or what I do—because in the arts, and in my mind, definitions vary—but it’s easiest to refer to myself broadly as a visual artist, specifically as a conceptual artist, and secondarily as a graphic designer.

Judging a book by its cover

What training does someone have to have to be qualified for this line of work?

Theoretically, none, apart from the experience of life.  Technically, some academic experience in studio art and design can’t hurt; there are many artistic skills available for the sharpening.  Most of my training, however, has come from time spent studying art history, criticism, critical theory, and philosophy.  My work and my methodology is situated less in the realm of the technical and more in the realm of the conceptual.  Studying ideas over tradecraft has served me well in this regard.

Have you won any awards for your work? If so, what?

Nothing of any great mention.  It would help if I positioned myself in a way that sought out such accolades, or ingratiated myself into systems where my work would receive significant affection and notice, but I tend to exist very much outside such a framework.  I feel stronger the farther away I am from a predictable industry.  I’d say I’m an outsider artist in many ways.

Arresting imagery to illustrate global press

What personal attributes must someone have in order to be able to do this line of work?

I think good taste is important.  Knowing—instinctively?—which colors and which forms complement each other and possessing some nuanced sense of the atmosphere and meaning such combinations create is a knowledge base not shared by everyone.  I think that particular set of skills can be referred to, simplistically, as good taste, or it’s the artist’s eye, or the creative’s knack.  One learns a great deal by simply observing the world and deciding, on one’s own or through the cultivation of research, what good art and design looks like and how best it delivers ideas and meaning to a receiver (an observer, a viewer).  People seem to have a predilection for this ability, or they don’t.  How “good” one is at expressing oneself, of course, varies, and the degree of one’s skill contributes significantly to one’s success or failure in the long-run.  The acquisition of technical skills begins to play a significant role in fleshing out those with a future in creative expression and those without.

To make matters more complex, bad taste can sometimes be intentionally wielded in effective ways.  I think I do this in my work to a degree, and I’m by no means unique in this regard.  There’s a certain sense of aesthetic and conceptual irony that, in a way, becomes very sincere the more one finesses and arranges unconventional/uncomplimentary data.  I think this is why I gravitate to collage: the arrangement of disparate pieces of information holds a lot of allure for me, like a puzzle built from familiar and unfamiliar fragments, capable of evoking sensations as a whole that are not inherent in each single piece.  Some think my work is ugly, others find beauty in its unconventional disorder.

Is there a class in school that you can look back on and say was essential to have taken for what you do?

Yes.  It came in grad school, fairly late in the game, but it was the important jolt I needed to fine-tune my voice.  It was a contemporary art history course taught by Dr. Elisabeth Friedman at Illinois State University.  In retrospect, a veil was lifted in that class; I could see more explicitly the world around me and the role of art (and to some degree myself) in it.

“I think connoisseurs are in some ways the preservers of our creative histories and in other ways the enemies of creation.”

What lesson was the hardest to learn about doing this work?

That I possessed the tools to be an artist all along.  Everything I needed was banging around in my head and rather than search for some extrinsic magic ingredient or perfect recipe, I had to set my sights inward and cease caring what anyone else said, did, or thought.

When you were a child, did you conceive of doing this sort of thing when you grew up? What did you want to be?

No, not at all.  Despite always being creative, as a kid I desired a more conventional and immediately prestigious profession.  I wanted to be a medical doctor of some sort.  It took a little while for me to realize how much I despise blood and, well, touching other people.

Pillow covers by UK-based store Mineheart
http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com/accessories/chad-wys-portrait-cushions/   

How many hours are in your working week?

168, just like every other week.  (I can’t begin to parse the hours I devote to “work.”  When you live and breathe what you do, and when it’s entirely self-contained and not directly dependent on another living soul, the hours are indistinguishable.)

Do you do this work year-round? Do you get time off? Is it seasonal? Do you have a second job?

I think of being an artist like being a human being: it’s not a state that’s easily put aside or avoided.  I’m always on call, as it were.

Would you consider this a job, a vocation, or a sideline?

I’d call it a vocation that has sidelined me from getting a “real job.”  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Where is your work located? One place or various locations?

Primarily in my home studio: a dark, dingy, chaotic hellscape not the least bit romantic or endearing to look at, but it’s my hellscape.

The artist in his studio

Do you have to travel as part of this work?

No I don’t, but If I did venture out into the world I have a feeling I’d be a much more traditionally successful version of myself.  (I’d define traditional success in the arts as attaining fame and riches, neither of which I personally pursue.)

Do you work alone or as part of a team?

Alone.  100% forever and always alone.

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what?

Yes, absolutely.  Often classical works, often contemporary film scores.  Alexandre Desplat is my favorite composer and I tend to gravitate to his work from period films like Lust, Caution.  Dario Marianelli, Adrian Johnston, and old-world greats like Chopin and Brahms are personal favorites as well.

Chad Wys artwork on the cover of a single

If you could change one thing about your work environment, what would it be?

Well, I would love a pristine white studio space with everything immaculately stored away.  But then I’d lose the benefit of chaos and the happy accidents that messes accrue.

What do you typically wear to work?

I’ve got a fleece robe and nylon basketball shorts on right now.  That seems about right.

What raw materials do you work with?

Is glitter a raw material?  Is acrylic paint?  I’ve used a number of geological specimens in my work in the past.  Those seem fairly raw.  A lot of the found objects I use in my readymade sculptures/collages are caked with dust... does that count?

How does technology impact your work?

Enormously.  Computers influence most aspects of my work.  I think of my PC as my number one tool, even when I’m creating analog as opposed to digital work.  I’m constantly experimenting with color palettes and ideas on my computer prior to applying paint or glue to a surface.  Sometimes I operate on impulse, but often I like to flesh out ideas on my computer before I proceed in the real world.

Do you use any particular tools specific to this work?

I’d say my most unique set of tools are the objects and the images I find in my semi-urban environment and incorporate into my assemblages.  I travel to a lot of thrift and antique stores and source objects that I find interesting and that I believe can be subversive in another context.  The materials I appropriate are key to the work I create.

Poster for the Bavarian State Opera

Have you received any injuries connected to your work? If so, what?

How many welts and blisters have I received from a hot glue gun?  How many cuts from a razor blade or scissors?  Entirely too many to count, but I think all in all I don’t have a very hazardous occupation and I’ve fared very well!

Are there any words or terms used in your line of work that you could share and explain?

Art history, criticism, and theory has gifted us with seemingly endless terms that can apply to various methodologies, styles, periods, movements, ideas, etc.  One of the most loaded terms that I confronted in grad school is the notion of connoisseur.  A word I still can’t spell without the assistance of a computer.

I think connoisseurs are in some ways the preservers of our creative histories and in other ways the enemies of creation.  Throughout the past couple centuries a select group of highly trained, highly knowledgeable people have been the keepers of an artistic cannon, in which many artworks and many artists are not easily, or ever, admitted.  This has meant that, historically, women and people of color have been excluded—for a number of reasons, often due to social oppression—but also in some respects because those in positions of academic and economic power have determined their work to be unimportant or inconvenient.  So, art history is a white-wash, masculine, Eurocentric, Judeo-Christian love letter, and to a large extent so is our contemporary art market, thanks to specialists, professors, and critics—the connoisseur class—who have fashioned it that way, often in their own image.

Connoisseurs are problematic, but to some degree necessary.  We just really need to produce better ones, and we are.

“Is glitter a raw material?  Is acrylic paint?”

Please tell us about what you are working on right now.

I’m gearing up for my first art show in New York City (March 12-28 at Joseph Gross Gallery).  I don’t often exhibit my work; I favor a low profile, I don’t seek attention.  But lately I’ve decided to embrace display and the sharing of my work with a wider, receptive audience.  It will be a departure, but it should be fun.

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about what you do?

That anyone can do it.  This is where, although I hate to say it, connoisseurs become important.  Because, to the layperson, a child’s scribble might look as “pretty” as a Picasso oil painting, but the differences can be quite vast.  Sometimes a refined eye is useful for noticing the details and the important nuances of a work of art’s technical and intellectual aspects, other times people are just comfortable in their stupidity and they think anyone can paint a picture (or slop paint on a found object, in my case).  The process of creation is more complicated than that, the ideas are bigger than that, and being ignorant of those processes or ideas can sometimes give way to a false sense that art is easy and worthless.

A Painting of Flowers with Color Bars

What is the hardest part of your work?

Convincing people that my art is not easy or worthless.  And also overcoming my own insecurities and doubts to produce work that is honest and insightful.

What is the most mundane part of your work?

I find art business to be different parts exciting and mundane.  Selling one’s work is sometimes a dreary aspect of life as an artist that holds the power to distract one and one’s audience from the importance of the work at hand.  Other times, it’s a great way to share work and to find camaraderie and understanding in complex and beautiful ideas, not to mention earning a living.

Composition 496 as iPhone case

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

I get to think and feel openly, hopefully causing others to think, to feel, and to challenge the world around them.

What is it you love about what you do?

I get to work alone and significantly on impulse.  It’s a very satisfying and self indulgent lifestyle.  I express myself for a living and I do so entirely on my own terms.  What’s not to love?

People would be surprised to know that:

I’m a recluse who seldom leaves the house.  I communicate largely by email, avoiding phones and face-to-face communication almost entirely.  I’ve always been a fairly anxious person and I’ve never relished the limelight or, well, speaking to people.  Sharing art is an intensely social form of communication, but the creation process can be a totally solitary exercise.  I find it to be a nice balance for my personality, sharing only the work I choose to share.

Visible, actually: book cover

What advice would you give someone interested in doing this work?

Take those nursing classes instead.  But seriously, only be an artist if you can’t stand the thought of being anything else.  It’s a labor of love, a passion choice, and the rewards are often “just” intellectual and emotional.

Can you please share an anecdote about your work?

An aspect of sharing my work online has been the ability to inspire, as well as be inspired by, other artists.  I find that sharing my work openly on the Web is most rewarding when I receive enthusiastic messages of appreciation and the confession that I’ve helped set off a spark of creativity in the mind of someone who had been facing a creative block.  Honestly, that’s the best part of my “job.” 

Sometimes, however, the inspiration turns sinister.  Once in a while I receive messages from concerned citizens, or I’ll stumble upon an example myself, alerting me of entities who have transcended inspiration and simply endeavored to reproduce my work and my ideas.  That’s particularly interesting since I’m an appropriation artist who confronts reproduction in my work; to be “appropriated” myself is a curious feeling.  It can be enormously flattering and/or it can be alarming.  It’s most alarming when the infringement is commercial in nature, and it almost always is about making money with people who substantially mimic or copy the work of others; it’s usually little more than a cash grab absent the effort of developing an idea or a style of one’s own.  I’ve confronted a number of folks over the years when the infringement is extremely obvious and deceitful, but mostly I’ll keep my distance.  It’s hard to prove intellectual theft in the arts, and frequently pointless to do so.  All artists borrow ideas and motifs from other artist—me among them—but good artists adapt, modify, and offer a fresh mixture.  There are some bad apples out there, but the (art) world has a way of spitting them out in time.

Is there anything else you would like to share with Forte readers?

Try keeping an open mind about thoughtful appropriation.

A Grecian Bust With Color Tests

Classical Guitar Maker

Oren Myers, 35

Classical Guitar Maker

From Oxfordshire, England

www.myersguitars.co.uk

www.kentguitarclassics.com

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How long have you been doing this work?

10 years

What other lines of work have you had?

I teach the classical guitar a little, and before becoming a guitar maker I studied English Literature at university.

What does your work consist of?

I make classical guitars to order – mostly for music conservatory students, professionals and keen amateurs, as well as to guitars dealers. I also do occasional repair work. I usually make around ten guitars a year.

What training does someone have to have to be qualified for this line of work?

I’m self-taught, using an instruction book as my guide, though early on I had some guidance over the phone from an established maker. No qualifications are needed – as with an artist, if the work is good enough to sell then you are qualified. Once I had already made some instruments I went on a summer course with a famous maker; there are longer courses you can take, but after having studied at university I didn’t fancy the discipline of going through a formal course again. 

Have you won any awards for your guitars? If so, what?

‘Fraid not! There aren’t any awards or competitions that I’m aware of. Some concert guitarists play guitars of mine, which feels like a kind of award. 

What personal attributes must someone have in order to be able to do this line of work?

Possibly patience, as one guitar does take a long time to make, though as it’s an enjoyable process I’m not sure that’s an issue. 

           

For me it’s important to make the best instrument I can without compromise, and the possibility of creating something better each time keeps it interesting, so I suppose that being self-critical and uncompromising are good qualities to have (in the work rather than in life!) 

"Guitars can be made entirely with hand tools or almost entirely with power tools, and every maker strikes his own balance between the two extremes."

Is there a class in school that you can look back on and say was essential to have taken for what you do?

Nothing in particular from the academic classes. The kind of instrument I make and the sound that I am after come from my own playing, and the main influence on that – and my ideas on sound and music generally – was from my guitar teacher at school. We’re still in touch and last year I made a guitar for him, which was particularly nice to be able to do.

What lesson was the hardest to learn about doing this work?

To try and free your mind from work at the end of the day. I’m not sure I’ve fully learned it yet. 

When you were a child, did you conceive of doing this sort of thing when you grew up? What did you want to be?

When I was 15 I wanted to make a guitar, though I think I wanted to do it only as a one-off project. I didn’t end up doing it, and then I didn’t think about it again until I was in my last year of university and thinking of what to do next.  I never had any clear ideas about what I wanted to do, though I never thought it would be anything with my hands.

How many hours are in your working week?

Depends how close I am to a deadline, it can be many hours. 

Do you have a second job?

I have a second job teaching guitar at a primary school one day a week. 

Would you consider this a job, a vocation, or a sideline?

A vocation — I mainly enjoy it very much.

Where is your work located?

In my workshop, which is on a farm.

Do you have to travel as part of this work?

There is the occasional guitar festival or talk on guitar making, and every year there will be a trip to a wood dealer; sometimes in the UK, sometimes to one of several sawmills in the Alps, where the spruce I use grows. 

Do you work alone or as part of a team? 

Alone – for the most part I enjoy it, but it’s nice to get the odd visitor and to get out and about meeting guitarists. 

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what?

I listen to BBC radio 3 – a classical music station.

If you could change one thing about your work environment, what would it be?

I rent a workshop on a farm, which is a very nice location, but as there is no running water I have to lug the water in a jerry can. I would rather have a tap!

Two guitars being made

What do you typically wear to work?

When my regular casual clothes become too old and worn even for me. They fall off the conveyor belt into the ‘workshop approved’ bin. 

What raw materials do you work with?

Different kinds of wood: Alpine Spruce or Canadian Western Red Cedar for the soundboard (front of the guitar), Indian Rosewood, Cypress or Flamed Maple for the back and sides, South American Cedar for the neck, and Ebony for the fretboard. Then there are wood veneers of various kinds chosen purely for their colour used for the decorations. I also use shellac dissolved in alcohol for the French Polishing, and various glues – both synthetic and natural (rabbit skin glue). 

How does technology impact your work? 

Guitars can be made entirely with hand tools or almost entirely with power tools, and every maker strikes his own balance between the two extremes. I tend more to the hand-tool end of the scale – I find it more enjoyable and satisfying.

Do you use any particular tools specific to this work? 

There are many tools and jigs (fixtures for holding work in certain positions) which are specific to guitar making and are either cheaper or better to make for yourself. For example, I made a cutter which spins on a central pin for cutting the circular channel into which the rosette is inlaid. 

Rosette cutter

Have you received any injuries connected to your work? If so, what?

Touch wood I haven’t chopped off any digits yet, but I have developed a dust allergy, so for the slightest operation which produces dust (which is most things) I wear a powered respirator. I like to think of this allergy as a blessing in disguise, because in looking into dust-management I became aware of how dangerous to health certain dust particles can be (particularly those of tropical hardwoods such as ebony and rosewood).

Are there any words or terms used in your line of work that you could share and explain?

Body resonance. A guitar has a pitch. You can find it by humming notes into the soundhole; when the whole body of the guitar starts to vibrate you know you have found that pitch: the body resonance.  The body resonance doesn’t determine the quality of the instrument – you can have good and bad instruments at any given pitch – but it does go a long way to determining the character of the sound (darker, brighter, etc.) My guitars generally come out at F or F# (the pitch of the first or second fret on the 6^th string).

Please tell us about what you are working on right now.

I’m just finishing the polishing on a guitar made with Cypress back and sides. It’s usually used for flamenco instruments, and is a lighter wood – in colour and weight – than the Indian Rosewood which is far more common these days for classical instruments. But it gives a very strong, deep, and penetrating sound – I don’t get many orders for it, but on the back of this guitar and a few others I’m hopeful that I will do in the future.  And it has a pungent lemon smell which is nice to work with. 

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about what you do?

I’m not aware of any particular misconceptions people have, though I have occasionally been asked if it’s hard to let go of an instrument once it’s finished… it’s not! Once I’ve played it, and learned what I can from the way it’s turned out, I’m far happier thinking of it being used to make music than keeping it myself.

What is the hardest part of your work?

French polishing – it’s a real dark art; very temperamental and nothing to do with woodwork. Many Spanish makers farm this work out. 

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

Seeing people happy with their guitar. And French Polishing (when it goes just right).

What is the most mundane part of your work?

French Polishing (I break my Radio 3 rule for this and listen to audio books – polishing can get pretty dull).

What is it you love about what you do?

I like working with my hands – like a cabinet maker — while there is also a musical element in that I am trying to create a particular sound.  It’s also a great and un-diminishing challenge to make the best guitar I can – especially when my opinion of what constitutes ‘best’ is constantly changing. 

People would be surprised to know that:

Windows Paint is the perfect program for designing the mosaic for the rosette. 

What advice would you give someone interested in doing this work?

Make as simple a guitar as possible, as quickly as possible and with the best possible materials you can find.  Then you’ll know whether you’ve got the bug, without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail.  Old guitar makers I’ve met don’t seem to be particularly jaded, so I guess it’s a career that maintains its interest. I also think it’s good to have, or develop, passionate opinions about the kind of sound you like – otherwise you may be too easily satisfied with nice, competent work and produce bland instruments. 

Can you please share an anecdote about your work?

I was full of hopes for my third guitar, but when I strung it up and played it, it sounded dead. I was quite depressed about it for a while – I was supposed to be improving with every instrument and this was much worse than my first – until I looked inside and saw I had left in a block which was taped to the underside of the soundboard. I took it out and the guitar breathed! 

Naturopath

Howard Harrington Owens (aka Howie), 47

Naturopathic Doctor, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Physician, Naturopath or ND.... take your pick!

www.muskokanatdoc.ca

www.facebook.com/howie.owens

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I’m from Toronto, now located in Muskoka or more specifically the town of Bracebridge. That’s about two hours north of Toronto in our cottage country. Home of some beautiful landscapes, forests, parks, lakes and granite landscapes.

I am mostly self employed with my own full time small clinic. Muskoka Naturopathic Family Practice in Bracebridge Ontario. I work 1-2 days a month at another clinic, called Of Sound Body, in a small town an hour away. I also  work as a part of a bigger organization, 1-2 days a month, with First Nations  patients, on a local reserve called Rama Mnjikaning First Nations Health Centre.

Bracebridge, north of Toronto, Canada

How long have you been doing this work?

I opened my practice in October of 2002. I went back to University and grad school in the fall of 1997, six years after graduating with my BA, to complete some missing sciences and go through the naturopathic program. In some ways I feel I have been at this work for a much longer time.

What other lines of work have you had?

I have taught at colleges (English as a second language in Japan and Canada, I have also taught herbal medicine for first year naturopathic students and epidemiological health issues faced by first nations patients and natural / traditional approaches to managing it for  students in Aboriginal Studies).

I spent a couple of years importing and selling handicrafts from Asia to Canada.

I also spent many years in the restaurant industry. From dishwasher and busboy to waiter, bartender and eventually part owner. I have done this in Canada, Israel and Japan. Earlier I was a swim instructor and lifeguard in high-school / early university.

What does your work consist of?

I meet typically with five patients a day. We cover all aspects of health history, chief and minor complaints, health goals, current struggles, medication, supplement and laboratory report reviews. I treat infants to octogenarians. We approach health from an evidence based bio-medical model and a traditional model. I work hard to empower and enable my patients to take responsibility for their health in pleasurable, cost effective and sustainable ways that get results in a timely manner.

I see everything from cold and flu to gastroenteritis. Fertility issues are a forte of mine, I also see all kinds of menstrual, menopausal and other women's health issues, inflammatory and irritable bowel disease, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, weight loss, all kinds of pain, Multiple Sclerosis, asthma, allergies, arthritis, psoriasis, eczema and other autoimmune disease and increasingly mental health issues are rising to the foreground...anxiety, depression, ADHD, Autism spectrum disorder and insomnia.

What training does someone have to have to be qualified for this line of work?

A minimum of three years of undergraduate university with prerequisites in the bio-medical sciences... (I did about five years undergrad achieving degrees also in Theatre Arts and Philosophy as well as my sciences).

This is followed by a full time four-year program at an accredited Naturopathic College or University, and then successful completion of board exams, attaining malpractice insurance and being registered with your local board.

“my favorite 12-syllable word: oligomericproanthocyanadins”

What personal attributes must someone have in order to be able to do this line of work?

You must be a good communicator, a good listener, a critical thinker, a teacher, a scientist, empathy, compassion, non-judgment, a desire for lifelong learning, a desire to help people, humor, patience (with ourselves and others...it is a journey and none of us are perfect or have all of these attributes to be sure...), and a desire to follow a path to better health utilizing simple yet powerful tools like lifestyle and nutritional changes and using plants as medicine. You also have to be able to challenge some conventional thinking, be comfortable standing up for what you believe in for a greater good and be prepared to have some prejudice and ignorance thrown your way.

Is there a class in school that you can look back on and say was essential to have taken for what you do?

Many. One of my first was in a theatre class, doing deep breathing exercises, body scans, relaxation exercises and thinking how much better I felt after those classes. I remember thinking everybody should do this! Later studying meditation in the East and mind body medicine in the West I realized they were all utilizing the breath in similar ways to generate a sense of calm control. Still later studying courses like physiology and neurology helped me make understand why and how this all worked at a physiological level. With my teaching background I find I can communicate this to may patients in a way they can understand. With greater understanding comes greater compliance. With greater compliance better results. Now simply by using better control of their breath and thoughts my patients see great improvement in problems ranging from insomnia, to anxiety, hypertension, cancer, pain management, autism, ADHD, athletic and academic performance.

I would also have to include my nutritional courses, traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, counseling and anatomy ...especially being able to work with cadavers for two semesters. I feel pretty lucky to have had that privilege. Please, if signing donor cards, consider checking the box that makes your body also available to a medical school. That was invaluable learning yet I find people more squeamish with the idea of allowing their bodies to be used for that but are okay with their bodies being used as organ donors.

What lesson was the hardest to learn about doing this work?

All of the chemistry was the hardest for me... organic chemistry, nutritional biochemistry, etc., and laboratory studies.

“Yes I spend a part of each day discussing people’s poops!”

When you were a child, did you conceive of doing this sort of thing when you grew up? What did you want to be?

Partially. Being a lifeguard trained me to be the guy that helps when people’s health was in trouble. This served me well as I often was the only one in the crowd to help around car accidents, a double drowning in the dead sea, heart attack in a movie theatre, epileptic seizure on a bus, anaphylaxis at an exhibition... I found I was good at helping in these situations though am concerned who if anyone would be able to help if I was the person in need of saving.

I also had some aha! moments in theatre classes learning deep relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing. I found it very similar to the training I later received around meditation in Japan, China and Tibet as well as studying Mind-body Medicine briefly at Harvard and here in Canada. I thought many more people could really use this sort of training. Now breath-work and cognitive work is at the centre of much of my therapeutic approach.

I also wanted to be an actor, director, marine biologist, surgeon and veterinarian.

"With a name like Howard Harrington Owens is it any wonder I was nicknamed H2O and love water as a powerful and therapetic natural tool?"

How many hours are in your working week?

25-40

Do you do this work year-round? Do you get time off? Is it seasonal? Do you have a second job?

I do this year round. I volunteer for 1-2 weeks each summer at a summer camp as the camp doctor. As I work for myself I do make sure I get good time off. I usually finish work on Fridays by 2 or 3pm. In the summer I have long weekends almost every weekend. I will take a couple of hours off mid day mid week for recreation and exercise (disc golf, cross country skiing, trail running, mountain biking, swimming, yoga classes etc.).

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what?

Often if not with patients, yes. A very wide variety. usually my whole music collection on random. (Jazz, folk, reggae, classical, indie, rock, hip hop, pop, old and new). Otherwise CBC Radio 2 or occasionally new apps like Songza or 8Trax.

What do you typically wear to work?

Nice  casual dress clothes.

What raw materials do you work with?

Bodies, minds, acupuncture needles (copper and surgical steel), diagnostic equipment and plants.

Are there any words or terms used in your line of work that you could share and explain?

Psychoneuroendocrineimmunolgy.... basically the mind, hormones and immune system are connected... go figure. I love the Latin names of plants which is helpful when determining the difference between say poisonous hemlock and hemlock that could be therapeutic... i.e. Conium maculatum vs. Tsuga canadensis.

Omega 3 ecosapentaenoic acid (EPA)...as an inflammation off switch.

Antioxidants like my favorite 12-syllable word: oligomericproanthocyanadins...OPCs or why your red wine may be good for you... antioxidants I often explain are kind of like rust protection protecting us from the corrosive effects of oxygen to help slow aging, degeneration of tissues, heart disease and genetic changes that can lead to cancer. I also explain that while the chemistry may be a bit tricky and the words long to describe these antioxidants ...essentially they are just the colorful pigments in your fruits and veggies.

I also spend a lot of time teaching people about what their lab reports mean, how to read labels on natural medicines and food packages. We also use a lot of acronyms; UTIs, IUDs, OCPs, PID, URTI, MRSA...(urinary tract infection, intra-uterine device, oral contraceptive pills, pelvic inflammatory disease, upper respiratory tract infection, methycillian resistant staphylococcus aureus.

We also learn lots of Latin terms for anatomy and physiology which are often really logical descriptions of where something is and what it does. So much that you can often guess the names of parts of the body if you forget it or don’t know it yet. i.e. terms like proximal, distal, lateral, dorsal, supine, flexor, extensor. Lots of Latin in herbal medicine and loads more terms in microbiology and pharmacology... you have to love words to study this too I guess.

If you could change one thing about your work environment, what would it be?

I dream of building a truly healthy spa type clinic. We fell in love with the hot spring culture while living in Japan. We also have a place near by in Collingwood called The Scandinave Spa. I would love to build a clinic like this, (ideally using green technologies to make even the clinic a model of a healthy building) where my patients could take advantage of hot soaks, cold plunges, eucalyptus steam rooms etc. I would also want to have a teaching kitchen, studio space for lectures and classes like yoga, gardens for food and medicine on site and multiple treatment rooms filled with other NDs, midwives, RMTs, other therapists and ideally Nurse Practitioners and MDs who are passionate about a patient centered / collaborative team based approach to health care....is that more than one thing? Kind of but ultimately my one thing would be to have the dream clinic.

“Most people would have no idea of the difference between a naturopath and a homeopath…”

Please tell us about what you are working on right now.

I have a new patient with Angelman Syndrome and another with glioblastoma and another with NF2. Looking to what I can do to support these patients through nutrition, to optimize brain health, immune system etc.

I am also trying to develop a new product line with better doses and quality extracts than I can find typically for my patients based on the latest research. So far I have one that is working very well for my MS patients and patients with other conditions effecting neurological tissues...like my NF2 patient. I have another that is helping patients deal with anxiety and the for those looking to optimize athletic performance and the stressors that come with that training. I hope to develop a better cold and flu formula, an immune modulating formula, a libido formula  and a better sports drink.

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about what you do?

That I am a quack or a witch doctor with no background in the sciences, evidence based medicine or much training. That we are anti conventional medicine. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Most of would agree that as a culture we jump to quickly to drugs and surgery often without looking to the cause of illness or focusing enough on prevention (often diet and lifestyle are strongly related with today's top illnesses and killers). Most of us would prefer to be integrative healthcare practitioners working together within the conventional medical system. Send us those patients that want to take responsibility for their health but are overwhelmed by conflicting info found online. Give me the patient with early cholesterol, hypertensive or pre-diabetes that doesn't want to spend the rest of their life on pills that wants to be proactive and beat it naturally.

Most people would have no idea of the difference between a naturopath and a homeopath... my father in law initially called me a homopath!

Homeopath is not a protected title in Canada. Anyone can call themselves a homeopath. Homeopathy deals with micro doses of homeopathic medications. Doses lower than most chemistry could verify being effective via what we know of pharmacology. Homeopaths typically have no University training, no medical school type training, no training in lifestyle counseling, clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, physical therapies or Traditional Chinese Medicine as a naturopath does. ND, naturopath, Naturopathic Doctor, Naturopathic physician and doctor of Naturopathic Medicine are all protected titles here... though we do study homeopathy as well it is certainly at the more esoteric end of what we do. That said, I saw an MD give a lecture at Harvard who had completed a meta-analysis of homeopathic research and found something is going on more than any placebo can explain...we just don't know how it works.

Also that we are expensive. Especially in Canada where people don't typically pay anything for their healthcare directly. They think it is "free," forgetting it takes up one of the biggest, if not the biggest, chunk of our tax dollar. I would argue that our focus on empowering people to take responsibility for their health, focusing on prevention, using cost effective and sustainable tools like diet, counseling and exercise would save our healthcare system money. Dealing with heart disease at the surgical end of the problem is much more expensive... for example.

What is the hardest part of your work?

The difference between the knowing and the doing.... that patient that knows what they should do to get better results (i.e. eat less and move more to lose weight)...but they fail to do it. That is where my art of trying to make them understand why I am asking them to do it and trying to make it pleasurable and cost effective so their compliance goes up and they get the results.

Apathetic, fatigued, shift workers and overwhelmed patients can be difficult to motivate but typically people who come to see me are fairly motivated. Also convincing a population to get beyond the stereotypes of naturopathic medicine and utilize extended healthcare dollars or spend their own hard earned dollars so that I can make a better living. It is tough looking at the salaries and security in conventional healthcare and looking forward to a time when we will be better integrated in the system. I would like better financial security. I will finish paying off my student loans, of nine years of post secondary education, just before I turn 50. A government healthcare salary would have had it paid off much sooner. Also no one pays me when I am not working on sick days or holidays or helps with a pension through work...that would be nice to have...though this has been the cost for pursuing my dreams of a better healthcare system and I wouldn't trade it.

What is the most mundane part of your work?

Administrative and bookkeeping stuff related to running my own clinic.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

Helping patients get better! I especially love seeing young families around town whom I have helped with fertility issues.

Seeing heavy patients achieve a healthy body and BMI. Cancer patients live longer than expected. Seeing MS, diabetes and heart disease symptoms disappear.... chronic migraines or headaches vanish, sleep return to the insomniac, positive attitude to the depressed, bowels moving daily in the constipated... it may seem odd but these things I find very rewarding especially when accomplished with simple adjustments to diet and lifestyle with minimal interventions from pills and needles.

What is it you love about what you do?

Mostly the above stuff. Helping patients regain and maintain health themselves. Seeing babies who may not have been born without my help. Empowering a child to regain control of emotional and digestive health, controlling my own schedule, believing that I am making a positive difference in the world for many people around me.

People would be surprised to know that:

...Some days I would make more money if I worked at Wal-Mart for minimum wage. Five patients booked, four reschedule due to a snow storm or forgetfulness and I lose 80% of my income that day.

..... it takes a minimum of seven years of post secondary education to do what we do.

....A large part of what is do is based on evidence based medicine. We are well versed in research methodologies.

....I do acupuncture daily as a part of my scope of practice.

What advice would you give someone interested in being a naturopath?

Have a partner with a reliable income for your first few years getting started.

be passionate about helping people, study hard but ultimately go for it...it is an awesome career.

Can you please share an anecdote about your work?

I had a patient a few years ago who was afraid of doctors. He didn't want to do any blood tests or even see a conventional doctor. His wife had gotten rid of her migraines with my help and he liked the sound of my approach so he decided to come in to see what he needed to do to get healthier and not have to see doctors. I did a good intake, went over his complaints and looked at his body composition. He needed to drop about 50 lbs, deal with rosacea, digestive issues, hypertension among other things. We discussed the basics about food, calories, nutrients, colors, plants vs. animals, good carbs vs. bad, good fats vs. bad, how to recognize them simply and visually. We discussed the basics of eat less, move more, more plants less animals, more from scratch much less processed, managing stress with healthy tools like exercise, playing more guitar and some breathwork and meditation basics. I also asked him to think of this as steps to healthier living not dieting. We met once a month to keep him on track. He was a financial person in his work life so he liked to work with numbers. He bought himself a body composition machine like mine and started to plot his own results, progress, symptoms etc. In less than a year he had dropped all of the weight, normalized his blood pressure, excess body fat and built muscle. His attitude was more positive, his skin cleared up, he was sleeping better, drinking alcohol much less, playing guitar more, was utilizing simply culinary herbs and teas to manage the odd digestive symptom.

Is there anything else you would like to share with Forte readers?

That there are some really simple rules we can follow to be healthier and that these changes can make us happier and that healthy living does not need to be bland, difficult or expensive. 

Things like: Eat less, move more. Eat less live longer. Move it or lose it. More plants, less animals. Eat more beans, lentils and other legumes. Oatmeal and barley are great whole grains. Eat way less of the refined / floury / processed carbs. 

Aim to have a good BM daily. As my old nutrition prof said..."If you are eating enough fiber you should have a foot long floater every day! If it leaves streaks in the bowl you likely have too much fat in your diet." If it is loose or constipated...deal with it. Yes I spend a part of each day discussing people’s poops! It is an important indicator. 

Eat ideally five different colors of fruits and veggies daily. If not daily try not to go more than three days without one of the colors. Five handfuls of veggies a day. I use handfuls as my portion size. small handfuls and your handful is relative to your size typically. Easier than using cups or grams. Two - three handfuls of fruit. 

Consume more of your fats that are liquid at room temperature not solid. (Think olive oil vs. cream cheese....if your liver is your filter and your heart is your pump....which fat do you think will go through the filter and pump better?) For men especially this engine / viscosity of oil metaphor seems to help a light bulb go on. Compliance goes up and cholesterol and blood pressure go down.

Positive attitude may be as important as eating more vegetables and being more active if you want to live longer...it also tends to make your daily interactions and general communication go better.

Plants are some of the best and most cost effective medicines. (finding the right dose and quality of extract today can be tricky though for the lay person). 70-80% of the world’s medicines come originally from plants and this percentage of the world’s population still uses them as their primary medicine...and is encouraged to by the UN for cultural and cost reasons. Many taste good and can be used therapeutically in your cooking. (Think turmeric, garlic, ginger, mint, fennel, cayenne, salt.)

Yoga is awesome. If you didn't like it...try another style or another teacher. It, along with certain herbs, acupuncture and nutritional changes is among my favorite tools to get rid of all kinds of pain. Flexibility is a good thing.

We need cardio / aerobic exercise, strength or weight training, walking, flexibility and balance practice. Make it fun. Do it with a friend. Have a schedule and a goal. Mix it up....there is strength in diversity! 

Follow this principle with your food and your exercise and you are more likely to cover your bases and much less likely to get bored. Learn to breathe better. Learn to think and communicate better. Learn to be a better cook. Volunteer or help people in your community somehow. Stay connected with people and meet with them regularly.

Dambula Cave Temple in Sri Lanka.
Ever including the spiritual journey as a part of health and appreciation of the beauty of UN World Heritage Sites