Weingardt Column for Structural Engineer – Column No. 08-10 (Oct. 2008)
               

* Painting as a Pastime: Avoiding Career Burnout *

By Richard G. Weingardt, PE, Hon.M.ASCE
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Prime Minster Winston Churchill, President Dwight Eisenhower and velvet-voiced crooner Tony Bennett of “I left my heart in San Francisco” fame had one thing in common. They were all self-taught oil painters who pursued this pastime for relaxation and mental rejuvenation. (Bennett still does.) Although they favored landscapes, each dared to paint portraits as well.
Like these three notables, deep-thinking structural engineers constantly use their minds to perform their critical duties. Building structures and protecting the public’s health, welfare and safety are mentally demanding.
In his cheerful book Painting as a Pastime, Churchill wrote, “A man can wear out a particular part of his mind by continually using it and tiring it, just the same way as he can wear out the elbows of his coat. There is, however, this difference between the living cells of the brain and inanimate articles: one cannot mend the frayed elbows of a coat by rubbing the sleeves or shoulder; but the tired parts of the mind can be rested and strengthened, not merely by rest, but by using other parts.” This, he believed, could be achieved by pursing hobbies and fresh forms of interest.
According to Churchill, “Human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these, the former are the majority. But Fortune’s favored children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternate outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.” Intense, creative engineers fall into this class.
One of the most common forms of diversion – reading – suffers from being too close to the ordinary rounds of brain-workers to offer enough change for real relief. And change is what is most needed. Wrote Churchill, “Many man have found great advantage in engaging in sports and in practicing a handicraft for pleasure, for instance, carpentry, chemistry, bookbinding, bricklaying or even gardening. They give great relief to the over-tired brain. But best of all and the easiest to procure are sketching and painting in all their forms. Painting is a companion with whom one may hope to walk a great part of life’s journey. It is a friend who makes no undue demands, excites to no exhausting pursuits, keeps faithful pace even with feeble steps, and hold her canvas as a screen between us the envious eyes of Time and the surly advance of Decrepitude.”
But he recommended against taking painting (or any hobby) too seriously. “There is no time for the deliberate approach. Years of drawing lessons, studying and copying the masters are for the young. This thorough grounding is for those whom, hearing the call in the young of their days, are able to make painting their paramount lifelong vocation. We must not be too ambitious. We cannot aspire to masterpieces. We may content ourselves with a joy ride of the paint-box. And for this, Audacity is the only ticket. Painting is complete as a distraction. I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body, more entirely absorbs the mind.”
Eisenhower and Churchill often compared notes on techniques over their many years of friendship. They both believed it was not necessary to be a masterful painter to derive satisfaction from the pastime. Said Churchill, “You can feel the influence of the scene, guiding your brush, selecting the tubes you squeeze on to the palette. Even if you cannot portray it as you see it, you feel it, you know it, and you admire it forever.”
Bennett took up the pastime at the suggestion of Duke Wellington who told him to both sing and paint to keep from tiring of either. Bennett said, “The minute I feel burned out from singing, I paint. The more I paint, the more persistent I am about painting. When someone says, ‘You’ve got to take a break and go on vacation,’ I say, ‘I’m on vacation. I’m doing the two things I love.’ As a painter, what you see is beauty. You realize it’s such a gift to be alive.”
Today, Bennett’s paintings fetch upwards of $80,000 each. His oil painting Central Park hangs in the Smithsonian Art Museum in Washington, DC, beside paintings of such American masters as John Singer Sargent and Whistler. Churchill’s works have been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London; his small oils have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. His painting Chartwell: Landscape with Sheep recently sold for two-plus million dollars. Amateur painting is not only good for the soul but can be profitable too.
Even if painting is not your preference as a leisure pastime, heed Churchill’s advice. Pursue some eye-hand hobby that will protect your brain from overwork – and protect your career from burnout.