This week on SHLTMM Podcast, my guest Wenzl McGowen joins me to share heartfelt stories about his relationship with his mother and artist, Brooke McGowen. Wenzl is very open and honest about his relationship with his mother, and says that she "helped me realize my dreams and live life to its' fullest potential. I think I have a very special mom." My guest is a musician, author and philosopher and more.
My guest was born in Spain, in the Canary Islands. His father was from Austria and his mom from Chicago. The two met in art school in Vienna. Wenzly speaks English, German and Portuguese.
As Wenzl explains , his earliest childhood memories are of him being wrapped/strapped to his mom's back while she painted for hours on end. "She a very dedicated artist," shares McGowan. "Her work ethic, her love for art, and also her commitment to being her authentic self has totally made me who I am. I owe a lot to this wonderful woman."
Spending time outdoors and exploring nature was a big part of Wenzl's childhood. He loved building tree houses and exploring the ancient art of building structures with stone among other things.
One of the main gifts that Wenzl believes his mom gave him when he was a child was "she would never punish me for being my authentic self." Wenzl was very driven and his mom knew not to ever push him in a specific direction. "I think my mom wanted me to have the freedom to decide for myself what I think is good and how I want to spend my time. And she had this respect for me that I think not many people have for their kids."
According to Wenzl he's "now moving more in the direction of meditation teacher, author and conscientious explorer, philosopher that kind of thing excites me a lot. "Mom was a great singer and flautist but it came too easy to her so she stuck with her art because she didn't feel that she was an artist at all. We both like to challenge ourselves.
"Perhaps I don't have my stuff together myself. If I want to change the world, or hope for a better future, then I need to change myself," continues McGowen.
Phenomenal mother, person and artist. Her art is really starting to get noticed. Brooke's philosophy on painting is similar to how she raised Wenzyl. "When she paints, she respects that the paint has their own will. She doesn't use brushes but pours paint on the canvas. And So yes, the paint really does do a lot of things that the artist doesn't expect, because she's not using it in a very controlled way but she is playing with that boundary of loosing control over the paint, but also respecting the paint's freedom to add to the painting in a spontaneous way.
Latest projects
Board game- it's available on Amazon and it's about conscience relating-that you can play with family and/or friends- and it's an opportunity to have more honest conversations or more difficult conversations. A game where players fall into emotional spirals. The game is called "NON PHYSICAL" go to Wenzl's website https://wenzlmcgowen.org/ .
His books "The End Of Fear" a novel about a homeless person having spiritual awakenings and not being sure if it's a mystical experience or if he's going crazy and "The Sequence of Light And Truth," which is a research book about what scientists think about mystical experiences.