“Rage Your Dream”

 

Discovering individuals dedicated to any particular thing in the modern fast paced materialistic boarders of the United States is so rare I find it surprising. How does someone spend most of their time and energy focused on one thing, thus sacrificing time otherwise used to enjoy all the desired leisure activities: video games, television, viewing professional sports or going out to clubs? Austin Oseke, 28, is a publisher, comic book artist and to sum it up, describes himself as an entrepreneur. He revels in those challenging opportunities that a small business owner encounters. It is a constant state of adjustment with an overflowing closet full of hats. Examples of these roles range from dealing with all the elements of publishing, to artist, writer, creator, business development, marketing, and more. After deciding on, followed by actual achievement of specific goals, a foundation to continued success is laid. Ones confidence than builds, allowing a steadily broader vision to grow.

BACKGROUND

Moments Of Truth ~ What would describe your creative activities, either on your own, or as part of your business?

Austin Oseke ~ I use eigoMANGA as my vehicle for my creative energies. If I just wanted to create a comic book store, I would have done that. My desire was to develop a business in the entertainment segment. I love music, television, doing concerts, events, and try to bring these creative aspects slash initiatives into my business. I see my company as my opportunity to project that, and it’s very effective for me to do it that way.

MOT ~ Do you think the medium that you’ve used has changed over time, and do you expect it to continue too? Or go in any particular direction in the future? I know you used to have a lot more time to draw. . .

AO ~ If we’re talking about comics, the medium has changed definitely. It’s all about the Internet now. What’s funny about that is that I received recognition through Wizard magazine because of the Internet. I told them “we are in the digital age, and it’s a really great tool to publish your comics, get them out there, and tell your story without going through the conventional red-tape to get your comic out there.” It’s a great tool, I mean, to a certain extent, you can now even create comics on the Internet. It’s great, I like it a lot.

When it comes down to it, there is no replacement to just sitting down with a pencil or pen and just drawing. There’s no replacement for that. That’s where your energy, your passions just flow. Eventually, sure, when you want to touch it up and refine it for print you’d touch it up after scanning it into the computer. It all starts with just pen and paper, drawing and jotting down your ideas. That’s the source, the foundation where it all begins.

MOT ~ Is their a particular reason why you use this segment of the medium, or just drawing in general to express yourself creatively?

AO ~ It’s kind of difficult to say. Basically, it might be because comics are the easiest to get started. If you want to project an idea, publish a book, write something out, it’s easier then creating a movie or producing a music CD. It’s just you, drawing, writing, refining it and publishing it into a book. Of all the mediums, comics were easiest for me, and for a lot of people to just make something and get it out there. Later you can branch it out into things like film and video. You can see in the current movie industry that they’ve been tapping into a lot of the comic book stories. A lot of the great source materials are based off of comics. It’s just fairly simple to circulate, people tend to get the idea right away or the essence of it and if they like it, they’ll get into more advanced mediums.

MOT ~ Where did you grow up?

AO ~ I grew up in Houston, Texas. My nationality is Nigerian, that’s where my parents are from.

MOT ~ Do you think there are elements in your Nigerian roots or the Texas / Houston community that influence your ideas, methods, your creative energies?

AO ~ Ever since I was little I liked drawing. I remember when I was either five or seven, I drew Voltron, that giant robot. I don’t remember much about how, but I remember drawing that. It was funny that at my school, they thought I had something, and my teachers always encouraged me to keep at it; really develop my skill as an artist. My parents are something else all together. My father is a professor at a university and my mother is a nurse but used to be a principal. Essentially academia dominated at my family’s house. Our culture is like academics and stuff, so they really frowned upon my work. I had lots of battles with them early on. My mother thought I would never make any money drawing, that I was just wasting time.

This had a lingering effect on me. So say for example, I used to have this large comic book collection when I was 14. My father took all of them and tried to throw them away. At that age I was really impressionable. People like Jim Lee I looked up to, collected his work; it wasn’t just comic books to me but a collection of art. That was very upsetting to me because that’s what I was trying to do. To this day with all the negativity I received from my folks I still am a little bitter. Well, maybe not bitter, but still have this underlying voice in the back of my mind telling me comics are a kids thing.

Even though I’m a publisher of comics – and I love that – it’s tough to appreciate people properly sometimes. All around me are people who have spent their life working in this segment and will probably die doing animation, it’s their life. At this point, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, look forward to doing more, but because of the way I grew I just feel I don’t appreciate it as much as I should. Even after my parents have seen my work, my comics, see that I have this company, it’s taken them a long time to accept it and be proud of it. When you are young it molds who you are.

MOT ~ Have you had any influence in the positive spectrum from mentors, who’ve turned you on to better navigate this medium? You may have mentioned Jim Lee as a kind of pseudo-mentor.

AO ~ I had a lot of mentors growing up. As a publisher, the person who inspired me the most, his name is Pat Lee, who had his own comic publishing company around my age. He was in Canada, a real big shot back in the day. I saw his work, great stuff, and emailed him. He had this team of other young kids running the company. If he could do it at that age, why can’t I?

So I sent him this email, “Hey, you’re just 28 running this comic company, I’m so inspired and blah blah blah…” Through that we developed a relationship, and pretty much been helping me since day one. He supplied advice on how to publish comics, how to start a business and everything. He’s been my coach, he even said that. That was great because this guy is like a legend in the industry.

INSPIRATION

MOT ~ What is it that inspires you, to create what you create and get these stories out there?

AO ~ It really changes a lot. This started when I was 20 in Houston. At first, all I wanted to do was to make some comic books. With all the red tape to work with DC or Marvel, it just seemed impossible. But I really loved what I was doing and couldn’t just give it up. For a while I just worked on my own fan comics. That is comics just based off of my favorite cartoons, and used the Internet as a way to bring it out without having to deal with a publishing company. That was my real reason.

Then I started getting some attention, receiving a little bit of recognition and stuff just started happening. People started to like the idea of my website, and just as the business has gone on, it has also propelled me forward. Although I was asking myself today “WHY am I doing this?” Then I kind of realized something looking back. At the age of 19 I was a computer programmer employed with a Texas Oil company, basically a competitor for Enron. It was a strange thing, that I loved corporate America while at the same time hating it. I hated pretty much everything about it but loved the strength of corporate America. That’s when I decided to start my own business, develop this identity, I want to become big one day but I want to be anti-corporate. The goal is to find a way to encompass those strengths without the corporate dais, (waving his arms dramatically) without all that stuff.

That’s what made me want to start a business having that financial freedom, that success to do what you want but on your own terms without having to adhere to the strict corporate structure that stifles creative adaptations. That really drove the entrepreneurship of developing this publishing company starting out. Remembering that recently triggered a renewal, which has inspired me again these eight years later.

MOT ~ What are your influences, business model, artistic, etc?

AO ~ My first influence for my own personal comic was based off of Akira Toriyama the creator of ‘Dragon Ball Z.’ I also really like Jim Lee’s art work, but he really is an artist. Currently I’m really inspired by Chinese comics and their artists like Andy Sito. These guys, the artistry in their story telling, . . . it’s just really profound. When I work on mine, I study theirs and reference it.

Also, I like to watch a lot of films. I am really driven by imagery, and how it can tell stories. Let the image tell the story. That really inspires my work, not to be so wordy and let the imagery speak for itself. If I see someone doing that well, I respect that and want learn from it; what I see in the Chinese comic artists now. If you see a really great setting or something really beautiful, it brings something positive out in you. I’d like to do that just by having people see an image.

MOT ~ Could you discuss your overall philosophy?

AO ~ It’s evolved a lot of the years and may now be more business based. When I first started my philosophy was ‘Rage Your Dream,‘ based off a Japanese pop song. Basically what I got out of it is to just work really hard, be driven, stay focused, sacrifice everything you can and focus on your dream doing everything you can. If you push your body to the limit to achieve you are giving it your all. That’s what I thought when I was younger, now. . . I mean, when I first started I did a lot. I broke up with my girlfriend, we were engaged but I just knew we were going in two totally different directions, I quit my job, and literally lived in the university library doing my work. There I slept on a couch. . .

MOT ~ What were you doing at the library, studying or something?

AO ~ Well, I didn’t have a computer. Actually I did, but it was just too decrepit to do what I needed for the website. So I used the universities library facilities to work on my business. Neither did I have a car, and it would be extremely late when I’d finish working so I couldn’t get home because the bus had stopped running.

MOT ~ What? Was this a twenty-four hour library?

AO ~ Sometimes yea it was, but on the weekends it wasn’t. (He let’s out a chuckle, whether it’s embarrassing to think about or just one of pride knowing that he did this to achieve his goal and it feels good I’m not sure) When the library was closing down I’d hide somewhere. After it had closed, the security systems were on, that’s when I’d go to work. The computers would still be operational, and I’d stay there until I felt like going home and just have to bust out through the fire exit. The alarm would ring all over campus, but what…, ya know?

MOT ~ (Just a look of disbelief on my face, very surprised that he went to this extent to get his comics out on the web)

AO ~ Yea, those were the days man. Just ‘rage your dreams,’ do what you have to do.

MOT ~ Did they not catch on after a while?

AO ~ Of course the police did, and I would get caught and kicked out all the time. It was cool. Keep in mind this was very early on. The officials learned what I was doing, and respected what I was trying to accomplish. Eventually the university provided resources, counseling, free classes, things like that to do what I had to do.

Now, I guess my model or philosophy is now. . . or the motto we’ve developed for our group is “fairness, clarity of information, and accountability.” Those three things make everyone synergetic and work together in a positive way. We use that philosophy and it has really helped us.

MOT ~ Are there any specific concepts, symbols or ideas you really try to work with? Or specific information and ideas you attempt to spread?

AO ~ I have my own work as well. One comic I was doing was the ‘Dragon Ball’ fan comic. The main character is a kid but in an adult body. My goal with that was to make him mature and to show he’s grown up.

Then I started doing my own stuff. What I’m working on now is very spiritual, Christian based. I’ve been working on it four years now, and not trying to preach to anyone in my comic, just tell the story of a man looking for peace in a very violent world. There’s just a lot violence, a dystopia, when a system breaks down and there’s just lawlessness everywhere and this guy is in the middle of everything trying to recover peace.

I guess it’s a reflection of me in a way. When I was discovering myself, it’s a retelling of my story of how I found peace. Not just that though, I’m trying to be political as well and put that question out there, “What would happen if we don’t resolve global warming or if a government has too much control over things? What will happen when people become so liberal they loose their foundation about stuff? Essentially it’s a ‘what if,’ and all this stuff that were living life now. I feel that, really. With all the liberalism, advancement of technology, the political scene right now with the war, global warming, and I feel as an artist it is leading to some type of social decay. On my comic I’m depicting that decay, and I want to get a guy who’s just basically lost his memory, woken up in this world and in the process of figuring things out. So he’s woke up in this new world, trying to figure things out and I write about it how people are experiencing their lives there. How they survive and find new beliefs or revert to old ones. It’s an exploration of discovery into what makes people tick. Why do they do things the way the do?

I’m just very political now. When I first started out I was all into superheroes, good guy versus bad guy. Now, a little bit older, I realize that there’s no black and white; everyone has shades of grey. That’s what interests me now. That and I’d like to take the medium of the comic book in a more philosophical and political direction. I’d also like to work with other artists who talk about society. We just picked up an artist, he’s from Rwanda and went through the whole genocide in Rwanda and I want to tell his story. This guy lost his family, and wrote a comic book about what he experienced there. In the comic medium now, they don’t do that. It’s all this superhero stuff. I think we need to tell the real life peoples story too. Those living life by the system how its set up, be it being born into extreme poverty or the opposite of normal suburban life, they’re still sad for some reason. What’s that? It’s time to do art work and stories about that aspect of the world. It seems worth while, and I can feel proud about what I’m doing.

MOT ~ Have you in the past set creative goals and reached them? Or, it sounds like you’ve set some, and are possibly still working towards them?

AO ~ Yea, I’ve had a lot of goals that I have reached. Of course I always wanted my books to have major distribution, say in Tower Records or Borders, in major retail stores all over the country, even in Canada. And it has actually happened, several years ago. That’s something many publishers don’t even reach and we actually did it. A more recent achievement has been a little radio show based in San Francisco that was an extension of our comics. Now its on XM satellite radio. It’s a lot of Japanese pop, and various other kinds of music. It was just a past time thing, that has now caught a buzz and now we’re on XM. These are goals you never think of, I’m just somebody from Texas, an average student. I just wanted to do something, had a vision and kept at it. I’m really surprised that things are working out like this. Especially that it was reached.

One really exciting thing is a Hollywood studio recently contacted me and asked for my comics. It took about a month but I’ve now put together a media kit of all our comics and sent it off to this agent. We’ll be meeting in the next couple weeks, and who knows what will come of it, but the thought of being developed into film is great. Actually, we had two artists who created some work that is now being converted into TV shows. One guy’s show is a werewolf story that’s going to be on FOX next year. The other now has a show on Nickelodeon called ‘Teapot.’ That’s a new goal I’d love to realize, to see my comics on TV.

The goals that I’ve set when I was younger, I’ve reached them and I’m happy. It’s hard to see what else to accomplish. Now, it’s about getting those different more philosophical stories developed and published.

MOT ~ We all have our ups and downs, and it sounds like you’ve had quite a few. How do you stay energized or re-energize after a tough period?

AO ~ My colleagues and friends, we’ve been working together a long time. We draw from each others strengths. It is really tough to do by yourself, I did it that way for about a year. It sucks. It’s great to have a strong team! I have my faith, I am a believer and have peace with that. My faith keeps me inspired. People say I have a strong drive, I hear that a lot. I get a lot of accolades for what they refer to as “my relentless ambition” to one day make it.

MOT ~ You’re making it.

AO ~ Nooo, no I’m not there yet. I really want to be up there, an enterprise you know. Because what I want to do man, my deepest dreams are to be a leader in my field and make a new standard. I’m tired of seeing franchise stuff. As a reader that likes to see lots of things it’s time for a step up. It’s time to develop series that are more in tune with what the readers want. Like American readers, sure we like anime, we like Japanese comics and such, but there’s some stuff we don’t like about anime. For example, how they prepackage it for the US, the translations, or the way they rewrite it. We can do it ourselves in our own way.

So when my company develops pieces for this market or any other, we can create a new standard for how people read comics and how they want to engage with the medium. Not how it is now. I feel we can do that, that’s my ambition, something that’s driven me all this time. I consider myself an artist, but I’m very enterprising and desire to be a really strong business leader. That’s really driving me.

TECHNICAL

MOT ~ Can you break down your process, say more specifically with your own comic books, from the spark of an idea in your mind to what gets it to the final detailed story?

AO ~ When I have an idea, I think about it in my head, jot it down, develop an outline of the major points. After that is complete I’ll develop a script, it contains character descriptions in each panel. Then either I, or a freelance artist will illustrate the script. Once it’s been illustrated and refined with inks, I will run it through the computer to put it in a publishable form. This puts it at print level to have a physical book that you can announce to distributors with a particular release date and the distributors will let stores know that your book is out and start taking orders. A month later or so you get the quantity to print is determined, the printer prints that many and sends them out. Finally, you get paid and do it all over again.

THAT’S how you make a comic.

MOT ~ When you are working through something, how do you know when it’s done? Like see it and know, “Yea, this is how I want it.”

AO ~ Oh yea, I totally get that. How do you know when it’s done? Well, that’s hard. As an artist you’re always a perfectionist, wanting something. You’ll always find something that’s wrong with it and just keep at it, even if there’s a deadline. You can try to make everything perfect but can’t really do it all. (Getting a little lost in the question, he lets out a chuckle) Hmm, how do I know when something’s done…?

MOT ~ Yea, is there some trigger inside you, a sixth sense or something?

AO ~ Holistically you can never get everything right. As long as you get the idea down, it conveys the message you want to communicate to your audience then it’s essentially done. You can always make new editions of comic books, which may be an advantage of the medium. Say you find a spelling error or something. For me, it’s tough, if you say in your heart that 95% percent of the message you want to get out is rendered than you are done.

MOT ~ So it is never done.

AO ~ Well, from the artists perspective, or say from my perspective it’s never done. Only if you’ve lost your project files, those files that allow you to edit, then it’s really done! I mean look at movie’s, they come out with that director’s cut later. It’s never done, but it all depends.

MOT ~ I can imagine some people coming back and repainting their painting even after it’s been sold and in somebody’s house. (we both laugh)

MOT ~ A question that has been recently suggested is how do you acquire the funds to support this? I know you’ve been doing this for a while, several years actually and it’s like you work to work.

AO ~ When I first started, I quit my job. Of course I’d had some money saved, but that wasn’t much. For so many years I was really broke. I received no support from my folks, but I wanted to do it and just kept at it. I bartered a lot, traded my skills as a programer for various stuff. Sometimes I could get interns adjoined to the project. Eventually I earned credit because I was able to build some working capital, and build credit to do bigger and better projects. Then we started to outsource our services to studios that wanted to make comics on their own which was a great way to build revenue. That’s what we do now. For so long I’ve been trying to get some venture capital backers. Really, it’s why I moved to San Francisco. It was the dot com age, start ups were everywhere, and I thought I could do it too. Nope, not here in the ‘Silicon Valley.’ All they want is high tech companies, not really media. Plus, to top it off, everything fell off.

For a while now we have been boot strapping, just doing what we can. At the same time give a very strong impression. We did not want to project the image of amateurs, doing our best to make the most competitive project out there without having to reveal that we’re on a shoestring budget. Actually, I think this has been very helpful for us, it has garnered us a lot of respect and credibility.

MOT ~ What do you think about your level of creative freedom? Earlier you mentioned trying to release new story lines, how difficult is that transition?

AO ~ Oh man, as a publisher, that’s a huge challenge! Sure, I can put out anything I want, but the buyers and distributors are always safe with super hero comics, those stories following the time honored tradition. Those sell. It’s a franchise. Our first comics, like Rumble Pak and Sakura Pak, is your straight up super hero stuff. They are big hits, and able to get them to market very quickly. I wouldn’t necessarily call it beginners luck, but as long as we were on that level we could give them anything.

Current experience speaks otherwise. It appears that the distributors only want to deal with our Rumble Pak, that style, they want that first. After showing them something different they really drag their feet on it. We usually have to sell them Rumble Pak too

One comic that we’ve brought out now is pushing this boundary. It’s a coming of age story. A man from Korea comes to the United States and tries to adjust. They have this company that no one is interested in this story line. They would rather have some sci-fi anime fighting samurai’s or something. They don’t want some Korean coming over to confront corporate America. They don’t want to deal with that.

What we are forced to do to appease the distributors is to take our own initiative. To push this new idea we hired a call center in Canada to call stores all over the world. In conjunction with this we’ve been taking out expensive adds and trying to host some cool events. The comic book industry may talk about ‘thinking outside the box’ but it’s lip service. It’s still stuck in the time honored super hero. So, it’s been a challenge to try and introduce new stuff. It’s a test of our abilities to find new approaches to expand the market. We really have to push hard, shove it in peoples faces and make them actually look at it.

It’s one thing to have creative control and do what ever you want. It’s great. But it’s an entirely different matter to sell that to your customers if they are set on only one thing. Not exactly one thing, but seem unwilling to try something new.

MOT ~ It sounds like it’s not just the customers, but maybe distributors and shop owners who won’t risk change. The customers may be into it, but how would they know if they can’t read it.

AO ~ Yea, that’s pretty much the case. When we show these comics to fans they really like the idea. Kids take pictures next to the full-scale poster of the Korean guy. You’re right, it’s the distributors, the publishers we work with, the press professionals with the problem with it. As a new type of comic for the US market, they’re just safe with the franchise. That’s what pays bills, and their about making money, not about exploring other ideas. That’s what I’ve realized on this level. I was in Borders, Barnes and Nobles, Tower Records and Walmart, ya know, and my comic was successful. I believed they would take anything we did, and it’s not the case. I am really committed to publishing these types of stories. No selling out of my vision here.

-CONCLUSION-

It is exciting to sit down and hear stories like this. What more do you need to hear to know that if you focus and set to something, it will take shape. As Austin and I sat and discussed his history and future in the lobby at the former Ansonia Residence Hotel, Bob Marley blaring in the background and the constant buzz of residents entering and exiting I caught a glimpse of the energy that feeds this guy. Very potent stuff, not just the abundant amount of Redbull. Yo, Austin, lay off the Redbull and start drinking more Yerba Mate. Keep on pushing, those new ideas are solid. They just need the exposure to catch on. If the founder of ‘Underground Comix’ R. Crumb could develop a whole new genre so far removed from the superhero segment, the door is wide open for you. Thanks for sharing.

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A Blue Note: Sketched In The Raw

Blue Note: Sketched In The Raw

In the land of Daisuke Maki, everything around him could be a seed that may develop roots into a project. Working in the field of graphic design is for him the opportunity to “make things better both visually and functionally.” Unbeknownst to me, I’ve stumbled into his Lower Nob Hill apartment this Wednesday October 10th, on his birthday. Apparently, because it’s a weekday, he has kept it under wraps, planning to celebrate with friends over the weekend. Not wasting any time, we crack open a pair of ales and set to some question and answer as city life continues on the streets only a few stories below his opened window.

* BACKGROUND *

Moments of Truth ~ How would you describe the creative medium(s) you focus in?

Daisuke Maki ~ Graphic design. It starts from sketching with pens and paper. Then after making rough sketches, I’ll go on the computer and execute my idea. I used to be a fine artist before. . . or at least I wanted to be a fine artist before. After studying fine art for two years, I spent the majority of my life wanting to become a painter – since I was little even – until I met a guy in Japan who did graphic design. He showed me his stuff and it clicked, “oh shit, this can be my job!” I didn’t know how successful a focus on fine arts would be, so that’s the time I switched to graphic design.

MOT ~ Would you like to get back to what might be considered “fine arts” work in the future?

DM ~ Yea, definitely. [In regards to what I do now,] graphic design is about having the subject first and our job is to make it better and more appreciable. Let’s say there’s a cell phone, there are so many cell phones around, and you want to make a better cell phone. That became an icon. Our job is to make things better both visually and functionally.

Graphic design is based on business more, always money related before you start doing the job. Also, you have to think about the target audience, budget, among other elements. It’s more challenging in a way because you have to put your creativity into [the existing concepts]. I’ve found that pretty interesting.

MOT ~ Where did you grow up?

DM ~ Tokyo. Well, actually I’ve moved around a lot. I was born in Tokyo, then moved to Kawasaki. For middle school I went to Chiba, which is basically the middle of no where pretty much. After I got tired of it, I moved to Canada, spent five years there including high school and two years doing fine arts in college.

MOT ~ Do you think living in and experiencing these different communities has influenced your work?

DM ~ Definitely! Not just because of the environment, but also meeting different types of people. The friends that I had in Japan are a lot different than high school friends. Meeting people in different countries forced me to totally open up to different perceptions about life. Like to everything essentially.

MOT ~ Do you think it comes out in the way you create your work?

DM ~ I hope so (said in a questionable voice). (Then we both laugh, why…? Hmm, that’s everybody’s hope right?)

MOT ~ Do you have any particular memory when it really struck you to work in a creative medium/field?

DM ~ Yea, well, when I watched movies [as a kid], say a movie about fire fighters, I’d want to become a fireman. Or I watched ‘Top Gun’ and want to become a jet pilot. Those are real temporary states, although I’d always wanted to become an artist. I liked to draw when, let’s see. . ., I was less then four, even three. Like in kindergarten, I kind of thought this was going to be my job some how and never changed my mind since.

MOT ~ Have mentors been a factor in helping guide you in the graphic design industry?

DM ~ In both skill ways and mentor ways. For example, one of the guys I talked about from Japan, he was a year older then me, had a real strong idea what design was all about. Also, a couple teachers from school had really good ideas of what graphic design is all about. I got really impressed with how they think about graphic design. He was the one always fighting to show what was happening in the world by working to find a direct way to incorporate real world occurrences in his design work. Incorporating these concepts in graphic design magazines, posters, and other communication materials with super visual graphics. I was really surprised how people could do that, and [thought] how I’d really like to do that.

* INSPIRATION *

MOT ~ What inspires you to express ideas in some creative way?

DM ~ It could be just everyday things. Anything I see in the world like here, stuff in the news, camping.

MOT ~ On certain projects do you try and explore different subject areas, or is it more about preset guidelines?

DM ~ Well, it always starts with research about the project. For now, I research about the project, the company, what they do, their target, competitors and think about how we can sell the idea making them better. This generally requires a fair amount of research because things are constantly in flux.

MOT ~ How about any creative influences, or styles that you really like or think about incorporating into your own work?

DM ~ Pretty much everything, like music, graffiti, fine art, photography, yea, it’s everything for me. I’m trying to expand my style more and more. I don’t stick to one style, I want to keep pushing myself constantly develop something new to me. It’s tough to say, I read books, look at magazines, graphic design books, but I think it’s all connected.

Once something hits me, it hits me. I’m not trying to seek from everything, but when I like something it automatically comes to my mind. It just gets stuck in it. I think that’s how it works.

MOT ~ Can you explain your over all philosophy?

DM ~ The big plan is I just want make things better then they are right now. Did that answer your question? I mean, there’s so much shit around, not just product wise or visual thing but overall concept of like, . . . everything has to be a certain way, all about commercialism. I don’t believe in it, so I kinda want to put more independent or more street stuff into, but I don’t want to just show them “Hey, this is what’s happening the streets.” I want to filter the streets through me making a completely new stage then show it to the public and let them know this is one way of showing stuff. I try to always come up with something making things raw, I just don’t want to be following some style, be a follower. That was good question though, maybe we can come back to that later (obviously not entirely happy with his answer).

MOT ~ Are there specific creative goals you’ve set for yourself, or have you had any in the past that you’ve accomplished?

DM ~ No.

MOT ~ No, nothing like that?

DM ~ No, I’m still seeking my goal.

MOT ~ When you work on something creative, it can take a lot of energy, physical and mental. Does this happen to you, and if so do you use any strategies to keep yourself charged, energized and on point?

DM ~ Not really. When I start, I need time to come up with something good. I don’t have any ritual, when I get tired of working on it, I just need to go back to nature, go camping or sit in the park on the weekend and just relax. . . . And drinking helps too (hahaha… we both laugh).

MOT ~ Can you, you’ve kind of already explained this a little, but could you expand on how your process works from beginning or idea stage to its material release?

DM ~ I try to make rough ideas in an organized way, but when I come up with something good it’s more of like a gut instinct. Trying to be more stable, because sometimes I can’t come up with what I want by the deadline. But I always meet it in the end, but still, I want to be more consistent. I believe all creative moments are like that. When [the idea] comes, it comes, when it doesn’t it doesn’t. I just follow my instinct.

Dealing with deadlines isn’t really that stressful, I just get stressed out dealing with overtime work. I don’t mind, I like the job as a graphic designer, the overall job doesn’t make me stressed so much, but when I have to handle three or four projects at once and have to work overtime even when I have something else to do after work, that makes me stressed out.

MOT ~ Do deadlines, stress, whatever, do they cause you any hindrance in your ability to develop ideas slash create viable concepts? Or maybe a better question is what are your strategies for balancing stresses with creative flow?

DM ~ It’s usually the same, getting back to nature, slow myself down. Get relaxed. Also switching between my different jobs, say company logos to package designs helps refresh me too.

Do you want more beer?

(Speaking of which, Daisuke grabs a couple more brews for us to continue to relax, celebrate his birthday, and quench our thirst. Kumpai!)

MOT ~ How much creative freedom do you have? How much is it your idea and how much the clients?

DM ~ Not much [creative freedom], to be honest. There’s like certain projects that I’m so confident about and I get props in the firm, but that doesn’t mean the client’s going to like it. Even though [the firm may] push it, the client may say it’s not viable, so it will just die. It’s a tough part of graphic design for me, but I think I can live with it, get used to it. Any designer faces the same problem. The clients are not the creative people, that is they’ve hired us for our creative abilities. But at the same time they have certain minds, and they are good at doing business or explaining the philosophy of their company, etc. Even though the graphic is really tight, and we think it matches the company, if they say no, that’s it; the end of it.

MOT ~ How do you continue to put your fullest energies into projects that may just be rejected?

DM ~ I hate to say this, but I get money constantly, I mean I’m paid to do my job regardless of the outcome. Let’s take painters for example, there’s no limitations so they can do whatever they want. . . but… so it’s nobody to critique the work, it’s all by yourself. Sure, sometimes you do a shitty job even though you’ve spent a month possibly painting it and sell it. For me I can do creative job still, and if I can’t sell the idea I still get paid. So I really don’t want to blame, or focus on that kind of stuff. It’s not all about money, but I still need to eat and drink, ya know. (Laughing as we both look at our fermented beverages nodding in agreement)

Also, I know what I like in my gut. At the same time when they reject my idea I might get angry for a sec, but then I remember ‘hey, this is going to be in my portfolio and I’m not going to just work for one firm my whole life. So whatever I do is what I do. In a way it’s fine art too, because I follow my aesthetics, I can keep those ideas and apply it to the next time.

Yea, I can get stressed out for a real short time that a client didn’t like my concepts or direction, but I think it happens in any job. If you make music, you still have to sell it. I think any creative job is pretty much the same.

* TECHNICAL *

MOT ~ Do you have any particular techniques, programs, … you use?

DM ~ Illustrator. Adobe Illustrator. I try to do my own drawing, like my ‘Blue Note’s’ project, which was a really fun project. I try to put drawing in my design whenever possible. I tend to aim to keep it more raw.

Other then that, I just look around the city, go shopping, see new stuff, clothing, shoes, anything. Music helps me a lot too. I read books a lot, constantly read two or three books at the same time, which helps me get through what I’m thinking and narrow down all that’s going on in my head. Or get new information and try to put it in my way, filtering through it, express the way I want. That’s the way I work.

There’s a poet I really like in Japan named Shinkaro Tanigawa. He writes about nature, freedom of the soul, and I really respect that.

I try to enjoy everything, and think it impacts me. Anything that I feel is exciting can be influential to me and with out even knowing about it hits me. I tend to automatically put it in my designs, almost subconsciously, so I don’t even notice. Yea, music is like a big thing for me. It’s two totally different mediums, design is all about the visual while music is auditory.

When I listen to music, it’s supposed to have nothing to do with the visual. With music I can see certain colors, styles, hmm, maybe not style. How can I put it? Yea, maybe I can say style. Like when I listen to jazz I think “how can I express myself in a visual of jazz?” When I listen to hip-hop it’ll be totally different, or techno, classical, whatever. My point is to capture and point out the music, I can’t really explain how I process it in my brain, it just works out that way.

* CONCLUSION *

As soon as we finished, our conversation leapt on all other subjects from wrestling masks, more on music to all kinds of conspiracy theories. As sagging eyelids signaled this guy needs his sleep, Daisuke mentioned that our conversation after the interview seems more interesting, and a more fitting discussion of ideas to post. Possibly, I agreed, but it didn’t really match with the format of this project (nor had I recorded it). Still, it was a lot of fun spending his birthday chopping up ideas and putting back some suds. Thanks Daisuke for taking your time to share!

Historical findings index a long trail of the creature called homosapien’s forays into design. Possibly starting with tools to hunt, basic characters to communicate with, to aqua ducts, pyramids and musical instruments. Human beings build on ideas to make something else, often under the guise of ‘to make something better.’ I suspect it is just what we have been designed to do. When someone decides to do something and believes some kind of tool will make it happen, they will work to make one. As material availability and circumstances alter, following generations will adjust the design to fit current needs. Adaptation to one’s surroundings will continue.

Daisuke Maki’s website is dmdsign.com “In Art We Trust” to see more of his work or inquire about him designing something for you. Also, feel free to post questions for him in the comments section of this post.

* UPDATE *

He is now part of the collective ‘Sureality In Reality.’ You can check them out at www.sir-sf.com

Brokering A Shutter

Specimen

Friday afternoon, before he has to take off for work, Mathew Scott took a moment away from watching his new born daughter to set us straight on what his photography is all about. We’re at his new apartment where he’s working on editing and uploading some photos from a shoot with Hiero Jeans for XXL magazine.

October 5th, 2007

^^ BACKGROUND ^^

Moments Of Truth ~ Please describe your primary creative endeavors?

Mathew Scott ~ (exhaling a stream of smoke) Take photos.

MOT ~ Has this changed over time?

MS ~ Well, I started out painting graffiti, and got into photography during high school.

MOT ~ Why do you prefer photography versus other mediums?

(He prepares to answer as the roar of jet planes booms through the sky. It’s ‘fleet week’ in San Francisco and those oh so patriotic fly-boys the ‘Blue Angels’ are practicing their routine.)

It’s kind of hard to conversate with the Blue Angels causing all this racquet.

MS ~ I hate these airplanes! Umm, what was the question?

Oh yeah, I like what’s real; take things that are out there and through the eye of my camera, even though it’s real I can still project what I want people to think what’s going on; it could be false or true. Everything interests me, I’ve tried a lot of mediums. That’s the whole point of being here. I chose this photo thing, that’s my path but I’m always going to have other things going on, maybe they’d be called hobbies; other creative outlets.

MOT ~ Where did you grow up?

MS ~ Portland, Oregon.

MOT ~ Do you have a memory when it struck you to get into photography?

MS ~ Well, when I knew I didn’t want to work for someone and knew I would do something for myself; and I knew it would be art related. After that, I mean I’ve always been taking pictures, and I just decided to look more into that and decided that was the way I’d like to express myself and make a living at it at the same time. I knew there was nothing else I’d rather be doing than that.

MOT ~ Do you think the community you grew up in influenced you, the way you do your work and how you express yourself?

MS ~ Well yeah, the people I grew up with, and like having somewhat, well. . . I don’t want to say eccentric parents . . . but having interesting parents both being art related in what they do. My dad was a lot of it, he’d shoot bands back in the day. So I was always around it, and always felt the need to capture what was going on like a visual diary I guess. So I’ve always been doing that anyway, and there’s always been a lot of interesting stuff going on around me; always had the urge to capture that on film.

MOT ~ Have you had any particular mentors that have helped guide you?

MS ~ I wouldn’t say mentors, I’d say peers. People that I’ve gone to school with, shot with, that I hang out with on a daily basis. I tend to think we feed off each other. It’s always good to have people like that around to throw ideas at. And it’s your good friends who’ll be the ones to tell you if you’re on a good path or doing something stupid. Or if you throw out ideas, they’ll be the first to tell you if it’s a good idea or a dumb idea.

So, I wouldn’t say mentors, just advice and influences of friends and people that are creative around me.

^^ INSPIRATION ^^

MOT ~ What do you think it is inside you that leads you to communicate your ideas in a creative way? Taking pictures over and over again, . . . how is it different? What holds your attraction?

MS ~ What inspires me? I’m never satisfied with my latest. If I do something good I always look at it and see a way I can do it better. Or think of ways to explore something else. My mind Is always moving, changing my mind, coming up with new ideas, always over criticizing myself. So that pushes me to continue that need for satisfaction to create something. I might find that satisfying, but it only lasts a minute, I go on to the next thing or else I just feel stagnant and stale.

MOT ~ Any particular influences you’d note, photography, or styles you may emulate in anyway shape or form?

MS ~ That’s a good five part question….

(I break out in a rattle of laughter to that and the annoying roar of the jets flood the sonic spectrum once again)

…. I guess growing up in an urban setting, I’ve always wanted to see what’s out in the middle of no where, I always like to go see what’s outside of the city. As far as urban dwellings go, life in cities, I’m always impressed by what people do to get by. Even more impressed by how simple things are when you’re in a hub of technology, in a setting that’s always on the go. Then you take a road trip out into the middle of nowhere and find people who don’t even use a washer and dryer, they even use a generator instead of paying PG&E. You know, finding those kinds of people and talking to them, I find that interesting.

I guess that’s what I look for in my personal projects. What ties America together between the cities? Where I’m at now, possibly my biggest influence, graffiti. I pay attention to it all the time; that kind of street art. I wouldn’t say much for photographing it, but it’s just this separate form of inspiration. They have this burning drive to go and do stuff like that. I try to push that in my photography, try to go out and never get lazy, fall off, don’t make excuses why I couldn’t do something, because people are always doing. Everyone can have excuses, you just have to go out and do it, always stay busy.

MOT ~ Graffiti is an angst driven visual medium, anti establishment, like art for the people in a way. Do you try to find a way to develop that element in your photography?

MS ~ Of course I want a compelling photograph. That’s what I try to make. One that makes people ask why, or what they’re doing, how they’re there or how I got there. You know, I want images that leave people with questions. So, I guess, yeah, in a way.

My color palette, I definitely work with color. I can’t really tie it in with graffiti art, that’s not what I’m trying to do, it’s just something in the back of my mind. Maybe not so much the art, but more those questions you’re left with when you see it in some location. How did they get there? What did they have to go through to do it. In my work I’m trying to explore that mind. I try to not let things stop me, if I want to get an image I’m going to get it, some way or another.

^^ TECHNICAL ^^

MOT ~ Any photographers whose work really strikes you?

MS ~ Joel Sternfeld (American Prospects (1987) is Sternfeld’s most known book and explores the irony of human-altered landscapes in the United States. To make the book, Sternfeld photographed ordinary things, including unsuccessful towns and barren-looking landscapes.*Wikipedia), Alex , William Eggleston (widely credited with securing recognition for color photography as a legitimate artistic medium to display in art galleries. … “fearless naturalism—a belief that by looking patiently at what others ignore or look away from, interesting things can be seen.”*Wikipedia). All the people who’ve been around for a while, I really respect what they do, they’re amazing photographers.

MOT ~ How do you translate that into your own work, learning what you can from them and developing that into your own voice?

MS ~ I wouldn’t say I quite have, just that they are people who I admire and leave it at that. I guess you could say they are the ones that started this style of photography, documentary slash, well…. Walking that line where it could be fine art, it could be photography, documentary, editorial, commercial, almost any direction. It all depends on the subject. Their style is distinguished by the way they light, which is natural light, their locations and what not, allows them to be pretty universal. I go for that. The way the lines of all different genres can mesh, thus allowing me to fit wherever I need to.

MOT ~ Can you discuss a little bit about your overall philosophy?

MS ~ I do things instinctually, I try to have a rough idea of what I’m doing, but I never know what I’m really doing until I’m there and doing it. Philosophy, well I guess, everyone can say “Oh, I want to change the world.” It’s kind of bullshit at the same time though, I just want to take good pictures, I like creating things, I like getting my hands dirty, being in the darkroom as well as doing digital.

Essentially, I just want to be happy and make a living off of what I do, and make people notice it, maybe it’s just to stroke my own ego a little bit, whatever! I can’t really go into it and say. . . well, I just don’t really like it when people get all deep on their stuff. I find it pretentious.

MOT ~ Well, to rephrase, how do you approach your ideas, where does it start?

MS ~ Seriously, the idea starts as I’ll have this one little flicker, and I grab my camera and go there. I just go there, shoot, and as I shoot it starts developing. Like I try to go in with a clean slate. Of course I have an idea of that ‘money shot’ in my mind, what I imagine to be the shot, like the hero shot. Other then that, I just let it flow, freestyle it when I go in. I know what I’m going for, even with the idea of a project I’m trying to come across, it unfolds itself as I’m shooting as well as when editing the images later.

MOT ~ Some of your work is personal, and some is for assignments for ad agencies, magazines, or what ever. How much creative freedom do you feel you have in-between those different realms? Do you feel you have to adjust your way of thinking from one to the other?

MS ~ I think the work that I have has led to the assignments that I’ve gotten. Generally, they just send me somewhere and tell me to take pictures. They leave it up to me, and I think that’s because of the work on my site www.mathewscott.com. What they see lends itself to that. Everyone I’ve worked with has just trusted me to get the image, and that hasn’t failed me thus far.

Everyone always has this and that, a couple things they want to see, and I just shoot a shit load, send everything to the editor. I’ve never had any complaints, so it’s always been my own creative freedom, ya know. I ask them to at least give me an idea of what they want, a very rough idea I can develop from.

I approach everything differently, but in my same aesthetic though. By always trying to keep my head clear and just not know what I’m going to get. When I over think things I’ll fuck it up. If I don’t over think it, go in calm and cool I’m going to get a good image. So I just trust my instincts, let the lighting and everything else fall into place.

MOT ~ Have you envisioned specific creative goals, past ones you may have achieved, or what you’d like to accomplish for the future?

MS ~ Well, the main goal is to get shows, I don’t care so much where they’re at. Every show is fun. I enjoy doing shows and putting them together, working for magazines on assignments, meeting people like that, going off to weird places meeting random people you never thought you’d meet before. I have more career goals than creative goals right now. Creative goals I’m fine where I’m at. Right now I want to get more work to fund more creative projects. Just knuckle down and focus on that. As time goes, I’ll quit thinking about it for a while, let it reset in my brain and eventually, just the way I think, ideas will pop up, I write them down and will get to them later.

MOT ~ Did you have anything that you’re really proud of achieving? Did you anticipate that it’s evolved the way it has or surprised by it?

MS ~ When I was first starting out, the goal was to get a cover of a magazine and I got that and have just gone from there. A really simple, small goal. From there. . . well, I don’t really dwell on goals, I might just get depressed about them if it doesn’t happen.

MOT ~ Are there any methods you employ to prepare yourself for a photo shoot or to start a mindset from which to develop ideas?

MS ~ Usually I just put my headphones on and go grab a cup of coffee. Just listen to some music, whatever I’m feeling at the time, which definitely varies. So sit for like an hour, headphones, music, cup of coffee, somewhere quiet. I’ll clear my head, jot some notes down and go from there.

MOT ~ Any books, tools or resources, I mean, of course you use a camera, but things you may refer to frequently to do your work, inspire it, etc?

MS ~ (blurting out without any hesitation) The Internet!

Constantly researching people, ideas; if you have a good idea, you have to make sure it hasn’t been done yet. I’d say the Internet is the most indispensable tool, I doubt I could do with out it any more. If I see an image I like, I’ll google their name, check out their website and see their work. It keeps me in touch with what’s going on around me. I mean I can do that by going outside too, but that’s only San Francisco. I like to read a lot of the news, current events, just keep up to date with shit.

MOT ~ How do you acquire the funds to work in this medium? Photography is pretty expensive with the cost of lights, cameras, film, printing, paper, and all that.

MS ~ Still I bartend, one of the quickest and easiest ways to get cash. So I’ll bartend, stack up some cash, and go work on a project. Usually, everywhere I’ve worked at has been really cool, always if I’m like “hey, I need some time off for this” they’ll do it. You work at nights, and have your days to do whatever. Bartending was key when I was first starting out. Now that I’m making more money from my work, which is good too, but the service industry in general is flexible hours, work at night, yeah.

^^ OUTRO ^^

You do what it takes to get things done, that is how you arrive from point A to point Q. Sometimes it may appear like progression happened randomly to arrive at a point that may not have been the intention. Acts of creativity generate spontaneous combustion of the senses at the speed it takes to steal a moment; shutter whirs open and shut. Life is a juxtaposition of illusions. Or is it the illusion of a juxtaposed dichotomy? Definitely take the time to view www.mathewscott.com. Let’s get the ball rolling.

* Check out mscottphoto on Blurb to see his latest books for sale. He has just released “PHOTO GRAPHS… A collection of images by Mathew Scott.”

Furnished Reverberation

~ An interview session with Nata Lukas also known as Nathan Taylor ~

Nata Lukas Painting Close Up

Tuesday September 17th, 2007

Pulling on a loose thread, I began to unravel veins of the fallen leaf. Luckily, it was not difficult to locate my second Eugene interview. Clear skies and even clearer directions by Nathan Taylor aka Nata Lukas brought me directly in front of the orange VW travel van – similar to a vehicle my dad imagined I’d use for this trip through the Western Coastal areas – parked in front of his new living space. After a brief tour, taking some photos of paintings not tied up in storage, and general chitchat, we adjourned to the back yard.

“I am working on several projects: sound installations,
impromptu actions, poems, and paintings. Lately I have
been mostly distracted by transitioning to a new
community (I am originally from Bellingham, WA, but
have recently landed in Eugene, OR, thus I am just now
getting situated looking for studio space, community,
etc.) With my most recent series of paintings I have
been trying to tap into the urban vibe. They are made
using spray paint and stencil techniques. The colors
are vibrant and energetic. The patterns are both map
like and analogous to circuitry. “ Nata Lukas

BACKGROUND:

Moments Of Truth ~ Let’s open up with a break down of what your primary forms of creative expression are?

Nata Lukas ~ I’d say I started off as a painter, although I’ve explored lots of mediums. I like to play with sculpture, I write poetry sometimes, sometimes sound and video installations. Currently I’m really getting into cooking food, it’s definitely a way I can express myself creatively. I also like to make beer.

MOT ~ What do you focus the most time and mental energy on?

NL ~ I think it kind of flows from different time periods, I’ll just be really interested in one project or another. I’d say the one I come back to the most is painting. It’s like my home base, I tend to feel grounded when I’m working on it. There’ll be times when I don’t paint for a good long period because I’m distracted by other things.

MOT ~ Any idea why you tend to return to painting? What is it about expressing yourself this way?

NL ~ Well, I think it’s just that I feel really comfortable there and I don’t think I’ve explored it to the extent that I want to. I also feel like I can do really beautiful things with that medium. My work is non-objective giving me a place to really breath, while my other work isn’t, it is more taking on issues. Not as free I guess. Painting is like a freeing experience, that’s why I like to come back to it.

MOT ~ What about cooking, what is it with cooking that you’re getting into?

NL ~ I’m just enjoying exploring the different ingredients. I kind of feel I have a talent for finding out what the essence of something is and being able to combine different things in different ways. Ya know, I know some people can cook via the recipe and I tend to if I haven’t cooked something before, will look up four or five recipes and figure out what that dish is, see what I have and figure out how to make it with that.

MOT ~ Are there mediums you haven’t yet gotten into you anticipate trying?

NL ~ Umm, I definitely want to do more installations, specifically sound installations. I like sound as a medium, it can give a time dimension to things that I really like. It can really transport you. The sound that I’ve used in installations I’ve felt like that’s a very key element to making that installation otherworldly. It kinds of gives it that extra depth. I’d like to do that.

Very recently I’ve been struck by the idea of movement. I met some dancers and they were choreographing some stuff, and I don’t know how to incorporate it into my creative world, but it’s an interesting thing. I used to be a skateboarder, you know, and I totally related to some of the stuff they were doing, it’s cool. I don’t know how, but. . .

MOT ~ So where exactly did you grow up?

NL ~ In a suburb of Salt Lake City.

MOT ~ Do you have other family members who also do creative activities?

NL ~ Well, my grandma was always an artist and painter. She still paints, a little more on the crafty side of things, but definitely creative. My dad was always too busy to be creative but when he got a little time, from what I remember he would create things, do some pretty creative stuff with woodwork.

MOT ~ Would you describe the community you grew up in as one that fostered creative expression and exploration, or do you think it’s more of an inherent drive?

NL ~ Yea, I’m not sure. When I was young, I was always doing creative stuff, but I wasn’t thinking about creativity, or art, or anything like that. Then when I was in ninth grade I had a really good art teacher who just could see that I was tuned into creative things who turned me into all kinds of art. That lit up my world, and I was like ‘yeah, art.’ He took me to lots of galleries and museums, giving me exposure that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

MOT ~ Would you describe him as a mentor?

NL ~ Yes, absolutely. This was when I was in high-school. I moved the year after I had the classes with him to the Seattle area. And it just stuck with me. I took a lot of art classes after that. He’s kind of one that lit my fuse.

MOT ~ Are there any particular memories that stand out where you were just really fired up doing something creative, and how you felt during that process?

NL ~ I actually get a big kick out of collaboration. So I think my best creative energy comes when I’m hanging out with other people that are really creative. Certainly could tap into that on my own, but it just seems like when I’m doing collaborations or just in the same space as someone else, when you both get that energy going it just seems to intensify. You work nonstop, sometimes you forget to eat, it’s a real high. It’s fun.

INSPIRATION:

MOT ~ What are your main sources of inspiration?

NL ~ I just try and be open to everything. So, I wouldn’t say there’s anything I could point to as a main source of inspiration. I guess, if I’m looking at my paintings I could say Hunderwasser? was something that turned my boat for a while. I’m not sure if when I was younger Van Gogh was a big thing for me. I definitely like bright colorful things, it’s kind of exciting for me. But I also work in drab dark color things also, depending on how the mood is, I don’t live in between though. I tend to work either really bright or subdued.

MOT ~ Any styles or philosophies of thought? You mentioned skateboarding might influence your work or the way you work with your ideas.

NL ~ Yeah, definitely. As I was developing in college I really started to develop an environmental awareness. So that has really affected a lot of the way I work. I slowed down production for one, I was producing like a madman when I was younger, so I’m definitely more intentional about what I create. And then I also try to make things out of reused materials, taking that into consideration whenever I do anything. It’s also from the point of being resourceful, you can’t just throw money at art unless you’re rich, and I’m not rich. Be mindful of the planet, don’t create trash and try to create things from trash.

Whenever I go for a walk, I’m always picking up little items from the side of road that interest me; for their texture, shape, whatever. Then gather that kind of stuff and make assemblages.

MOT ~ Do you have specific concepts or symbologies that you try to work with on a regular basis? Some of your paintings that I’ve seen are very organic, almost like cells colliding or multiplying. . .

NL ~ On that series, I was illustrating the macrocosm versus the microcosm; an attempt to get both of those worlds into one image. It was this thought, that our universe is like an atom or something, spinning around inside a larger being or something like that; just a smaller part of a bigger thing. It’s all connected somehow. Those thoughts certainly pass through my head, I wouldn’t say, especially with the nonobjective stuff that I do, I just kind of do it because it’s fun and it’s pretty, and I have thoughts about what it means later. Other series I’ve been working on more recently are more busy, layered grid light stuff. I relate that to urban energy, technology and mapping along with all those other things. It’s not like I set out to do it that way, it’s just how it happens.

The only time I actually try and do something is when there’s an issue I’m pissed off about or something. When it seems that somebody needs to say something, sometimes I’ll create art from that perspective. But I’ve found that not to be as successful for me. I feel better about the pieces I let happen, and they tell me what they’re about. Really, I try to let the art tell me what it’s about, not force my view about what my art’s about on people either. It seems to be, most people tend to point to the same things over and over whether I tell them about it or not. Every once in a while someone will surprise me and say something and I’ll be like “oh, wow, I hadn’t thought of that. That’s cool.”

MOT ~ Do you take into consideration a particular audience with your work, or is that also more intuitive?

NL ~ Definitely I take into consideration audience. Especially with, say my beer. I brewed a beer for the Bonneville excursion. I knew who was going to be there, and knew the conditions would be hot, so I didn’t want too high an alcohol content, needed it to be a fairly light beer. And I was doing it specifically for one of the motorcyclists who commissioned me to do it. I knew what he’d like, and basically made a beer that I knew would make him happy.

But, yeah, even with my art I do consider audience. More of just the simple fact of who would I show this t? What would be my venue for this. For the most part, I’d make the art to satisfy something in me, and then after I’ve done that I need to satisfy something else in me by sharing it. I try and find who would be receptive to this art, and try to find a venue that would work for that.

MOT ~ Any elements of life, I noticed you have a lot of seashells, you mentioned sound, being into sound, influences or inspiration from those things? Tapping into their essence or just being appreciative of them?

NL ~ Sure, I pay attention to my senses, and I think that comes out in my art, cooking or whatever. One thing I’d like to mention is the affect of jazz music or just lively improvisational music has on my paintings, has had and probably will have in the future. It really just swings me, moves me, and I think the way I approach my paintings is a lot like improvisation. I lay down a track of sorts, essentially playing a game with myself. It’s like having a multi-track recorder, only it’s visual, not audio. I play with rhythms, textures, opacities, much in the same way you might if you were laying down music. Kind of a tangent there but. . . . .

MOT ~ Let’s take, for example, that you just relocated, not necessarily a totally different vibe – I mean it’s still West Coast and still Northwest. . .

NL ~ Oh, I chose Eugene because I knew it would be a vibe I’m in line with.

MOT ~ Do you have particular kinds of exercises or strategies to prepare yourself, mind and body, say… especially before painting?

NL ~ Well, I do a number of things. I like to go for a long hike, which sometimes will help loosen me up a little bit and get my mind in a different spot. Also listen to music that’s high energy, whatever’s fresh for me at the time. Something to keep me going, yea I like caffeine, caffeine helps. Yerba mate, especially in the summer, iced yerba mate is the best. Maybe a little alcohol in the evenings, but you’ve got to watch out, that’ll get you sloppy sometimes.

TECHNICAL:

MOT ~ What books or resources do you often refer to? Or maybe even a novel your might reread just to fire you up.

NL ~ I have a few years worth of art magazines that I’ve collected, maybe seven or eight years worth. I’ve kept those and if I’m really feeling slow I will go back, flip through them and try to find something that will excite me. Sometimes I surprise myself and find things I hadn’t seen before, “oh, how did I miss this all these years?” That’d be one of the things I like to do.

Right now I’m rereading Grail Marx’s “Traces” which is firing me up. It’s basically an account of the Sex Pistols, comparing it to Dadaism and all this pop culture craziness. An interesting read, I definitely have different perspective now then when I originally read it in college.

MOT ~ Have dreams you’ve had or childhood memories or experiences manifested in your work?

NL ~ A lot of my early paintings done in high-school and early college were specifically about dreams. I had this whole series of flying dreams when I was 15 or 16. My mom had started talking about these flying dreams she had when she was younger, and I thought “man, I want to have a flying dream.” Then I started having all these crazy flying dreams, every night for like months. Until it finally climaxes, in a block area I’m able to fly over everyone’s back yards. Within the block it was lighted, but outside of it was completely pitch black. Telephone wires were going around the block and as soon I leveled with them I’d be shocked. So I was trapped, I could fly, but was trapped. That was the last flying dream I had for a long time. I’ve had them since, but that was an intense period when I was having those. And I’d done a whole series of paintings about that.

MOT ~ Could you break down your process, take painting, beer or making installations if there’s any ways you might approach each differently, from idea to working it out, testing it, to actually producing it?

NL ~ With painting it’s pretty much just experimental. I always have a lot of paintings going and keep extra materials on hand so I can just screw around. If something works on one of those screw around things it might get incorporated into some of the other pieces. With installations it’s definitely serious planning process. You have to figure out what the space is, how you can utilize it and what you want to do with it. So it’s the whole process of trying to figure out how to make different things work. It’s a fun challenge, I like doing installations a lot, but also the big challenge is to line it up. You have to find a way to fund it, if I was rich I’d be doing a lot of installations.

MOT ~ Do you have any particular techniques that might distinguish your style, even if two paintings side by side may appear exactly the same, maybe what went into them was totally different?

NL ~ The series I’m working on now, I started it a year and a half ago. I know what I need to do to finish it, it’s just a matter of the circumstances of combating time or the proper space set to complete what I’m doing. But I know it’ll come together at some point, it’s just a matter of finding my way back onto the track. I am happy for the side trips, so it’s not disappointing or stressful in any way.

MOT ~ Could you expand on that a little? Like how you manage to keep on track or come back to an idea?

NL ~ I’ve been pretty haphazard about that. If I’m working with somebody else, we’ll brainstorm. For the most part just because the nature of what I’m doing is fairly free flowing I don’t need to document the ideas so much. Part of the problem may be that I have so many ideas and competing hobbies I don’t find time to do nearly as much as I’d like. If I was going to take the time I might sit down and write about that sculpture that I saw. Plus I have to make a living, that’s the thing I find I’m having to devote too much time to. I’ve been fortunate enough to not have been put inside a cubicle for 40 hours a week. My employment allows for big breaks between, when I have some money, allowing for solid blocks of time to actually work on my art. Every once in a while it comes and bits me and says “hey, you need to get a job; put some money back in the bank.”

It’s kind of like having focus over the long term. A big picture perspective. When I was younger, I might just float from this to that. Now, I still float, but I always come back, cycle around.

MOT ~ How do you go about garnering funds for installation projects, that’s a lot of work?

NL ~ You can pursue grants, which is a lot of work in and of itself. Sometimes you the space itself will have a certain amount of funding to help it out. Benefactors, I need a few of those (both break out in hysterical laughter. Don’t we all!). Yeah, sometimes there’s city, county, state funds for different things. There’s some good resources on the net, I think a Washington State one is called the ‘Artists Trust’ that puts out a notice quarterly that has opportunities on it. ‘The Rack’ in Portland has a webpage where they post different opportunities. You’re competing with a lot of people, but if you have a good idea and perseverance – this is definitely where you need perseverance if you’re going after money in the arts – if you have a good idea, able to document your idea well, you’re just on the ball. It’s a full time job in itself just trying to get money. I’m sure there are some artists that hire people to do that. It’s hard being an artist, it’s a fun road, but it’s not the easy road. Making a living as an artist, unless you’re doing crafts, and I don’t know if that’s necessarily easy either I’m sure there’s lots of competition, changing tastes and all that. You can be hot for one season, and not anymore.

I think an interesting question you could ask people would be how do you fund your art? Is it due to your lifestyle, a rich aunt, how can you do this? Do you sell enough stuff?

MOT ~ How do you fund yours?

NL ~ Ummm, by not having health care, squeaking by, this past year I’ve been flying to Park City, Utah and doing high-end faux finishes for the super rich. That’s how I’ve funded my life recently. You’ve got to find some way to make an income while still finding time to make art. And energy too. Like that Sex Pistols song. . .

MOT ~ Who are some of the jazz people you like to listen to?

NL ~ I really dig Mingus, his stuff really. . . something about it gets me. It’s got a flowing quality about it or something. I like all sorts of music like punk rock, electronica, bossanova, Sometimes I’ll be intentional about what kind of music I’m listening to when I’m working on a certain project.

WRAP UP:

Interview session complete, Nata offered to share some of his awesome ‘dry ginger mead’ to quench our parched throats. It was so good I jumped at the opportunity for the recipe. He also demonstrated his creative cooking, exposing me to something called a lobster mushroom. If you haven’t heard of it, read about it, and see if you can’t hunt some up. Thanks Nata!

After spending the day with some very relaxed cats, speaking in low voices I exited stage left on the off beat, underestimating my schedule. To try and make it to the Florence camp site from Eugene would take a couple hours at least, and it was already past sunset. Not looking forward to gropping around in the dark to set up camp, I assessed my options. Both my brother and sister spent several recent years in Eugene at the University of Oregon, they have to know somebody, right? Lucky for me, my brother put me in touch with his former housemates off Kinkaid Ave and I headed over to campus to interupt their large game of capture the flag. I almost wanted to join in, but decided it best to retreat to my basement sleeping quarters in ‘the house of pain’ to rest up for the long journey ahead.

Stop by his site and check out more of his work, drop him a line, and find a way to try some of his awesome fermented mead! www.natalukas.com

Stacked & Finished?

Stacked & Finished?

After watching the months of August and September melt away into shorter days, autumn colors, and impending winter weather it does not take much to know it is time to hit the road. Another Portland night, summers usual pleasant humid stickiness has turned to a crisp fall coolness. Still not completely secure in what items to pack and what to leave, I throw my hands up in frustration, not wanting to begin yet also wanting to set sail. Inevitably, I force myself out the door making some calls over the weekend to schedule appointments for the coming Monday September 17th; one in Salem and a couple in Eugene.

Well, being the laggard that I can be, come Monday, I’m still debating what items to leave in and what to leave out until I just bite the bullet and cram in what fits. In my anxious state, caught up in my thoughts and potential adventures that lay ahead, I start out in the wrong direction wasting at least a half hour road time. By the time I make it to the first location, paths have already been crossed and the meeting has to be postponed until the return trip. It’s straight on to Eugene to sit down with painter John Holdway.

John Holdway,
http://www.johnholdway.blogspot.com

Background:

“Mainly I do painting, in oils, but sometimes acrylics. Maybe lean a little into sculpture, especially when I’m working on some paintings in still life because I might build my own props. Sometimes I do think of my paintings more like sculpture, objects. I also do printmaking, block print, monotype.”

MOT ~ What do you think it is that draws you toward painting?

JH ~ It’s hard to say, I’ve been painting for a long time, it becomes somewhat habitual. It’s a little weird that way, so I find it hard to think about it, why do I do it. Why can’t I stop doing it might be a better question.

There are a lot of practical things that are nice about painting. If you have paintings, you can hang them on your own wall. In college I did some steel sculpture, but there are problems with that. You need lots of tools, a big pile of junk in your yard, a yard, if you don’t, well… and now I do have a yard, but I’m married and have a wife. She’d probably be pretty unhappy with that.

So I would like to do some steel sculpture again. I like doing all kinds of stuff. With painting, you don’t use your muscles as much. If you spend time building your own canvases or something that might be the extent of it. I like to be a little tired after, more active instead of just all in your head. It’d be nice to have a little of that. I remember that about steel sculpture that there’s a physical-ness not necessarily there in the same way when painting. It entails forging, hammering, cutting, using all kinds of different tools. With painting you have your brushes and your knives. It might be that [brushes] are so natural to me know that I don’t even think of them as tools.

MOT ~ So where did you grow up?

JH ~ I grew up in Maryland outside of DC, College Park, pretty close to the University of Maryland.

MOT ~ Do other members of your family also do creative types of activities?

JH ~ Yea, well my dad’s always been an artist on the side, a print-maker, doing etchings and those kinds of things. He often drew and has done some illustrations, presented some gallery stuff. His main job was mechanical engineering, never fully giving that up to try and be an artist. My grandmother was also very artistic too.

MOT ~ Do you think they, or your over all community may have helped foster some of your creative energies?

JH ~ Definitely, I think a lot comes from my father. He is the kind of person who would have ever kind of tool, think of ideas and try to build it himself. Also, he would take me to art galleries and museums growing up. Living near DC we’d go to the National Gallery and those museums.

MOT ~ What brought you over to the west coast from DC?

JH ~ My wife and I just decided to move out here. No good reason really, we just wanted to live out here. We first moved to Eugene, lived here for a few years, then moved to Portland for a few and back to Eugene. So about 10 years altogether.

MOT ~ What do you think, this west coast community compared to the east?

JH ~ Well, I like it a lot better. I mean I don’t know about the art community part, but I just like the attitude and it feels more natural to me. Maybe I’m more of a relaxed person. There’s so many people and so much traffic, it’s just hectic (referring to the East Coast). I like the outdoors. As far as art goes, there’s not as much as an art happening as say a Paris or New York. That’s the only bad part.

MOT ~ Have you considered if the relaxed laid back atmosphere affects your paintings in any way, your subject matter or anything?

JH ~ It impacts it just because I can feel more relaxed so I have less angst of feelings to want to get out of the city. That was a lot of the feelings I had then. I don’t know how it affects my studio life because I don’t think of myself as a regional type of artist. I just live here and paint here. Just over all life style type thing, I’m happier.

MOT ~ How much time do you think you put in at the studio working on your paintings?

JH ~ Probably about every day, I also teach some art classes, among other things. I work every day, I don’t know how many hours it is, but probably a lot.

MOT ~ Any mentors?

JH ~ I’ve heard about people having mentors, but I never had a mentor. I’ve had teachers that I liked, but I don’t think I’ve connected with anybody like that. It seems like a nice thing to have…

Inspiration:

MOT ~ What would you say are your main sources of inspiration, for ideas, to get in and work every day.

JH ~ I don’t even know about inspiration any more. It’s almost like I just have the desire to continue to work on painting. Some times I have visions of ideas of something completely different that I’d like to try, but I don’t know if they come from anywhere. It’s hard for me to think about inspiration, I’m just always trying to do new stuff, and if I’m not making something I start to feel depressed. I feel like I have to always be working. If something’s not going well, if I’m not coming up with the ideas that I like, then I’m just struggling. It may be the opposite of inspiration. What I would think of as inspiration would be something easy. This is hard!

MOT ~ Do you find that a certain part of the day, or through dreams these ideas might arise more often then other times? The things you’d like to try, the new experiments. . .?

JH ~ I constantly have ideas. I write them down generally in sketchbooks. For twenty years I’ve kept sketchbooks, some of my ideas are crap and I don’t want to do much with them. Some are similar to others, I’m always looking for new ideas for some reason, but as far as where they come from. . . I have had some dreams, or seen things I thought would be better if I did it, inspired by that kind of thing. My ideas tend to come from everywhere. What matters is beginning to work on it, the ideas are good and I like to have them if I can, but if it doesn’t work I just continue to plow through. So I make what I can and try to let it be made.

MOT ~ Do you have any particular influences in painting, work habits, or styles you may emulate?

JH ~ I am interested in lots of artists, and looked at different artists work, sure. I’ve done pseudo apprenticeships to artists where I find ones I like and try to emulate their work. I would call that ‘apprenticing myself to a completely new idea’ and just try to work in that style. If I felt stagnated in my own work, I might choose something and work that way.

One idea was the still life when I was starting to work that way. My idea was to sort of imagine myself going back to the first day of painting class and tune into the energy of “how can I kick ass in this class.” How would I do in a painting one class. In that class, a lot of time you paint still life. I’ve explored a lot of still life that I’ve liked, for example Morandi who has a lot of meditative quality to his work that I like, but at the same time I’m more interested in something with more realism then his abstraction. And play back and forth with these methods.

Paul Klee has been interesting to me. I’ve looked at his work for years, . . . there are so many artists that I’m interested in, but I haven’t necessarily tried to work them all or anything, but I’m interested in the ideas. When I get a hold of it, it starts to change anyway.

Being in your workspace ready to start working, you don’t necessarily come up with anything. And I don’t always have the expectations to make something good, but if you’re always working, even if you’re making crap, you work through that. It turns out probably like most peoples jobs is that they have a hard time stopping thinking about work. I have a hard time not painting, even in my head, not thinking about painting.

So even if I work in a drastically different way, I start to see similar patterns in the way I organize space and the geometry of the composition. The different elements of how a picture is put together,

A lot of people have said that realist paintings are more abstract than abstract because you approach them by dissecting what you see. Putting together a paint by numbers thing, or breaking it up into shapes, and thinking about it in an abstract way, adding the right color to the right spot becomes an abstract approach to the application; all this to make a painting that doesn’t look abstract but representational. And so in my work I can see a common thread that others may not. It’s just the decisions I make, regardless of the style.

MOT ~ Do you tend to consciously consider an audience or various audiences while developing your work?

JH ~ It’s hard not to. The paintings never work if I think about an audience, so I have to try not to over think it. I just try to remember to like it myself. What I do think about is how it’s going to look with all of the different pieces together in a show. That’s another element I consider, besides being an individual piece, I want them to come together as an impressive whole for a show. Eventually they’ll be separated, but I do think a lot about how they’ll work together. I think it’s helpful to put a group of work together because each piece can inform you; what’s working and not.

MOT ~ What elements do you consider to decide how pieces fit together into a cohesive whole?

JH ~ It’s just a basic theme. Some things look like they go together and some don’t. I don’t think I can show some abstract paintings with realistic ones. I’ve been trying to think how I could do that and keep them cohesive.

MOT ~ Half and half lined up to juxtapose, maybe.

JH ~ Yea, . . . yea because these have a lot of geometry to them
These have all these blocks in them, kind of abstract symbolic looking (he says while pointing at these cool portraits of wood blocks). I might be able to. Similar types of frames are a way to bring them together as well.

MOT ~ Have you set specific creative goals for yourself, be them from now into the future, or any time in the past?

JH ~ Career wise, I have definitely had to work really hard to find galleries, and galleries to have shows. That’s been a kind of goal, to make it into some commercial galleries. I’m still working on that to have a more steady income. They expect a certain quality level, no shoddy workmanship. One gallery even wanted me to have the wires on the back for hanging done a certain way because they wanted it taped so when they’re hanging it up they don’t get their fingers poked.

MOT ~ Do ever feel drained and think “why am I doing this?” And if so, how do you recharge?

JH ~ You know you have ups and downs, emotional doubts and all that. Especially when you are doing something creative. This can effect how you work, and you can always have times when you feel like what’s the point, maybe I should just get a job and forget this crap. There’s plenty of that. I think just keeping in good spirits, like what any one would do to keep involved in their work. And try to fight depression, get exercise, get sleep, just do normal things that doctors would probably tell you. I ride my bike here sometimes, and used to go to the gym more, but that’s been replaced more with bike riding. I think what’s more useful then anything is just the physical exercise. And like I said, if you just develop a routine and have that set schedule when you’re going to work, and not beat yourself up too much.

It’s nice to have someone to talk to. I’ve been married for 12 years, and luckily can talk to my wife. She vents to me about her job and I vent to her when I’m feeling frustrated about my work. Sometimes, she can tell if I’m getting down and draw it out of me, and even if I feel like it doesn’t make a lot of sense she’ll understand it. It’s good to have someone you can talk to like that.

Technique:

MOT ~ Are there any books or particular sources that you refer to regularly, or for any specific purpose? Or any tools you keep on hand and focus on.

JH ~ (With a chuckle and drawing it out a bit) I have tons of books. I like to read.
I have a book by Birge Harrison, I’m not really into his work but it’s interesting to hear his writers voice about being a painter. He’s kind of inspiring just to read. He wrote one book called “Landscape Painting.” Another is a book called “Art and Fear” written by a couple art professors, they write about why people have a hard time working and their hang-ups. Recently I’m reading a book about sketchbooks. I’ve been using sketchbooks for a long time, but sometimes I use them more as a place to play and less a place to work out all my problems. I am trying to get back into the fun part and just drawing.Damian Gregory wrote the book “Creative License” and it talks about illustrated journals. He has a blog to you may find interesting. I think it’s a neat, fun, and interesting book because it has lots of images and makes you think twice about making a cool journal. At the same time I try not to put too much emphasis on it because I can end up spending too time. I tend to end up with lots of sketchbooks that are only halfway done.

MOT ~ What do you think about art education and spending time earning a degree?

JH ~ Spending time studying art is definitely part of doing it. It’s difficult to learn everything you want to. I think about it a lot, all the painting classes I took.

On the one hand you get to develop a critical way of thinking about your work going through all these critiques, and I want to a modern not a classical kind of art school. It was definitely more critique driven and less technical information. It can build an objective eye, and put you in the shoes of the galleries and their attendees. In some ways a gallery may be less critical, a lot of times when you’re in art school, and they are talking about your work, in actuality they are really talking about themselves. Like most of the time when you talk to people they talk about themselves in one way or another. You might not always get honest feed back as it could just be something they’re thinking about. But it’s good to hear. Sometimes they’ll point out flaws that you might not see. Like errors in your drawing, proportions, or it may just not come off like you thought. There are rules in making images that until you get to where they are more instinctual, you run the risk of missing the different qualities that make it art.

MOT ~ Can you break down your general process from head to sketchbook to color selection, canvas size, then painting.

JH ~ I can tell you how I do a representational painting, which is pretty straightforward. After I make the surface, either board or canvas, I start on the tones. I look the on it to have a neutral tone, a little value in the range so I can go lighter or darker. When you are doing a realistic painting, white is the lightest it can be, and of course black is the darkest. With light and reality, a white paint isn’t the lightest thing you can see, it’s more a light, an actual reflection of light. Then I’ll draw the whole thing, lined in charcoal, basic shadow mapping. To hold that steady I put down a layer of clear coat so it doesn’t smear while painting. Then I generalize all the colors and do a wash in and paint the whole thing, so it’s essentially done, but really messy. I will then go back and repaint the whole thing adding variations, build up some textures. If I’m doing a realistic painting I’ll build up the white spot to be thicker, I might add a few tiny details, which can have the effect of making it appear that there are a lot of details. And then, it’s done after a coat of some kind of finish like wax or varnish after it has dried for a while. Sometimes paints have different absorbencies, so in one area it can look really wet even though it’s dry. A layer of wax serves to balance that. I work really hard to have an even look while painting, but it also serves to have a little protection.

MOT ~ How do you know when something is complete?

JH ~ I try to pay attention, I do all kinds of tricks with myself to look at it fresh all the time. Either put it away, or maybe have two or three things working so I can always have fresh eyes and that’s how I can tell. If I do over work it, I always destroy it. And then there’s always the last resort of sanding it down and starting over. There’s no fear really, if I do screw up I can always rub it out and do it again, and that’s just part of it.

With each interview, I keep noticing similarities that set these folks apart. Eugene seems to be a very soft spoken kind of place. Laid back and slightly isolated with Portland the closest city. This is the kind of environment that can really make or break you as there might be less competition, there’s also smaller group of a people to support your work in the local vicinity.

Thanks John for sharing! Keep plugging away, and I’ll look forward to seeing some new work when I get back! Stop by and check out more of his work and up coming shows @ ~
www.johnholdway.blogspot.com

“Blue Angel”

Cocktails and Interviews

A city like Portland has all kinds of hidden neighborhood gems where someone can go and fade away into the din. The Basement Pub on SE 12th Ave is just one of those kinds of locations. Andrew Warnecke suggested we meet up at one of his preferred happy hour locals, they have that $1.75 PBR special. When I rolled up he was reading a book by Tom Robbins called “Villa Incognito.” He’s been working on a film titled “Blue Angel,” Blue Angel Movie and excited to have wrapped up the actual filming. Now he’s has to get out and put on the push to get it viewed. We chatted for a bit about general things that eventually led into this…

Andrew Warnecke ~ Every time I’d make something I’d hate it immediately, I’d say “Wow, that totally sucks, I’m no good at this” but ya know, if someone likes it, they don’t want to hear you tell them it sucks! I‘ve gotten a lot better at looking at it and [telling myself] “yea, that didn’t work out the way I wanted it too, but it’s not bad,” I just know I can do it better. And then trying to find opportunities to then find another film or scene where I can explore that further, or correct my mistakes, because once the films been made you don’t want ot be George Lucas and go back and tinker with it over and over and over again. People will either like or they don’t! And the people who like it, they don’t want you to change it.

[Editorial interjection: how often does the painter go back and paint over the painting, or retake the photo that’s been published?]

Leave it at that, and improve on it on your next project.

Moments Of Truth ~ How do you prepare? Do you do a lot of story boarding, free writing or something?

AW~ My storyboards don’t make any sense, so I stopped doing them. I think a lot of people do story board, what sucks about film making, film making education and any book you read is like this is how you do it, this is how you prepare, and you go about it in that way it doesn’t get you any where, everybody says “do story boards, do story boards” and I say “no” because if I do them it’s hard for me to draw the frame I want to see.

MOT ~ What about using a Polaroid camera? I know they’re discontinuing a lot of that film but….

AW~ Yea, actually have a filmmaker friend who does that, but no, I haven’t done that myself. [Story boards] depend on what you’re working on. On ‘Blue Angel,’ the one I just finished, there were storyboards but not ones showing camera angles or that. It was completely for art department. Working with the art director who does story boards we sat there and talk through every little prop and detail, the color palette of the film and try and draw sketch’s you could show to say the location scout, to select a location that fits our color palette. So it’s more from an art department or art direction standpoint.

Working with that storyboard artist was great for me because he was very detail oriented. He’d ask me how do you want this to look? What do you want here? Do you want this person with a prop, yea…?… okay, now what color? What kind? I remember, we sat there discussing this scene where this guy should be eating an apple. He said, “Well, what kind of an apple, what color, size, ..” and I’m thinking “dude, I don’t know.” He’s like “do you want just a normal green apple or should we find some kind of exotic apple that looks really weird or. . . ?” And this is really good for me, because this forces me to clarify what I want to see. As you go along, thinking up these details, you start seeing a pattern emerge. In what you’re looking for, that you hadn’t talked through yet, and all of a sudden this entire vision that was in your mind, you hadn’t really totally thought through is like “oh, wow I have this huge plan here I didn’t even realize.” So it’s helpful for me to clarify what I need to see, and obviously from there sketches can be made, and I’m very clear on what I want to see, and I want to communicate that to every one I’m working with. Like well, shit, I focused on “Blue Angel” for all this time and now I have no idea what I’m doing next!

Background:

Moments Of Truth ~ Please break down those creative things that you do? Obviously film is top, but anything you may like to mention…

Andrew W ~ Film making, directing and writing are the primary things I’m involved with now. Every now and then I’ll decide to do pencil sketches on a large scale, and it takes me two or three weeks to finish one, because I’m not very good and I have to work at a square inch at a time to make it look any good. Other then that, I don’t really do a lot of creative endeavors… (finishing with a solid chuckle..)

MOT ~ Soooo in this film “Blue Angel,” or working with film in general, do you know the point where you began with it? Were you taking shots, clippings, or what? Did your interest in film just evolve?

AW ~ I think I knew pretty early on that I wanted to do something creative; something artistic or whatever. I mean, I took all the art classes all the way through school and things like that, wanted to attend one of the art institutes but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I just figured that was the place for me, I’ll figure it out later!

Throughout high school I did a lot of photography. I wasn’t very good. It was basically if I’d get really lucky I’d have a good photo, but the rest of the time I don’t think the concepts of framing or composition made any sense to me. I didn’t really get that so I couldn’t really apply it at the time. That was an early interest in artistic kinds of things, but I think it was senior year when I actually took a class that focused on creative writing and film. [breaking away to clarify that times have changed] Film is actually video in high school, and they’d give you camcorders and send you out to make your “music video,” and it was terrible, but I had a really great time with it. So that’s when it clicked that that’s what I should pursue. Any time I had an option to do a project on video, that was the direction I went. It was more fun and it wasn’t really work. I think that interest was always there, I just didn’t acknowledge it could be a career.

Greatest video ever though was…, I was supposed to do a project about “Lord Of The Flies.” What it was, was a ‘60 Minutes’ type program where they were interviewing the kids that survived off the island after they got back. I did reenactments of the horrific things that happened on the island.

MOT ~ That’s a good idea. [I’m laughing because that sounds seriously bad ass, and maybe he’s laughing for the same reason. Maybe?]

AW ~ It was high school video though, ya know?! There’s the part where the character in the book, Piggy, gets squished by a rock because the kids push a rock off a cliff and kill him. That was a little hard to reenact so it was Lego figurines. That was probably the most takes I’ve every done, …. To date! It took so long to get that little rock to hit the Lego figure.

MOT ~ So where exactly did you grow up?

AW ~ Milwaukee.

MOT ~ Milwaukee, Oregon? Do you think ‘Dark Horse Comics / Publishing’ had any influence on you?

AW ~ I knew they were there, I wasn’t really into comic books. I was into comic books for a very limited amount of time. I remember reading “Sin City” pretty early on, and that really kind of messed me up at the time. But I wouldn’t say they directly influenced me or anything.

MOT ~ Where there any elements of the Milwaukee community that influenced you in your way of thinking, or your approach to your projects now?

AW ~ I think probably. That’s one of those things where I’ll look back at something I did, some little moment in a scene and when I watch it I all of a sudden connect that to something from growing up. It’s not something I consciously draw on, but I discover later that I did. It’s not a conscious thing, but it’s there!

But yea (laughs thinking about it), I did know my neighbors well. Everybody in that neighborhood knew each other well, and you couldn’t get in trouble with out everybody knowing and telling your parents about it. So it was more of a sense of community then I think most people grow up with.

MOT ~ Any body else in your family focused, or now focus on creative type of work?

AW ~ In my extended family, there’s some creative types, musicians and that, basically, no though. My moms a teacher and my dad’s an engineer, and engineer’s are about as far from the creative end as can be as they’re a lot more logical. So you don’t see eye to eye very often. My sister is a school councilor, so they’re pretty far from the direction I’m going?

My family’s been really supportive. I think when I first told my parents I wanted to do film making they were like “maybe you should go to community college and check out some other things.” At a certain point they realized that community college wasn’t going so well and that wasn’t where I should be and that’s when I started pursuing filmmaking at the Northwest Film Center. Since that time they’ve been very supportive. They just looked at it like “that’s not a very realistic career, maybe you should have something to back it up with.”

MOT ~ In the process of learning film making, photography, and honing your eye, have you had any mentors that you’d count as having influenced you? Leg to stand on kind of thing…

AW ~ There’s been a lot. Some times I think they might not realize how much they’ve influenced me. It may be some small little thing they said at one point that clued me in. An example is I was talking to another film maker who makes a lot more then what I do, he made the statement that pretty much, if you don’t have an audience, or if… if there’s nobody who likes your film, it doesn’t matter how artistic it is, it doesn’t matter, nobodies going to watch it. You’re making films for the audience, not yourself.

That adjusted the way I look at it. No matter what art form you’re working in, there’s this idea that it’s all about you. Well, you might have all the talent in the world, but if you’re not making something anybody likes, what’s it matter? Sure, you’ve satisfied your needs, but aren’t you wanting other people to look at it?

[Not meaning to disrupt you like the guy who just about ran his van up on the curb to pull out and dusted us with copious amounts of foul smoky thick exhaust fumes, but it’s all about creating a visual experience to go along with the conversation]

That was pretty close (noting the van)!

Just a little thing, I think he was completely hammered when he said that to me, but it sunk in. I’ve been making this work because it makes me happy, but what I’m discovering trying to promote this thing is that it’s all about the audience. And if they don’t like it, well, who cares.

There’s been others who’ve since pissed me off because I feel their point of view is pretty warped, but they managed to say a couple good things that helped me along with what ever I was working on at the time. A lot of my first mentors were into experimental film. When I first started film, that was what I was into. So I took their advice to art then, and some of it has carried through to more narrative work. I reached a certain point in experimental film where it felt like I was just taking everything from my influences and mixing it up and doing the exact same thing that everybody else had done. So now, when those same people try and give me advice, it doesn’t sink in as much. I kind of feel like, okay, …. Ummm, I’m loosing my train of thought.

Inspiration:

MOT ~ Well, let’s move on to inspiration. Do you have a particular source you draw from?

AW ~ Kind of all over. I think my inspiration comes from a ton of different sources. I don’t think any of my work is autobiographical at all, but I definitely take things from my life and mix them up and throw them into something. So that’s there. I’ll take things from some weird job I’ve worked that most people don’t know anything about and write that into something that I’m doing. I also, of course, have some friends that do really dumb things, or better said make bad decisions… (we both laugh because, well, who doesn’t or hasn’t, right?!)

It’s not like in an insulting way, you hear about one stupid decision that somebody made, and it’s not like I’m trying to poke fun at anybody, but that’s a whole story right there. That could stem an entire story. I think inspiration from real things in life, like I’ll steal somebody’s life story I know because that’s a good back-story for that character. It doesn’t actually make it into the film, but I know where the character is coming from and can go from there. I wont name any names ‘cus I’ll get in trouble, but….

It’s kind of weird for a film maker, but I take a lot of influence from literary sources.

MOT ~ That’s weird?

AW ~ It is I think. Because most film makers I meet don’t seem to read a lot. Or they read books on filmmaking or that’s about it. I listen to DVD commentaries and they’ll say something like “well, I don’t really read, this book was the first book I’d read in like 20 years and I decided to base a film on it.” Yea, I think it’s kind of weird. It’s a great place to take inspiration from.

There’s one short story that stuck in my mind, called “A Rose For Emily,” a William Faulkner story with this really subtle eeriness, a general sense of unease. Even though at the time I couldn’t remember the name of it or even what it was really about, I remembered the feeling it gave me. Stuff like that is a big influence on me. When I can do films like that, something not in your face, nothing strikes you as uneasy right on the screen, but it [may leave an uneasy feeling in you]. Stories like that always stick with me, or stories that were so subtle I just didn’t get them at the time and hated them [for that]. Then I think back years later realizing what they’re about and it messes me up. That’s an interesting direction to go in film, because it doesn’t generally go in that direction.

MOT ~ Your film “Blue Angel” is based off a short story, correct?

AW ~ That was exactly the kind of short story it was, a subtle story. A lot of people read it, and didn’t really get the sub text of it. There’s this whole sub text the narrator is saying. I knew there was more to the story than what [the author] was telling. It was really interesting to me in that sense. It was an ideal story. Making that really helped me find a direction I’d like to go in the future.

MOT ~ How’d you come across the story.

AW ~ About five or six years ago the author sent it to me and wanted me to consider making a film of it. Immediately I wanted to do it, there were some things in it that reminded me of someone I knew back in school, so strongly I knew; as well as recognizing the subtle aspect of the story. I wrote back to her and said I’d really like to do this, and that’s when she let me know that she’d also sent it to some one else. Apparently they were interested as well. I had to duke it out.

What she wanted from both parties was to get the idea about why we wanted to do it, and what our impressions were of the story. What’s some other work we’d done and that sort of thing. Apparently they didn’t get the subtext. So it was a pretty easy decision after that. That’s how that came about.

Then once I had the story, I didn’t really think I was skilled enough to make this movie. I didn’t tell her that, but I was thinking that. In my head I could see it, but didn’t really know how to do that. So I put it on the back burner while I goofed around with some other stuff until once I felt I was ready, it went into production. This took some years.

I shot a film called “Voyeur, “ that didn’t get done. It went through a couple of editors, but none would get done with it. Eventually, I was so far removed from it, I just didn’t have the energy to keep working on it. It was tough, I cared about it when I started, but now I don’t feel anything for it. So it was hard to keep working on it. Which I think pissed a lot of people off that worked on it. They felt like “we’ve put in all this work and now you’re not going to finish it.” You know, …. What are you going to do?

I did another really short project called “Tiffany’s Bad Day.” It was really short decent into action. I’m probably never going to be an action director, but I did get to have a car stunt with a limousine done, kinda cool. Nerve wracking though!

This limousine barreling down the street, skid in a half circle around the actress who was running; which was bad ass. It’s pretty freaky when you’re watching this little actress running down the street, and this huge car is supposed to spin around her, yea, I really, really felt sick to my stomach, feeling like something bad was going to happen. In there was a few other things, like “Works For Hire” that didn’t really pan out, until I quit goofing around with stuff that wasn’t important to me and focus.

(Here we took an interlude for beer and WC break, . . . take a deep breath, you can do the same but get right back!)

Oh and just another note on preparing for and making a film, I mean, doing the other film was a really good thing in order to connect with new crew members; a good way to test out people who I’d never worked with before. They were a lot more on the professional end than I’d worked with before. That was a good way to find out who’s good and reliable. So many crew members, when working on low budget projects are more likely to ditch out on you. When it’s something you don’t care about it is a little easier to take.

MOT ~ A lot of technology allows people to work on various subjects on their own, like music. You might be able to do that with some films, but you still have living characters. Filming seems to be a collaborative form of creative expression. How do you develop your own sense of what’s yours in these projects?

AW ~ Really you can do film making now with a minimum of collaboration if you want. I don’t think it’s the best thing. By myself, I don’t feel like I do anything to the best of my ability. I wouldn’t recommend it to any body, but some people do it, and can actually do it pretty well.

MOT ~ Maybe these other forms of expression aren’t as individual as people would like to think that they are.

AW ~ Such as…?

MOT ~ Well, like with painting or drawing, you read a story or see a moment in time and illustrate some basic natural element(s).

AW ~ Well, you can [lose your sense of self], pretty easily. I feel like I have dealt with that exact issue a lot. Usually I’m quite a bit younger then the people I’m working with, and some take it as a sign that “oh, that person doesn’t know what they’re doing. They’re younger, I know what I’m doing, I’ve been around longer.” Not to discredit those people, as they do know what they’re doing; but some bring the attitude that they’re going to have to take over for you and do directing for you. I’ve had directors of photography who will change a camera angle after I’ve walked off. Then, back in the editing room it’ll come up and it’s not what I wanted, it doesn’t really work with anything else that I have.

Also, people will bring their own ideas and just do that, and you let them because they’ve explained their reason and it sounds reasonable. Later though, you realize that it doesn’t work well, it wasn’t what I wanted at all. I mean you definitely can loose your sense of what you need to get when you’re shooting, then it can end up feeling like not your own film any more.

The only way you learn not to do that is from having it happen to you. You’re pretty naïve when you first show up on your first set and try to tell people, this is what I want, this is what I need and expect every bodies going to do it just because you said it. You know, you’re in the director’s chair, but it doesn’t really work that way. I think part of it is that people have a pretty good sense if they can trust you in that position. If they don’t think you can handle it, they try and bring their own ideas and try to “save you.”

I used to get really pissed when people would do that, take it as a personal insult. Now I don’t because I look back, and can see that I wasn’t always communicating clearly what I wanted. And yea, I was young and you can’t blame them for thinking they knew better. We you have to face that and deal with it a couple of times, you realize that until you take control of that, it’s just going to happen. As the director you need to be the one confident person on the set. They need to feel that you know what you want and if you don’t get it you’re going to let them know. I think it’s all about confidence, they’re relying on you to show them where to go. That doesn’t mean I always know where I want to go when I show up, but I try to pretend like I do. I also try and have a specific plan when I show up, but no matter what, you have curve balls thrown at you and can’t do certain things, or what ever, and you have to adjust. I just have to pretend it doesn’t faze me, even though it usually makes me panic. It also comes down to getting to know the crew-members as much as you can before you get on the set. And feeling them out and seeing what they’re like, so that they have a clear idea of what you’re looking for, and you have a clear idea of who they are and whether they can trust you or not. Whether they can trust that you know what you want.

On “Blue Angel” I took to having discussions with the directors of photography especially. Just pulling them aside and saying “Okay, look, so I’m directing, I give the actors direction and you don’t, is that cool, you know.” Establish the boundaries. And sometimes you might sound like a jerk to say it, but the professional ones take it just fine. Once I find some one who works very well… basically I look for someone who trusts you but isn’t afraid to bring an idea to it and say “hey, if we frame it this way, this accomplishes what you want and allows us to cut this shot.” I love it when people can bring suggestions like that to it. I mean, nobody knows everything. . .

MOT ~ Wait, what? Are you sure… (both laughing)

AW ~ Well, maybe I can think of a couple [people].

Yea, so I don’t think there’s any director worth anything who shows up on set and thinks that they have all the answers. Any great director can take suggestions from anybody on set. I mean, you hear stories about some of the really great directors and they try and take the suggestions from everybody and you never know, it could be a production assistant or an intern that might bring an idea, and if you let them know it’s okay to tell you what those ideas are they might give you something where you’re like “oh, you know what that accomplishes my vision better then my original idea.” The idea is to know what you want well enough to know when somebody else’s idea accomplishes that better.

I think that’s how you make your center. It’s to know the feeling you want to get across, and know the different places you need each scene to go well enough to where when some one brings a suggestion you can identify it as either fitting or not, or even being better then what you want.

MOT ~ Do you set aside specific creative goals that you are working to accomplish?

AW ~ Kind of. I have about three projects that I’d like to do. I think all three of them I want to do because they all have little aspects of things I haven’t felt have gone as wanted in another film. I’m juggling two screenplays at once, and there’s a novel I’d like to adapt. I’m always just looking for projects that allow me to improve on something that I was not as happy with before. But other then that, story wise, I don’t think there’s anywhere I’m trying to go in the future.

Technical:

MOT ~ So how do you go about researching and figuring out the ideas you want to use?

AW ~ Experimental film for me was more an intuitive way of filmmaking. I didn’t necessarily have a story, just try to set up some parameters for it where I was free to shoot what I wanted and follow intuition. One of the masters of that is David Lynch. I love his work, I think he does it very well. At a certain point I got really bored, and lost interest in that style. It definitely helped along the way to develop things I’m interested in now. Being able to shoot something very intuitively comes in handy. So much, even on a narrative film, requires you to think on your feet.

When it comes to selecting a narrative story, it differs. If I’m writing it myself, I couldn’t tell you necessarily where that comes from. It depends. When I start writing, it can be for a million different reasons. Sometimes I heard a really good song or something, and somewhere during listening to it an idea occurred to me. Or it pulled together a lot of ideas that had been running through my head that I wasn’t sure what to do with and then got clued in on the path I’d like to take with it. If I’m writing, the things that interest me are character development, to create complex characters who do what real humans would do, and not what you’re used to seeing people do. There’s a very set way of developing characters in most mainstream film, and it’s not necessarily what real people would do. When you’re trying to create very realistic characters you have to figure out “where’s this person coming from, and what would they do here.” When you actually watch a movie like that, it’s surprising when a character just seems to do what they would do. Any time I can take something that’s like a normal genre and put that spin on it, it’s very interesting to me. I have a feeling though, if and when I start shooting stuff like that I’m going to piss some people off. Audiences sometimes don’t like what’s different.

MOT ~ Do you think that’s part of the point as the director? That you have the opportunity that you can take them down a path they wouldn’t necessarily go?

AW ~ Well, yea. Fingers crossed I can do that. Like I mentioned a novel I want to adapt, what drew me to that is that the characters are so well developed, characters that in most stories would be either cut and dry good or cut and dry bad, and there was nobody in the novel that was completely evil and nobody that was completely good. It’s a story about a girl who goes missing in a small town, and all the characters are to blame in one way or another to varying degrees. But you understand their motivations and why they make the decisions they make so well that you have sympathy for everyone in the story which is kind a bizarre thing in that kind of story. And that was interesting to me because any time I hear of a child going missing that kind of messes me up. For a long time I’ve wanted to do a story in that vein. I’m hoping I can pull that off, but that might be another one where I wouldn’t want to do it right away, but shoot something else first to get up to par before hand.

MOT ~ So it sounds like you like to align your projects to prepare for the next project. Are you consciously considering that while you’re working on one?

AW ~ Not really, no.

MOT ~ So how do you know when you’re ready?

AW ~ Usually it when I’m pissed off with what ever I’ve been doing. Then it’s time to do something I want to do more. When I was working on “Blue Angel,” that was all I was doing. There was no thinking ahead to what was next which kind of sucks now, because I’m scrambling to figure out what’s next. Once you put a film out in the world, that’s a question that comes up a lot. Any film maker who’s had any degree of success with a short film will tell you “every body wants to know what you’re doing next and you better have an answer.” So while I was working on that one I didn’t plan ahead at all.

Right now, if I’m writing it’s what I want to, what feels right, and not really planning ahead. The deal is, I haven’t worked in feature film at this time. It’s one thing for me to have my first journey into feature film be a script I wrote, because I’d rather screw that up then say, a novel I really respect. Make all my first time mistakes with that one. I guess that’s what I meant when I said that novel wouldn’t be one I’d necessarily want to do right now.

MOT ~ Do you have any books that you use as resources, say potential sources for your trade, your projects?

AW ~ Nothing comes to mind off the top of my head. Every time I refer to books on film making or web sites, like I mentioned earlier, they all tell you “this is how it’s done, and this is how you do it.” That usually ends up getting me really really stuck more than anything because what I’m trying to do doesn’t really fit into that. Then I’m trying to figure out how to relate what ever I learned in that book to what ever I’m doing. It usually just makes life a lot more difficult.

MOT ~ Do you have anything you do when trying to make a decision, or to get loose, or to reconnect with your original idea, and energy?

AW ~ All the time, it’s never ending. Usually if I feel like I know exactly where I’m going or where I need to be, I am not doing anything creatively. So, are you asking ways to recharge creative batteries?

I’ll go through phases where I wont touch a screenplay I was working on for months. I might think about it, but I can’t bring myself to put in any time on it for whatever reason. Things that recharge creative batteries, I have friends I hang out with to just go have a good time, and usually they have some great story about something they did, and a lot of the times there’s just something in what they said that makes me go, “oh, there’s an idea.” A lot of times it’ll send me back to what ever I was working on to explore an aspect that I hadn’t thought about for the story. You know, just something like that might get me excited about the story again.

Going to the bar, (laughing because that’s exactly where we are) and no I’m not joking, that’s serious. I wouldn’t want to encourage any one to start drinking, you know, in order to be successful creatively, I have to admit that writers block can be fixed at the bar. I’ve sat here and, well, one time I actually wrote an entire music video treatment during ‘happy hour.’ The deal is, if I’m working in a quiet environment, I’ll get distracted by every little tiny noise I hear, where as if I sit down at a bar and try and write for a while, it’s so loud, noise surrounding me, it’s easier for me to tune that out. There’s that energy around you, but you’re tuning it out at the same time, (imagining a great distraction) the only thing likely to distract you is the really loud drunk chick that comes and sits on your lap (laughing and we’re both looking around for that one. . . nope, not today). But uh,

MOT ~ A welcome distraction right?

AW ~ Nah, a lot of times if I just don’t feel like I’m getting anything done, something about the atmosphere that sometimes works for me. More often than not, if I choose to do that, it works.

MOT ~ If you had the opportunity to sit down with some creative individuals that inspire you, what would ask them?

AW ~ These questions come to me all the time but now I’m drawing a blank. I think they might be questions that might sound dumb to any body else . . . Probably if I met any film makers or writers that…

Well, here’s an example, I wrote a letter to Chuck Palahniuk who wrote “Fight Club” and I felt like I had so many question to ask and I couldn’t really think of any of them. And I think I ended up asking him a bunch of stupid questions and telling him some story about how my letters to Santa were sent to my grandma and she responded. I didn’t get any of my questions answered because I didn’t really ask them. Of course he responded and sent me this big box of toys and stuff. And I thought “Oh man, why couldn’t I think of anything to ask him?!” I think if it was somebody that I admire I would freeze up and draw a complete blank. So something really simple like “how the hell did you come up with the idea to shoot it this way, because I’d never think of that?” What gave you the guts to shoot it like that?

Wrap Up

Thinking back to high school and early college, I was involved in a communications, radio broadcasting, and filming a campus television program. When Andrew mentioned how he had fun doing that in school, and finding ways to create projects around that I remember just how much fun that is. A lot of folks are creating all kinds of short videos, telling stories, humoring people, music videos and all that. Most of them can barely be considered C quality, but the seed has been planted. Everyone has to start some where, right. Well, a larger production sounds a lot like being an organizer slash project manager slash company director. I imagine working a film is a lot like creating a short term business, each one a new and interesting challenge. I’m looking forward to more!

Thanks Andrew for sitting down and sharing some thoughts!

Watch the preview below and if you’re on the my space add him as a friend Blue Angel Movie

“Blue Angel” Trailer

Knarlly Rebar

Knarlly Rebar

Originally uploaded by Andruu’s that psykoo babbler

After only being on the road for just a week, with a two man pup tent loaned by my dad, sleeping bag, and basic gear strapped via various bungees to the motorcycle, I am realizing it’s not quite as exotic as stories and films tend to make this kind of adventure out to be. Camping using only the regular spots, which it seems is what the park services want people to do, is not like what I remember as a kid. It probably doesn’t help that the majority of campsites seem to be situated for RV or giant camper ease of access. Spending the majority of the day on the road, trying to get to the next location with enough day light hours to pitch camp doesn’t leave much time for seeing all the awesome sights, sounds, and chatting with the people inbetween. Nor am i finding much time to just hunt down interesting folks willing to spend an hour right away to discuss what they do, and I wouldn’t expect too either.

After several nights sleep on the ground, my back, and brain feel like this mangled heap of rebar looks. There are other methods.

Trying to keep up on the posts is tough too. Each interview seems to take about a good days worth of work to have a fairly edited and organized post to present. This is meant to be professional quality, regardless of the format. So far, general word of mouth feed back has been good. I’m curious what others stopping by actually think. I’ve noticed some suggestions. Unfortunately they may be loftier then my capabilities at this time. If when making suggestions you could also explain how to accomplish this in these basic html slash motorcycle parameters, that’d be helpful.

This weeks focus is on transcribing three interviews. One conducted with filmagrapher Andrew Warnecke based in Portland, Oregon. The other two are with painters working out of Eugene. More to come on that later, so stay tuned.

Right now I’m in the Bay area aka San Francisco and planning on interviewing some great creative minds here. If you know somebody you can direct me to from SF to San Diego and or Mexico too, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Thanks.

Keep checking in. More will come up this week!