Latest / This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast) / Episode 1: Vibe Check/Introductions

Transcript

Episode 1: Vibe Check/Introductions · This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast)

0:07
So this is episode one of This Is Not Art Therapy,
0:12
the podcast, where me and my good friend John
0:16
talk about art stuff. Do you want to say hi,
0:19
John? Hi. Yeah, I introduce myself, Josiah Jonathan
0:24
Hurley Goodyear V. I have way too many names.
0:26
You can call me Josiah, you can call me John,
0:28
whatever floats your boat, aka me amigo. I'm
0:33
cool with that. I'm a relatively new artist to
0:38
the space. I probably started about three, four
0:42
months ago. So I'm kind of a newbie and I feel
0:46
like Linnea is just such an expert when it comes
0:49
to it. I think my entire experience with you,
0:51
I've known you, you've been an artist. Yeah.
0:54
And that's why I thought having conversations
0:57
about art with you would be so. fascinating because,
1:02
and every time I tried to frame this in my head,
1:05
it kind of came off with like a layer of judgment
1:08
of like, oh, John is this like unlikely artist.
1:11
And I'm aware that there's biases and judgments
1:15
in that. But just having more conversations about
1:18
you and your art prose has been really fascinating
1:20
for me as someone who's been, you know, use the
1:23
word expert. I've never really called myself
1:24
an expert, but just someone who is. quite comfortable
1:27
in art land to see john kind of come into that
1:30
space um and do his own thing has been really
1:33
cool so it's been very inspiring as well thank
1:36
you thank you yeah i uh i don't know i feel like
1:39
i'm just like in a way little brother to a lot
1:42
of people like maybe maybe almost annoying with
1:45
being like how do you do like that sort of process
1:49
or like what made you think of like this sort
1:51
of like inspiration behind whatever painting
1:54
like i have a friend his name's mikey and uh
1:56
but um yeah like just bothering people but in
2:01
just because I'm just hungry to learn new things.
2:04
And it's that curiosity that is contagious for
2:07
me. It's just like, oh yeah, I love that. That
2:09
being a beginner at something and being so enthused
2:13
and into it, like that is such a good energy
2:15
to have. And I also find it contagious. So one
2:17
of the intentions behind this podcast was to
2:20
share that love of art with everyone because
2:23
everyone can make art. everybody can do art that's
2:27
why I started this sort of the medium or I guess
2:29
is medium the right word for it I think so yeah
2:32
is that in like styles yeah so like my style
2:35
is I use uh pens and paper just because it's
2:38
like the most accessible uh and to be honest
2:41
I I started off my art journey off of my couch
2:45
because I had just recently gone through a three
2:48
-month surgery for the second time uh where I
2:51
had basically been uh sitting on like four months
2:56
of doing nothing and being on my phone and my
2:58
little sister's actually the person who got me
3:00
into art and she just gave me a ballpoint pen
3:03
and a piece of cardboard and my first guy that
3:07
I drew was Post Malone it took three hours and
3:09
it was terrible and then the next day I tried
3:12
to draw Post Malone again it took another three
3:14
hours it was also terrible but slightly less
3:17
terrible and I liked the fact that like I could
3:19
see myself sort of getting better at these things
3:22
And yeah, I started with pen because I didn't
3:25
want to deal with pencil shavings, which was,
3:29
yeah, didn't want to deal with pencil shavings
3:31
on my couch because I couldn't really move at
3:35
the time. But then I realized you have to be
3:37
super careful with pen and pencil because if
3:39
you make a mistake, you have to basically move
3:41
like mountains to try and make it look halfway
3:45
decent again. and for a beginner to choose something
3:49
so permanent i think is it shows confidence but
3:52
now it also now that i know the origin it also
3:55
shows convenience and accessibility too yeah
3:58
so i recently started walking back again uh so
4:02
like slowly walking and traveling and uh with
4:06
like being able to lucky to uh travel to four
4:10
different countries and basically the last three
4:12
months um And it's been really nice to see everybody
4:16
else's style. And every space is going to have
4:19
their own sort of version or representation of
4:22
art, which is cool that you add that to your
4:24
repertoire of, you know, travel. Oh, every place
4:27
was, it was cool. I spent a little bit of time
4:32
in some Latin areas, like Portugal and Spain.
4:36
And like their art versus Turkey was two different
4:40
worlds. like three four different worlds basically
4:44
so it was really cool to see yeah right on um
4:48
so john and i are gonna continue talking but
4:51
um we'll go over some art ideas that you're welcome
4:55
to either do on your own time or um as you're
4:59
listening to us if that's your thing or um you
5:02
might not even want to do any of these art invitations
5:05
because you they're not for you. And that's totally
5:07
okay. So I'll quickly explain them. And again,
5:10
I won't put too much detail into it, because
5:12
I really like when they're open for interpretation.
5:15
So however you want to art these art ideas have
5:19
at her. So the first one is basically creating
5:23
a self portrait. I think it's interesting when
5:26
artists create portraits throughout time and
5:28
to see how they evolve. And what's also really
5:31
cool about it is that it's incredibly unique
5:34
to whoever makes it so that's kind of the first
5:37
thing the next one is creating some sort of identity
5:41
card or like kind of like a driver's license
5:44
but it's basically an affirmation that you're
5:48
an artist so it can be a little business card
5:50
it can be you know some cutesy little thing that
5:53
really communicates that you're an artist and
5:56
the third art invitation is very much inspired
5:59
by the energy that John and I have because we
6:01
can be quite different in times so the idea of
6:05
making art about two opposing parts of yourself
6:09
and putting them into one piece of art and seeing
6:13
what comes out of that so those are our art ideas
6:16
take them if you want them John and I will go
6:20
through these questions that we have So you did
6:24
kind of introduce yourself earlier. Yeah. Anything
6:27
else you want to add about who you are as an
6:29
artist? I don't want to sound redundant, but
6:31
just new, new and ready to learn. Yeah, right
6:34
on. Just a keener. Who are you as an artist,
6:37
Linnea? Ooh, yeah. Well, I am also an art therapist,
6:41
which is kind of the inspiration behind this
6:43
podcast as well, because this podcast is almost
6:47
going to be kind of like a session, but John
6:51
and I are friends. So we could never be therapist
6:54
client because we are friends and you can't do
6:57
therapy with your friends. So very much into
6:59
art therapy as a visual artist. I do a lot of
7:02
collage, mixed media. Right before our call,
7:05
I was working on some collages. I also like to
7:07
work with fabric and textiles or like painting
7:11
on clothes I have. I think that when you make.
7:17
what you wear as a piece of art you can really
7:20
share it with others because you get to literally
7:22
show it off instead of art just staying on the
7:26
walls um and it's interesting too because john
7:28
also does you have a t -shirt making company
7:31
or like a printing company i should should say
7:33
so that's very yeah yeah yeah i i was like about
7:37
to say i was like it feels really cool when you're
7:40
making your own thing and you get to represent
7:42
yourself uh and I think the first time somebody
7:47
complimented a shirt that I'd made with a friend,
7:50
I took a picture of them. Oh, I love that. I
7:54
was like, really? This is crazy. Like something
7:58
that I had made. Somebody said, this is cool.
8:01
I was like, on your own, unprompted. I was like,
8:05
they're like, cool shirt, man. I was like, you
8:06
don't know how much of a day. You've just absolutely
8:09
made my day. When was this? Yeah. I would probably,
8:14
when I first started up, my neighbor, actually,
8:17
he does silk screening as well, and we work together.
8:20
So he had this line of T -shirts he made up called
8:25
Crooked Smile, and I thought they were really
8:28
cool. It's got like a little demon head at the
8:30
back. It's very much a Dartmouth shirt. That's
8:33
where I'm located out of. And it's got all kinds
8:37
of little nods to... Dartmouth and uh but it's
8:40
called Crooked Smile it's got some Chicano lettering
8:43
and um yeah it's like it's a big pink shirt so
8:47
like it's bright and in your face but then you
8:50
have like these like demonic demons at the back
8:52
of it so like it's it's kind of it's it's a yin
8:55
and the yang kind of shirt oh I love that kind
8:57
of like that third art invitation that opposing
9:00
parts yeah exactly cool it all comes full circle
9:03
um John do you want to tell people how we know
9:06
each other And I might throw in my own hot take
9:09
on it as well, because we're probably going to
9:11
have things on this. Yeah, you dated my best
9:14
friend. No, kidding. That was after we started
9:17
working together. That's not how we met. That's
9:21
just an aspect of our connection. That is the
9:23
most shocking part of our friendship. Yeah, I
9:27
do remember that moment. And exactly where we
9:29
were when I told you that. With surprise, like
9:34
just a total surprise. We worked at like a parachute
9:38
manufacturing company. Yeah. Which is an odd
9:41
place for two people to meet. So I had recently
9:45
left the military full time and I had a friend
9:50
who basically was like, I feel like you'd be
9:53
a good fit here. And like as somebody who was
9:55
transitioning to like part -time civilian, part
9:58
-time military, I'd been military for I think
10:00
about six years at the time. I was like, yeah,
10:03
this would be a great fit. It's a really detailed
10:07
sort of job where you're learning how to tie
10:09
knots and make sure that it's absolutely correct,
10:12
fold parachutes. And I had no prior work with
10:16
this, but it was really a very physical, but
10:22
like, I don't know, I would say it's simple,
10:25
but also a lot of real big responsibilities to
10:29
make sure that you've done it right. And we never
10:33
dealt with human parachutes. I feel like we should
10:36
make that. Yes. So like the risk is less if we
10:39
screwed up, we weren't killing people. No, no.
10:43
We were just destroying cargo of some kind. Yeah,
10:47
exactly. Which is also bad. Yeah, yeah. Turns
10:52
out people pay a lot of money for things to be
10:55
thrown out of planes or whatever. to basically
10:58
hit the ground and be safe. People want that
11:00
to be very safe. So yeah, it was important that
11:04
we did our job correctly. Yeah. I had gotten
11:06
started working there and it was somewhat marketed
11:10
to me as a humanitarian project. And I had just
11:14
finished art therapy school out in BC, moved
11:16
back to my hometown of Ottawa and had a lot of
11:19
debt. And this job was presented to me as this
11:22
full time job, slightly humanitarian. So in my
11:24
mind, it was like, oh, we're crafting and it's
11:27
humanitarian. So it was somewhat aligned with
11:29
my art therapy thing, but it wasn't an art therapy
11:31
job. But, you know, those aren't easy to find.
11:34
So I had gone through so much schooling and so
11:37
much of my work before was very. mental based
11:41
of like, oh, I'll just be smart and life will
11:43
be easy for me. And I also just been working
11:47
at a nonprofit where, you know, we all talked
11:52
about our feelings together. We'd have check
11:53
ins and tell each other, you know, how we feel.
11:56
So it was a very big shift to go from touchy
11:59
feely kumbaya job to this very male dominated
12:04
aerospace. with a whole bunch of men yeah it
12:09
was yeah you were you were the only you were
12:12
the only girl working there at the time and like
12:14
everyone there was ex -military or some sort
12:18
of engineer or scientist yeah basically and i
12:22
just remember being like you stuck out like a
12:25
sore thumb it was like everyone there had like
12:28
if anybody does know military had like 511 pants
12:32
the proper hiking boots and polo shirts and like
12:35
Linnea would show up in like bright colors like
12:40
pins through like her jacket and like I didn't
12:43
know how to handle that like in a way I was like
12:47
it was such a shift for me to basically be like
12:49
it's like their hair's not kept up properly like
12:53
just like the smallest natural color yeah yeah
12:56
like I was like wow it's not a natural yeah no
12:59
you had bright colored hair and like I was just
13:02
like and like respectfully we were from completely
13:05
different worlds yeah but it was it was kind
13:09
of funny because you would come up with ideas
13:11
or be able to problem solve in ways that just
13:14
me and the rest of this world were just like
13:17
not ready to handle we'd be like what And you'd
13:20
often be right, which was annoying. But also,
13:23
you'd be like, huh, maybe I do have to think
13:28
about something from a different angle. That's
13:33
interesting that you named that because I did
13:35
always kind of feel like the outcast in that
13:38
profession. And that's probably, I only lasted
13:41
a year there and then I had to leave. It was
13:43
just not in alignment with what I wanted. I mean,
13:49
it's funny you say, like, outsider. You might
13:51
have felt like an outsider, but because everything
13:53
was so tiered, I always felt like I was on bottom
13:56
rung, even though I was in that group. Like,
14:00
the other guys had so much different experiences
14:03
and were, I would say, so much more hardcore
14:06
than what I was. Like, even though, like, some
14:09
people may look at you and be like, judge would
14:11
be like, oh, yeah, that guy's a pretty tough
14:13
guy or whatnot. I was looking at these other
14:16
men and I was like, oh. I'm the bottom of the
14:18
barrel here and there's nothing I can do to change
14:20
any of that. But yeah, it was, it was still a,
14:24
it was still a good experience. I think for,
14:27
it was a good experience for me. I liked it.
14:29
It helped me get myself out of, you know, like
14:32
we were both trying to move up in the world and
14:35
that was, it was a great way to do it. We didn't
14:37
get along for a lot of that. Maybe for like hard
14:40
to think about that, but it was my first time
14:43
where there were parts of that job where I physically
14:46
couldn't do it. And I was told growing up that
14:49
you can do whatever you want, but there are some
14:50
things that I physically could not do because
14:53
I was either too small or not strong, physically
14:56
strong enough, I should say. And I did not like
14:59
that. And it became so easy to John sometimes
15:02
that I think I did. There was some friction there
15:04
because you could do these things and I couldn't.
15:08
And I was probably angry at you for that. I'm
15:10
guessing. Yes, I know. I think it was that must
15:14
have been tough. Because I remember you, I do
15:16
remember you were hanging from basically like
15:21
a chin -up bar pushing in a parachute. with your
15:25
feet and you're like this is the hardest thing
15:27
i've ever done in my life and we were like she
15:32
didn't even do a chin -up she's just hanging
15:33
from the bar like what what do you what do you
15:35
mean this is the hardest yeah she goes this is
15:38
the hardest thing i've ever done in my life and
15:40
we're like that's not very hard and she and then
15:42
you like said it was like a comic you go it's
15:45
like i haven't had a very hard life i was like
15:47
okay And like, we were trying to keep straight
15:52
faces and be like, it's okay. You're doing great.
15:54
Just keep kicking. You're the smallest. You need
15:56
to kick this parachute into the bag. Yeah. Yeah.
16:01
But yeah, no, I think totally opposite ends.
16:04
It took a while for us to get into a group and
16:08
it was either we were going to just like murder
16:11
each other. or just become very good friends
16:14
yeah and i remember you you had this this plan
16:16
to go to germany and i was like yes she's gonna
16:19
be gone in my mind right and like and then and
16:23
then you didn't go because you ended up dating
16:26
my best friend for a moment and uh and i was
16:30
like i'm not i remember being like you've what
16:32
what what is happening what's going on with my
16:34
world branch because we were not good terms when
16:38
that happened That was a, that definitely was
16:41
an olive branch. Like, cause like, I remember
16:43
being like, I accept it. It's fine. It's happening.
16:46
And then you like looked up at me and you're
16:48
like, stop making fun of me. And I was like,
16:50
what? I was like, it's fine. You can date my
16:52
best friend. It's totally okay. Like, he's a
16:55
great guy. You're lucky. And then you're like,
16:57
we broke up, you jerk. And I was like, oh, I
17:00
really didn't know. And then I felt that. And
17:03
then like, from there, we just kind of kept working.
17:05
Like we, that was our, there was a shift. There
17:08
was a shift there for me. That's how I kind of
17:10
remembered it. Our job was very like, we really
17:13
needed to depend on each other. There were things
17:15
that could not get completed in our job unless
17:18
we worked together. And there were times when
17:20
we were not talking because we were just so frustrated
17:22
with one another. And to have to do a job where
17:24
you have to communicate and have to depend on
17:27
someone that you, I don't want to say hate because
17:29
that seems pretty strong. Yeah, hate is a lot,
17:33
but just friction. Yeah, there was some friction
17:35
there. I just remember during one of these periods
17:39
where we really weren't talking, I just randomly
17:41
was like, oh, by the way, I went out on a date
17:44
with Trevor last night. And you did not believe
17:46
me. And you asked me all these questions. He's
17:48
like, prove it. You know, like what kind of guy
17:50
is he? And I was like, yeah, to provide you with
17:53
the best information, even though I had just
17:55
gone on one date with this guy. Yeah, no, I remember
17:59
being so shocked. I was like, no, that's my Trevor.
18:02
Oh, God. Yeah. But as like as much as we. Didn't
18:07
get along. And then you just, you did kind of
18:09
just have to move on and do your own thing. I
18:11
remember they replaced you. And I was like, it
18:14
was just another engineer, white guy, ready to
18:19
work, straight laced. And we got to working together.
18:23
And I remember being like, this will be great.
18:25
It'll be so easy. And in certain aspects, it
18:28
was easier. But then that guy just was like another
18:31
cog in the machine. And I was like, huh, I really
18:35
fucking miss my friend. oh everybody you know
18:39
different every everybody is special in their
18:41
own rights but i was like there was somebody
18:43
who was like vastly different from the type of
18:46
person i'm used to working with and like this
18:48
guy just great dude nothing wrong with him at
18:51
all but just wasn't the same sort of you brought
18:55
like a different sort of like vibe aspect and
18:59
like way we were going to do things together.
19:01
And like, I had just gotten used to working in
19:03
that world. And I was like, I kind of like this.
19:05
I can get used to this. And then, and then you're
19:08
like, I have to go. And I was like, what, what,
19:10
what? You spent six months not liking each other,
19:13
six months liking each other. And then you're
19:15
like, I'm out. And I was like, oh, my heart.
19:19
And I left that job, not having another job lined
19:23
up. I just knew that I needed to be in art therapy
19:25
land. but they weren't hiring. It was a risky,
19:31
risky move. So what did you end up doing? What
19:33
did I end up doing? I worked part -time in restaurants
19:37
for a bit and did some volunteering. I started
19:39
hosting community events, similar to what I'm
19:42
doing now. I tried for the longest time to get
19:45
hired as a therapist, but there is this, it was
19:48
probably not a great time. It was before the
19:51
pandemic. And I think there is this like belief
19:54
amongst. therapists that art therapy is lesser
19:57
than therapy and I've had to kind of prove myself
20:00
in some therapy spaces that my profession my
20:03
education etc is valid so that was a big thing
20:07
and I ended up maybe for a year and a half tried
20:09
to get art therapy jobs couldn't do it so I just
20:11
ended up starting my business because I was like
20:13
well no one's gonna hire me so I better just
20:15
make my own job make a space where you're kind
20:17
of where you're needed yeah because yeah it kind
20:21
of it does kind of suck working behind Like it's
20:25
needed to sometimes like, you know, like whatever
20:27
your situation is to like, whenever you're doing
20:30
work, that's great. Whoever you are listening
20:33
to the three of you, but I'm like, I, yeah. Sometimes
20:39
if you've got the opportunity to just start doing
20:41
something, just go for it. Like, you know, like
20:45
I think it's, it's super important to basically
20:47
recognize like. some people might not view our
20:50
therapy as as valuable as regular therapy but
20:54
like the fact that you're like okay i'm gonna
20:55
put a space here and there might be a few people
20:58
who are like you know what there's like five
20:59
or six of us who are into that yeah that works
21:01
for us and you're actually helping those five
21:04
or six people in such a in such a way that you
21:08
don't know how much you've shifted their their
21:10
lives so it is valuable yeah yeah thank you i
21:14
appreciate that yeah and I've been really loving
21:18
it. I can't imagine myself doing anything else.
21:22
And just like the joy I see in my clients and
21:26
their own growth and also getting people into
21:29
art, which is probably why, John, this new love
21:33
of art that you have has been so fascinating
21:35
to me. Because, yeah, I don't know, we spoke
21:37
about that early enthusiasm. And you're so, like
21:43
you're always sharing your art, which is so cool.
21:45
Yeah. I share it because I get feedback. But
21:50
the people who are my day one ride or die literally
21:53
give me input, tell me they like it, they're
21:57
like, that's a funky style, or I've had some
22:00
negative stuff, and you're like, okay, what could
22:03
I do? Or not even what, or yeah, what could I
22:07
do differently with it? Or just sometimes you
22:10
realize some people are just mean, and that's
22:13
fine. But yeah, it is cool to just kind of throw
22:20
it out there and get mostly, like pretty much
22:22
mostly positive feedback. That's really good
22:26
to hear. Yeah. That's one of the things that
22:29
I always felt uncomfortable in art land, as opposed
22:33
to art therapy land. art land is very much, Oh,
22:37
we have these art critiques. Like we definitely
22:39
had them in art school in art therapy. We really
22:41
don't do that. We really encourage everyone to
22:44
make art, which is why not, you know? So to hear
22:47
that people are, you know, providing you with
22:50
criticism or negative feedback is kind of ouchy,
22:54
but somehow like we've normalized it in the art
22:56
community. I'm not saying we, I don't want that,
22:58
but it's, I guess. I'm pretty okay with getting
23:04
negative feedback. I was in the army before,
23:06
so I've had some pretty extreme negative feedback,
23:12
like stuff that would be labeled as abusive nowadays.
23:16
But yeah, very extreme and direct and immediate
23:20
feedback versus like somebody's snippety comment
23:24
for me. I'm like, okay. I have a little bit thicker
23:27
skin than that. That's okay. I'll be like, I'll
23:29
deal and move on. Yeah. That's a good contrast.
23:33
I got a lot of gentleness growing up. So, you
23:37
know, criticism wasn't always very common in
23:40
my upbringing or education. Yeah. It's like,
23:44
this is a big ouch. What could you possibly be?
23:48
Whereas like with me, I'm like, okay. It's like,
23:51
keep my head forward. Yeah. Just keep looking
23:53
forward and keep moving forward. yeah right on
23:56
i wonder if that has an effect on why you chose
24:01
ink as a medium like you kind of mentioned it's
24:05
less messy and it's accessible but just the fact
24:07
that you can handle mistakes with grace and you
24:11
just go with it whatever you want to like label
24:14
as a mistake yeah i i think why i like pen is
24:19
because you need to really concentrate in it
24:21
and basically be like this hour or hour and a
24:25
half that I'm going to spend working on this
24:29
piece, I have to concentrate. And if I do make
24:32
a mistake, there is no going back. I don't crumple
24:36
up paper. I don't start again. I'm like, you
24:39
made this mistake and you have to make this right
24:42
somehow with like, with either alternating my
24:45
picture or just making it a piece or being like,
24:49
all right, now I have to do the rest of this
24:51
quote unquote mistake. I'm going to make the
24:56
whole drawing around this now. So like it's,
24:59
I think is, which is a really good metaphor for
25:01
life because you can't really go, you can't really
25:04
go back and you're like, all right, we just work
25:05
around this now. Okay. Kudos. That's also a really
25:10
good reason that I like to work with ink. Yeah.
25:15
I'm curious how you got into the t -shirt making
25:17
as well. Cause, and as an aside before that,
25:21
knowing you when we work together, And rarely
25:25
did I get to see you in your like John clothing,
25:28
but when you would wear your own style, it was
25:31
quite artful. It was stylized. It had its own
25:34
vibe as your fashion still sort of does. So to
25:38
me, in my eyes, you have always been this sort
25:41
of creative person, just in like an ability to
25:44
creatively express yourself through your clothes.
25:46
So I knew it was in you that you were an artist
25:49
all along. maybe um you just were late to getting
25:53
there and that's fine you know yeah it just took
25:56
35 years yeah uh yeah uh no i you know what the
26:01
expression of clothes is a big is a big thing
26:03
um so back like i don't want to be this old guy
26:07
back in the army we could go to the mess that
26:10
you would have to wear a button -up shirt um
26:12
and i remember a place where you would either
26:17
be eating or like going to drink with your, your
26:19
friends. And so like, but I remember when they
26:23
loosened up the rules a little bit and they were
26:25
like, you can wear colors and patterns of whatever
26:28
you'd like. And I just basically being like,
26:31
Oh my God, this is like, like not like a black
26:35
or a white button or like, I was like, I'm going
26:37
to wear a floral shirt. And like, I wore a floral
26:40
shirt, like a Hawaiian and like, guys like other
26:44
guys because we all have the same haircut we
26:46
used to have to shave uh so like we all look
26:49
kind of the same and being like this floral shirt
26:52
to stand out i got in some negative feedback
26:55
to the point of a fist fight um so like so like
26:59
that was the thing and then i remember basically
27:01
leaving and being like i'm gonna wear a floral
27:03
shirt every single time and if that means i gotta
27:07
beat somebody up every single time i'm going
27:09
to uh and uh and that kind of was like my own
27:13
stand to basically do that like to be like i
27:17
will do that because like it was clothes were
27:20
the only way to express yourself without like
27:22
because you can never have something like profanity
27:24
or anything like that but like it was a way to
27:27
basically be like okay this guy's a little different
27:29
from the rest of us okay i'm on like i'm on the
27:34
team with you guys But I am going to wear what
27:38
I want within the regulations. Yeah, within the
27:42
regulations, for sure. Yeah, I'm totally a rule
27:45
follower. So I'm like, yeah. But I'm like, if
27:47
I want to wear Hawaiian shirts or pink, bright
27:50
pink shirts, I'm going to wear a bright pink
27:52
shirt. If I can wear short shorts, I'm going
27:54
to wear short shorts, show off my leg tattoos.
27:57
I'm going to do that. But how I got into making
28:01
t -shirts was... I had recently gone back from
28:04
West Africa, and their vibe and style for their
28:09
clothing and their color patterns, I really aligned
28:13
myself with that. I was like, oh, man, they're
28:15
just so bright and just beautiful and just nice,
28:20
cool patterns. And I was like, I wanted to just
28:23
kind of start doing my own thing. But even though
28:26
my t -shirt company just makes... shirts for
28:30
other companies and other people um i think this
28:33
year i am going to try and branch out and start
28:35
making some of my own stuff yeah i'm just moving
28:39
into another space yeah and even as you were
28:43
sharing some photos as of yesterday or the day
28:45
before i can't remember what is time Some of
28:48
your wording, I just wanted to put on a tote
28:51
bag because it just like made me smile and it
28:53
was just so cool. And it's probably going to
28:55
be one of my next projects, but I could totally
28:58
see your art on things and stuff. Thanks. I want
29:03
to put my things on things and stuff. Yeah. Like
29:08
leave my mark in a cool way. I can see it. Are
29:13
you currently making art every day? So what's
29:15
your, your art? I, I am. So I was destined to
29:21
basically at first to be, to be like, I'm going
29:23
to bang out one piece every day, no matter what.
29:26
And, but then I, after talking to my, my friend,
29:30
Mikey, he was like, take your time. He's like,
29:33
you do, there is no real rush for this. And he's
29:36
like, and if you don't feel, cause I was just
29:38
like, here it is, it's done. Here's my assignment.
29:40
here you go guys and uh but now I've sort of
29:44
slowed it down to basically being like I really
29:46
want to just kind of figure out what is my style
29:49
how can I kind of have my own sort of mark because
29:52
I haven't really I haven't been taught by anybody
29:54
and uh so I've been taking about you know two
29:58
to three sometimes even four days to sort of
30:01
work on a piece you know and uh yeah I think
30:05
it's each one's coming out for myself I'm very
30:09
happy with the way that it's come up yeah by
30:12
taking my time and figuring out what these dots
30:15
are going to make and like how to like make certain
30:18
patterns for myself and it is a little bit more
30:20
time consuming instead of just being like that's
30:22
what a face is that's a face you know what a
30:24
face is see you so are you making art every day
30:30
because it sounds like at first you were trying
30:33
to do one complete one thing a day now you're
30:36
really making sure that it is time to kind of
30:38
incubate yeah so it's it is um i work as a carpenter
30:44
in the military now uh and um i so like i do
30:49
get my creative outlet kind of with that as well
30:52
so either i am working on a carpentry piece which
30:56
is or i'm working on a uh working on just like
31:00
art so there is there is a little bit of creativity
31:02
every day yeah it's cool that you get two dimensions
31:05
and three dimensions yeah yeah i like that mix
31:09
personally yeah i've always been i've always
31:12
found it was um i'm very dyslexic so like i can
31:16
never write down poetry i can never write things
31:18
down but like the the art of making things is
31:21
something that makes me feel really happy yeah
31:24
and it's a way to kind of externalize things
31:28
in a way that doesn't rely on a very structured
31:32
set of rules and ways of expressing ourselves
31:36
Like the English language, very confusing. Words
31:38
are weird. Tell me about it. The guy who, I guess,
31:43
didn't make dyslexia, but I guess was the one
31:46
who was like, this is a clinical thing. What
31:50
a jerk. What a jerk. Dyslexia. Spell dyslexia.
31:55
Oh, yeah. I can't. I've been dyslexic my whole
32:00
life. I still can't. Somebody's like, could you
32:02
write down what medical conditions you have?
32:04
And you're like, Oh, D -Y -X -E -A. Yeah, it's
32:11
like brutal, brutal way to say I can't read good.
32:14
Yeah, we're right. I also have dyslexia, but
32:18
it surfaces a little differently. And also having
32:21
autocorrect or spellcheck on computers has been
32:24
a lifesaver because I could not have gone through
32:26
16 years of education. I don't know how long
32:29
that seems long without spellcheck. yeah jesus
32:33
yeah no talk to the text and text to speeches
32:36
literally changed my life yeah well when i was
32:39
growing up it wasn't that wasn't a thing so like
32:41
the kids with dyslexia and i was in a lot of
32:44
special needs classes to like sort of cope and
32:47
it was very strange because like my uh the people
32:50
who were there to help and assist and were like
32:52
they would come in they'd take a look at you
32:54
and they'd be like what why are you here there's
32:57
a kid trying to bite the teacher over here and
32:59
you're over here like being like like normal
33:02
and quote unquote normal and quiet and I'm like
33:06
I and they'd be like I know how to do the test
33:10
I know the things on the test I just can't put
33:12
them down on paper and they're like I'm not going
33:14
to write it for you I'll be like I'm not asking
33:16
you to write the test I'm just asking for you
33:19
to be able to just describe what I need to say
33:22
because I'm like I know what it is but like so
33:25
that put me very far behind and I basically as
33:30
soon as I was done high school I ran away from
33:32
any sort of form of education because I was a
33:35
space I never felt super welcoming yeah that's
33:37
fair yeah and for me I felt like education wasn't
33:43
optional growing up it was always and my my university
33:47
my high school was also like that where it was
33:49
I think 70 percent of our graduating class went
33:51
to university we didn't necessarily all graduate
33:53
but it was kind of expected of us and I think
33:57
In Ottawa, being a federal town, there's this
33:59
assumption that you go to university and you
34:02
work for the government. Like a lot of us don't
34:04
do that. But going to university is just something
34:08
that you do here. When I told people like that,
34:11
not that I just had never gotten the grades to
34:14
get to university and people looking at me like
34:17
they're like, oh, you're screwed. Like you're
34:19
totally screwed. There's no there's no escape
34:22
for you. This is basically going to be homeless.
34:24
Right. Yeah, exactly. Which is so silly because
34:27
so much of our world depends on people who haven't
34:30
gone to university. And it's weird that we overemphasize
34:33
that. Like why? I don't know. It's just sometimes
34:38
some people are meant to go and some people just
34:41
thrive in it. And some people are just not going
34:44
to do well in that space. And I think because
34:49
I. i didn't go it just allowed me to go on my
34:53
own adventure i was like the guider of my own
34:55
destiny i started off as like a bouncer and a
35:02
uh because i was a good high school wrestler
35:04
so like i was good in sports which allowed teachers
35:08
to kind of give me the grace to give me the grades
35:10
i needed to get out of high school because they
35:14
were like oh athlete good we'll give him good
35:17
enough grades so we can just pass because he
35:19
shows up he's polite he's on time and uh like
35:22
just like does well for our school and they they
35:24
see like medals going on the board from there
35:27
like i was like okay i'm just gonna go do a small
35:30
college course and uh so i did a small college
35:34
course for like six months what was it i just
35:37
went and did uh it was marine industrial rigging
35:40
so it's just like working with cranes uh, learning
35:44
how to like splice rope. It's a really jack of
35:47
all trades. Yeah. Yeah. That was something, a
35:51
six month course that I took 10 years prior,
35:53
uh, basically stuck around. I was like, I'm glad
35:56
I took that course to splice rope. So, um, yeah,
36:00
not really heavy into the book learning part
36:03
of things and, uh, became like, like when it
36:06
was a dishwasher and bouncer and then somebody
36:09
was like, have you ever thought of cage fighting?
36:12
People ask me that a lot too. Yeah, yeah. So
36:16
I went and did cage fighting in Quebec and got
36:20
to work with amazing athletes from everywhere.
36:23
And yeah, I had George St. Pierre punch me in
36:26
the head a couple of times in preparation to
36:29
fight Jake Shields, which not everybody gets
36:30
to say, which was quite cool. And yeah, that
36:34
gave me a tenacity and a toughness and I got
36:36
my grades up enough to join the army and started
36:39
an adventure from there. How long were you, well,
36:43
you're still in the army, right? Technically?
36:45
I'm in the Navy now. Okay. There are different
36:47
things. I knew that. We don't have to clarify.
36:50
Yeah. One's boats. One's water. Yeah. One's water.
36:55
Now I'm just doing the kind of, except for I'm
36:57
not really on the water anymore. I'm more like
36:59
both on land doing carpentry. Water adjacent.
37:03
Yeah. It's cool. You're not carpentering out
37:07
in the open water with just like a buoy. Just
37:12
making rafts for guys. I don't know. And you
37:17
moved to Halifax in what year? Six months into
37:20
the pandemic, I moved to Halifax. Okay. That
37:23
was a weird, rough time. Did you have a plan?
37:27
My plan was to buy a house and not drive an hour
37:33
and a half to work every day. Yes, solid plan.
37:35
That was the plan. Hard to do in Ottawa. Yeah,
37:39
thankfully I can do that. i did i completely
37:42
not part of my plan right on cool yeah and did
37:46
you have a job waiting for you there uh yeah
37:49
yeah i i had joined i remastered what they call
37:53
so like i might just try a new thing with the
37:56
uh with the navy so they're like you did land
37:59
stuff now you do navy stuff so there was a job
38:01
so so remastering is when you go from army to
38:06
navy or some sort of pivot yeah yeah just a pivot
38:09
so like it can be in any direction and also you
38:15
were nursing some sort of injury surgery recovery
38:18
situation when did you get hurt how'd you get
38:20
hurt uh i got hurt about three years ago um in
38:24
west africa i had felt went to go check on some
38:27
machinery spaces and uh this the sea state was
38:32
pretty rough and i ended up um go and go check
38:36
on an area and uh basically it's a flat bottom
38:39
boat so it's pretty choppy out there and i had
38:42
fallen and i thought i had sprained my ankle
38:45
and when the dog took a look he said it was a
38:48
sprained ankle as well and i just basically was
38:51
like oh okay i'm just gonna tough through this
38:55
because that's what you do um so i was like it's
38:59
a sprained ankle fine he said it's a sprained
39:01
ankle i said It's a sprained ankle. But what
39:04
turned out is I had broken my ankle in the way
39:07
that like only 5 % of people would break an ankle.
39:11
Good job. Yeah. So being different. Yeah. So
39:16
the doc basically assessed it as a sprain and
39:20
we just carried on. And I walked on it for four
39:23
months. And by the time I got back, they were
39:25
like, it's a pretty bad break. And it healed
39:28
in a different way. We didn't do surgery for
39:31
almost a year because they thought PT would be
39:34
it. Did the surgery. It went well for the first
39:38
little bit, but I guess something had broken
39:40
in my foot and my foot had basically been pushed
39:43
too far the other direction. So basically it
39:46
was like the inside of a hockey stick. And then
39:49
they straightened it out now and I'm about four
39:52
months out from there. Okay. And it sounds like
39:55
things are going well mobility wise. I'm not
39:58
a doctor. Yeah. Yeah. I'm walking, I'm walking
40:01
straight, which is awesome. Like that's literally,
40:04
I don't think they're like, we don't think you're
40:07
going to run again, which I mean, kind of hurts,
40:10
but I'm okay with it because I think I've just
40:13
had to walk with pain for the last three years.
40:15
So just walking straight would be great, you
40:18
know? Yeah. Are there any other questions we
40:21
wanted to ask? What I'm taking away with this
40:24
is I'm excited to see and learn new stuff all
40:28
the time. uh like and just kind of see where
40:31
it can evolve and go from because if you go from
40:33
your first picture to three months down the line
40:36
how different that would be so i'd like to see
40:39
where it's at in another three months and another
40:41
three months from that so i'm just kind of taking
40:43
it day by day yeah looking forward to growing
40:45
like just looking forward to growing do you date
40:48
your artwork uh i do sometimes but i don't because
40:52
i should date it yeah i sometimes suggest that
40:56
to my younger clients just because To see that
40:59
like, oh, this is what my art looked like in
41:01
this year. And just to see how much it's changed.
41:05
That's the beautiful thing with the highlights
41:07
on Instagram is it does it for you. Yeah. So
41:13
I have this one little section called Doodles.
41:16
And I started doing it when I was probably two
41:20
months into drawing. And then from there, it's
41:23
been consistent. You do see the difference in
41:27
it. Yeah. Plus, when we take pictures on our
41:29
phones now, there's a date and time and probably
41:33
location of where you made it. So everything's
41:35
being documented, whether you intentionally do
41:38
it or not. We also for our next episode, we're
41:42
going to be talking about rest, relaxation and
41:45
recharging. Thanks for listening, everyone. I'm
41:47
going to stop recording now.