Meet The Artist

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

Welcome back to another installment of Meet the Artist, a production of the Tucson Gallery inside of the proper shops at 300 East Congress. We’re the Court of Congress and Fifth Avenue in downtown Tucson, right across the street from the venerable Hotel Congress. And as you probably know, each week we have a different artist come in and do a meet and greet session with their fans and introduce them to even more of the adoring public. Before that session, we always record a podcast. It’s called Meet the Artist, all of which you can see on our website, thetucsongallery.com. And today, we are joined by another fabulous Tucson artist, someone with kind of a unique style, I shall say. And we’ll get into that. But Tamara Scott Anderson. Welcome to meet the artist.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Tom Heath

So I did a little research. Now, you’ve been in the gallery for a while, but I did a little research on you. You’ve been doing art for some form for over 30 years.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Yes, I have. I studied it in college. I studied to be an art teacher. And back then, and when I started my graduate work, I started my emphasis in fiber work. So I’ve done a lot of spinning and dyeing and weaving. I did a lot of needlepoint. During college. My aunt had a needlepoint shop, so I was used to working on a little grid. And once I graduated and I was teaching, we moved into a new home to us. But in the yard, there was all these different things that needed to be hauled away. And I came across a piece of hardware cloth, which is a building material. And to me, it was just like, oh, I need to weave something through this. Because it’s a grid work. Most people recognize hardware cloth as the material that they put around their plants to keep the Havalinas from eating it or the critters getting it. So it’s pliable. People always say chicken wire, and it’s like, no chicken wires, hexagonal or different shaped and much more pliable, where hardware cloth is stiff enough that you can

Tamara Scott Anderson

bend it, but it holds its shape. And so after that first piece, actually, the first time I wove something through it, I was doing strips of paper, and it wasn’t very long until I changed over to strips of fabric.

Tom Heath

You’re called a fiber artist because you work with these materials. Has that always been your mode? Because I know you’ve been doing it for a while, but did you get started with, hey, I like to paint and draw, or did you?

Tamara Scott Anderson

Well, in college, you have to take a range of classes. And when I was taking a sculpture class, this was back when Macrame was first becoming big on the scene and I was doing free form macrame. I wasn’t making plan holders. I’d found a gnarly piece of wood, and I’d done a wall hanging. And my sculpture teacher in critique said, I think you should explore this soft textile more. So I did.

Tom Heath

So you’ve been doing this pretty much a good chunk of your I did.

Tamara Scott Anderson

And I did some felting.

Tom Heath

Some felting?

Tamara Scott Anderson

Felting. Well, that’s where you take wool, which has been carted, and you rub it together. There’s a whole process, but it goes into a fabric or whatever dimension you make. So I was doing that in a sculptural sense, combining it again with found wood and things like that. And so I continued to do that when I was teaching and then moved around Arizona a little bit because my husband, we went up to Tempe so he could finish his graduate degree. And when I moved back to Tucson, the education was going through the back to basics phase where they were cutting art programs. So I found my way into interior design.

Tom Heath

Okay.

Tamara Scott Anderson

And design elements are design elements. You just are using different materials or mediums. And so I was working in a furniture showroom as a designer, and I was doing these wall sculptures for commissions for my clients. And then after well, when I bought my own business, I had a business partner. We bought contents interiors, and at that point in time, my artwork went on the back burner.

Tom Heath

There’s enough going there’s something about owning a business, it takes a little more time.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Exactly. So for 18 years, I had a contents, interiors, furniture and design showroom. And during that time, the fabric reps from Phoenix, all the big fabric houses, they would come and give me and my staff, once a season, the newest and latest, greatest fabrics. So for 18 years, I was just looking at these scrumptious fabrics. Textiles. I’ve always been drawn to them. And so then we had our exit strategy and said, okay, when I’m 65, I’m going to retire. So three years prior to that, I said, okay, if I’m going to do that and I’m going to get back to doing my art, I need to have a body of work. So I did three pieces. They came pouring out of me after looking at all these fabrics and whatnot, and I took them into the showroom, and they sold right away. So it’s like, okay, validation. This is something that’s unique. I’ve not seen anybody doing anything similar in my 30 years.

Tom Heath

Yeah, your work is not only is the creation unique, but it seems to me that the formation of it is unique as well. And it looks like it’s evolved not just from preset materials. A lot of the stuff that we have in the gallery looks like things that many people would have discarded, but you find a way to turn it into something beautiful.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Right. So up until I moved downtown, which was about 14 years ago, I was using commercial fabrics, yarns, beads, and that whatnot and then when we moved downtown, I was taking my morning walks, and I was collecting materials off the street. And a lot of fiber. I mean, so much discarded clothing and whatnot out there. And so I started a stash and started using found materials in my weavings. And then once I got a reputation for using recycled and reclaimed materials, my friends started giving me things.

Tom Heath

Thanks for the trash. I appreciate it.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Well, no, it’s some jewelry, actually. I brought a piece here a couple of years back. A bunch of girlfriends cleaned out their closets and their jewelry boxes, and so I did this one piece. It’s fairly large, and there’s three female figures. There’s a black woman, a yellow woman, and a brown woman. And their arms are entwined, and it’s called girlfriends. And they are all adorned with jewelry that’s been given to me. And it’s got a nice feel to it and it keeps coming. So I brought this. I like to do torsos. The beach bum here is made out of materials I found on beaches. Well, this is jewelry that’s been given to me, and there’s some pretty nice jewelry there, if you can see in that vintage kind of way. So that’s what I’ve been really focusing on here at the Tucson Gallery is my reclaimed and recycled rescued work materials that have been found off the work.

Tom Heath

That’s the word I’ve been looking for. Rescued work.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Yes. I rescue things off the street, out of the landscapes of wherever I am. And there’s always some fun stories. This one’s not up there, but I have one where I can tell you the red fabric came from a walk up in Flagstaff one time. I was up there.

Tom Heath

Yeah, that’s what I wanted to know. When you see the red fabric, does that become like, do you build a piece around that or do you get everything assembled and then you’re like, I see what this will become.

Tamara Scott Anderson

It varies. Like, when the girlfriend started, I was like, okay, I have to do a girlfriend. So there was a figurative piece with the beach bomb. I collected those materials off of the beaches of San Carlos, Mexico, and San Diego over a two year period. And once I had enough stuff, I said, okay, I’ll start a piece. This piece has been kind of taking on a life of its own. Again, I like doing torsos. It kind of goes back to my art history days where you see the headless torsos of sculptures, and I’ve always been drawn to that. So I do torsos. And this one again, all these materials. So I did a torso and started seeing how they’re going to fit onto this canvas, so to speak. Actually, it’s the aperture grid work, and it’s taken on a life of its own.

Tom Heath

Are you ever done with something or do you always sort of see a way to add something to it?

Tamara Scott Anderson

There’s a point where I’ll stop and I’ll feel like it’s done, but then I’ll go back like the piece up here off the railroad tracks that we have here. It’s very linear repetition of the railroad tracks and whatnot. And that was that way. That’s an older piece. But before I brought it in here, I had found a whole new selection of materials that are now incorporated on there. So they get it added onto. And then this nest, I’ve started this new nest here, which I brought and I moved recently. But 15 months ago we moved over into the Monir Apartments and for 15 months walking around, I was finding small I was in an apartment, so I didn’t just pick up anything I found. So I was picking up small pieces of fibers, wire, that kind of thing. And right after election in November, the signs were gone, but there were three metal sign holders. So those came home with me and got bent into this shape.

Tom Heath

Oh, yeah, I can see.

Tamara Scott Anderson

And so now, just like birds do when you see a bird, they go and they collect their material and they come back and they put it down. So that’s kind of how my nests are. This one again, you can see it’s just basically linear fabric pieces. There’s a lot of rubber and earbud wires, things like that get discarded quite a bit on the street. So I’m finding that or just little pieces of fabric that are left. Now, the one nest up here, nest with circular reference. I was collecting circular objects off the street for probably three or four years before I started that piece.

Tom Heath

Okay.

Tamara Scott Anderson

And so you can see there is all manner of circular objects in that one.

Tom Heath

You referenced it a couple of times, but beach bone to me is just extraordinary piece because it’s rescued work. It’s got everything that you typically would find discarded on a beach. And then there’s this really cool character with sunglasses on the front there. Yeah, I feel sad. Forever lost, that fellow. But he makes a really good statement on beach bump. How long then, once you had those materials, how long did it take to create that piece itself once you started working on it?

Tamara Scott Anderson

Well, that one probably not that long. The hard part was when I say not that long, probably a few weeks, three or four weeks, maybe. People always say, how many hours did it take for your work? And I think I talk in months. Okay. And that’s even when I’m working daily on it because I do a lot of stitching and beading and embellishment on a lot of my work. So, yeah, if it’s something that comes together really fast,

Tamara Scott Anderson

I had the idea I did the frame and then had to stare at it a while, decide which materials I was going to use and how I wanted to start with the fabrics. The fabrics. I can kind of consider my underpainting. For somebody who’s doing an acrylic or an oil painting, they’ll often do the ugly painting underneath where it’s contrasting colors or whatever, and then the layers that they add, then it becomes more defined and more recognizable. And that’s kind of what happens on my hardware cloth. I paint, I shape and paint the hardware cloth. And it’s not always the same color all throughout. And you can see that in different areas because it does end up showing much like a warp wood in a weaving. And then I weave fabrics through and over, weave more fabrics, and there’s a lot of stitching involved and a lot of beading and embellishing and more embellishing.

Tom Heath

Wow.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Layers of texture and color. That’s what excites me.

Tom Heath

So when I look at your work, I see something that many people are going to look at and think is amazing, but it’s not traditional, so it takes some people a while to get used to it. Is that a fair statement?

Tamara Scott Anderson

Yes. And another thing is my work doesn’t show quite as well two dimensionally online because you don’t get a feel for all of the texture and all the embellishment. So it’s one of those things that you look at and then you go, oh, wait, what’s that? And it draws you in and then you start to see how much is going on, how many different colors of thread, how many different colors or layers there are of elements in the piece.

Tom Heath

Absolutely. You can kind of get lost, just start staring into it. And it’s like those Russian nesting dolls. You just keep going. More and more information in there for someone that does. I’m just going to call it an atypical art style. If there are artists out there that are trying to find their way and they’re not comfortable with the acrylic and they want to find their own path forward, what advice can you give them? Because this seems like something where you have to have some patience.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Yes. And it’s interesting. I guess I’m still finding my path. And I’m very blessed that you’ve all invited me to show here at the Tucson Gallery, where I can focus on that rescued, reclaim and repurpose work. There’s something out there when you’re walking around, if you walk downtown areas, along the railroad tracks, along the washes, it’s amazing how much discarded materials is out there. It’s an unending flow. It’s very sad. But I get past all of the trashing things and I look and I say, oh, look at there’s this great piece of wire that has all these different colors. And I see it as an element. I can look past the trash and see the one item or the few items that can be salvaged or rescued and reused.

Tom Heath

So you focus on one type of art here at the gallery, but you’re on display in other places. Can you share some of those?

Tamara Scott Anderson

Yes. And that’s more of the fiber wall sculptures. And I actually do have the one here, the purple prickly that we have. And that is a little more like my traditional, where I’m using commercial fabrics and commercial beads. Actually, with this one here, though, I actually dyed some reusable T shirts. I did ice dyeing and used them. So there’s all different kinds of levels. But yes, I’m showing my more. I don’t know, what should we call the fiber wall sculptures? They’re a little more less trash. Not that the Tucson gallery has trash. I did one rescue trash. Well, where the other ones? Again, it’s shiny and nice and pretty. My pretty work.

Tom Heath

I think some of your quote unquote trash has turned into some very pretty work. But where are some of those places people can see that as well?

Tamara Scott Anderson

That’s up at the Southern Arizona Arts Guild Gallery up in La. In Quintada. Okay. And then I’m a member of the Southern Arizona, I mean, the fiber artists of Southern Arizona, as well as the Southern Arizona Arts Guild.

Tom Heath

I didn’t realize that there was a fiber artist of Southern Arizona. So there’s a lot of you out there?

Tamara Scott Anderson

Well, it’s a small group. There’s eleven of us, but there are a lot of fiber artists out there. There’s another guild, the Tucson Hand Spinner and Weavers Guild, which incorporates not only weaving and spinning, dyeing and felting and wearable clothing, which is fashion, and there’s a lot of jewelry that is made with textiles and beads. So there’s a lot of fiber artists out there.

Tom Heath

Okay.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Yeah.

Tom Heath

Well, if you want to come see some really good looking trash, head down to the Tucson Gallery that we are at, 300 East Congress. We are between hotel congress and playground and the realtor theater. You can’t really miss us right here in the corner. Every week we do a Meet the Artist event where we invite the public in tonight. Individuals will chat with Tomorrow about her style, and then each week we have a different artist. Usually it’s on a Thursday or a Friday. So you want to head over to our website, thetucsongallery.com, for all of those details. And while you’re over there, you can check out the work. As Tomorrow said, hers does not translate as, well, two dimensionally, but you can definitely get a sense of what you’ll see when you come into the gallery. And please do, like share us on Facebook, Instagram, and tune in every week for another segment of Meet the Artist or listen them all on our website, thetusongallery.com. Before we wrap up tomorrow, any last words for us?

Tamara Scott Anderson

Yes, I wanted to say that starting today through the weekend, I am going to be taking $50 off my ditreus nests of the urban desert rack. Okay. So people have always are looking for artwork that they can put outside on their porches or whatnot in the outdoors. And a lot of my reclaimed, recycled work is suitable for displaying outdoors.

Tom Heath

All right, so depending on when you’re listening to this, you might want to check with the gallery to make sure that fabulous offer is still in place. We look forward to inviting you down and checking out Tamara and all of the other fabulous artists here at the Tucson Gallery. Thank you so much.

Tamara Scott Anderson

Thank you.

Tom Heath

Thank you for listening to Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery, located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Conga Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price, and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to Thetussandgallery.com for more information about our live events, listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern, thought provoking and forward thinking artists.

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

Well, welcome back to another installment of Meet the Artist, the production of the Tucson Gallery, located here in downtown Tucson inside of the proper shops at 300 East Congress, right across from Hotel Congress. Every week I have an opportunity to highlight one of our fabulous Tucson artists. Many of them have work inside of our gallery. Others have work on our website, the Tucsongallery.com. And you can also head over there for other Meet the Artist podcast. You can get up to date information and sign up for our newsletter to find out about our live events and come in. If we have artists doing any painting, wine tasting, agave tasting, all that stuff, check it out. The Tucsongallery.com. And before each of our Meet the Artists segment, before we invite the public in, we have this wonderful podcast. And today we are joined by the one, the only, the fabulous and you must be exhausted, Jessica Gonzales. Hi. So, yes, for the exhaustion. Yes, absolutely. Every time we try to schedule, she’s like, Absolutely. Oh, wait, no. I’ve got 74 things that we can push it. Push it back. You are crazy busy right now. Have you been crazy busy for a while?

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah, I have. It kind of feels like I’m waiting for some break in it, and it’s like I have to plan a vacation for that to happen because it keeps going.

Tom Heath

I think your last vacation was you got married or something. Yeah, honeymoon. I’ll get married so I can just want to get a break from the business. Yeah, right. So what are you up to lately?

Jessica Gonzales

 Right now I’m working on a collaboration with Rock Martinez and we’re painting along the Rito River along mural there. Okay, where about? It’s at the end of country club where the Tucson Racket Club is. Oh, nice. Okay. And it’s just right across the bridge and along the retaining walls there.

Tom Heath

A heavily traveled area, so it’ll be well seen, I’m sure. Yeah. And are you mostly into murals at this point? I know you’ve done some origins, which we’ll talk about, but is mostly your life consumed with these huge projects?

Jessica Gonzales

Yes, it is. And I hope to kind of balance that out in the future and do more stuff in my studio. But right now, murals keep me busy around the clock. Painting, has that always been your medium or do you do anything else, like sculpture? I played around with it in college. I enjoy it. But, yeah, painting is definitely my favorite.

Tom Heath

So let’s kind of go back to the beginning then. When did you get started in art? When did you know this was like, a passion for you?

Jessica Gonzales

I’ve been lucky enough to always know it’s something I loved as a kid, and a lot of kids do. But I think my parents, especially my mom, who’s also an artist, she saw a little bit of extra. She saw something special in what I was doing. So she always supported me continuing to do art. So it’s like I always knew I was going to do art. I didn’t know in what capacity, but there was never a question about what direction my life was going to take. So I’ve always felt really fortunate for that reason.

Tom Heath

When you went to school then, was that a focus? Like, when you went to college, was that something you were intent about doing?

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah, definitely.

Tom Heath

Okay, and then how did you get into the mural side of things?

Jessica Gonzales

I was always kind of interested in them. I mean, I’ve watched people creating murals around town and was curious about them, but I kind of was just thrown into it because I applied for the City of Tucson Mural Arts program in 2016, and I didn’t think I’d get it at all. I had no experience painting murals, but I had experience painting large canvases. That’s the closest thing to a mural, and I was just really fortunate enough to be selected, and I just was thrown into it.

Tom Heath

So 2016, like, seven years ago, is about when you started doing murals. And then I’m seeing all of these murals. That is a lot of work in seven years.

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah. And I didn’t start doing it full time until 2019. Oh, my goodness. You really don’t have any time. Yeah. You’re not just blowing me off. You’re actually busy. Yeah, it keeps me very busy, and it’s kind of a trendy thing right now. So being a mural artist, it’s a good time to be doing it. There’s a lot of people that have been doing it forever, but right now, it’s kind of a sweet spot.

Tom Heath

Well, and you’re doing something right, I think. Was it 2022? You were named the Outdoor Artist of the Year? What was the award you won?

Jessica Gonzales

The best visual artist. Best visual artist. Yeah. Okay. Actually and it’s been a couple of years, not to brag. I’m just saying

Tom Heath

21 and 22 to get that type of award with the type of competition that we have in Tucson, that’s phenomenal. And I don’t know if people fully understand some of the work they see. They might not even know when they go by the realtor theater and they see the Marquee. You do a lot of those, right?

Jessica Gonzales

Not the Marquee, but the show murals. Yeah, I do I do them every month in 191 Tool. Yeah, I repainted the Marquee for 191 recently. And then we do change out the shows too. That’s just words, though.

Tom Heath

That’s just words. I just think it’s interesting because, you know, you have these big projects, and then if you want to get a glimpse of a Jessica Gonzales, that’s really temporary. You got to go to the realtor Theater, take a picture of that wall, because in a month or so, it’s going to change.

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah. It’s a really different way to approach mural painting. I have to design it, keeping in mind that it’s going to be changing really soon and it has to be painted really fast, but it has to pop and it has to bring people in. So it’s a little bit more of a graphic art, kind of commercial art, sort of.

Tom Heath

I’m trying to figure out at some point that building just has to grow because there’s got to be so much paint on that wall.

Jessica Gonzales

I’ve actually cut a slice from it and so Joe Pagac started that. Right. And then Danny Martin did it for a while and now I’m doing it and you can literally see the layers of the different eras of muralists working there. It’s pretty cool.

Tom Heath

That’s fantastic. Yeah, it’s really cool. Yeah. That wall is going to be worth something one day if they ever decide to shave off all of that and see if they can salvage it in some way.

Jessica Gonzales

Right. I think that somebody should make something out of it. I don’t know what. Sculpture, jewelry, something.

Tom Heath

And you’re not originally from Tucson. You moved here about what time?

Jessica Gonzales

When I was 12 so 1990. Never mind, never mind.

Tom Heath

Where did you come from?

Jessica Gonzales

I was born in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City. Lived there till I was six, and then my family and I moved to Germany and lived there till I was twelve and then came here. So Air Force,

Tom Heath

when the most recent visual artist award was announced, I remember seeing on Facebook, and if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but you were very open and candid about how art helped you through some troubling times as a youngster. Do you mind kind of talking

Jessica Gonzales

about that? Yeah, sure. I was just really introverted and had a hard time kind of in the social aspect of being in school. So I did a lot of art and that started a lot of conversations with my peers. And so I was able to connect with people in some way or at least start dialogues with other students. And that kind of really helped make up for the fact that I couldn’t talk because I was painfully shy. You talk for your images and your art. Yeah, exactly.

Tom Heath

Anyone that sees your work, it’s a distinctive style. It’s very vibrant. It just pops. Everything is just like this explosion of colors. Has it always been that way? Or did you have like a dark period where it’s just black and white?

Jessica Gonzales

Well, I did a lot of drawing when I was younger, so just gray. But I’ve always loved color. I’ve always been really drawn to color and lots of it. And I’ve definitely experimented with other stuff and I actually really enjoy a limited palette and I’m leaning more towards that now in life and a little bit more toned down. But yeah, color is like my best friend Diana.

Tom Heath

And then your murals also have a sense of history and culture. They all seem to weave that in somehow. Obviously it’s intentional, but does that come from someplace special.

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah, I think it has a lot to do with well, first of all, public art. That it feels like it belongs in the space that it’s in and that it enhances the space and also features the elements, the people in the culture surrounding it. But I’m on this long live or lifelong I’m on this lifelong journey to discover my own identity culturally and just as a person, as an artist. So I’m always kind of thinking about those things and exploring those ideas and a lot of it ends up in my art.

Tom Heath

Okay. Well, it’s amazing to me the amount of symbolism and ideas that can come across in an image and I think you capture really well. And I’m not alone. You have a lot of fans here in Tucson. A lot of fans. Thanks. People come in and they love your stickers. And people from out of town, they’ll grab, like, a bunch of your stickers of your rearls and they’re like, oh, do you know Jessica Gonzales? Like, no. They just love that. And they don’t even realize necessarily that they’re all from the same artist. So you have something that really captures people’s attentions and imaginations.

Jessica Gonzales

Awesome.

Tom Heath

Whether they know it’s you or not. Yeah. Or whether they know it’s a two year running visual artist award or not. Yeah. Tell me about this Tucson together mural. It’s right across the street from the gallery. This came at a very troubling time in Tucson. Tell us about that. Yeah.

Jessica Gonzales

So I was approached about the concept. So it was early 2020 and when everything was crazy and the idea behind it was to for every letter of the word together is pulled from a sign of an iconic kind of Tucson business. And the idea was to just kind of unify Tucson, bring something, a message of hope and togetherness. And I painted it in April 2020 with a mask on barricades so nobody would get close to me. And it was really quiet downtown. It’s quite an experience. It was kind of strange, but yeah, that’s how that came to be. It was just kind of like to sort of uplift people.

Tom Heath

It was anonymous for a brief period. Like, your name wasn’t on that mural of people. Like, who did that? It must have been because you weren’t quite done. Wasn’t quite done. It looked on to the rest of us. I remember seeing the post on Facebook like, who did this? I know, because I saw her painting it from over 6ft away. Yeah. The g is from hotel Congress. And I’m embarrassed to say that I got all of them. And I’m like, where’s that g from? I couldn’t figure out the G. I was looking at the G and someone, like, points at the hotel congress sign, like, right there.

Jessica Gonzales

Right there. Well, that’s what’s so fun about that one too, is it’s interactive in that way

Tom Heath

and your stuff is popping up everywhere. I’m not sure if people are fully aware that you have a comedian on Netflix that you would design a stage for.

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah, that was an amazing project. The comedian is Cristela Alonzo. She played at the Realtor Theater. She had a show in 2019 when I was painting show murals, and I did one for her. And she liked the mural that I did and kind of followed me. And we sort of talked a little bit about doing something together in the future, but there was no clear direction for what that was going to be. And then she decided to film her Netflix, her second Netflix stand up special.

Jessica Gonzales

And she was apparently talking with her producer about how to make that the stage and the background interesting. And she thought of me and having me come in and paint a mural. So she reached out. It was like surreal and super fun.

Tom Heath

And there might be just too much Jessica Gonzales news, but I completely missed that. My business partners, the ones that helped open the Tucson Gallery, they were watching just Tony Ray Baker and Darren Jones. They were watching Netflix and they got irate because this comedian was using your art. Someone is just copying her style, and they were just so upset. And then they see the credits at their own, like, oh, it is Jessica.

Jessica Gonzales

Oh, good. We don’t have to raise a ruckus.

Tom Heath

No ruckus raising here. It’s just another one of those examples where you don’t always expect to see it’s just nice to see Tucson being represented and respected in the way that it is. Yeah. Are you doing Euros in other cities or is Tucson really all you can do at the moment?

Jessica Gonzales

I have done a few in Albuquerque because my dad owns a vacation rental and I paint them for him at his rental, which is fun. I have done some just outside of Tucson in Saudi’s, and then I have done one in Bisby, but that is it right now. However, my husband and I are planning a road trip this summer, and we’re hoping to paint some murals along the way.

Tom Heath

Breaking news here, folks. You’re hearing it first on Meet the Artist podcast runs by the Tucson Gallery.

Jessica Gonzales

So if you’re in Little Rock or Memphis well,

Tom Heath

listen up little Rock in Memphis You got something special coming your way. When Jessica Gonzales rolls in, you want to hang out and watch her paint. And when you’re in your studio, are you by yourself or do you have people around you? Do you have noise? Do you have quiet? What’s your environment like?

Jessica Gonzales

Nobody around me for sure if I can avoid it. Music, usually, or podcasts. That’s what I like to get in the zone, have some little bit of lavender oil going and just peace and quiet for the most part, which is the opposite of painting publicly.

Tom Heath

I was going to say that I can see why you want to get back in the studio a little bit more. It’s therapy. It keeps me grounded. Well, the excitement people have when they come in, it’s one of the reasons we open the Tucson Gallery, having a place where Jessica Gonzales can display her artwork and get merchandise and other things with those murals on it. The public loves it, and it’s heartwarming to see that kind of gratification. But it was also heartwarming when you created a couple of pieces for the gallery and you posted on Instagram when you showed pictures of them and you said, this is you kind of getting back to your roots. And you were excited by that. And again, talking to Tony, Ray and Darren, we all sort of like, this is why we do it. It’s so nice to have that. So we appreciate that you were open about that and shared that.

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah, I was really excited for the opportunity to have a reason to get back in the studio. That, to me, was one of the most valuable things of being part of this. My friends outside, anyway. Yeah, it just gave me a reason to kind of reconnect with myself as an artist on a more personal level. And so that’s really, really important to me, and I’m really glad to have the chance to tap into that.

Tom Heath

Well, last question here. As we wrap up, one of the things we wanted to do is also help artists in Tucson get moving if they’re struggling in any way. Is there advice out there for someone that’s getting into either public art or just really trying to find their voice or or maybe has the issue where they’re they’re not able to communicate as as well, verbally or socially and, you know, are there any things that you can pass along? That’s a lot of information. That’s a lot of stuff.

Jessica Gonzales

Well, I would say for anyone who’s trying to start getting into public art, something that I’ve learned along the way is that when you’re painting publicly and you’re painting for clients and things, it’s easy to kind of fall into this kind of groove that is painting, the kind of stuff that people that you think people want to see. And I just think it’s really important to always stick to whatever you’re passionate about, because that’s going to make everything you do really worthwhile in the end. So for me, it’s always coming up with something new, painting something new, some new technique, or like a different style, even just mixing it up all the time. That’s what keeps me engaged with it and keeps me connected to it from an artist’s perspective. So I think that is really important to hold on to. And what was the other question?

Tom Heath

Well, I was just wondering, art was very therapeutic and helpful for you and just kind of curious. Did it just come automatically or is there something you had to tap into? Is there some advice you could give someone that maybe has artistic talent, that’s feeling kind of that isolation that you were feeling, what were some of those steps to move forward?

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah, well, I mean, definitely showing your work. I know a lot of people create work and then are either nervous to show it or feel like that’s a big step. It is a big step, but it’s an important one because you’re never going to be able to really share your thoughts and your work with people and then have conversations that will keep you growing unless you put it out there. So that’s important. And there are all kinds of gallery spaces that offer different types of spaces for different kinds of art. So there’s something for everyone out there. It’s just a matter of being vulnerable enough to do that.

Tom Heath

Yeah, I would imagine that’s the fear. Right? We all don’t really want someone to say they don’t like something we did.

Jessica Gonzales

Yeah. And I think everybody has the choice to explain as much as they want to. Also, I mean, sometimes even just coming up with titles is difficult for me. But you can tell people as much as you want to about your art or it can be a mystery. They can come up with whatever thoughts they have about it, they can interpret it their own way. It’s totally up to the artist to divulge as much information as they want to. But you still want people to see it.

Tom Heath

Well, I don’t know. There’s a twelve year old in Tucson that came here, shy, introverted, started showing her art and now she is here at the Tucson Gallery about to meet a bunch of Rockets fans. You can hear them starting to gather in the background, waving to us through the windows. So hopefully you’re over the Shyness phase and you’re able to talk to some people tonight.

Jessica Gonzales

I mean, yeah, it’s better than it used to be. It’s still challenging, but you got to do it right.

Tom Heath

You got to do it well. Jessica, I really appreciate your time tonight and I’m looking forward to seeing some more of these original pieces come out of your studio.

Jessica Gonzales

Cool. Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Tom Heath

You have been listening to Meet the Artist production of the Tucson Gallery here inside of the proper shops in downtown Tucson. We’re at 300 East Congress cross from the historic and venerable Hotel Congress. Every Thursday we have a different artist come in for a session to record the podcast and then it’s a really casual meet and greet with their fans. You can grab a glass of wine, you can check out all the other retailers here inside of the proper shops. And the mission of Tucson Gallery is to really help the world understand how amazing our Tucson artists are and to give our Tucson artists a chance to better engage with their public. So tune in next Thursday for another installment of Meet the Artist. Or better yet, check out our website, the Tucsongallery.com and find one of these live events and come down yourself and meet your your favorite artist. Jessica, thanks again.

Tom Heath

Thank you for listening to Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Conga Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to the Tucsongallery.com for more information about our live events. Listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art, gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern, thought provoking and forward thinking artists.

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

We are back for another installment of Meet the Artist inside of the Tucson Gallery at Proper Shops in downtown Tucson, 300 East Congress, right across from Hotel Congress. And every week we have a chance to talk with a different artist. Some have worked in our galleries, some on our online gallery, and others are just amazing people in our community. Today we have someone that fits all three categories. Welcome to the show, Mr. Joe Pagac. Rhymes with magic.

Joe Pagac

Hey, thanks for having me.

Tom Heath

Absolutely. I think a lot of people, when they see your name on the murals, they’re not exactly sure how to pronounce it, so we always tell them it’s Joe Pagic. Like magic.

Joe Pagac

Yeah, that’s the way to do it here in America. Actually, I just got back from finding some of my old relatives in slovakia, and they pronounce it Pagache. It’s a pastry over there.

Tom Heath

Well, there’s nothing that rhymes with that.

Joe Pagac

We’ll go with Pagac.

Tom Heath

Pagac and magic. And I think that it’s appropriate because people see your work and they’re like, man, there’s some kind of magic going on there. You’ve been a tucson muralist for how long?

Joe Pagac

I started when I was 24, so it’s 18 years. I’ve been doing this full time.

Tom Heath

Wow. What were you doing before that?

Joe Pagac

I was a loan officer for a little while.

Tom Heath

I did not know that.

Joe Pagac

An assistant manager at einstein’s bagels. I worked busting tables at tgi fridays.

Tom Heath

Were you doing art during this time too, or no, you’re just like, you know what? I’m tired of this bagel. I’m going to go climb on a scaffolding and paint something on the wall. And how do you get from bagels to nols?

Joe Pagac

So I was in college, didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. And my sophomore year, I took a drawing one on one class just to kind of fill the space. I needed a full load of credits, and the teacher took me out in the hallway, and she was like, wow, you’re so good at this. Are you an art major? I was like, no. And she was like, you should do it. You should do it for a living. I was like, Nobody makes a living as an artist, right? You know, it’s like the joke is, you know, what is the what does the artist say to the engineer or whatever? Do you want fries with that? So I you know, I was like, really? You think I could make a living at this? And she was like, yeah. So I ended up just switching majors, became an art major. And then when I graduated, I didn’t really know what to do with that. So I put an ad in the paper, artist for Hire. And I think because murals are their own billboards, it’s just I started getting more and more mural calls because I was doing everything at first.

Tom Heath

What was your first mural, do you remember?

Joe Pagac

I think the first mural I did that was for just a total stranger. It was a fence between a guy’s yard and his neighbor’s yard. He had me paint an underwater scene, and he had me include naked mermaids on it. And he had me paint the neighbor’s side too, while she was out of town. And she came home and was like, furious and then actually built a wall right against his fence. But it was a cool mural, and then it was just like just little jobs. And the more murals that did is.

Tom Heath

A mural still there? Can you still kind of see it if you haven’t been driven by there?

Joe Pagac

It’s in the neighborhood over by where Magic Carpet golf used to be.

Tom Heath

Yeah, we don’t want to be too specific with all your fans. We’ll start out a frenzy over there tearing up the neighborhood.

Joe Pagac

I don’t know. I bet if that guy is still in that house, that mural is still there.

Tom Heath

18 years.

Joe Pagac

18 years.

Tom Heath

So you do one and then someone sees that and like, man, this is pretty cool. Can you do one for me?

Joe Pagac

So it was word of mouth. And then I ended up getting hired by an interior designer, and she would actually we were doing a whole bunch of murals up in, like, fancy houses in the foothills, and so it was a lot of tuscan scenes and stuff like that. But I did that for a number of years for her. And the condition was she got to sign my work, but I could use it in my portfolio because she already had a big name going. Okay, so right off the bat, in my mid twenty s, I was already getting these big commissions to paint these Italian murals, and I was getting to paint for three weeks and then go to Italy for two weeks and then paint for three weeks and then go to Mexico. And so it kind of started this lifestyle that I still keep going where as soon as I’ve got money in the bank to leave town, I go travel or hike for five months or whatever.

Tom Heath

In the brief time that I’ve actually known you, you’ve been hiking across the United States, you’ve flown to Hawaii to see a volcano. You flew somewhere to get involved with the avalanche. You’d make snow angels. You just got back from Europe, and somewhere in there you decided you’re going to walk across tucson to raise money for the food bank dressed as a hot dog.

Tom Heath

And I haven’t known you that long, right?

Joe Pagac

This was all in the last year, I think. Everything. You just last six months, right?

Joe Pagac

So, yeah, that’s just how I’ve always kind of lived my life, since being an adult is like, as soon as there’s money in the bank, I hit the road. You and I have different adaptations of being an adult.

Tom Heath

I’m just saying. That’s awesome. And it’s fantastic. And then the way you generate your money, I think brings you enjoyment too, right?

Joe Pagac

Yeah, for the most part. There’s some jobs that I love more than others. I think a lot of the bigger scale stuff gets into more feeling like you’re doing a construction job. And sometimes I’m like hanging off a nine story building on a window washer scaffold and 100 degree heat, and it’s humid and I’m miserable and afraid for my life, and I’m doing that for weeks. So you get there’s some trade offs, right?

Tom Heath

Can go to Hawaii. That seems fair.

Joe Pagac

I think it’s not as glamorous once you start getting into the really large scale murals. The one I’m working on this week is over at FC tucson, which is a soccer club. And it’s indoors, it’s ground level. It’s like a nice flat wall. It’s air conditioned. It’s so nice. And I just put on like, podcasts and audiobooks while I’m working or call friends I haven’t talked to in a while and just chat while I paint. So those are the dream jobs.

Tom Heath

There you go. So if you’re a muralist, the advice is to find the indoor, ground level, air conditioned jobs.

Joe Pagac

Exactly. The only problem is those who don’t advertise for themselves. It’s the scary outdoor ones that keep getting your business.

Tom Heath

Let’s be clear. You’ve done murals all over the United States. You’ve done Washington, DC. Where is Joe padrick art right now?

Joe Pagac

So I have a whole bunch in Washington, DC. I’ve done them in Miami, Las Vegas, La. Tons of them in Phoenix. I have a whole bunch in pecos, Texas. weirdly, because it’s one of those things where once I did one, they kept bringing me back, so I’ve gotten around quite a bit.

Tom Heath

Does your style remain like when you look at a Joe Pagac in tucson, especially with the more recent last ten years, there is some element that people would recognize as being Joe Pagac. Does that sort of carry through? Do you have jacobs riding bicycles in Vegas?

Joe Pagac

Yeah, the one in Vegas, the big one I did was for Buffalo Exchange, and so there’s like buffalo floating on balloons and helping each other up to grab clothes out of trees and stuff like that. So some of that carries over. The ones in DC. I don’t think you would recognize his mind at all. They’re much more realistic. They’re historical people and events and stuff like that.

Tom Heath

I do remember, I don’t know how many years ago, but you did that mural of the postal worker, the jazz musician.

Tom Heath

And that got like national attention because I remember reading about that in a lot of different newspapers.

Joe Pagac

Yeah, so that one has gotten a ton of attention. Some of the murals I do, the one here in tucson, actually, with the people and animals riding bicycles that I did in 2017, I see that everywhere. When I’m traveling, people use it as just if they’re talking about tucson in a magazine or a news article. That one shows up a lot, which is really cool to see.

Tom Heath

So then they don’t get your permission to do that, right? Because it’s a public art.

Joe Pagac

Right?

Joe Pagac

As long as you’re showing the surrounding area, too. If it’s just a street shot, it’s a fair game. And they’re not advertising anything besides tucson for me. I’m not super litigious or anything anyway. I just love having that art go around the world and knowing that people are excited about it and want to use it to represent the city.

Tom Heath

Do you ever reach back out to the drawing teacher that encouraged you?

Joe Pagac

Yeah, you know what I did? I went back and found her years later and I was so excited to tell her that I had made a living at it and she had no idea who I was.

Joe Pagac

She had a lot of students, I’m sure.

Tom Heath

What are you, that pastry guy? pajak.

Joe Pagac

What is that? Although I did recently, like two years ago, I was on a road trip and I looked up my high school art teacher because I took some art classes before and I looked her up. She was in idaho and she was super excited. We went and got dinner together and it was really cool to see her and catch up. Nice.

Joe Pagac

And she still follows me. I think a lot of my art teachers and just regular teachers from earlier life still follow me. I’m friends with them on Facebook and stuff.

Tom Heath

Is there a retirement plan from your list? Is there a transition? Do you start doing more traditional canvas art or are you just always going to be hanging off the roofs?

Joe Pagac

I already am working on I’d really like to get more involved with the national parks and stuff like that because one of my big loves is just being outdoors and hiking and camping. So in the background, in my evenings, I’m home working on a whole bunch of designs and stuff like that for the national park system, and I’m hoping to start getting that going more. One of my dreams would be to just travel from national park to national park in a van or something and just well in there, work on merchandise and artwork for them and then travel to the next one. We’ll see.

Tom Heath

Everything just gets combined into one thing. That’s perfect.

Joe Pagac

Totally. So we’ll see. That’s kind of one of the things I’m pushing for right now. I have a number of kids books that I’ve written and illustrated, but they’re just not quite where I want them to be yet.

Tom Heath

Oh, wow.

Joe Pagac

So I even have printed out hard copies of them, but they’re not quite where I want to put them out in the public.

Tom Heath

So that’s another you said you’re writing them, so you’re doing the story as well?

Joe Pagac

The story illustrations, yeah. And then on top of everything else I’m doing. I have now like four properties that I’ve bought and fixed up over the years and made all fun and quirky and artsy. Just anything I can do where I’m creating something with my hands makes me happy. So construction falls into that really well, actually.

Tom Heath

I remember when we were talking originally about the gallery, and one of the goals here was to help up and coming artists get a little bit more knowledge, exposure, and a chance to meet some of the more experienced and seasoned artists. And I was like, what advice would you give to a muralist that’s starting out? And you said, don’t do it.

Joe Pagac

Right.

Joe Pagac

I think it’s a great if you’ve got what it takes to come out. And you have to be good at art, but you’ve also got to be good at marketing yourself and doing business and doing all the paperwork and stuff like that. On a good year, I would say I do painting a third of the time, and the rest of it is like going to meetings and doing mock ups and doing all the tax work and all that stuff. So it’s not just painting every day. Unless you have an agent, the tax.

Tom Heath

Stuff gets you every time.

Joe Pagac

Tax stuff, yeah.

Tom Heath

When you’re doing these mock ups, I’m assuming there’s a combination, but how often does someone come to you and say, just create us something? Or do they come and say, hey, we want pigs on balloons, or it’s the full range.

Joe Pagac

I honestly I prefer when people have something they want. If someone just says, Create me something awesome, I want it awesome. I want it different than anything else you’ve ever done, but I want it just like your style. That’s really hard.

Tom Heath

That’s where the magic comes in, right? There you go.

Joe Pagac

And sometimes I just get those. Like, I’ll be laying in bed at night, at 11:00 at night. It’s like, I’ve got it and I got to wake up and put it down. But sometimes those are hard. And if somebody comes in, they say, I want a buffalo floating on balloons. I can put that together quick.

Tom Heath

So you’re some of your ones here in tucson, like the whales, was that you or was that a so the whales.

Joe Pagac

The whales was me. It was actually they made me tone it down. Originally, the whales had little sorrow scenes on their backs. They were like little floating islands with birds circling them. And there were scuba divers on bicycles riding on a beach below them and then floating and swimming up to swim with the whales. And they made me tone it down.

Tom Heath

Wow.

Joe Pagac

They were like, that’s a little much.

Joe Pagac

Some of that stuff gets pulled in when you’ve got corporate sponsorship.

Tom Heath

What’s the process then? Do you create something on paper? Is it digital? That exists somewhere? The scuba diving, bicycle riding?

Joe Pagac

So now I do everything on the ipad I switched over a few years ago, just procreate, which is, I think, what every single artist out there uses now. But before it was like pencil drawings, and then I’d scan them into the computer and try to manipulate them in photoshop a little bit and then go from there. But yeah, I mean, I have so many mural designs and just art designs in general that because a lot of times it’s like three or four designs will go to a client and they shoot down three of them. They’re all just sitting there unused and.

Tom Heath

Unseen and then scaling it to a large building. Is it math?

Joe Pagac

It’s just a grid. Like geometry was actually a really useful class.

Tom Heath

Geometry? Geometry.

Joe Pagac

Not just the art for all of this stuff, for sculpture and art. And I do a lot of building stuff for hotel congress for years, building the Taco hand holes and the taco and the hands and all that. It’s all geometry and construction stuff. But yeah, it’s just a grid. I put a little grid on the drawing and then a huge grid on the wall. And I just fill in square by square, kind of where stuff is going to go roughly. And then from there, once I kind of know where stuff is going, I just learned the hard way. It’s like you’re up there on the wall and you’re like, there’s no way a nose is this big. And then so you make it smaller and then you get down after a couple of hours of painting and realize you made it way too small. So I just trust the grid. It gets things to look right in the end.

Tom Heath

Some of your projects. Is it there’s a sculpture coming, I think, or is it out?

Joe Pagac

The sculpture is done. We’re just waiting for the install. But it’s going right up on the river path between it’s like St. philip’s Plaza and the retail racetrack. So it’s a Havalina riding a tandem bicycle. It’s riding on the front and you can sit on the back and take photos with it and stuff like that, but it’s life size and it’s going to be super cool. It’s my first bronze sculpture. I’ve got a sculpture down in the airport already between the ticket counters that I did, that I did all by hand. But this one’s had the help of a foundry.

Tom Heath

Do you have any idea of the release date for that tandem bike?

Joe Pagac

I don’t know. We’re hoping to get it in the next week. We actually almost installed it this week, but there’s crazy weather going on and we didn’t want to install it while it was snowing. So I think it’s going to go in this coming week, but I think we have to let it set up with the concrete and stuff like that. So I think next month will be the unveiling and I’ll definitely let everyone know about it.

Tom Heath

A couple of last questions here. These are just for my benefit. But do you work on multiple projects at the same time? Or are you one and then move on to the next?

Joe Pagac

No, I always have like ten or 15 projects in the pipeline that I’m in different stages.

Tom Heath

That’s why I can never get a hold of you.

Joe Pagac

Right, yeah. So there’s always like the one or two that I’m currently painting and then the ones that I’m working on mock ups for, and then ones I’m going to initial meetings for calls. So it’s a constant thing.

Tom Heath

And then all these cities where you’re putting up murals. Is tucson really as special as I think it is with the amount of murals we have here? Or is this really something we have across the country? And it’s just I see it because I’m in tucson.

Joe Pagac

No, I think tucson has got a couple of great things. One that I noticed is we have a huge painting season. Like you go anywhere else and it’s rainy or it’s snowing or it’s just not good for painting. So it’s really good to paint here because you can paint almost year round. The other thing is, tucson is just super supportive of the arts in general. People like to put their money into it. They like to put the press on it. They go and take photos with it and support it with their own pocketbooks if they can. It’s a really supportive city. And in general, we also have less vandalism of murals here. I mean, occasionally stuff gets tagged, but compared to a lot of cities, there’s plenty of cities out there that you just can’t keep a mural up. People tag over it within days and it’s just destroyed. tucson is a great place for murals, and I think there’s very few cities like that in the country that really are as supportive and have that many muralists. But I think one of the things is that tucson

Joe Pagac

is drawing them in and the ones that are coming up are like, really getting supported well and can make a living at it, so it makes it easier to I was.

Tom Heath

Thinking of just from the talent standpoint, but without the community support, without the respect, I guess. Yeah. It doesn’t matter how talented you are if you can’t paint because someone’s not going to pay you or they’re going to tag it or it’s going to be snowing.

Joe Pagac

Right?

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Joe Pagac

And I think that’s what keeps a lot of the talented people here. It’s supportive, actually. When I graduated college, I was talking to all my classmates and was like, yeah, what are you guys doing when you graduate? And every single person was going to Los Angeles or New York, and I was like, Well, I’m going to stay here. nobody’s staying here. I’m going to see what I can do here if there’s no artists here.

Tom Heath

Were you born in tucson as well?

Joe Pagac

I was born in tucson, but for a number of years, I was one of the only muralists here working. So slowly, slowly, more murals have come up, and now there’s a huge community. But for a long time, I was like the only guy out there that was getting the calls I think made it.

Tom Heath

Do you have influences? Do you follow people on Instagram that you look at their stuff or you just don’t?

Joe Pagac

I’m not super into social media, and so I go on and post stuff on there, but I’m not really into it.

Tom Heath

I know you have time. You don’t have to have time, right?

Joe Pagac

And if I do waste time on there, it’s on reddit. I don’t know. And I’m not following any art stuff on reddit either. It’s like just all garbage. So I try to delete it when I can occasionally reinstall it.

Tom Heath

Where can people find what you’re posting? What’s your instagram? Facebook.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Joe Pagac

So my Instagram, I have Joe padg, which is my art stuff, and then Joe padget the person, is all my other stuff. I’m up to my hiking and traveling and stuff like that. The hot dog hike that I’m putting together to raise money for charity.

Tom Heath

Let’s talk about that.

Joe Pagac

Oh, sure.

Tom Heath

First of all, what is this and when is it happening?

Joe Pagac

So when I was hiking the Pacific crest Trail, I was doing a lot of wearing costumes while we were hiking. And I jokingly was talking to some of the people I was hiking with about getting hot dog costumes next, and nobody was into it, but I thought when I got home, I would do it. And then I thought, well, if I’m doing that, I should do it for charity and make a spectacle out of it. And then I mentioned to a number of people, and they were all really into it and wanted to join. So I decided just turned it into a big thing. So we’ve got 30 people dressed up as hot dogs hiking from March 15 and 19th. We’re going through the rincons and the catalinas. It’s going to be about 20 miles a day. So it’s going to be brutal. It’s going to be a hard hike. And then the hope is to just make a spectacle and steer people toward donating to the food bank. So you can go to Hotdoghike.com.

Tom Heath

I’m surprised that you’re all wasn’t taken already.

Joe Pagac

I know

Joe Pagac

it was a little more expensive than Net, but I paid the extra for it.

Tom Heath

Hotdoghike.com.

Joe Pagac

Hotdoghike.com. So that has all the information about it, and you can donate there. And then my other ones, it’s just Joe Pagac or Joe Pagac the person.

Joe Pagac

And then if you go on Google and type like Joe Muralist tucson, that will pull me up, and you can find me from there.

Tom Heath

Yeah, you can go on Google and find yourself with that easy to search. You’re doing something well, right?

Joe Pagac

Yeah.

Tom Heath

I appreciate it. I appreciate you being a part of the tucson Gallery. You’ve been kind of an anchor to help get this started as well. Your reputation people, when they see your name, they know it’s something of value and something that’s good for the art community. So we appreciate you being a part of that and look forward to kind of what the next projects are going to come out and can’t wait to ride a tandem bike with a Havalina.

Joe Pagac

Yeah, cool.

Tom Heath

That’s one of those things that when I was in Ohio, I never thought I would say.

Joe Pagac

Right, cool. Well, thanks for having me.

Tom Heath

Absolutely. And if you want to hear any of our other artist interviews, it’s called Meet the Artist. It’s on our website, the Tucsongallery.com. We have a new feature each week and then it’s followed up by meet and greet here so you can come live and hang out with the artist for a couple of hours, get a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, chat about process. It’s pretty casual and laid back. And then all of these are archived on our website. They’ll be on spotify and other places soon. It’s all called Meet the Artist. It’s a production of the tucson Gallery here inside of the proper shops, 300 East Congress. And tune in next week to find out some more exciting news from the art world.

Joe Pagac

All right, cool.

Tom Heath

Thanks, Joe.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 4

Thank you for listening to Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the tucson Gallery located inside of the proper shops at 300 East conga Street in tucson, Arizona. The mission of the tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to the Tucsongallery.com for more information about our live event. Listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art gifts and other items created by tucson’s modern, thought provoking and forward thinking artists.

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

Well, here we are, another rendition of Meet the Artists. We’re inside of the Tucson Gallery on Congress and Fifth Avenue, 300 East Congress, across from the Hotel Congress. And part of this retail collective called the Proper Shops. And the Tucson Gallery’s role is to give artists an opportunity to showcase their work as well as help the world understand how amazing our artists are here in Tucson. So not only do we have the gallery of the website Tucsongallery.com, and then every week we bring a different artist in to talk about their process. They hang out here at the bar inside of the Proper Shops from five to seven. And we start all of these Meet the Artist events off with a recording of a podcast. So if you hear some noise in the background, those are just some raucous art fans going nuts. But that’s okay.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

At the bar.

Tom Heath

At the bar. We’re in the gallery and I think you’d be excited about the gallery.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

All went the same.

Tom Heath

We are joined today by the Amy Bumpus, fairly recently to Tucson. How long has it been since you moved to Tucson?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Just on three years.

Tom Heath

Three years. And where were you before the newbie colorado. Colorado to Tucson.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Very different climate. Yeah.

Tom Heath

How’s the snowing in Tucson compared to Colorado?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

No snow, which is perfect.

Tom Heath

You were telling me you do like some kind of surfing or wind surfing.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

It’s called wing foiling and it’s a cross between kiteboarding and the wind surfing. New sport, but a little easier to deal with than kiteboarding.

Tom Heath

It’s on the water and you get up there and it actually leaves the ground, right?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

It does, yes. That’s what the foil part is. So you have a kite in your hand and catch the wind and then the wind pulls you up on the foil. So you’re basically in the air on your board.

Tom Heath

Wow.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I don’t know if that makes sense.

Tom Heath

Well, it makes sense because I’ve seen pictures. If you haven’t, definitely look up a wing.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Wing foiling. Wing foiling.

Tom Heath

It’s pretty crazy what happens there. So that’s the sports section of our show. Now let’s move into the arts and entertainment side. You’re an artist?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I am. Lifelong.

Tom Heath

Lifelong. So you came out of the womb ready to go?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

You know, there was no conscious decision to be an artist, so yeah, I’m saying it was from the start.

Tom Heath

And describe to us because this is going to be a big part of the questioning that we go down today. But tell us about what you’re producing now, the medium that you’re using.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I use paper, I cut paper. So the image is created by using small pieces of paper. And I use old National Geographics and I say old then that means sixty s and earlier because of the ink difference. And I prefer the colors that they used back then. But I call it drawing with paper.

Tom Heath

Because is it exclusively National Geographic or do you mix it?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

No. Now I’ve added to my pile, I found old Life magazines as well with the same idea. It’s the different inks. But I’ve also incorporated. My sister had inherited I had no idea. An entire Encyclopedia Britannica. I did the Old Britannicas from my grandfather. So these were like, what, 1940s, 50? And she inherited them. And what else are you going to do with them? Really?

Tom Heath

We can learn about the USSR.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

You could back then. It all shifts. So anyway, I’ve been incorporating that as well.

Tom Heath

Okay. And then the end result, this is something you’re going to have to go to our website or come into the gallery to see this because it’s really amazing. This isn’t just like a collage of pictures that come together. You create images, very clear images, from.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Using these papers with the paper. Which is why I call it drawing with paper. So it is layered. It’s very layered. So until you get up close, you can see it from afar and you see the image. But when you get really close to it is where you see all the layers that come in, and you don’t see those until you’re right, really, on the piece. But since it’s all National Geographic images, words, so really I’m playing with words as well. But then you get up close and you see basically what I’m trying to say with the painting.

Tom Heath

And when you go to the website, you’ll see the reproductions of what’s there. And so that’s the flat surface. And it’s amazing work. It’s like, this is fabulous. Then when you come into the gallery and you do see those layers, it’s mind blowing as you get closer to see how intricate these original pieces are.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Yes. So the whole point, really, and hope is to get people to walk up to the pieces because they all have an idea behind them. They all have a message. And using the paper that I use, I also use the words to convey what I’m trying to say.

Tom Heath

Your work has a message. Sometimes it’s political, sometimes it’s environmental. But you definitely have a clear pattern of your messaging through your art. It’s very interesting.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I do.

Tom Heath

You say you’re a lifelong artist. There are not a lot of parents that I know that will allow their youngster to use an exacto knife at a very young age. So there had to be a transition. What were you doing before this and what was the transition?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I’ve experimented with all kinds of mediums. So my favorite of choice throughout the years has just been drawing because it’s so simple. You pick up a pencil, pen and you start drawing. But I love line, so that’s why this kind of morphs into the paper that I am using now. That’s why I call it drawing with paper, because it’s an easy transition. But I’ve used paints, oil paints, acrylics. I’m a print maker, so I’ve done a lot of different mediums.

Tom Heath

Is any of your other artwork available somewhere? Because we’ve only seen the drawing with paper, and you do have some of your stickers and things that you’ve created through. It looks like more of a digital digital form.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Those are digital drawings.

Tom Heath

But where can we find your original hand drawings? Do you have those somewhere?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

At my house.

Tom Heath

These are the types of things we should be showing off to people, too.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

We could talk about that because I still have prints that I’ve made, monotypes, things like that, that I’ve created. Taos was my favorite place to go. I had a friend who was a master printer, and we used to work a lot together, so I have some of those images. But as I transition into using other mediums, it’s basically the medium of the moment is paper. So that’s what I’m showing, and that’s what I show on my website, my own website. But, yeah, the rest of it, I still have some.

Tom Heath

All right, well, we’ll have to figure out how to get some of that in here. I think these meet the artists nights should be more like a retrospective, too. We should bring in this whole litany of what artists have done over the years to see their progress.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

It’s not a bad idea, because we should do that. The thing about artists being an artist is you create inventory, and some of that in inventory throughout the years. Hopefully, you will sell, but you always have inventory from all of the different styles you’ve used.

Tom Heath

I just have to imagine. I do some writing, and I look at some of the things I wrote at an earlier age, and I’m like, oh, this is just horrible crap. At that time in my life, it was inspirational. Now it’s just crap. And I’m wondering, do you look at your work, or do you see something like, man, this was very young when I did this, and I can see this evolution.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Oh, absolutely. So, the thing about my family is they’ve always been my sisters. My parents have always been supportive of my work, but their houses are full of my past work. And certainly when I walk into their homes, there’s ones I would love to take back, and I beg for them to give them back to me, but they don’t.

Tom Heath

Right. Once it’s made right, isn’t that the art no longer belongs to the artist? Once it’s in the world, yes. You can control it.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

There’s always that butt, though, because there’s things you would shift. And I will say, if a piece stays in my possession and I will mess with it, it’s never finished. I’ll mess with it.

Tom Heath

That’s interesting, because you brought a couple of pieces into the gallery, I think, that were hanging on your wall.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Yes.

Tom Heath

I wonder what they looked like before.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

You brought them in. Well, it’s good that they’re here, because.

Tom Heath

Not in the gallery. If I sit up there with an exact phone number.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Yes, you are. I might come in with one hidden in my coat.

Tom Heath

So when you get into this, are you influenced by someone? Did you see this out there in the world? You’re like, oh, I would like to do this, or did it just come to you naturally?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

No, I hadn’t seen it before it really started because a friend of mine was getting rid of a bunch of old National Geographic magazines that he had, and he just gave me a box. And I carried that box with me for a few years, and I’m not really knowing what to do with it and where I was living at the time. I finally just pulled the box out and went, you’re going to do something with this or get rid of it? And in my studio at that time, I finally just kind of morphed on its own. It’s like, what am I going to do with this? So I just started cutting the paper and creating an image directly on the wall. So whoever has that space now has the first one I ever did was.

Tom Heath

It covered up at some point and.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Then just like by the time I sold it, archeological find.

Tom Heath

Wow. We found this date. Back to the how long have you been have you been working in this medium?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Probably since about 2013.

Tom Heath

So you moved from Colorado to Tucson. How much of you haul was filled with old magazines?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I had my pile by then. The pile grew.

Tom Heath

Well, then let’s talk about support, because you have to have people that help you in this. I think your husband, Ben, we’ve met, he’s got to be very patient to put up with moving these magazines from state to state.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Absolutely. He’s moved my art studio so many times. We have moved around quite a bit. And yes, he always was part of having to move all of my stuff. So he’s extremely supportive. He’s a videographer, so that’s really handy, I have to say, because he can take all the photos of my work that I need. But super supportive. Yeah.

Tom Heath

As an artist, you probably recognize that although a lot of his stuff might be digital, so he’s like, why don’t you just go digital and have to carry everything?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I’m going to say digital has its own weight. It has its own stuff, too.

Tom Heath

I think that might be the title, this podcast, digital Has Its Own weight, but people trying to get into art. One of the things we really wanted to focus here on the Tucson Gallery was helping up and coming artists as well. You’re established we’ve got people like Joe Padrick and Nasio Garcia who are well known murals. Jessica Gonzalez, Sean Parker, leslie Leather. These are well known photographers. You’re maybe not as well known in Tucson because of your recent move here, but you have a following. So what are those things that a young artist needs to understand, I think.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

In anything, and it’s the same in art, is networking. So it’s joining that community, that artist community where you live, taking classes, but it’s really just meeting other artists.

Tom Heath

Interesting.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Yeah. And growing your network that way.

Tom Heath

And then you get influenced by them, or you get both.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I think that goes both ways. Every artist has their own vision, so I don’t care how young you are, we can all learn from each other all the time, I think, because every artist has their own vision. Even if they’re using the same medium, they have their own vision with that. So as a young artist, I think it’s just so important to surround yourself with other artists, not just your peer group, but people have been doing it a while and can kind of mentor a little bit.

Tom Heath

And you also come from a background where you or your family has owned galleries?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Yes. We owned one in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Tom Heath

So you’re bringing in different artists to that gallery?

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Yep.

Tom Heath

That sort of leads to that sort of collaborative mentality, I think, that you.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Might have I got to say it’s helped along the way because I’ve seen both sides of the art industry. I understood what it meant to be a gallery owner and how to run a gallery, and then always had the artist’s perspective as well. So in our gallery, it was extremely important to keep the artist upfront, and that would be from paying them before we paid our rent, which did happen just really in support of the artist, but also understanding there’s a business side.

Tom Heath

To this as well that comes through with your advice. As far as networking. A lot of times when I talk to artists that don’t have the business side, it’s always about passion and never giving up, which are important aspects as well. But there definitely is a monetization of the art that some people don’t like that term, but it allows you to focus more on your art if you’re not having to earn a living doing something else.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Exactly. And for the most part, most artists will at some point in their career show and say that they had to work a job to support basically their art habit. But I think it’s important to talk about your dreams and to follow those and your passions. But there’s a realistic side to it as well, and I think that that has to come into play. It’s not the most fun part of it, but it is part of it. You have to market yourself. You can’t rely on other people to completely do that for you. So there’s a point where you have to market yourself.

Tom Heath

Well, we appreciate that. My business partners, Tony Ray Baker, Darren Jones, myself, when we opened the Tucson Gallery, our thought was, we need to help these artists with their marketing, help them monetize what they’re doing. But we continually have this conversation that we’re helping you. You have to still do it. We can’t do it all for you. Your fans don’t want to hear how much I like you. They want to hear that, but they also want to hear from you and what a certain piece might mean to you or why you did something in a certain way.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Right? So I think this platform that you’ve created here gives artists a great opportunity to showcase themselves and just even be here. Even if you’re not working this space as an artist, if you’re here and somebody walks in and obviously likes your work, you happen to be here and you get to talk about it. So you can’t be better than that.

Tom Heath

We’ve seen that over and over. Someone will be coming in just to drop off something and someone will be looking at their work and we introduce them and 20 minutes later, they’re buying their art. They’ve got a photo with the artist, they’ve got a story. They’re so excited, they’re telling their family, I met this person because it is all part of the experience of owning the art, is being connected with that artist.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Right. So you can tell my story for me when I’m not here. And that’s a great thing.

Tom Heath

Good, because I do that a lot.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Which I’m so happy about.

Tom Heath

And I’m pretty sure I get like 80% of it. Pretty close.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

I think you do because you’ve heard me talk about my own work to people. And then you hear those stories and those where you get to relay, but in the end, there’s really still nothing better than the artist being here and speaking about their work to someone who’s interested.

Tom Heath

Well, I think that’s a good place to end it. Today we’ve got Amy Bumpus. She’s one of the founding artists in the Tucson Gallery. Her work has been in here since day one. You can see it, the originals here at 300 East Congress. You can head to our website, the Tucsongallery.com. How do people follow you? Instagram. Social media handles instagram.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Facebook. I have a website which is just my name, Amypumpus.com. And those are the ways to find.

Tom Heath

Me on Instagram Facebook saying, my Amy Bump. Amy Bumpus.

Amy Lynn Bumpus

Yeah.

Tom Heath

Okay, so check her out and then stay tuned. These air, every week, they’re recordings that we do live at the Tucson Gallery. Every Thursday we do a meet the artist event. The whole schedule is listed on the Tucsongallery.com under tours and events. You’ll see all the upcoming artists. And if you missed the live presentation, then you’ll start to see the recorded podcast that we do. There’s also going to be a video section, all kinds of information as we try to connect the artist with the world and the world with the artist. But it is the meet the artist. The Tucson Gallery, downtown Tucson. Tune in next week for another fabulous episode with an amazing Tucson artist.

Tom Heath

Thank you for listening to Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Congress Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to the Tucson gallery.com for more information about our live events. Listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art, gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern, thought provoking and forward thinking artist.

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

We are back here at the Tucson Gallery inside of the proper shops in downtown Tucson for another edition of Meet the Artist. This one is kind of a special occasion because not only is it an artist, but it’s another retailer here within the shop. So it’s not someone that actually has the art in our gallery. He’s too good for our gallery, so he’s got his own place. But you will be able to find some of his reproductions and gifts on our website which will tell you all about the end. But Meet The Artist is a chance for us to explore, explore Tucson’s fabulous art scene, get to meet these wonderful people that make amazing works. And then our goal in the gallery is to export this to the world. And one of the ways we do that is through this podcast, Meet the Artists. And today we are joined by the Tyler Bentley.

Tyler Bentley

Hello. Hello. How are you guys? Thank you for tuning in and I just want to thank you all for supporting local artists and making this dream a reality.

Tom Heath

How long have you been making art and when did you first sort of get that bug that you knew you were going to be an artist?

Tyler Bentley

So I’ve been making art basically my whole life. I never took it too serious until around 2017 when I went to California and got sober for the first time in my life and started painting. Something ticked and started just creating. And ever since I did that, it turned something on inside me that was such a fire that lived, made my life worth living.

Tom Heath

Well, you say something ticked and I think you’re kind of burying the lead. This was like a spiritual awakening for you, wasn’t it? Like you were out, this force came over you. In some ways, yes.

Tyler Bentley

So I was up in Santa Cruz, California, and it was in the redwoods and I was to say, extremely lost, didn’t know what direction to go. And something brought me out into the beautiful woods. There was this beautiful redwood tree that unfortunately got struck by lightning. But redwood trees, through the process of fire, they regrow and it calls the grandmother tree. And there was around ten trees growing in a circular around the remnants of this old tree. And I went there and I got on my hands and knees and I asked for relief. I asked if something is there to help me. And a sensation came over me that was extremely heavy when it came down, but once it hit the ground, it lifted up and I couldn’t stop crying. I felt like everything was taken away from me in the most positive way of all. My burdens and all my worries were just completely lifted. And yeah, through that process of the almost rebirth and the metaphor of the tree getting hit by lightning and burning and through this process of you

Tyler Bentley

can say death is his rebirth. And after that rebirth, I realize that creation is life. And we are creators creating in this life.

Tom Heath

Now you’re creating. And tell us this art, does it all come from this feeling?

Tyler Bentley

There’s a level of intuitive design in mind where it’s just an absence of thought, but more directed thought. It silences their critique, and I just let creation flow. Other paintings, they come through meditations. And their most recent painting was it was just burning through my mind’s eye. Driving through town, I was looking at the road, but there was an image of, I would say, the Holy Spirit, the spirit holding flames. And basically, I couldn’t help but to paint it.

Tom Heath

So you see this you have this vision, and then what’s the process? Do you immediately go home or do you have to think about this for a while?

Tyler Bentley

It depends on the painting. Others are immediate painted. Some it’s a process of kind of surrender. I just I start with a certain layer and keep building and keep building. And then eventually, through the process of three or four days of patience and just not liking it, not liking it. Then it becomes what it was going to be. So there’s a level of painting it as soon as I see it, but there’s also a level of free form and just letting kind of the journey guide me to the destination. Okay, so, yeah, it’s a mixture.

Tom Heath

And then the art itself, is it oil based or what’s your medium and kind of your style?

Tyler Bentley

It’s acrylic. I do experiment in other mediums oil, a little bit of watercolor pastels, but mainly acrylic.

Tom Heath

It looks like a lot of emotions come out. So it’s more kind of abstract, is that?

Tyler Bentley

Yes, there’s a level of abstract and specialism in all of them. And basically my thing is I use color and motion to provoke emotion. Knowing that colors can directly affect the human psyche. And that also when you infuse motion into it, it makes the brain kind of dance with the paintings.

Tom Heath

I think that needs to be your slogan. Tyler Bentley color and motion evoke the emotion. Is that what it was?

Tyler Bentley

Yes. Color in motion provoke the emotion.

Tom Heath

There you go. That’s a good saying there for you.

Tyler Bentley

Wow, that is good. Thank you.

Tom Heath

Color in motion evoke the emotion. The works that I’ve seen, it definitely is. As I’m looking at that, I think whoever is viewing it is probably going to have their own experience.

Tyler Bentley

Is that intentional at 100%? Is it’s? It’s designed to I don’t try to put too much of my own idea of what it needs to be, mainly because it encourages, I think, progressive thinking and the fact that we all see something different in the same painting. And to respect that you might see something I don’t, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not there. I’d like to challenge people to accept thoughts outside of their own. That may be challenging.

Tom Heath

And outside of your art, are there people in town who you follow or whose work that you like?

Tyler Bentley

Mine is more international. There’s a lot of international artists that I’ve found that inspire me. Alex Gray a level of visionary art is super inspiring, but also instagram is a great tool just to give you exactly what you’re looking for. So the artists I follow, it just gives me more of their art.

Tom Heath

So you follow Alex Gray?

Tyler Bentley

Yeah. Alex Gray. John Sparks. Chris Dyer. I like Chris Dyer’s work because he has a level of cartoon and very high color, but it gets the message across. And also, I like he mixes a level of realism with a level of cartoonish.

Tom Heath

Okay.

Tyler Bentley

And, yeah, it really inspires me. And, yeah, I love color.

Tom Heath

Well, you took kind of a big leap because we work with a lot of artists that have a space in our gallery, and you decided you want a large presence, so you actually have an entire shop here with improper shops. What’s the name of it?

Tyler Bentley

Heart of Earth collective. The idea, basically, that you can’t spell the word heart or Earth without art, and that is the basis of all life. And yeah, the big leap, I couldn’t describe it other than natural timing and pushed me exactly where I needed to go. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do. I’ve wanted to make my passion a reality and something that I make money off of. And I realized that if I don’t take a step forward, a leap of faith myself, then who’s going to do it for me? It still is extremely rocky, but nonetheless, I’m riding the wave and trusting the process.

Tom Heath

Yeah, I don’t think if it’s not rocky, it’s not exciting enough. Right. It’s too easy. Heart of Earth collective. Is it just your art, or do you have other things in there as well? From what I can tell, yes.

Tyler Bentley

So I focus on precious stones and other beautiful jewelry. I want it to almost seem like a treasure chest that you find, and you open it up, and there’s things that make you wonder who it belonged to, where it came from. I really want to empower people to feel as confident as they want. And I think I see a lot in society as they wear more nicer things. And I think that’s a beautiful thing because I think it encourages growth and just being better and all around. So, yeah, there’s four local jewelry smiths that I work with, silver smith, gold wire wrapping. I do do my own jewelry, but I haven’t had the time because I’ve been balancing a lot right now.

Tom Heath

It’s amazing when you’re an artist and running a business, both sides of your brain working full time.

Tyler Bentley

Yeah, I’ve heard it a lot that you’re going to do the marketing, you’re going to do everything by yourself. And I didn’t believe it, but now I realize it is a reality. But yeah, I want to build this into a large collective of artists that push their art into the world because I believe our passion should be rewarded. And I think there’s a lot of people that don’t have the reach. So part of this is providing the reach for talented individuals that have a passion they want to push into this world.

Tom Heath

Yeah. When my partners, Tony, Ray, Darren, and myself, we open up the gallery, it was the exact same thought, this is a passion of ours. And we get excitement, not just when someone comes in and appreciates the art, but we get excitement when an artist realizes that they bring more value to the world than they realize.

Tyler Bentley

Yeah. And that’s been the biggest blessing of this whole situation. A reminder of as much as we all need to make it surviving. And then a living off of stuff is even if I don’t sell something, I’m getting an impact and seeing the impact that my art has on the people and realizing that the things I tell myself that I put into my art, infuse into my art is actually being received. So it’s a beautiful and kind of uncomfortable scenario to be on the receiving, like watching people look at your art and then telling it’s yours because it’s really broad what you can get reaction wise, but it’s been happily received and beautifully received. And I’ve loved this process. Yeah.

Tom Heath

I talked to a musician a few years ago, and he had said I put stuff out there. And then I asked if he accepts feedback, and he said, Honestly, their impression of my work is none of my business. I put out what I love. It resonates with some, not with others. And that’s fine because that’s how you grow and you progress.

Tyler Bentley

Yeah. That brings up I traveled to Washington last year on my bus, and I was painting in the forest, and I just kind of had some paintings out, and this lady comes up and she’s just looking at him and she says, I don’t get it. Like, what don’t you get? She’s like, you’re in this place and this is what you’re you paint. And it was the first time I was challenged with constructive criticism, and I was just like, I respect that you don’t understand it, and there is nothing to get. It’s abstract, but yeah, it was a gentle reminder that each one of us have a different view and not to get hurt by what they view.

Tom Heath

Yeah. I think for me, whenever I write or I do anything, it’s about what do I want to say? I’m not as concerned about what do people want to hear? And I see that in your painting. It’s out there. This is what’s coming through me. I tell you, it’s like you control it sometimes. It’s just this is my vision. I’ve got to paint it. It’s not like I set out to do this. It’s just what happened.

Tyler Bentley

Yeah, 100%. And it’s become just who I am. I live breathing in art, and I believe we all are art dancing in this beautiful world that we live in. And I just challenge people to express themselves.

Tom Heath

Well, you mentioned a challenge that you have, which is marketing. So tell me, is your social media up yet? I know we’ve been harping you on this telephone. Where can people find you proper shops? 300 East Congress. This is on the corner of Fifth in Congress across from Hotel Congress, and it’s open now Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at eleven, sundays at eleven and closing at eight or nine, depending on the day. They can come in and see your art there. But tell us about Instagram, Facebook, those outlets.

Tyler Bentley

So the instagram page would be hard of Earth collective. And then my personal art page is Newhue underscore Art. I’ve definitely been working on getting my art readily accessible online and more open to the public. I feel like it’s right around the corner to becoming a reality. It’s been a lot of work, but nonetheless a beautiful journey. And I think it’s right around the corner that I have prints, ready accessories, mugs, puzzles, and I would say within a week and a half, I think it will be ready to go push them out.

Tom Heath

So I’ll get a lot of the reproductions, the gifts, things like that. We can do that through our website, the Tucsongallery.com, so that people can find that. But the original work, if they want that, they’ve got to come see you at proper shops.

Tyler Bentley

Yes, sir.

Tom Heath

And they can get more information through our social media or through your social media. And let’s help Tyler Market spread the word about him. He’s coming from this from a very spiritual place and it’s almost as if he’s a reluctant artist. He’s creating art that comes through him. He might not think that that was his first choice in life.

Tyler Bentley

Yeah, but definitely the right choice. The right choice. I’ve gotten a lot of fulfillment and love for myself through this process and a lot of learning about myself through this process.

Tom Heath

So someone that’s been interested in doing or doing it more full time, maybe facing some challenges or facing some adversity in their life that’s pulling them away, what are some thoughts for those individuals?

Tyler Bentley

Don’t give up. Challenging things arise, especially when you’re on the right path. I feel like it goes back to what you said, if it’s not rocky, it’s not fun. I remember setting up in parking lots and setting up on the side of the road, fighting the wind paintings, blowing left and right, and realizing that this is part of a journey that getting handed something immediately is not rewarding, it’s not fulfilling. So this realization that the struggles are part of the end result, it gets you to where you’re going to go. And the struggles are the memories that are like you can go back and laugh at. So I think the most important thing would be to remember that it’s part of the journey. It’s not a destination, it’s a journey. And to continue on the journey. If you feel it’s something that lights you up and ignites your soul, do it.

Tom Heath

Tyler Bentley not only an artist, you’re like a wordsmith. The struggles are your memories that you can go back and laugh at. You got all these thoughts. It’s heart of Earth collective.

Tyler Bentley

Heart of Earth collective.

Tom Heath

Find it on social media. Come down to the proper shops, say hello. You work your shop most of the times, right? You’re there most of the time?

Tyler Bentley

Yes, sir. I am here basically all the time. Unless I have something else going on, which then one of my jewelers, Lisa Mele, is here. She’s a beautiful goldsmith. She does amazing work. Beautiful woman that’s been in this business for a few years. It’s teaching me a few things.

Tom Heath

You want to come actually meet the Artist from Meet the Artist had done a proper shop. Part of Art collective. You can check out our website, the Tucsongallery.com. By the time this airs, you should be up and running with some reproductions and gifts available. But I think as much as I love the ability to reproduce a lot of your art, I think you do get to see the original. I think the original brings an emotion that a reproduction you can capture, but it’s easier to capture that if you’ve seen the original work.

Tyler Bentley

Yeah, there’s a level of energy that are in the originals that cannot be reproduced. And there was a level of me not wanting to reproduce works, but I think they need to be seen. So let them be seen. And quick reminder that we vote with our dollar. And what are you voting for?

Tom Heath

Yeah. Support local. I’ve been using this phrase. It’s art made by local so you can buy vocal.

Tyler Bentley

Yeah.

Tom Heath

Look at that. I’m a word smith.

Tyler Bentley

Look at there is rubbing off on you.

Tom Heath

Tyler Bentley, thank you for your time.

Tyler Bentley

Thank you.

Tom Heath

We’ll get this up and share it with the world and look forward to meeting all of your fans as they come in to say hello at Heart of Earth Collective in the proper shops.

Tyler Bentley

Yes, sir. Downtown Arizona tucson thank you for listening.

Tom Heath

To Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Conga Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to the Tucsongallery.com for more information about our live events. Listen to other Meet The Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art, gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern thought provoking and forward thinking artists.

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

I’m kind of excited about this. We’re having our very first Meet the Artist podcast. We’re inside the fabulous Tucson Gallery at the proper shops on Congress and Fifth Avenue and part of our series where we’re going to expose the world to our fabulous artists here in Tucson. And we get to launch this with someone who have gotten to know very well over the last couple of years. And we’re going to talk about art today, although we have talked about many different things over the last few years because you’re doing quite a bit. But Randy CF. Fletcher. Welcome to meet the artist.

Randiesia Fletcher

Thank you so much, Tom. Thanks for inviting me.

Tom Heath

It is our pleasure. If you’re not familiar, head over to our other podcast, Life Along the Streetcar and you can look up interviews we’ve done with DC and her husband Herman who are doing amazing things for sustainability, affordable housing and others within our Tucson community. But today we’re talking about art because you do all these projects and a lot of the way you fund these projects is by selling art.

Randiesia Fletcher

Absolutely.

Tom Heath

So when did you know you were going to be an artist?

Randiesia Fletcher

Well, I remember in 6th grade when the administration, they come and ask all of the children about what are you going to do when you get older? And I remember saying, well, I’m going to go into the army, I’m going to be the president and I’m going to be an artist. And so, no, I didn’t go into army, I went into the Marine Corps. I’ve been the president of my own company. And I knew then that I was going to be an artist. But that was short changed by the idea of I didn’t think artists made any money. And so at that time when I understood that I was an artist, we were homeless. And so how I was selling a piece of art, going to pay the bills. And so it was quickly just taken out of my mind that I’m not going to be an artist. And I said, well, I’m going to be an architect instead.

Tom Heath

This is in 6th grade and you’re homeless at this point.

Randiesia Fletcher

Yes, but around that time there was a lady named Don who took me shopping and she took me to an art store and she bought paint, brushes, lava, soap, a sketch pad that I just remembered the other day, a sketch pad, charcoal, pencils. She brought paintbrushes, turpentine and oil paint. And so I started painting and I started painting the faces of family and so the eyes and what the lips look like. And I was drawing also. And I just had this memory because I was sitting in the dark, drawing, and I couldn’t see what I was drawing, but I was just sitting in the dark. And I remembered the nostalgia of just sitting and drawing, and there were so many dark places at that time, but I always remember drawing, and it made me feel good. It was a place of escape. And so I started painting and writing as a place of escape for myself.

Tom Heath

I’ve talked to some other artists, and I think that is sometimes a common theme, that they use it to move themselves to a different level mentally, physically, emotionally. But I don’t know of anyone that has done that from such a stark beginning and created light in that way. Wow. Now that you’re a little bit more established, are you still using Lava soap?

Randiesia Fletcher

When I go to my uncle’s house, he has Lava soap there, and I always remember the smell. So it’s such a wonderful smell, but I need to buy some because it’s the thing that takes that oil paint right off your hands. And when I’m painting, I’m making a mess.

Tom Heath

So tell us about your art. That it’s I’m assuming that it’s oil paint.

Randiesia Fletcher

It is oil. So I use oil on canvas, and I paint eyes, and I paint family faces. I paint the stories that I imagine in my head and so they’re historical fiction, stories that I imagine in my head. And then I write the story and I paint or I paint and then write the story. But it comes together simultaneously where I’m imagining this person and their history and their lineage and where they’ve come from, and I’m painting that and almost like breathing and telling myself the story at the same time. And so I get lost in the psychosis where I’m just in this place with this person paintering everything about them.

Tom Heath

Wow. So this is not just representation on canvas. You’re writing the story out as well?

Randiesia Fletcher

Yeah, absolutely. So all of my paintings have a story that goes along with them.

Tom Heath

I knew they ought a story, but I didn’t know that they had an actual written story. I thought the story was in your head as you were creating with you. The story came first.

Randiesia Fletcher

Yes. Or it’s like chicken or the egg situation, but they’re written. So, like, whichever picture that I have up there is an actual story. So when people purchase paintings or when I do presentations, I situate the painting, and then I tell the story. And so it’s my favorite. It’s the presentation part of the story that excites me so much. To see the person in their eyes I’m talking about the painting. To see that person in their eyes and to understand, like, I’m in their head. It’s like a second person.

Tom Heath

I love that understanding. And you’ve kind of grown now into teaching as well, right? You’re helping young artists get going.

Randiesia Fletcher

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So I’m a teaching artist. So teaching artist doesn’t necessarily mean teaching other people art, necessarily. But I’m an artist teaching. And so as an artist teaching, those social issues that I paint are the ones that I’m able to teach. So if we’re talking about recovery and repair like we’re doing at the University of Arizona. Right now, I’m teaching art for people to write down their feelings of how do they process grief. So we write something, and then we’re feelings. But the artist that I’m training is my daughter, the most in oil. But my sons are training artists as well, but they have different mediums, like jewelry, so they’re big jewelry makers. And my older son is a painter, too.

Tom Heath

I did not know that you had all this artistic energy flowing through your house.

Randiesia Fletcher

Yes, it’s the whole family, and Herman does the audio visual, and that’s art within itself.

Tom Heath

I’ve seen his work as well, and I don’t want to get too far afield from the art component, because that’s what we’re here really, to discuss. But this funds really interesting projects in our community. Can you just briefly kind of touch upon your urban forest?

Randiesia Fletcher

Yes. So the urban forest project started as a community project to build a food forest. And so our goal was to house individuals on a property that Herman and I own and then create a food system where people who were challenged with food security and housing insecurities. I wanted them to have housing, and I wanted them to be able to have food in the same place so they wouldn’t have to spend their money elsewhere. So, like today, I was able to go out into my own yard, and before I came here, I’m cooking dinner. I’m cutting down all the collard greens, and I’m just putting it in a pot. So that saved me a lot of money, because one bushel of collard greens are, what, a dollar 99 for, like, three big leaves? And so the same thing at the other properties where people can go outside with a little scissor, cut those greens, put it in a pot, and they’re able to eat, and then they don’t have to go spend the dollar 99. But no one buys one bushel of greens. You buy at least three bushels of greens,

Randiesia Fletcher

and so that’s six $8 that you’re able to save instead of spending. And you grew it in your own house. It’s not on the Dirty Dozen. It doesn’t have pesticides on there, and you took care of it and grew it yourself. And so that’s what we’re teaching people, to grow it and to eat from their own food lands.

Tom Heath

It’s such a serendipitous path that someone who at such a young age is facing food and housing insecurity finds art as a way of of bringing themselves emotionally and mentally through that, and now using art to find physical manifestations to help people through some of those same challenges. See, I know from the past, but I’m going to ask you, you’re a woman of faith. Is this important to you in your art?

Randiesia Fletcher

Absolutely. So I believe my relationship with God, it’s very important because I believe that the Holy Spirit talks to me and is a guide for me, and it was so many people of faith who helped support us along the way. And so I definitely honor God in the things that I do in my painting and my lifestyle. And I believe that we have to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that’s so important, for I would be very selfish to do nothing after so many people did so much for me. And so how can I do that? It’s by loving God with my heart, soul and light and then loving my neighbor as myself. And so how I treat myself, I definitely want to treat others as well.

Tom Heath

And someone else in your life, I know, has been a big influence, and he’s not here, so we can talk about him. But your husband yes, Herman. Tell us a little bit about your husband. And he’s not here, so you can be very candid.

Randiesia Fletcher

I could be very candid. Even though he’s on his way. Oh, my goodness. He’s right behind me.

Tom Heath

He shouldn’t have laughed. I was going to get the real dirt. Herman.

Randiesia Fletcher

Herman is my protector. I text Herman what happened, and so when I walked up and so, of course, he came here as soon as possible, and I can’t believe that he got here so fast. But Herman, he and I connect because we’re both PTSD veterans, post traumatic stress disorder veterans. He’s a combat veteran, and he was in the army, and I was in the better service, the Marine Corps. And of course, I’m always going to say that. So that’s our little running joke. And he’s probably smiling behind me right now because I think I’m superior because I’m a Marine. But we met in a common understanding that we’re both suffering with this PTSD thing from the military, and we were able to really just be each other’s counselors and understand that, hey, sometimes I’m down and I need to have the lights off, and I just need some meditation, some lavender, and then I know when he’s down. And so we’re able to support each other because we have similar backgrounds of homelessness abuse within the family. Both of

Randiesia Fletcher

us are disabled veterans, and so we’re able to really support each other on a common ground. He’s such a great support, too.

Tom Heath

So we are inside the Tucson Gallery. We just launched in December, and you are one of our very first featured artists, and you’re our first to launch this whole series of Meet the artists and tell us a little about your gallery experience. What does it mean to be in a gallery? Are you in other galleries?

Randiesia Fletcher

Yes, I’m in other galleries. What it means to be in a gallery is it’s a big honor for me, one, and it means representation. It means exposure for me because a lot of times, people don’t want to see Pan African faces in their galleries. What my experience has been in certain places in the Southwest, and so a lot of times, people have southwestern themes, which are beautiful, but that’s not my theme and that’s not my genre of painting. And so for a gallery to say, hey, we want your work in our gallery, it meant so much because it wasn’t just one type of painting in that gallery in which I see so much of. But you accepted this here. People are able to see what I see and understand the stories that I’m telling and to see it deeper than just sometimes. We’re so prejudiced against skin color and that black thing over there. But no, this is artwork and you are displaying this artwork high on your shelves right here. And that means the world to me. Representation matters and you’ve invited me to

Randiesia Fletcher

be here and I’m just be so grateful for what you have done. Thank you so much, Tom.

Tom Heath

It’s just mutual. We had a lot of respect for you and your work and what your work leads to. If you want to see her in DC’s work, you’re going to have to come down to the Tucson Gallery to see some of the live stuff here. And we are on a rotating schedule, so I can’t guarantee that it’ll be here forever. So you want to get down here quick. But you can also find it reproductions on our website, the Tucsongallery.com. And you have your own website with a lot more artwork than word displays. What’s your website?

Randiesia Fletcher

And so www dot Harris Fletcher.com that’s.

Tom Heath

Pretty easy to remember. And how do people follow you, like on social media? What’s your handles?

Randiesia Fletcher

My handles for instagram is Portraits of Sustainability. So that’s portraits underscore of underscore sustainability or urban Forest by HF. Or you could just look up my name Randy SIA Fletcher on Facebook.

Tom Heath

All right, well, we will link to all of those at some point through our, through our gallery page. We’ve got that up and running now, but excited to have this series every Thursday we’re going to have a different artist in some that are Tucson known, some that are up and coming, some that are established but maybe not here in Tucson yet and just really excited to share. And I just want to leave with a thought for someone who’s getting into an art situation. They’re in the 6th grade and they’re contemplating their future and they don’t have someone that’s going to come over and give them that nudge. What can they do internally? How do they get that nudge? If if they really want to be.

Randiesia Fletcher

Into this, don’t give up. I was just saying about stumbling blocks. If you have a stumbling block there, just learn how to run track and jump those hurdles. And so don’t let little things stop you and don’t let your own self doubt stop you. I think it’s very important that we persevere forward. I kept telling myself I’m fearfully and wonderfully made, no weapon form against me shall prosper. And I believe that wholeheartedly. And I’ve been so successful because of the self talk that I have done with myself since a child. And I haven’t been perfect with it. But it’s so important that I keep telling myself that I’m more than a conqueror and I can do all things. And that’s very important for me.

Tom Heath

Nothing to add? That’s where we’re going to end it. That’s perfect for DC. Thank you.

Randiesia Fletcher

Thank you. Thank you.