On this episode hosted by co-curators Quajay Donnell and Rob Bell, August featured artists Vic Vazquez and Brittany Williams share insights into their creative journeys, highlighting how their individual backgrounds, life experiences, and community shape their art.

Mentioned in this episode:

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It’s A Lot

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All right, you're now tuned into the Quiet Storm, the quietest of storms, or as we like to call it, the behind the Glass Gallery podcast.

That's another good name for it.

Yeah, it's good.

So welcome back, everyone, to another episode.

Me and Rob are both here, so neither one of us had to use a PTO day, so.

Nope.

Yeah.

But we.

We were reminded about an hour ago that we were recording tonight, so thank you.

Thank you, Chris.

Wow.

Look at me confirming things.

I never confirm with anybody.

I just assume that they have a calendar like I do or that runs my entire life.

Oh, it was for sure on the calendar.

Definitely on account.

Yeah, that's.

That's a.

That's a peak producer move.

So we appreciate you in many ways for that.

It had been, you know, we both would have had a PTO and was like, hey, are you guys coming?

I had a PTO coming from the day job today, so I just shut down everything.

Oh, one of those days.

Full lockdown days.

Yeah, it was one of those days.

So that's why it caught me by surprise.

Well, other than, you know, Rob's promotion of his.

Of a.

Of a show that we're co curating at the end of the month over at AM fm, one of our behind the Glass partners.

You want to plug that real quick before we jump into our Featured guest?

Yeah.

August 28th, behind the Glass.

Me, Quajay, Richard, Narada Jordan.

It's a hip hop show.

We celebrating hip hop.

We celebrating art.

The Alofi album will be out on August 28th, so it's a.

A collaboration album release party slash art show, and we're gonna have a good time.

Where are people going to be able to acquire said album at AM fm?

They'll have copies there on deck.

Nice.

And then.

Are you a band Camp man?

I am a band Camp man, so if you want to support Alofi on Band Camp, please do, sir.

Nice.

I'll send you that link as well.

Yeah.

And we'll probably have a.

Another episode where we kind of talk a little bit about it, but Rob pulled me out of a deep retirement because we're looking at photos from about 15 years ago that never seen a printer and have been on a wall, so appreciate that.

Absolutely.

It's gonna be a lot of fun, so looking forward to it.

And speaking of walls, look at me with the transition.

Oh, look at this guy.

He's a professional.

We're so excited to have the.

The two featured guests with us from our August opening.

We got Vic and Brittany in the building or on the airwaves, however you want to put it.

So really excited about these two and we'll, we'll jump into their journey.

But there is this one image from the night and I don't think I shared it with either one of them or I didn't even share it online.

But it's them meeting for the first time.

And so it's kind of like behind the glass sometimes does this, I guess we can call it like a blind date of sorts for like featured guests.

Right.

Like you've never.

Some people like, oh, I've heard of this person or I'm familiar.

But their introduction was, you know, really for the first time right then.

Or introduction for the first time where we said they were going to be featured together and then, you know, meeting for the first time in the space, which was kind of cool.

And still.

That was first time.

No, that was the day of opening because they missed each other by 15 minutes.

Wow.

Yeah, so kind of.

Wow.

So we're going to, we're going to jump over to.

Jump over to Vic and you know, just kind of, kind of jump right into it.

Tell us, tell us, Tell the listeners a little bit about yourself and, and who you are and very vague what's going on and the meaning of life.

But you have to also have to say, welcome to the Quiet storm.

Welcome everyone, to the quiet Storm.

My name is Vic from Rochester, born and raised.

So been taking pictures since my senior year in high school.

So it's been over 10 years.

It's been a while.

Think about like how I started.

I mean, I started in high school so I was able to like get my hands on a couple cameras when I started working.

And I remember taking a couple film cameras, I mean, film classes in high school and that being a big motivation for me to like shoot more film.

And then bought a digital body as well and started using Tumblr, Instagram to.

Kind of like shout out Tumblr, you.

Know, what a time.

Use that to like, I don't know, use that for inspiration.

Because I would see a lot of different types of photography on there and like not knowing what kind was, which at the time.

I'll just take those as inspiration and use that to like, like recreate some of those images and try my best to recreate them.

But then I realized I was like starting to curate my own pictures and edit my own my own way.

Started using vsco, things like that to.

Like throwing it back.

Yeah.

You know, like some of the old stuff that's still around you know, do.

You have anything from that time period that you remember that was particularly inspiring when it came to some of those images?

Uh, yeah, it was actually another photographer he was doing.

His name is Stefan Vanasko, and he was doing a lot of work for, like, Dime Supply and like, other, like, skateboard brands that would be sold in, like, zoomies and stuff like that.

So I would use the guy.

He was kind of like a big inspiration.

I remember actually, like, DM him or, like, hitting like, a QA question on Tumblr and asking him, like, what setup should I use?

I want to be a photographer, and, like, all this stuff.

Unfortunately, he recommended a setup that was, I think at the time was like two grand.

And even now that's still kind of expensive.

Wow.

So did not go with that setup.

I appreciate him responding.

He's like, what's the bargain?

Setup version of.

Yeah.

Yes.

The cheapest version for a high schooler.

Yeah.

I thought it was cool.

And reading the.

The sub stack, you know, that opening line is how you could still hear that.

That crunch.

The sound of the disposable camera winding and you know how it felt in your.

Your hands.

Yes.

As a kid, I remember the disposables because, like, whenever I get a chance to wind it up for a family member or somebody, I was definitely trying to do that.

And then as an adult, like, getting my hands on, I was like, man, this is cool.

And now I have a bunch of point and shoots that all kind of make that noise now.

So.

Yeah.

So, you know, when I was reading through your story, you.

She talked about the.

The early cell phone cameras.

Oh, that you use.

And I.

It didn't flash me back to.

Yeah.

Like, I remember a time when, like, that was like, oh, man, it's got a camera on it.

Shout out to the iPhone3 or even.

Back to, like, the Nokia cameras.

Point megapixels.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I had, like, a wild time.

Got lucky as a kid and got a cell phone.

It was like an LG flip phone.

I remember taking so many, like, selfies and pictures of homies at school, and I was like, the only kid with a phone at the time.

I was feeling like the man.

It was cool.

How was your duck face?

Real good.

It was not very good.

It's still not very good.

You won't catch me doing that no more.

Yeah, the flip phones, cameras, I thought the flip phone cameras at the time, like, were crazy.

I thought they were like.

They seemed high def and I used to edit them.

I don't remember ever.

I Used to edit them or edit them, like, directly on the phone, if you could.

Had like, little filters on.

It was fun.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I feel like the.

What a lot of folks knew you for kind of in the beginning, and we'll talk about how you came back into the scene, but it was your portraiture work and how you captured folks in.

In that way.

Like, how did you.

How did you fall into.

To that?

Just like, after taking pictures of the city, I started like, like friends or people from, like, school, like, after I graduated, would reach out and be like, yo, you take pictures?

And I'd be like, yeah.

And they would ask me to take their pictures.

I. I would just tell them, like, oh, we can walk around the city and I'll just snap you in, like, different parts of town and see how they look.

And that's just how I started, like, portrait work.

So a lot of the portrait work would be like, friends just wanting, like, fit pics.

And I would just meet him out and we would just snap a couple pics.

And that's how that became so.

And that's how I made a good amount of friends too.

So.

Yeah, and I think, I think you had talked about it.

It's interesting that, you know, we had talked during the opening, but we've talked a couple other times and you were talking about how, you know, you were able to see the city through walk in.

So it's interesting that a lot of your portrait work was the same, like going out, you know, exploring the city and using that as your.

Your backdrop, your canvas.

So to.

Yeah, it's always, I believe it seems like it's always centered around the same thing, which is like walking around the city and just using the city as the backdrop for a lot of things.

And I mean, now I focus on the city, but when I was doing the portrait work, it was like, how do I make the subject look good?

But then also like, how can I include parts of the city that people, like, will recognize automatically when they see?

And if they don't recognize it, it's like, you can ask me where it's at and I'm like, I'm going to tell you and tell you, like, a cool spot that I found.

What was the.

I know you had come back into the, you know, into the fold.

So people knew.

Knew who you were, but you had come back into the fold.

Jesus, like a year ago, right?

Like, does that feel like a year ago or is it more than a year ago?

It feels a little longer because.

Yeah, like, I was trying to like, I always knew that I wanted to get back into it more.

Like, like, especially all those years where, like, I didn't touch the camera at all.

I kind of, like, tell myself, like, you got the technology to do this and you enjoy doing this.

It's just finding, like, that passion for it again, especially because I felt like I had lost it, so it was gradually getting there.

And then I always tell you that the.

The behind the glass photo walk for me was like, this is community is way bigger than I thought, and I got to give this, like, more attention.

I feel like I. I should be here.

This is where I should be at.

I want to go back to that.

That.

That point you just made.

Like, you'd put it down for you put the camera down for a little while.

Like, how long was that, that period for you?

And.

And why?

So, like, I didn't post on Instagram for, I think I want to say, like, eight or nine years.

Whoa.

But I probably put the camera down for, like, four or five years and then would just try and take, you know, pictures here and there throughout the year.

If somebody asked me to do an event, would do an event for him.

But, yes, about five years.

Was there something during that period that was like, I'm not.

I'm not really inspired.

I'm not feeling it, or.

Honestly, I think what pushed me away was I was so focused on numbers.

I was so focused on, like, like, reaching other accounts and reaching people.

And, like, when my content didn't do that, I kind of felt, like, discouraged to continue posting or just, like, if I went out and took real good images and got them home and edited them and, like, didn't like them, I was like, oh, man, today was a bust.

Like, I didn't do nothing productive with my photography.

So I was like, maybe this is not for me, or maybe I'm just not, like, in my.

In my groove right now.

So that kind of pushed me to stop.

And then also just like, you know, trying to, like, pursue life and trying to work and support yourself and all those kinds of things definitely got in the way.

I let a lot of things get in the way.

So finding my way back to it was gradual, and I was like, I gotta get back to it because I'm not doing myself a service to, like, not be tapping into, like, my art type.

What about the community of the photo walk made you pick the camera back up?

Is it a specific feeling that you felt?

Yeah, it was just being surrounded by other creatives.

It was like, oh, and.

And not even, like, no, Pressure, like, everyone just being like, we just out here shooting cameras because we just.

That's just what we're doing.

And it was cool to see that even some people weren't shooting cameras at all or taking pictures at all.

It was just a cool spot to be around.

And I met a good amount of people that day that I still say what's up to on the walks now.

And it was cool.

The first person I met was.

Was Richard.

And he gave me a box of expired portrait hundred.

And I was like, yeah, this is.

This is the spot.

This where I want to be at right here.

Shout out, Richard.

Yeah, man.

It was cool.

Like, just meet so many people and everyone was real down to earth.

And then when I posted the pictures, like, everyone embraced them and they're like, yo, these are great.

And I was like, man, this feels nice.

Feels nice to be back and, like, shooting again.

Yeah, it's interesting.

And I think one of the things, probably one of the greatest things that IG has done in, like, more recent years is allows you to turn off the.

The numbers.

Yeah.

Right.

So they can't see it on the outside.

Maybe you could see it on the inside.

But when I turn the numbers off, I don't even.

I honestly don't look at the number because I think at some point we're all.

All in that same place.

Like, man, I went out, I poured myself into this, and six people liked it or 12 people liked it, or like, I'm now fighting the algorithm.

But then there's this moment of self reflection, which it sounds like you.

You had, where you're like, nah, this is.

This has always been, for me.

This has always been about me.

And then finding, you know, that community.

And I remember meeting you on that first walk, like, oh, he's kind of out.

And then I saw you on the next one, then I saw you in the next one.

Then it was like, kind of went on and on and on.

And you have this very similar, to me, like, this stealth, like, ability to appear and disappear.

So I respect it.

Right.

Like, I was like, oh, this guy.

Like, he is, like that ninja quality, which I really enjoy.

Like, there's.

There's no goodbye and there may be a hello.

So I appreciate that.

I'm guilty of doing the Irish goodbye.

It's all good.

It's all good.

My thing is always like, I'm going to see you again.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Good way to see it.

25 Goodbyes.

That's another 45 minutes to an hour.

Like, I got to figure into my Exit.

Oh, especially.

Especially on a photo walk, because a goodbye might turn into, like, what camera is that?

Or what are you getting into?

And then we're having a whole conversation about it.

So, yeah, just.

I just kind of wanted to pivot back, too, because it's.

It's so interesting that you mentioned that I was watching something else that covered a lot of that recently where that you get so focused on the end.

You get so focused about an accomplishment versus trying to be in the moment and enjoying the practice of doing something.

And I think that's something the community ends up doing the most, is it helps you.

Right.

Doing, you know, just accomplishing a goal doesn't really help you in the end.

Like, yes, it's great to accomplish something, but a community is there for you, even if it doesn't know it's there for you.

Right.

That you end up learning more about yourself because you might be helping somebody else, you might be involved, and that you ended up rekindling a love for something because of others, and then you get a chance to be, you know, to do that hopefully for somebody else at some point too.

Hopefully.

I mean, I was able to, I guess, see photography a little bit more subjectively, especially other people's artwork.

I don't always do it for myself.

It'd be nice, but, like, other people's work, it's.

It's nice to just, like, when we went on the photo walk and to see all the images that everyone took and to see what I took, I realized that it wasn't about the numbers.

It wasn't about, like.

Like there was no end goal.

It was like we just.

We just meet up, talk cameras, shoot cameras, take pictures of the city, walk around and have a good time.

And I realized that was a space that I had never got to be a part of before.

And it felt nice to be a part of that.

And I was like, I gotta.

I feel like I should keep showing up and keep trying to be a part of that, because I wasn't gonna go that day either.

I was like, oh, man.

And I got the day off from work.

I was like, I don't think I should do it.

And then I was like, nah, let's just fill our time with something, and it ended up being worth it.

Totally.

Do you think community was something that you were missing, now that you look back on it?

Absolutely.

That was what I was probably missing, like, the entire time.

Like, the entire time that I was going from it.

I just needed a community to, I guess, feel safer, to, like, put myself out there.

Not necessarily expect a goal from it.

Just to do it.

Just to do it and do it, like, my way and not expect anything in return.

Yeah, that was.

There was something, you know, that actually happened somewhat recently.

Somebody mentioned, because they were kind of hanging out after the show, they mentioned, like, yeah, we're hanging out because we kind of feel safe and comfortable.

Yeah, doing that here.

And I'm like, those are the kind of things that, I don't know, that hit me really hard.

I don't know about you guys, to like, to hear that that safety thing is, like, it's really hard to.

You never think about that as the goal of the community that's been built.

But, like, when I heard it, really, they hit me emotionally really hard.

I think you feel compelled to contribute to community once you're a part of it, because everybody sharing, taking photos, being active is what makes it special.

So it's like, okay, if I'm going to be a part of this, then I got to contribute.

At least that's how I feel that time.

Absolutely.

Like, I started seeing how much, like, people would re.

Share and repost.

Well, you know, those features being available now, they weren't available during, like, my whole hiatus, but those features being available and seeing people repost and share and just appreciate their work.

And it's cool, the amount of people, like, I've met and had conversations with and added on Instagram and like, just tossing back and forth the appreciation of, like, how they see the city or, like, what they take pictures of, and them also giving that appreciation back to you and appreciating your stuff.

It's a.

It's a good space to be in.

For sure.

Yeah, for sure.

I want to talk about your work for a moment and specifically the work you have up at behind the Glass.

And when you talk about Journey and you talk about being outside your work, that's up is kind of a reflection of, like, the space around behind the Glass, which was very interesting and how you did that.

And, you know, I remember when we were hanging, like, oh, I have a couple pictures of this same scene, but it's from a different angle.

And I'm like, well, it's kind of cool that, you know, you have to walk to a different spot to get there.

And it's really all walkable for a person.

And it starts with that first image that is at, you know, the.

It's behind the Glass.

It's the walkway right there by Farmhouse.

And, you know, can you talk about, you know, the thought process in that and I know I saw you, like, four days before, and you're like, I'm down to 30 images.

And 10 days before that, you were like, I'm down to 100 images.

But to find those six.

That wasn't planned, by the way, using that first one, that is actually, like, you can actually see some artwork was hanging up.

There was another exhibit going on for behind the Glass up at the farmhouse table.

The process for that was.

I asked a lot of other behind the Glass alumni, like, how they did their selections for their showing.

A lot of them just said, like, pick your favorite.

And I was like, that's it.

Like, there's.

I thought there was more to it, you know, Like, I was trying to pick their brains.

But I just.

So I just tried to, like, boil it down because I shot so much film this year, and I was like, oh, I don't even know what I'm going to pick only six images.

So I kind of just tried to boil it down to the ones that I really liked.

I definitely tossed a few to, like, family members, and I was like, pick one, and they definitely pick three.

So.

And just kind of boiled it down.

And then that.

That Monday, which was last week, that Monday, I kind of just was like, all right, we got to get this.

We got to get these pictures submitted.

So I get these printed.

And I just.

I think I was still at the 20, but then I had them all laid out on, like, the four by sixes that I printed.

And then the ones that just, like, didn't just catch my eye immediately based off of, like, the prints, I just kind of pushed them away.

And then I was able to grab.

I made it down to five, and then I didn't want to use the same image that was posted as one of the promos, even though I did use two of them.

But then there was a black and white one in the promo that I used.

And I was like, I know I got another angle, like, just further up the street from that same spot just a few minutes later.

And I was like, I'm gonna use that one.

And that's how I picked the six.

And I didn't mean for that, like, those six pictures to be within, like, a walkable, like, square or two.

But I just lined up like that.

I think that's the organic beauty of it all, because when they went up, you know, and again, you know, art is art photography.

All of it, you know, is.

Can be interpreted different ways.

And that's what I saw.

I was like, wow, this is.

This is walkable.

This is.

And then especially hearing you.

You speak, you know, during install.

So just the day before about how, you know, experience in Rochester outside is a lot different than experience in Rochester from the passenger seat or driver's seat or on the bus and how you're able to, you know, feel those different angles and feel and, you know, the.

Yeah, it's just, you know, your color, the way you tell this story, but it's almost, so to speak, like a love story to, you know, exploration.

Oh, yeah, It's a love story to exploration and a love story to.

To Rochester.

Like, I always beat myself up because I take a lot of pictures of the same stuff, I guess, or a lot of the same angles.

I know I talked about that in the substack, but, you know, if you love it, just.

Just keep it going.

You know, I try to remind myself, like, you like taking pictures of the city and capturing it in different angles, and it feels good to do that, especially when I get the pictures back and they're able to, I guess, kind of like look like how it looked that day and feel how it felt that day, like, when I snapped the picture.

You know, whatever angle, whatever alley I'm in, whatever graffiti I'm seeing that day, whatever new tag is up, like, it's.

Everything's.

The buildings may not change, but the graffiti changes, the city changes.

Sometimes they.

They do a building face up differently.

Like, it's always changing.

And Rochester, it's good for that.

Now I know they're trying to make the city look even prettier.

And I think we have a pretty skyline.

We got some pretty buildings, for sure.

I want to.

Before we.

We wrap off and get over to Brittany, there is one image.

Well, a couple images.

Your black and white stuff, I love, you know.

Right.

You.

Thank you.

You know, it's kind of like the scene at the end of Jerry Maguire, and, you know, there's like the whole monologue, and I'm like, you had me at black and white.

That's me.

But that color image, and I love the story about it, the skate park.

And, you know, I'd love for you to.

To share because that angle is really, like, beautiful and the color is beautiful.

And tell us a little bit about.

More about, like, how that happened and how it went from.

I don't really like this photo.

I don't like this stock to now it's featured.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So that picture, it's.

So the picture I'm standing on, the cut off or like, I think they turned it off.

That is an on ramp to the highway and it circles around the top of the skate park, so you can kind of walk around it and see the skate park from any angle.

And you get a good view of the city too.

But that was my first time shooting that stock.

I think it's a Harmon 200 blue box.

I think it's Harmon 2 Phoenix.

And I got the scans back from Scott's and I just.

I just wasn't feeling them.

They just didn't look like how.

Like, when I saw images of that stock online, I was like, oh, this doesn't look like this.

And I'm curious why.

I wonder if it was just like the film or if the camera wasn't doing it right.

So Joe Soto hit me up and I remember like, DMing him being like, yo, like, this stock is not for me because he was the one who showed me images of that stock and was like, this is a really good stock if you can get it, like, right.

So he actually took the negatives from me and scanned them himself for me and then like emailed me the pictures.

And when I got him back, I was like, this is.

This is what I'm talking about.

This is what I wanted the first time around.

And he explained to me what like kind of went wrong on that process with it and it just being more of like a scanning error.

But he had told me, he's like, it's all there.

The data's there on the negatives.

The images are good, you know, so when he handed them to me, I was like, this is.

This is what I'm talking about.

And that image, like the color on that image, when it came through properly was beautiful.

It just like looking at the image, it just feels like.

It feels like a summer day where everyone's lounge and having a good time at the skate park.

And that's exactly what was going on that day.

Yeah, it's definitely a vibe and you know, shout out to Joe.

Absolutely not.

Your Average Joe's has a showcase up with Joe Palladino over at Golden Supply.

So, you know, that's.

Again, I love that story so much and I wanted to definitely share it with listeners because I think it's a.

A testament of that community.

Right?

Like finding that space and people not wanting to gatekeep.

Right.

So to speak, and making sure that like, hey, I. I can provide you with the resources, I can provide you with the guidance.

And maybe if you didn't like it after that, you know, at least you had kind of gone down that path.

So absolutely, I tried to tell myself that would have never happened if I didn't go to the first behind the Glass walk and make that connection with Joe when I met him on the first walk.

Yeah, that's a beautiful thing.

That's awesome.

So I'm going to take a quick commercial break, and when we come back, we're going to jump over to, you know, I think one of our first artists, like, painters of the year, if I'm remembering correctly.

I hope I'm remembering correctly.

No, we had a group of students from high school, but solo.

Solo act.

We'll be right back.

That would be the starting backup cue.

Oh, goodness.

Always miss it.

It's kind of like you sent me a text right now, but in real life.

So appreciate that.

Welcome back.

Stop it.

Welcome back from the break.

So we're going to jump over to our.

Our.

Our second featured artist from August, Brittany Williams.

Hello, Brittany.

And welcome.

Hello.

Thank you for having me.

Yeah.

It feels like a lot longer.

But Brittany is an amazing artist, and I think the first time I met her or saw her work, it was in the streets.

So a lot of really cool murals around town, both with wall therapy, both also independently pieces as well.

So thank you for saying yes.

I don't know if it was peer pressure or not, but I had you on a group text with another behind the glass alum, Jason Barber, and I was like, oh, we got to get Brittany.

I had a text on the side and I was like, we're doing Brittany this year, so are you going to help me with the full court press?

And it wasn't like a hard.

It wasn't a hard.

Like, you didn't resist.

Why didn't you resist?

That's kind of weird because I was expecting, like, some resistance.

I came in with backup because I.

Bumped into Jason at Ugly Duck, and he was like, you guys got Britney, Britney, Britney never does anything for anybody.

Like, I was expecting more resistance.

Like, I had.

This is a classic quaje technique, by the way.

Oh, yeah.

Jedi mind trick.

Yeah, the big group text with, like, everybody on it.

That's a Q classic.

I won't tell.

I won't tell.

On air with you for another episode about how we included someone's name on a flyer.

And then I sent them a message after the flyer posted, hey, you're probably wondering what, you were just tagged then, but, oh, you did send him a message.

We'll talk about that later.

I didn't I didn't do that to Brittany, but I did have a message sidetracked with Jason, and I was like, yeah, we got to get.

We got to get.

Britney, are you in?

He was like, yeah, but why?

Like, why did you, like, was there no hesitation?

I mean, first I was at work when y' all texted me, and so I was really thrown off because I did see your name and Jason's name in the text, and I'm like, what's going on here?

And so you guys were just promoting the show or just telling me about the show.

And, you know, in my mind, I'm like, this, like, photography.

Like, I know that they bring a lot of photographers to the show.

And I was like, okay, Kwaji must be doing something new.

Like, okay, I'm in it.

Sure.

You know, and I think it's because I know you personally and I know Jason, and so I was just like, maybe Kwaje is bringing Jason in.

As, you know, my first show was with Jason, so he kind of has that connection with me as well.

And then, you know, you asked me if I wanted to be a part of it, and I hesitated a bit, but I was also working.

And, you know, Jason is just so.

Just so rambunctious.

He's like, so, are you gonna do it?

And I'm like, jason, calm down.

This is.

That's a good word for him.

That's actually exactly what the text.

Calm down.

Yeah, just calm down.

Like, let me think about it.

But there are, like, 12 Jason texts, and I was like, man.

I said.

I said, give her the full court press.

But he was like.

And then say, that's Jose Alvarado.

That's not.

And then it was calmed down, and I was like, okay, we might have her, but he might.

Like, I might have to get him off the chat.

He's backdoor Steven.

Yeah, but, you know, I'm.

I'm.

You know, I'm always up to do shows with people that I know, and, yeah, I just wanted to fill it out.

And I was also just working on some stuff that I was like, you know, maybe I could show this, but I wasn't so, like, 100% with it just yet.

Yeah.

So, yeah, that's why I just was like, okay, yeah, sure.

I think the advice that Jason had given was if you want to have Brittany in the show, you have to, like, also say, this is what I'm thinking about, work wise.

And I did.

I was like, hey, these are a couple pieces.

And you're like, well, these, you know, a little Bit older.

These I'm doing something else with.

But check out this.

This is something I'm working on.

And you showed the.

The pastel, and I was like, wow, like, that's.

That's really cool.

And you were like, well, can I.

Can I do something new?

Can I do pastels?

And the pastels that you have up are phenomenal.

And can you tell us how you fell into pastels?

Well, I was.

I would say last November, I was doing a painting, and I was just like, okay, I did a painting, right?

And I was just feeling bored about the whole situation.

Like, okay, I need something that's gonna, like, you know, like, kick my ass a little bit.

So I just set the paintings to the side, and I randomly came across this video on YouTube that was like, you know, if you do gouache paintings like this, then you should try pastels.

And so, of course, I click on it.

Like, I've heard of pastels.

Like, I used oil pastels in high school.

But as far as, like, the soft chalk pastels, I've never tried that.

And this man was just like, going crazy on a portrait, and I was just like, wow, like, I'm about to try that.

And so, of course, I'm like, I look up pastels, the prices of them, and they real expensive.

They come in sets.

So I was just like, okay, let me get like, the Michael's Artist Loft brand, and just, you know, something cheap, you know, starts.

You know, start somewhere.

And yeah, like, my pastel drawings in the beginning was terrible.

Like, they were real terrible.

But I. I knew that that was part of the process.

I have to be terrible in order to improve later on.

And, yeah, just on YouTube, figuring things out, what type of paper, what type of pastel do you use as far as, like, you know, when.

When you set the pastel, like, how far do you spray.

What spray do you use?

But, yeah, it just felt good to just start from square one on a new medium.

If.

If a listener didn't know what a pastel, like, what pastels were, like, how would you explain the, like, that medium?

Like, that's that style of.

Of creating.

Just think of you, if you see the kids on the street playing with the chalk and they're on the sidewalk, picture that.

But something that's a little bit more expensive and highly pigmented, you know?

Yeah, that's.

I would.

Yeah, I would just say, like, paint.

Paint on a chalky stick if I could give you that explanation.

It does have that playful kind of vibe to it.

When you look at the Portraits.

And in just that warm feeling, it's crazy.

You use the analogy of the chalk because when you see, when you see that kid's chalk outside, I don't know, for me, it sparks nostalgia.

It makes me feel good and same feeling looking at your work.

So it's interesting that you describe it like that.

Yeah.

And there's chalk artists out there who will be at festivals and they'll be on the ground, 90 degree weather with they chalk set out and just out there creating a masterpiece.

So.

But yeah, as far as, like the color palette that I picked, I was borrowing from Vic because I also was going through a color palette block because with chalk pastels on the opposite of painting, I can mix a color with paint and I have it right there versus the chalk pastel.

You have to use what's in that set and you can't mix it, you can't do anything with it.

And then once you set it on the whatever surface you're on, that's the color you're using.

So you really have to put the test, your color theory knowledge to get those colors to mesh.

And I'm all about color theory.

Like, I'm good at mixing colors, but this one, it was just like I have to use the color that's there in order to, you know, make my point.

And so I was looking at Vic and I saw that Vic's work had some colors to it.

And of course I checked it on Instagram and yeah, I just was like scrolling because at first I was like, okay, well, he put me and Vic together like, well, you know why?

And he was like, oh, I feel like you two use color really well.

And so I was just taking a look and I saw like a lot of pinks, purples, blues and magentas.

And yeah, I was just like, yeah, I gotta.

I gotta like bounce off of that.

And it worked out.

I love that.

Why'd you settle on the theme of hair for the portraits?

Because I. I have not done that before.

Normally people will see that I do a lot of details in the hair and I really, like, go hard on the hair because it's.

That's just part of the person that I'm creating.

But I never made that, like, the focus.

Even though people think that in the past I have paintings where the hair is just done so well that they think that's the focus when it's just not.

But I was just.

I was just working on here and this.

In this.

Funny enough, again, Quadray sent me a picture.

In the text, it was it was older picture of, like, you know, like, obviously, like a, you know, someone of, like, an African ancestor.

And you was like, I need.

I need this.

And I was just like, man, are you in my phone?

Like, I have this same picture that I just saved a while ago because that was, you know, in my archive of photos to keep.

And, yeah, I was just like, okay, like, I can do it for this show.

And even with the discourse that was going on online, you know, it was just funny enough.

Like, there was conversations about hair, and like, obviously, you know, some were positive, some were, you know, ignorant, but sometimes I pay attention to those too.

They're funny.

But, yeah, especially like with the whole Jay Z cutting his locks or his wicks.

Yeah.

And I was just like, wow, this is such a perfect time to do a piece.

Do some pieces on some hair.

Because there's so much conversation going on right now.

And I was just like, nah, I'm going.

I'm going with this.

Well, I feel like black folks are so connected to their hair, and it's so much part of our identity.

And when I was doing your substack article, you talked a little bit about how that's just your overall inspiration, like, representation and black identity.

Can you talk a little bit about that, how that's kind of influenced you over the years?

Yeah, I think growing up, like, media was a big part of my life, so I'm like a 90s.

So we just saw so much variety of blackness growing up.

Like, you with the hair, with the style, the music, and you just saw, like, a variety of us.

And as years go on, it started to decline.

You know, with social media coming in, it's like, okay, there's still, you know, photos of us and all of that, but it's still not the main thing.

You Google, like, women, all you're gonna see is, like, white women.

So my whole thing was like, okay, if this is something that we're still not seeing in the arts, then it is my responsibility to make sure I maintain that and also just maintain like, okay, I wanna show the today person.

Because oftentimes we'll go back to the past because it already exists.

And it's.

It's just right there.

It's easier to versus we should show the person now what we look like, what we dress like, the new hairstyles.

Because in about 30, 40, 50 years, you know, people are going to look back at that.

That's what we look like.

But it's good to have that history right there because it may change.

Like, we're seeing it right now how they just a racing shit like.

Like it never happened.

But it's up to us to just make sure we keep that afloat and what we look like of today.

Yeah, I think that's the.

One of the things that I've always made me gravitate towards your work.

And you say it and said it in the substack, you know, that, you know, wanting to lead by example by putting these positive images on walls and putting them in spaces.

Right.

And you had just said it right there about this.

This idea of the everyday person.

I think I can't remember which wall it was.

It might be the wall that's on Joseph, your first wall on Joseph.

And I said, oh, who is that?

And he was like, it's everybody.

It's every.

You know, it's who you want it to be.

It's who you see in that image, you know, and for a moment I was like, oh, it looks like my daughter, or this looks like my.

My cousin, or this looks like someone I went to high school with.

Right.

Because the clothing that they were wearing, their hair, you know, and that's something that I feel like is reflected in all of your work.

Whether it's in the focus, which I think is really cool about the work you have at Beyond a Glass is that the hair is the focus, but the hair you have in all of your work is never an afterthought.

It's always, you know, the same care is taken for the hair as you take in the nose and the chin and all of those details that, you know, really define who we are, you know, as a.

As.

As people.

And that you're reflective.

And I know you did that, that cool, really cool wall in Detroit.

And people had questions like, that weren't familiar with, you know, those hair, like, conventions and like, shows they used to have.

And they're like, why is there a helicopter?

And it was like, you have no idea, like, why this is so.

Especially in Detroit, like, why this.

This image is so, so powerful.

And I know it's kind of a sidebar there, but could you tell us a little about that helicopter here and how you, like, landed on that?

It's a beautiful mural in Detroit.

Yeah.

The Harry Copter is what it's called.

Yeah.

So, you know, Sydney James.

That's my girl.

Yeah.

And, yeah, she was just like, I'm bringing you to Detroit.

And I was like, girl, hit me up.

I'm coming.

And so we were coming closer to the time, and I had so many ideas to do because Detroit has so much history.

And obviously, I was just like, okay, what's already there?

There's so many J. Dilla murals.

And I thought about that, but I was like, that's already there.

And so my next option was Detroit Shock, the WNBA team, funny enough that I hear they're coming back.

But I was like, the timing of it is.

So many legends on that team, it's going to be hard to put them all on one wall.

And so I just dug a little deeper.

I was like, what's something that's.

That was mainstream, but now it's kind of underground, and no one really, like, knows about it as much.

And it was the hair wars.

And so I just.

I just did my research.

There was some Instagram page of, like, Detroit history, and I dug a little deep with that, and I was just, like, finding reference photos, and I saw all types of hairstyles, but they didn't match with the.

The size of the wall.

And so then I came across the hairy copter.

I was like, man, what is.

What's good?

What is this?

And so I just started doing my history on that.

And then I find out that that was one of the hairstyles where they get, like, a big prize of.

Of money.

I believe at the time, it was, like a thousand dollars maybe.

So the fit.

It fit the wall perfectly.

And, like, the first sketch I sent them, it was.

It was kind of whack.

Like, I'm not even gonna lie.

I know one of the head runners of the festival was like, girl, we looked at that sketch and was like, we don't know.

And I was like, don't y'.

All.

It was.

It was gonna, you know, improve from there.

And so, yeah, as I went on, I started to just add in those details.

The finger waves and the glasses just making it real, like, ghetto fabulous and adding the helicopter on top.

And surprisingly enough, there was a man.

I forget his name, but he participated as a artist of that.

Of the hair wars.

And he did.

He would cut four cars in the hair.

And so he was just giving me a rundown of the whole thing.

And he also told me he has, like, 15 children.

So I was hearing a lot of stories.

Detroit, shout out.

Detroit, 15 kids.

So I'm kind of intrigued because.

So looking through all your images.

Got it up on there now.

Yeah, yeah.

Looking all your images up on the website, you know, looking at the pictures, and when you say, like, you're not focusing, like, it's still.

There's all the texture and all the different colors and expressions.

I was, you know, trying.

I was thinking, like, what's the best adjective to describe the way you're portraying people?

Because it's.

It's not just.

It's not like joy, but it's.

There's this.

There's this honest.

Like, there's a passion for showing somebody.

There's this.

It's respect, it's passion.

There's joy.

But, you know, all the.

All the way you're portraying people, they're reflecting.

There's.

There's all different ways you are showing people in their Different.

In the way they're seeing themselves, the way we're seeing them.

Do you have an adjective you'd use to describe the way, like, I had celebratory in there in my head, but I didn't know if there's, like, one adjective you'd use to describe the way you're portraying people.

I don't think.

I think about that.

Yeah.

Maybe resilience.

There's a lot of resilience.

Yeah, I know.

It's a little bit of an unfair question.

No, it's because there's so many.

There's so many words that.

That could go with that.

Yeah.

Because I see the celebration of all the differences and celebrating, you know, the individuality of each person.

Yeah.

But I also just love the colors because they just, like, they're popping in each of the pictures.

And, you know, when you mentioned that color theory, I was just looking at the.

Looking at the one that has the teal and then the roses on it with almost the hood.

It was like a teal hood with the woman and the light.

There's almost.

It's almost like a veil, and it's just, like, stunning to see.

Is it with the flowers?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's.

Yeah, that's a.

That's a favorite of a lot of people.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's very striking.

Like, there's a mystery to it, but it still seems celebratory to me.

Yeah, yeah.

Pride.

Pride, maybe.

Yeah, yeah.

Because that's.

That's just, you know, something that we often take pride in.

It's just like our appearance.

Because oftentimes it's just suppressed.

Like, it's just like, why do you look like that?

Or why do you dress like that.

Oh, that's, that's unprofessional.

And then just, you know, going back to the whole hair thing, you know, I would say maybe now it's lax.

Maybe, maybe.

But I know for sure, like before social media really popped, it was more so like if you wore your hair a certain way, they were like, oh well, they ain't gonna hire you.

And you like, who is they?

Like what?

You know, I'm qualified, why wouldn't they hire?

And then it's just like your hair, you know, you may have locks or afro or you know, braids, you know.

But now, now like I would say as far as like younger people, they, they don't care about any of that.

They're just like, this is who I am, like accepted.

And you know, they come to a point where they've just been like, well, if they won't hire me, I'll create my own business and I can look, you know, the way I want to and bring in the people who are like minded, like me and want to express themselves.

You know, they've, they've just take lead on that and they're not scared of just expressing themselves and they have all the resources to, you know, braid their hair a certain way or you know, cut their hair.

And like right now it's like the, one of the pieces, the young man has freeform.

And I've even seen that like done a certain way.

Like they're, you know, taking time to take care of their hair a certain way and then they're just like shaking their locks like, and I'm just looking at that like that like that kid is free.

And that's why I called it like type free instead of like free form.

I just cut down the form and made it free.

So that's beautiful.

And I, yeah, that's.

And I love how Chris has them up right now.

But yeah, kind of a journey down memory lane.

And if you have a Britney piece, man, you're lucky to have them on your wall because they don't, they don't come out often because I'd be keeping them.

Brittany's got them just locked up.

I know, I will, I will one day.

I know people been asking me for prints and like the place that I get prints from, they, they shut down.

So I'm still like trying to figure out what that's going to be about.

But yeah, oftentimes I be keeping my stuff because I do like what I make and I always make it.

I make sure I like it first and then yeah, like one of those pieces I personally own.

For real.

And that's solace.

I made.

That was it during the rock paint.

One rock paint.

Yeah.

I remember when you made that.

You were like, if.

Yeah, this is going home.

Yeah, that's mine.

You gonna have to, like, really buy that off.

I remember I was like, man, that's a beautiful piece.

You're like, yeah, this is going home.

And I already have a spot picked out.

Like, it's.

It's a wrap.

So I appreciate your.

You sharing that with us and your story and kind of the journey and, you know, and saying yes, Regardless if Jason was kind of, you know, maybe over doing.

Overdoing what I asked him to do,.

Well, I had to use you because.

To hunt her down.

Because.

That's right.

I do remember I realized at behind the Glass that I interviewed Brittany before when I was at the dnc.

She did Peculiar Asshole.

And I'm like, yo, who's doing these basketball courts with these murals?

Yeah.

Q was like, I got you.

I was like, I got an interview.

That's when I was on a. I guess no pun intended, but I was on a full court press trying to tell her.

I was like, you guys, everybody's got to do a story about they look at.

They're doing these basketball courts.

And then Rob hit me up, and I was like, yeah, I'll get you in touch with Brittany.

So, yeah, yeah, those.

Yeah, Peculiar Asphalt was a good run for that program.

And all those designs are done on majority city property or, you know, city parks or playgrounds.

And, yeah, all the designs are done by the youth workers of that program.

I pretty much started it because another youth worker that was part of Rock Paint just request, like, could we keep this going?

And, you know, everyone has, like, you know, their summer jobs and things like that, then summer projects they want to do.

And I was like, you know what?

I.

They want to make money and continue to make art.

Like, let me just start this program.

And I was inspired by a French or not French, a court in France.

And I was just like, okay, well, I don't have to do all the work as far as the design process.

I'm just going to let them work together and collaborate on coming up with the design.

And I'll just be there, middle liaison person to get the paint and the colors and critique what they have.

And, you know, just.

They actually learn about the environment that they're in and how, like, sometimes it's run down, sometimes it's in good shape, and they, you know, get community Feedback from it.

And yeah, we experienced a lot and I appreciate that program and you know, hopefully it's, it creates a path for someone else to do the same.

And so yeah, yeah, it was interesting about that program and about those spaces, like how it reactivated some courts in some playground or play areas where, you know, people weren't using those.

And then once that paint went down and those designs went down, then people came out and they started to sweep.

They started to make sure there was no glass on the court.

If you did something, you know, you were like, oh no, that's not what we do here.

Because there was that, that living, breathing art in the community which, you know, some people are like, well, you know, do certain communities deserve art?

Right?

And there's like that privilege that comes with that.

And I think some of the best art is in some of the communities that, you know, deserve them the most.

Around Rochester and the 19th Ward, over on, you know, Clinton and Joseph Avenue and so many other places.

St. Paul, you know, just tucked away, you know, right there for the community to enjoy.

And those courts for sure reactivated, you know, a lot of spaces and you know, when I was going out to photograph them, you know, took me to areas I had not even been to, you know, previously too.

So yeah, yeah, it was an awesome experience for sure.

So we're going to pivot the show here and you know, just kind of do a quick round of shout outs.

So we're going to come back to Vic and you know, let folks know where they can find you and, and you know, social media wise and if you have something coming up, you know, feel free to, to plug that.

Yeah, well, thank you guys just for, you know, the opportunity to even do behind the glass and like be a part of this.

This was, I mean this was something I wanted to do and getting the chance to do it.

It's, you know, I can check it off my list and I think it was a great experience.

You can find me at my Instagram, Vic Faz Jr. And I don't got nothing coming up but hopefully this will allow me to start, you know, planning more things and trying to branch out and network a little bit more and trying to get some more, more printout and stuff like that.

For sure.

I love it.

Brittany.

Yeah, you can find me on instagram @b williamsart and you can find me on my website.

Brittany-williams.com Someone took my whole name.

Charging 80, $89,000 domains is crazy.

Some people domain flip is crazy.

Yeah, yeah.

And yeah, I appreciate the text, you know, Quajay's my homeboy.

I got a piece from Quajay as well.

And so, yeah, like that basketball court one.

That was, you know, my first piece that I got from you.

And so, you know, still maintaining that, you know, artist friendship.

And, yeah, I been to some behind the Glass shows and I just like what you have going on and, you know, the people coming out, the artists coming out and families coming out to just, you know, support y'.

All.

And I just see, like, like you said, the community that comes in and sees this as a safe space for them to be themselves.

So I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

So thank you all for listening.

I don't usually say that, but I think you should.

Feeling very hosty today.

And, you know, you can see the work of Vic and Brittany all month long at the Farmhouse through the end of August.

We also have workup at Golden Supply and then another Last Friday show coming.

It's really a last Thursday again.

And then we have the AM FM opening on August 28th.

So last Thursday at Golden Supply, August 27th, last Friday with Rob over at AM FM.

And where can people find you on Instagram?

And I don't.

I can't even remember.

Is it a Behind Glass Rock?

Behind Glass Rock sounds good.

Yeah.

Visit them.

Make it a habit.

Just Google us.

This has been a presentation of the Lunchroar podcast network.

Look up the work of Pigal Duperre, who does all those amazing basketball courts in France.

And if you want to learn more about the player that all the kids are talking about that when they're talking about French basketball, look up Boris Dio.