Join us for a lively discussion as we wrap up the year with our last episode of 2024, featuring a unique group of artists showcasing their work at the Mercantile on Main. Joe Dellaria shares his journey into oil pastels, highlighting the therapeutic nature of his art and the joy of creating for oneself. Carmen Lewis discusses her passion for photography, emphasizing the importance of capturing moments and emotions during her travels in Scandinavia and beyond. Emily Collins, known for her collage work, explores her recent venture into photography, reflecting on the interplay between her two artistic practices. Tune in for insights, inspiration, and a reminder that art can be a powerful means of self-expression and connection within the community.

Links referenced in this episode:

• lunchador.org
• https://www.instagram.com/clewisfree20/
• https://www.instagram.com/energy.em/

Mentioned in this episode:

Sweet Pea Plant Based Kitchen

Based in Rochester, NY, Sweet Pea is a plant-powered kitchen creating transformative ways of wellness. Harnessing the power of food as medicine, we help you realize your happiest, healthiest self. Use promo code Lunchador15 for 15% off your order! https://sweetpeaplantbased.com

Joe Bean Roasters

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that lifts everyone. Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Mind of Magnus

Artist Magnus Champlin Interviews guests sharing the stories and life adventures with the goal of expanding minds.

The intro never gets old.

I think I hear it in my sleep sometimes.

Feels good, right?

Yeah, it does.

I'm glad to be back.

This is our last.

Oh, geez.

I'm excited.

Q's here, you're here, I'm here.

We all got here on time.

Chris is here too.

Yeah.

It was a long journey for me to get here.

Long, long journey.

Did you travel today?

No, not today.

Soon though.

Going to Chicago and later this week going to.

Going to visit the Furries in Chicago.

Have a good old time out there.

Nice.

Awesome.

Again, this is our podcast to coincide with our December reception.

Please come down to Mercantile, Maine from 6 to 8 this Friday, which is December 6th.

If you're listening later, anytime the Mercantile Mains open, you can head over to downtown and check out what the artists have on display.

But yeah, so we got our last group here.

We're ending off just like last year.

Ran it off with a pretty unique bunch.

And next January we'll be talking more about, well, upcoming.

Our next upcoming show will be the definite culmination yearly or second annual.

Second annual.

That's crazy to think, right, man.

Yeah, we had a great time last year at the anniversary.

I'm really excited to see everybody out again.

That was a blast for sure.

So we're definitely also, just like last year, we're also trying to raise money for that event.

So please, if you can share it and donate if you are able.

But yeah.

So let's talk about our last group.

Pretty unique bunch.

A lot of different things that we're going to showcase and.

Yeah, I'm excited.

Quiet.

That's supposed to be me saying something.

Yeah, yeah, go.

Yeah, I'm super excited, super stoked about the group.

And I think what I often say to you is your ability to bring folks together is second to none.

You know, major shout out to you for just your curatorial work.

You know, we.

We kind of go back and forth, whether it's text message, DMS in person and just be like, what do you think about this person?

About this person?

And then you're able to just kind of like string them together, which is.

Which is kind of cool and, you know, I think is super cool and, you know, special shout out to you.

But also I think that goes a long way to, you know, in terms of, you know, who we're showcasing and how we're showcasing them and.

And also showcasing them in sometimes different ways.

Right.

Than what they may normally Be known for, which I think is also very unique about behind the glass.

Right.

So when we come back, we'll finish off with our last group.

We'll have Emily, Carmen, and Joe here.

We'll be right back.

All right, we're back with our December crew, and we're going to start off with our first artist.

His name is Joe delaria.

How you doing, Joe?

I'm doing well.

How are you, Richard?

I'm.

I'm absolutely jazzed to be here.

Jazz.

He is super jazzed.

This is going to be a fun 10 minutes maybe.

So, Joe.

Joe, how are you?

Yes.

What's the meaning of life?

What's the meaning of life?

We haven't asked that in a while, man.

And I actually studied philosophy in college, so.

Oh, I'm back.

Go for.

Allow me to go on all day about that.

So, yeah, tell us a little bit about yourself, my friend.

Well, my name is Joe delaria, as you said.

You want me to talk about my art or.

Oh, for sure.

You could talk about basically what art you're going to be showcasing and you know where you started with that type of art.

All right, well, I'm showcasing some of my oil pastel artwork.

Nice.

And I just got into it a couple years ago.

My main medium used to be colored pencils.

Shout out Prismacolor.

The top of the line.

I mean, they really are fantastic.

So when my wife started doing commissions for the furry community.

Crazy dude.

On all the stuff, she started with a lot of colored pencils, man.

The colors on those, specifically the prismacolors, just so vibrant.

And they work so differently from the colored pencils that you might have had growing up your Crayolas or etc.

They act so differently.

Yeah, the.

The way they can blend is just fantastic.

Yeah.

But so I got into oil pastels basically because I was using colored pencils.

And then just this is random story.

Me and my friend from.

He lives in New York City, we were just kind of decided to have this color off thing because we were bored to send pictures of this.

We had this Charlie Brown, black and white.

He's like, skating on ice.

And I'm like, hey, let's color it and just have a little contest to see whose looks better or whatever.

So I use colored pencils and he sent me his picture back.

And I was like, how did you do that?

He was like, I used oil pastels.

I was like, that was a medium I'd never really heard of or used in my life.

So I was like, wow, that's really cool.

I gotta try this out myself.

So I went and bought some oil pastels and just went to it.

Was the transition a little bit difficult?

It was a little difficult.

Oil pastels are definitely a lot messier and a little different blending wise.

And you can use different techniques too, that you can't with colored pencils.

Like laying down the oil pastel really thick and then using like a toothpick or something to kind of scrape some stuff.

It's called like scraffito or something like that.

And there are just so many different ways you can use them that you can't use with.

With colored pencils.

So I just want to use that word forever though, now.

Q.

Scruffitas.

Yeah.

As he was saying, and I was like, I Google the word.

The word of the day is sgraffito.

It's interesting, Joe, what.

What led you to the, you know, colored pencils and then obviously talked about what led you to the.

The pastels.

Colored pencils really is just.

I just love how they can blend.

I mean, I'm not like, I'm pretty amateur.

I just kind of just do art for myself really, and just kind of like therapeutically.

And I just like how colors can blend into each other.

And I just like all different mediums.

But.

But once I discovered oil pastels, I was like, this is legit.

This is cool.

It's like a mix between crayons, the blending you can use with colored pencils and like paint, how it can get a bit messy.

So I just found it to be my favorite medium so far.

You keep referring to it as oil pastel, but when you sent over the image, you called it shitty oil pastel.

Is that the.

Is that a technical term or.

That's just how I describe my work.

I don't know if it was like some other.

If it was like graffiti or it was something else that I was unaware of.

There's a new word.

Yeah.

Learn all sorts of stuff today?

Well, yeah, I mean, I.

I'm not.

Like I said, I'm just kind of amateur, so I don't expect.

I don't like, sell my artwork or anything like that.

It's really just for me, but my brother was kind of like, hey, I think this looks really good, and I think you should go on, you know, behind the.

The glass and, you know, show your.

Your stuff.

And I was like, I don't think so, Mike.

But yeah, he'd been in.

He'd been talking to Richard for the better part of like six months to have me on the show.

Even though I was reluctant to do it.

You can hear the excitement, the excitement in his voice.

I think it takes a lot of other people in your inner circle to help amplify others around you to see that you have that potential.

And to be honest, one of the main reasons why we bring people to the gallery is also to instill some type of creativity in somebody else.

Right.

So the story that somebody out there is listening to right now could be somebody starting out with pencils or oil pastels.

And you know what?

They may not think they have, you know, the ability to be on a wall or one part of a gallery.

I'm learning that more and more, you really are your own worst critic.

Oh, for sure.

Oh, absolutely.

That's.

Yeah.

If this podcast had another name, it would be called you're your own worst critic.

Yeah, for sure.

But I think what's.

What's.

What's cool about it is we are all our own worst critics.

But at the core, and you said it a couple of times, is that you're creating the art for yourself, and the best art is the art you create for yourself and not for someone else.

Not for, you know, sure, you know, maybe if you made a couple bucks, it's cool, but the art that you create for yourself is the truest of art.

And, you know, we can all talk about being amateurs until we're blue in the face, but it's something that allows us to release, allows us to, you know, just be, you know, and if someone else sees it.

And I think that's another really cool thing that Richard's done where, you know, we've pushed people a little bit to say, you know what, you deserve this opportunity, and if it's the one and done, or if it's this opportunity plus, you know, something else comes up after it or, you know, if someone wants, you know, the shitty giraffe, like, and they love it, like, that's something that is just kind of an additional boost.

But even if they don't want it, like, it still has a home with you.

And I think that's the.

The cool thing about art in any form, whether it's, you know, painting or color pencils or photography or anything that we've displayed in the space.

So kudos to you.

Kind of came across a really good example, Chris, with the stickers.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So he gave us these stickers and said, hey, the.

These were my wife's, but they're misprints.

And I was trying to find any misprint or anything.

He's like, oh, they're Supposed to have some leaves in there.

I'm like, I wouldn't have never ever noticed that.

I'm like, they look good.

What's the problem?

Absolutely.

Kind of like every artist, they just see something that's there or not there.

Even though it looks good to everybody else, they're, they're gonna notice it.

Someone will say, hey, you know, that's a really cool photo.

You're like, yeah, it's a cool photo, but if I took two more steps to the left, it would have been a better photo.

But the photo that I took is the photo that I needed to take.

Just like the, you know, going from the pencils to the pastels, like you needed your friend to like challenge you and, you know, kind of push you a little bit.

Competition wise.

You're like, oh, that's really cool.

Tell me more about that.

But had you guys never gone back and forth, you know, would that, would that have come to you?

Or maybe it would have come to you at a different time, but the time that it came is the time it needed to come.

Yeah, agreed.

So I'm kind of interested.

So what are the kind of things that you have been experimenting with?

Is it, you know, what kind of things have you been using the pastels for?

Is it more?

What kind of work is it?

I really just kind of keep it simple.

I mean, I'll do like some scenery, like landscapes.

I'll do some still life, some animals, like my brother's dog.

Shout out Indy if you're listening.

Shout out Indy.

You're a good boy, Indy.

Indy's a real one.

Yeah, so I just, I just try and keep it simple and not try to have any hidden meaning behind anything, not to make anything too deep because I just do it for me, just therapeutically.

Do you have a favorite piece that you have right now or that you've worked on over time?

One of my favorite ones is a kind of a landscape.

One of my, one of my friends who I worked with, he's like an 80 year old Buddhist, but he goes on walks with his dog like every day and he'll take great pictures.

And this one he took of at one of the beaches around here and I just grabbed a picture from Facebook and I was like, hey, I'm going to try and, you know, recreate this with oil pastel.

And so I, I did a couple copies of it and gave one to him and kept one for myself.

And he was really happy about it.

And I guess that's what kind of made me happy, is giving my Art to someone else, and him realizing, like, wow, that's cool, man.

You're.

You're doing it.

You're.

You're doing pretty good at your.

Your artwork, right?

But that's also you seeing him too.

You're seeing him.

You're doing something that you feel good about that you got to say, hey, I saw your work.

I saw what you did.

Yeah.

And you get to give him something, you know, just by doing that.

A whole new.

A whole new vantage perspective.

So I keep learning more.

Like, instead of just doing it for myself, I can do it for other people.

So last Christmas, I gave each of my.

My family members, my mom, my dad, my brother, oil pastels that I made them specifically for them for Christmas.

And so.

Yeah.

Wait, wait, you made the oil pastels for them?

Yeah, like, I made my mama snowman.

My dad a bill.

Oh, okay.

Got you.

Got.

You don't.

You made the oil pastel.

You just made an oil pastel?

No.

Yeah, that's.

I don't.

I don't manufacture the oil.

Gosh.

I was like, wait a minute.

Do you melt them and you just, you know, shape them up?

I'm not at that level yet.

Give it time.

Give it time.

Joe, how often are you.

How often are you creating?

Probably, like a few times a week, just at night.

If I get a spark of inspiration, I'll just kind of sit down and start doing something.

And sometimes a couple weeks will go by where I won't do anything, because I think we all have those kind of gaps in creativity.

So it's.

It's basically whenever I find something that I want to paint or whatever.

That's awesome.

How many.

How many of Indy df?

I think I gave my brother three different ones last Christmas, and I gave him, like, I put the best one in a frame.

It was.

It was.

That took me a long time because with.

With animals or people or anything, the biggest thing is getting the eyes right.

And so that took me a long time to do that.

And that's actually going to be one of the ones I'm.

I asked to borrow it from him back alone.

That.

Yeah.

So I'm going to be showcasing that one on Friday.

That's awesome.

Perfect.

All right.

Thank you, Joe.

I appreciate your time.

Thank you, Richard.

We're going to move on to our next artist, and we're going to start off with Carmen.

How you doing, Carmen?

I am wonderful.

How are you?

I'm doing great.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Okay.

Before I do that, I just want to thank you.

All for both metaphorically and literally creating space for all of us to show our art.

It's pretty cool.

So thanks.

No doubt.

But, yeah, my name is Carmen Lewis.

I'll be showing photography this Friday at Behind the Glass, and I'm really excited.

I am a big supporter of local photography and photography generally and art.

So this is going to be wonderful.

Awesome.

So, photography.

When did you start doing photography?

Ooh, you want an emo story about that?

I should.

Let's go.

Okay.

So I grew up in the U.S.

virgin Islands.

It's the U.S.

we don't get to vote but us.

And when I was in fourth grade, our house got destroyed by a hurricane.

And because of that, we didn't really have any photos of growing up other than what my grandmother had in her little drawer.

So I started taking little disposable cameras when I was a kid after that and just taking photos, and I'd go to the drugstore and I'd develop them.

I thought that was really cool at the time.

And then, yeah, I guess that developed when I was.

No.

No pun intended.

In college, you know, you scrape together, like, the little bit of money you make.

And I got a digital.

And, yeah, I just.

In the family, I'm kind of known as maybe the documentarian of our family now.

But also I've got photos, maybe some photos no one will ever see and should never see, but I've got photos of a lot of moments, so.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

So then it just developed into you continuing with digital and film.

And what is your favorite medium out of digital and film?

Yeah, I would say film.

Film is my recent favorite.

In the last couple of years, like, I.

I honestly had gone to digital because it was sort of what Q had mentioned off.

Off record in terms of, you know, you always kind of want to take multiple of the same shot.

But then, you know, I decided that the intentionality of film, just because it's expensive, y'all, is.

I like that.

The focus of it.

And I often.

I travel a bit, and so I often.

My camera's my companion.

I solo travel a lot.

And so, yeah, digital was easy, but I now find that I like using film even on travels, despite having a hand check film at the airport and all that stuff, because I like just being in the moment and taking that one shot and then moving on and just kind of just putting my camera away after, to be honest.

So, yeah, there's something magical about film and that.

And also, there's also the risk of, like, man, I went to this Place I took this great photo and then I come back and oops, something happened or something, right?

Like there's a process that goes along with.

With film.

The same thing can happen with digital, right?

Like you get back and your memory cards like messed up or something.

Not some nonsense is happening, but there is that intentionality of it that I think is.

Is really cool.

I often, if I'm find myself taking too many photos digitally, I grab a film camera to slow myself down, get my mind frame back into place, and then I could pick up the digital again and say, well, is this a moment that I want to document?

And I also just hate editing anything.

And so like, yeah, downloading, I'll go to something and I'll take 100 pictures.

And I was there for 20 minutes and I'm like, what an idiot that guy was.

And it's me being like, oh, future me is.

That's a problem for future me.

But they're the same guy, right?

Like, what am I doing?

But there is something cool about the.

The film aspect of it.

But also having that in your back pocket, you know, as a thing you had in the beginning anyway.

Yeah, 100%.

What do you like documenting the most?

So, you know, I think it started out, it was a lot about family and friends and traveling, to be honest, which isn't.

Hasn't changed so much.

But I think what I like to capture now is it's sort of like capturing the feeling of the moment.

If I can do that.

That's really my goal.

So I try to find a subject and I guess kind of the tableau of the emotion that I'm feeling in that moment.

And that's what I try to focus on.

That's perfect.

You're telling a story with your medium, which is great.

And I think we.

I was gonna chime in also about the film aspect of things.

Cause what I do is when I'm shooting film, I also have my digital.

And I'll shoot them both at the same time.

And then when I get back my film, if I don't like it, I'll post the digital one instead.

So I kind of have that little, you know, safety net.

Because, you know, there's some times where you're right, it may not be the right lighting for that type of film.

And you come back and, you know, you're super excited.

You drop it off, you're like, yeah, this is going to be the one.

And then you get back like, all damn.

No.

One of my favorite roles of film, I always take a shot of My.

The Fry guy on every roll of film.

It's just like a tradition.

So any role of film has at least one frame of him.

And one year I decided I don't remember what grade he was going to.

Might have been fourth grade, fifth grade, some grade that was important.

It's the first day of school and I was like, yeah, whatever.

I'm just going to take these shots and on the film camera, I'm not going to take any digital.

I'm not taking on my phone.

Took them then.

They were like all blurry and they were terrible.

But I remembered, you know, that moment and what was going on, blurry or not.

So sometimes that brings it back too.

Or if you sit with it long enough, you'll be like, oh, wait, you know what?

I have fresh eyes.

I was too excited when I opened up, you know, the film and looked at it and I hated it because I was thinking of something else.

And then when you sit with it, you're like, okay, this isn't, you know, this is something a little different.

Do you ever have those.

Those moments?

Yeah, I took a photo of.

I'm friends with the people in the band Shores in Rochester, and I actually took digital that night.

Just because you're in, like, bar.

Bad ending.

It's dark.

It's just hard.

And yeah, a lot of the photos came back blurry.

But the coolest ones were word the house lights, which are pink and purple and blurred.

It just amplified the feeling of the electric guitar and the voice and it just popped.

So, yeah, I think sometimes it's not what you expect.

Sometimes that's the fun of it.

In my experience.

I might be the opposite of you, though, Q.

Because I love editing.

I.

I love the tedious, meticulous.

I'm familiar with Rob Bell.

He also loves editing.

Yeah, I like it.

And I like how I can change the mood with some of the edits.

So I didn't.

Luckily for the photos I'm going to show this week in this month, behind the Glass, I didn't have to do too much.

I kind of lucked out.

All of the photos are 35 millimeter.

They're black or white.

And except for one digital photo that was in an underground subway in Stockholm where it was too damn dark.

So can I swear on this podcast?

Sure.

As I said shitty oil something earlier.

I mean, this is an adult podcast context.

I'm not gonna.

I won't be like, gratuitous unless you want me to anyway.

But yeah, so.

But most of its film and you know, but I don't know.

No bias against digital, because digital is great, but something about film, y'all, for sure.

Yeah, I think it is on.

It does have something to it that, you know, and.

And it's also touched at every moment.

And I.

Who was it?

You weren't here last month when I was talking.

Kai.

No, Jesse.

And we talked about it, and she's like, oh, wait, you're right.

People do touch my film.

Like, it's touched from the moment you drop it off until the moment you pick it up.

Right?

And so people will ask, you know, why did you take a picture of our squirrel?

And you're like, don't worry about why I took the picture for a squirrel.

Ask the squirrel.

Yeah, this is.

This is my moment.

Shout out to the squirrel that I took the picture of.

But, yeah, I think it's.

It's something cool about that.

The being, you know, and even if you process your own or if you go into the dark room and you're creating in the darkroom, like, there's just something cool about those tangible moments.

And maybe you get a little bit of that in the edit process when you're doing digital.

But I think the cool part is not having that with the photos that you're presenting.

And you said one of them is digital.

Will we have to guess the digital or are you going to tell us?

I want you to guess the digital map.

Well, I just said it was in the subway.

There's only one.

Oh, yeah.

So y'all.

I was gonna say.

Wait, but yeah, that one is.

That's right.

You did say that.

Dang.

Well, I don't know.

No, that was fun.

Oh, my gosh, that scared me.

That was the word of the day.

Every time someone says digital, ping, ping.

Yeah, but I would say that I like photographing people, too.

Just want to say that some of my favorite photographers either take photos of people or self portrait, which I'm just starting to mess with.

Self portrait.

That's going to get.

You guys are going to get freaked out by the stuff I'm going to post next year with that.

I've already started.

But I would say my favorite photographers that I think of when I'm taking a photo, probably to Jacques.

Henry Lartig is one of my favorite photographers.

He's a French photographer that also tried to document his family, which I really respect.

And he was mostly black and white until he went color, I think, in the 50s.

But anywho, he's.

The way he documents the mundane moments and does portrait.

But while people are living their lives.

That's what I aspire to.

Just like to capture life.

So.

And then the other one is Cindy Sherman.

Obviously, a lot of people like her.

I tried to catch her photo exhibition in Belgium when I was there and a couple months ago, and I missed it, which was sad.

But I like how audacious her photos are, and I think some of my self portraits I'm working on are going to lean that way.

So stay tuned.

During the early part of COVID I did a lot of self fortune.

I'd never shared those self portraits, but it was just me trying to figure out lighting.

And like, I had this.

The place that I used to live had this really big window, and this natural light would come in, and I would just change the blinds just a little bit, and the color would shift and shift and shift and shift.

And it was like, oh, I don't have anything else to do.

I'm not going outside right now.

And I'm.

I.

Not me as a photographer, Me and portraits are like, if we've never been friends, because it's just weird for someone to look at you.

And I'm taking a portrait, but I like those mundane moments, right?

So like family, right?

Taking a photograph of my grandmother, taking a photograph of, you know, a child at a party.

Or like, moments that are not necessarily posed as more of the candid.

Those are the portraits that I love to take, or taking portraits of random objects.

You know, here's this, you know, broken down tv, and that's the portrait of a moment that's not necessarily a moment of a person.

So I saw that TV one, and it was sick.

But, yeah, I'm all for that.

And so the photos I'm showing this week, I've already given one spoiler, so y'all just have to come.

But the rest of them are all.

There is a theme to my photo series, and I have a little write up that'll be underneath the photos.

But the whole point was just to capture the feeling of being away from home and traveling and the feeling of wanting solitude amongst masses of people.

Like, you know, that's what a lot of the photos are about.

So check it out, y'all.

All right.

Thank you, Kermer.

Yeah.

Thank you for sharing as well.

Our last artist.

Hi, Emily.

Emily, you got to use a couple big words, too.

Just big words and makeup.

No, she also has to do one profanity, one profound word.

Where's the bingo card?

Yeah, profound word, man.

Well, then we should have recorded this on a Monday night.

Concern it how Are you.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

No doubt.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Yeah, my name is Emily Collins.

I'm kind of do a variety of different things.

I'm probably most.

I don't want to say I'm well known because I'm not.

But I do collage, and that I think is amazing.

Collage.

You know who are familiar with my work locally, it's that.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've been doing collage, honestly, for not that long, I think.

I don't know.

I totally resonate with feeling like an imposter, especially for what I'm doing, this episode or whatever, this exhibition, because I'm showing photography instead of collage.

So.

Yeah.

Love it.

I love it.

Yeah, we'll see.

This is your first time showcasing photography?

Yeah.

Amazing.

I.

And I don't.

I'd like to get into it again.

You know, I.

These.

The photos that I'm showing are old photos.

What drew you to photography?

Was this something that you always had before collage while making or.

Yeah, well, I mean, I don't know.

I think I.

I've always liked taking pictures.

I grew up in a time where digital cameras were commonplace.

You know, as.

Even as like a younger person, maybe not like a kid kid, but like a teenager.

I had digital camera and I can remember.

I'm sure we can all relate to going out with friends with your digital camera and taking a million pictures.

Shout out to that throughout.

Yeah.

But I would say, just like Carmen, I'm mostly inspired by travel and seeing different things.

That's honestly why I haven't been taking pictures around town.

Although I'm inspired by seeing, like, your work and the works of the community that, you know, the photography community that's so active here.

And I'm not super tapped into that, but I'd like to be.

And I'm kind of hoping that this accomplishes that a bit or kind of opens the door to that.

But, yeah, I started taking pictures.

I got a camera because I wanted to take pictures when I moved abroad.

Lived abroad for a couple years after I graduated from college and, you know, taught English, did that thing, traveled around Southeast Asia.

I lived in Thailand and Indonesia.

I've talked about that before in this room before.

That was behind the studio door.

Yeah, behind the studio door.

Not to be confused with behind the glass or beyond the glass or so.

So if you want to hear more stories, check out that episode behind the studio door.

Great.

Really did Have a great time.

It was very enjoyable with.

With Molly, another BTG alum.

You know, kind of spread.

Absolutely.

Christian future.

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

Talented guy.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

But yeah, no, so.

So now that you have photography, right, do you feel like.

Like how long wait.

Actually, let's.

Let's back up a little bit.

So what you're showcasing now, you said they're old photos right now, Is there something that you've been doing recently in terms of documenting photography that you're drawn to?

I haven't really yet.

Before I moved abroad, I started going around town with my camera and taking pictures.

I kind of laughed myself because I was walking around the city with my camera taking pictures before either of you guys were.

And this is digital.

This is digital year was it 30, 16?

Maybe not, but okay, gotcha.

I think maybe.

I mean, before.

Yeah, I mean, I was taking photos, but it was different stuff.

We weren't really sharing.

Yeah, that was when I used to.

Keep it to ourselves.

Concert stuff.

Oh, yeah, you did?

In New York City.

Yeah.

That's some famous people you got on.

On your camera there.

Q.

A couple.

Yeah.

Kanye west before Kanye west was a little wacky.

You don't want to name drop.

What else?

Yeah, Q Tip Tribe Call Quest.

Yeah, Some nice shots about.

Yeah, Busta Rhymes.

There's a couple of folks.

That's pretty cool.

So you.

I forgot what I just asked.

Oh, she was walking around.

No, no, I'm not, but I.

Like I said it's Monday night.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

What I was gonna ask, but no.

I'm not taking pictures.

That's right now.

But I'd like to, you know.

Gotcha.

That's the whole thing.

I mean, you are.

You are.

Yeah.

I mean, I take pictures on my phone.

I have a cell phone.

Yeah.

Are you.

Are you doing film or digital?

It's digital.

Digital.

Okay.

Yeah.

I have like a little Canon.

I can't remember what it is, but it's like a point.

It does the job.

Don't worry about it.

We said it before, like, you go to somebody' you the meal, and you don't say, hey, what stove was this made on?

You know, you just enjoy it.

And so what you're presenting is what we're gonna, you know, Samsung.

Is this a Samsung?

Just.

Yeah, it just tastes.

So.

Thanks for noticing.

Q.

Appreciate that.

People ask me about what camera and I'm like, I don't know, it's a Canon something.

What's the name?

What's this one?

I mean, I know the Ricoh because It's just easier to remember.

But which version?

Sometimes I forget.

Good.

But I think the importance is the person who's holding it, whether that's a camera, a cell phone, a digital camera, film camera, you know, oil, pastels, whatever it is, it's all about the user.

I'm a firm believer in that for sure.

Now, in terms of your collage work and in terms of your photography, like, which do you feel is more difficult now that you have these both in your repertoire of things to do in the artist space?

I don't know.

I probably spend more time thinking about the collage.

Right.

And I do that more.

Photography is more like.

I don't think about it too much.

I don't think about, oh, gotta set up a shot, or whatever.

Have you used.

Have you thought of using some of your photography in your collage work?

Have you done that in the past or.

I have thought about that.

I have not done it, but I have been thinking about that.

I mean, I started doing that and, yeah, you know, I was inspired by you and a lot of other, you know, local artists that did collage works.

So I started chopping and screwing my own photography.

And it's fun because you start tapping into this spark of creativity I didn't know I had.

You can be staring at a picture for an hour and just be like, wow, I hate it.

And then you just delete it and just redo it.

I've, gosh, undoed so many different things that I've done inside of my work.

And I use Canva, I use Photoshop, both of those at the same time.

Yeah.

I wanted to ask if you were doing digit.

You.

You mean digital collage?

Yeah, digital collage.

You talked to me at one point, like, messages that you wanted to cut it up, and I'm waiting for it.

So that's what I did, actually.

I.

It would start off as digital.

Yeah.

Right.

You did a couple cuts.

Yeah.

And then.

So what I.3D collage stuff that you correct is really cool.

Yeah.

So what I did was I would do the digital.

Start off with a digital collage.

And then from that, I actually took some of my works and actually made them into 3D, you know, collages by cutting them out.

And they looked great.

It looked awesome.

Everybody that saw them, you know, they actually enjoyed, you know, the.

The depth that I tried to, you know, instill in those.

But, yeah, no, it's.

It's definitely difficult.

So the.

The.

The digital or the.

I mean, well, the cutting part.

No, I don't.

Well, they're both pretty difficult, for sure, but just the creation of it, because you can go so many different avenues.

You can go so many different ways.

I think the hardest part was I feel like with collage work that I was trying to instill, I felt like I needed a theme to go with what I was trying to create, where I feel like some people may just go with the flow, and then the theme would just present themselves afterwards.

So I want to get into that.

I want to tap into that where I can, you know, work and flow that way.

But, I mean, I want to get more into it, but I haven't.

And I think that's the idea, is to be introduced to more people and see how they do stuff, listen to podcasts like this one and figure out how, you know, how different ways I can, you know, be creative in that, you know, space.

How do you start, Emily?

What?

Start what?

Start like this?

Oh, yeah.

Well, I mean, I've seen you.

I've seen your.

You work.

I've seen your work.

I've seen you work as well when you were doing the residency at the Yards, and, you know, it looks like chaos.

Yeah, right?

Yeah, it does.

But there is always, like.

It seems like there's a method to.

To the madness.

Yeah.

I don't know.

I kind of think of it as, like, I say it's like putting together a puzzle, but you're making the puzzle up as you go, which I prefer because puzzles drive me crazy.

They make me so mad.

I'll start a puzzle, and I'll just throw the pieces around the bed.

So I'm not doing this.

I can't find the one piece I'm looking for.

Why did you start collage work?

Actually, I didn't think we asked that.

Like, when did you start actually doing that?

During the pandemic.

Pandemic?

Yeah.

Were you doing stuff before that?

Like, artists related, Like.

Like creating, like.

Well, I mean, I took pictures then before, but I've always been more of a.

Like, I'm a music performance kind of a person.

Or I was, you know, up until that point, play guitar.

I did see some of your guitar.

Work videos, like, theater performance.

I was like, I'm a theater kid.

You know, in my soul, you see that as I'm gesticulating.

There's a word.

There's a big word.

There it is.

All right, check that box.

Now I just have to swear, and then we'll.

I'll be done.

Did you see it, everyone?

Do you have a.

Do you have a current work either?

It's photography, or, I mean, a photo or collage creation that you vibe with that you actually are sentimental about that it has a certain meaning.

I'm.

I'm a little sentimental about some of, like, my first collages.

Like, I won't sell a couple of, like, the first collages that I ever made.

The very first collage I ever made.

I just.

I kind of had this thought in my mind.

I kept picturing this table full of, like, scraps of things and glitter and glue and paint and pencils and all this stuff.

And so I went out and amassed those items and sat down with them and, like, what do I do with this?

And put together a little collage and put it on social media.

You know how it goes.

And had a couple of people say, hey, this is good.

You should maybe do something with this.

And so that's kind of how I started doing that.

And some of those first ones, I.

Was there glitter in those first ones?

Oh, yeah.

I think I have.

Maybe that's why you're not giving it away.

Because you don't want to give away that glitter.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because nobody wants it.

It's too messy.

I think I've graduated.

I was wondering what was on your phone.

I was wondering what was on the side of your phone.

Is that glitter?

I'm just joking.

But look, I.

Look, because it could be.

Yeah, it could be.

Do you.

I mean, I think because collage work came after photography, is there, like, are you thinking about composition?

Like, does your photography work inform your collage work in that way?

I mean, I don't know.

Not consciously, I don't think.

I honestly have not thought about the two practices in relation to one another before this conversation.

I kind of like to have a variety of different creative outlets so that I can kind of build back up the juice for, like, the collage, maybe, right?

Because the collage is the stuff that I sell or promote or whatever.

So then I like to have, you know, do photography or play my guitar and kind of keep them as separate things from one another so that, you know, when I do get burned out on one, I can go do something else.

And then, yeah, like I said, kind of refuel the tank for the other thing.

But this conversation is making me think, okay, I got to think about that a little bit more.

I think it might be just happening subconsciously for you yourself, I think.

I mean, I.

When I look at your collage work, I see very strong composition, Right?

And then when you started to share your photography work, there's very strong Composition there.

And so you can see that it's happening whether you're thinking about it or not.

And the last thing, two things I'll.

I'll say real quick is one, you're.

And I said this to you at the Yards, and I've said it to you since.

Your cut work is just phenomenal.

And I.

One of the things I always appreciate about great collages is when I can't tell which part was part of the original.

Right.

So yes, you see it and you're like, wait, was this the original?

Is this the original?

Oh, wait, that's ten different things together.

It's like, oh, I only thought it was three because I'm trying to find the lines.

And the second thing I'll say is thank you for being brave enough to show your photography work.

I know.

I.

When you shared it, I sent you a message about it.

You left me on Read for a couple of days.

I think you were, I don't know, maybe hesitating about, nervous.

Oh, my God.

Someone just complimented my photography.

And then I shot Richard a message same day and was like, hey, we're going to get Emily in, not for collage, but photography.

And he was like, all.

All aboard.

And so I'm happy we're able to get you in the focus again.

That's one of those things that we pride ourselves on in some way is pushing folks to show a little bit of for sure something that's.

That's different, but is also a part of their creative journey.

So thank you for leaving me on red, but then following up.

I appreciate that.

Thanks for your patience.

Awesome.

Well, thank you, Emily.

We appreciate you.

We'll be right back.

And we are going to close out our group for December.

All right, we are back, and we're going to close out our group.

Joe, what are you bringing to the gallery?

And where can people find you, my friend?

Well, hello again, Richard.

Hey, what's up?

Thanks for coming.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for coming.

I just shook hands.

That's crazy.

Basically, yeah.

I'm just bringing.

I've got six of my oil pastels that I'm bringing.

I think, like I said before, a mixture of things that the two are animals.

Two, or maybe one is a still life and I don't know, then some scenery stuff.

Where can you find me?

Nowhere.

Nowhere good.

I love it.

I don't have.

Where's waba?

Yeah, I don't have anything of my artwork on Instagram or Facebook or anything.

I love it.

Like I said, my brother's kind of the one that threw the hat in the ring for me to do this.

Gotcha.

So, yeah, this is me kind of putting forth something I'm not totally comfortable doing.

But you know, this is fun.

Why not?

Hey, shout out to being uncomfortable man.

Appreciate.

Appreciate you love it.

Hey, I appreciate you being part of our group.

I appreciate you showcasing the work and being able to hopefully instill confidence in somebody else when they see your stuff.

So thank you.

It's not like I have to deal with generally as anxiety order disorder every day anyways, so that's great.

Yeah.

So, yeah, you can't really find me anywhere, so you.

You can find you at the reception.

At the reception.

Yeah.

There you go.

So come on down.

Thank you, Joe.

And as far as other stuff, I guess I'm like, I'm kind of the proverbial jack of all trades, master of non kind of guy.

So I.

I'm also in a band called the Honey Smugglers.

And later this month, December 27th and 28th, we're playing Backto Back shows at Three Heads Brewery.

Oh, nice.

For our 10th year anniversary.

Nice.

And we will also be selling vinyls of some of our live cuts that we played with with the backing horn section.

So that's pretty cool.

Vinyl's coming back.

Yeah.

And that.

That's awesome.

Also, shout out to Jeff and the whole team at Three Heads for being great supporters of live music and making great and affordable beer for Rochester for.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And yeah, I guess everyone loves vinyl these days.

It's kind of.

Kind of the.

Just like the difference between film and digital.

Whatever.

For sure.

Digital.

I said the word.

You gotta play that.

Ding.

Oh, well added in post very late.

Hey, there we go.

There it is.

Huzzah, you've got mail.

And then I also fix watches.

Really?

Yeah, like a watchmaker.

Wow, did not know that.

Yeah, that.

That's a whole separate.

Actually.

Yeah.

I have like three watches that I just don't want wear because they're broken.

I gotta.

Okay, I'll fix them for you.

No doubt.

All right, cool.

Like I said, jack of all trades.

All right, awesome.

Thank you, Joe.

I appreciate you.

Thank you, Richard.

I appreciate you.

No doubt.

Our next artist, Carmen.

Hey, y'all.

You kind of said already what you're bringing, which is great.

You can reiterate it, but also just talk a little bit about, you know, what you got going on if you want.

Okay.

So yeah, bringing six photos.

Check it out.

From my trip to Scandinavian continental Europe a couple months ago and other stuff you can find me.

I used to have one of those like private Instagrams, like, don't try to follow me.

And now I'm like, oh, I'm public, whatever.

And I've pretty much turned my.

My personal Instagram into my photo Instagram.

I might change that at some point.

But right Now I'm at cl free 20 is where my photos can be seen on Instagram.

And yeah, I also just want to shout out the Lilac Collective.

You'll also find me at their events because they really promote photographers and artists in Rochester.

Femme them all the above.

Very welcoming community.

Jen Carlson has the same DSLR and SLR cameras that I use so on film.

And she's taught me so much.

So has Amber and everyone really.

So thanks for them.

Other stuff I do, I mean, you don't want to know about my day job.

I'm a renewable energy attorney.

So unless you're building a wind farm, we probably won't hang out.

But then I guess in terms of like the scene, you know, the music and the art scene in Rochester is hand in glove.

Right.

So I'm a singer, songwriter in a band called Croix.

Actually Fred, who owns Bar Bed, ending with his wonderful wife, took my headshot for the behind the Glass thing.

So shout out, Fred.

And yeah, you'll find me in like various clubs around Rochester playing with the band.

Yeah.

Or not.

I don't know.

It's up to you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Carmen.

And last but not least, Emily.

Yeah.

So okay, what am I bringing?

I bringing six photographs from my time living in Asia taken throughout Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos, I think.

And where else you can find my work on Instagram?

For the most part at Energy.

The word Energy.

Em.

Energy.

Em.

Most recently I put out a collaboration the past month with my friend Nala Ward, who is a poet and collage artist as well in Rochester.

That collaboration is called Conjunction.

It is a poetry and collage scene.

There's art, which is not really.

I gotta put it out out on online so people can see it.

But the zines are available.

Reach out.

If you're curious, check out Nala as well.

Runge Leslie Knope on Instagram.

Nala's awesome.

So yeah, thank you.

Awesome.

Well, that's our crew.

Chris, can you close us out?

Sure can.

Another great episode of behind the Glass coming up for the gallery this Friday, December 9th.

9th.

The 6th.

December 6th.

At the Mercantile on Maine.

6 to 8 o'clock.

Don't.

Don't listen to me.

And also hopefully you can check out some other shows on the Lunchadore podcast.

So we're really excited to have more from that.

And if you enjoyed this show, go to lunchadore.org and check out all the shows on the Lunchadoor Podcast Network.

So hopefully we will see you behind the Glass.

This has been a presentation of the.

Lunchadore Podcast Network work.

Come check out behind the Glass.

Humbly now we shoot where all the rock can look Friday in friendly warmth of friends and film.

We love our humble gallery, beautiful and small beneath a slate gray sky.

Snow cap soon hold a camera for one and all.