so I think we should be going live going
live alright and then the question is
can anybody see us if you're out there
if you're out there say hello hello
alright welcome you to the live stream
we do talk like yo today yeah it is it
is talk like yo today so if you are
watching us today in a live stream it
might be a little bit too much to try
and type things like Yoda too much it
might be just just a warning I am not
feeling really well I could actually see
my face in the live stream and I'm like
whoa what's up swollen face yeah I've
got a headache
my daughter used to call it headache
daddy I got a headache and it just stuck
forever it's great it helps you not take
it so serious uh-huh
anyway he's got a headache but we love
you guys so much we're live streaming
anyway yeah I'm wondering if anybody's
actually getting this Lisa okay so can
you see us alright are we looking are we
looking bueno mucho bueno yeah yeah all
right also we have some some questions
from Dan DN yeah Deanna pre pre prepared
she's got three questions for us that
we're gonna be answering the ends a girl
after my own heart pre preparing
questions I like to write down what I
want to ask or say to because when I get
in the moment of something I'm usually
like Lisa said hi again so Lisa are you
able to yes you look Dwayne Oh awesome
awesome great happy talk like yo today
you
you talk like you're happy tongue like
your today we do wish you so in case you
didn't know there is a little bit of a
delay between the chat and the time that
we get it I'm not sure why YouTube does
that I think I don't know why they do
that maybe they do that to help us like
be able to go through the questions or
something yeah well we have Lisa here hi
Lisa hey Lisa if you have any questions
for us you don't have to type them and
talk like Yoda format you could just
yeah I'm glad you could join us
for the live stream also Lisa I'm
interested to know how you were doing on
catching up with your orders and stuff
and I know I know you just moved oh yeah
I know that a lot of things are good and
a lot of things are you know still good
just just kind of like a delicate
balance a delicate balance yes yeah it
can be scary can be scary
I bet she's handling it like a chant of
course she is Lisa you have no idea how
much of an inspiration you are just in
being who you are so also your artwork
is beautiful yeah when we were looking
at the the mailboxes cle-cle basically
pointed out some that she was like this
is this is what we're gonna get I have
plans for when we move to another place
for a custom mailbox from you I do I
have a few ideas actually have to narrow
it down the key word there is us moving
to our new place yeah we need to figure
out how that's gonna happen my good idea
we got your questions yeah so we're all
prepared for your questions that's
awesome that you pre-prepared questions
that's exactly what I would do
yes yeah yeah so do you want me to read
Dan's questions and you can answer them
yeah read Dan's questions give me one
moment
uno momento as you could probably tell
from looking at my eyes
and at my face I'm I'm a little what I
I'm not really sure what's going on I
think maybe I am feeling a little bit
fatigued as you guys know I've been like
worried about things or whatever and yes
I I think I think today I woke up and
I'm not worried about things after
yesterday I'm like yes I'm good I've got
this I'm gonna face it and then this
morning I woke up and my body was much
more relaxed so I have feeling like all
that tension that I was holding on to
just everything is very sore and well
the tension left you but it left you
with like a post stress recovery period
oh good all right good
he's an allergy sufferer and the
allergies have been so very epic in
Florida yeah I don't know that this is
allergies though it might be a little
bit burning the candle at both ends yeah
I'm burning the candle because I'm there
so I'm in a I'm in a position right now
where I'm almost like in a transitional
state of figuring things out like the
the one thing that I haven't been able
to tell and not the one thing that I
haven't been able to tell anybody but
one of the things that I don't really
announce on YouTube is that the starting
to do the videos and even doing the
patreon that it's almost like a next
level step in my life I the videos on
YouTube and that kind of stuff has
always been something that I've wanted
to do but it's been the ability to be
able to balance all those things
together balance my our career balance
our music I want to have a very like
happy artistic type life and the only
reason that I haven't done the youtubes
or
focused on music and focused on growing
my art career even bigger than it
already is is because of insecurities
and doubts within myself so I am facing
all of those doubts and all those
insecurities head-on but me being Who I
am instead of facing them one by one I
just like yeah I grabbed two swords and
then pounced into the flames like full
string Ravi and I balance each other
because he jumps into everything with
both feet with zero regard for his own
for his own well-being and I'm a little
more calculated I'll dip a toe in yeah
so sometimes I try to reel him back in
and sometimes he pushes me in the pool
yeah and I think it's probably good for
both of us but he's definitely a jumper
inner with both yeah and most of the
time that's fun but like sometimes
sometimes sometimes it's sometimes I'm
adding too much and you guys know on
patreon that there have been little
things here and there where I've been
struggling with content and really just
wrapping my mind around a thing and what
you're experiencing is is that what's
going on with me so so yeah I I I'm good
I don't want anybody to be worried about
me like I'm good and this will pass this
is just when you're carrying that much
tension so tightly then eventually
you're going to find a way out but
you're just going to kind of still have
that fatigue set in so I did take a nap
today and I'm good I'm not at a hundred
the NAP I was like I could probably
sleep for another who knows how long but
I am good I'm down to 70 orders says
Lisa yes yes awesome
yeah I want to do uh-huh she wants to do
the mailbox for
yeah that'll be amazing I can't wait for
that I was just gonna say I wonder why
you feel the need to do it all and all
at once yeah it's such a good question
it's not even a need it's just I think
that it's something that pushes me
because back back in the day so what
you're seeing is a version of Rafi who
loves to put himself out there is is
afraid to do things but will still face
his fears and do it and I spent 12 years
working in corporate I had the the right
kind of marriage I had the house with
the white picket fence I had the two
cars and the good job and I wasn't happy
I was I was miserable and I was doing
everything that you were supposed to do
in order to be a grown-up and to have
the right kind of life and I wasn't
happy on any front I wasn't I wasn't
married to my best friend I love my kids
but instead of viewing them as the gift
that they were I spent a lot of time
viewing them as a responsibility and and
things that that children are not you
know children are amazing and beautiful
and lovely and instead I saw them as a
burden that I had to carry I worked a
job that I hated and only worked there
for the money and there were so many
choices and decisions that I made in my
life that were opposite of the things
that I really wanted to do and that I
felt like doing and what I realized was
it was because I was afraid to face
rejection or I was afraid that I wasn't
good enough and so I just kind of kept
myself small and so when an opportunity
like this comes out where it's like okay
well you're afraid to do this just do it
I let you only live once you know you
get to to experience this opportunity I
think that that's where all that that
vigor to just jump in with my barbarian
scream and just like
you know and and then afterwards cuz at
least now yes I am tired I am exhausted
but this will pass and I know that in
order to get to this place where I'm at
right now I had to break through some
barriers so that's why I jump in with
both feet
always storming the castle yeah I think
I go through this and I think a lot of
creative people go through this is like
you have more ideas at any given time of
things you want to do then like you're
able to physically do at one single time
and so then that can even get
overwhelming even though like all the
things you want to do our fun and
amazing you want to do them all at once
because you don't want to like lose any
of those things I have to write things
down like I satin made a list one day of
jewelry things that I want to do this
year and it ended up being a list of
like 30 things that I want to do that I
don't do yet or don't have in my Etsy
shop or whatever just so I wouldn't
forget them because I was feeling like I
needed to get them all done this week so
that I couldn't seize the opportunity
while the inspiration was hitting yeah
but it can be too much to actually
physically accomplish yeah yeah and I
mean so I'm wondering if you are also
feeling responsible for us or to us Dan
I was I I was and I think I think that
was what that video was about when I was
talking about you know where we involve
money and then all sort of my brain was
like you need to do this and you need to
do that you guys have helped me get over
that so it's I don't refuel responsible
to you and what I realized was that it
was almost like the same thing I had
done with with my kids back when I was
you know it's it's hard for a parent to
say that they resented their children
but I wouldn't be I wouldn't be honestly
me if I didn't say that back when I was
very miserable there was a big part of
me that resented my kids because I was
doing this too you know the the things
that I told myself in my mind
I was doing this terrible job because of
them I was in this loveless marriage
because of them I was doing all these
things because of them and obviously I
loved my children but I and I didn't
even realize that those feelings were
there and causing resentment I don't
feel that way anymore
there especially when it comes to my
kids and if something happens in my
brain where it's bringing me to that
place I put myself in check so I remind
myself what the truth of the story is so
yes I did that with you it's almost like
I I created my version of responsibility
where there's a where I felt like I had
to do these things because there was
money involved and like I said before
luckily you guys showed me the way out
of that and I was like no they don't
they don't want anything from me they
just want me you know who I am they're
just here to support me and and what it
did was the same thing that's happened
with my kids and I'm not I'm not calling
you my kids that's it's kind of weird
that I'm making that analogy but I'm not
calling you my kids but it was the same
thing it was almost like yes I get to
the feel that sense of gratitude and
love and joy whenever I interact with
you versus which is what I want versus
feeling that sense of responsibility so
so yeah thank you for helping me get out
of that mindset because that would have
eventually just turned into resentment
and I never ever ever want that to
happen between me and and people that I
that I adore yeah thank you for always
being honest with us shall I read Dan's
questions that we have here yeah let's
see naps and love yet naps I totally get
the feeling you were going through to do
the right thing
you are amazing oh thank you thank you
Dan
all right the N we have your question so
please gonna read that I'm gonna read
them I'm gonna read them one at a time
and then you can answer them okay okay
yes okay
question one
do you have a brand preference of
acrylic paint I okay so so my brand
preference is just a certain type of
acrylic let me grab some acrylics cuz I
don't pay attention to the brand per se
but I do pay attention to where I get
the acrylic and when you know where what
it's like so many paints in the studio
so many I'll do a little intermission
dance while Rafi gets acrylic paints
clean doesn't know anything about
acrylic paint
but I'm always excited to see actually a
lot of times cuz there's like a billion
things in the studio I'll be wandering
around like looking for where the
stapler is and I'll be like ooh what's
this he's like get away from that so
when it when it comes to acrylic paints
there are obviously all the different
types of acrylics that you could get you
guys are familiar with these these are
the hobby acrylic paints these are not
high quality paints are also very
inexpensive I use these whenever I'm
watering down my acrylics to do a wash
because these work really really well
for the wash because they easily mix in
with the water versus if you're using a
heavier body to acrylic where it doesn't
mix in with the water so it's not
necessarily about the brand or the
quality of the acrylic it is how I'm
going to use the acrylic so cheaper
acrylics like this work perfect for a
wash but the cheaper acrylics that are
found at Walmart a lot of those I don't
use because those are not good they're
not good at all it's kind of like their
canvasses their canvases are stretchy
enough those are like Hobby Lobby stuff
yeah yeah another anita's all-purpose
craft acrylic paint washes for washes
yeah and then the Masters touch is one
of the brands that I'll use
I run out of my my other paints but
master's touch works pretty well it's an
acrylic it's heavy bodied it's got a
little bit of glazing to it which means
that it's slightly transparent so I'll
use that and then this is by far my
favorite of the heavy bodied acrylics
and it's utrack and I get this from Dick
Blick online but Utrecht is its own
company you can look that up it's u TR e
CH T and I love love their acrylics so
that's that's what I use they're the
ones that make those super saturated
colors the cadmium the cadmium colors
and Utrecht are really really awesome
you can tell they're fancy because they
come in a fancy container and they're
like hello if you like this fancy color
here's a sample of another fancy color
and you're like dress I love it yeah
yeah they got me with they got me with
their sample anytime you order some kind
of paint from Dick Blick you'll get
these little sample things they're
tempting you they're like mm-hmm
we know you're gonna like this paint oh
you've got one yeah I've got I've got a
couple I keep them all for when I run
out of the paint so they send you this
and then it's got four different sample
paints and then they're their catalog
and they got me they send me about six
of these and it took about six of them
for me to actually like go ahead and
order it but yeah it got to the point
that I was ordering stuff from Dick
Blick just so that I could get the
little sample Utrecht thing and then at
that point I figured I should probably
buy it that's like how department stores
and magazines used to send like little
perfume samples like don't you want to
smell like this you big yeah the N type
Lisa DN types faster
I agree those liquid acrylics are great
for some things folks folk art is a
favorite yeah
folk art a useful car I like their i
like their glazing too fun fact I used
to stock folk art paints at Hobby Lobby
when I worked there yep Klee worked
worked at Hobby Lobby many moons ago the
arts and crafts section like 14 years
ago or something yeah hey I never got
those and I have ordered from them yeah
I I would write them a stern letter yeah
yeah tell them I you know what I
whatever people say about Dick Blick I
love dick I've had orders that were
destroyed upon not even destroyed I've
had some canvases that were ripped and I
called Dick Blick and told them like
listen my canvases were ripped here's a
picture and they would send me the
entire all the the canvases that I
ordered and have me keep the old ones
they've always taken really good care so
I think if you just call them say I want
one of those samples they'll they'll
send it to you
do you think the quality paint makes a
huge difference in the final selling
price no no I don't a lot of a lot of
artists will make you will use that as a
selling point they'll talk about the
quality of the paint the only thing that
matters is the quality of how long it
will last and even that doesn't matter
for me personally it's about what the
finish is like and the way that the
materials are going to intermingle with
each other there's a lot of there's a
lot of miss cow not miscalculations
there's there's a lot of misconceptions
about the way that paints works like you
know if you use house paints on a
painting a lot of people think that it's
not it's not going to last it's not
going to be good and the fact is that
technology in paints and especially in
house pain
or in acrylics or even in a lot of a lot
of oils has changed so much that the
quality of the paint like you really
have to mess it up for it to be bad
quality paint and with acrylic paints
right they're like polymer their power
yeah they're polar polymer is a polymer
as a polymer yeah I mean you could get a
cheaper polymer depending on if there's
more pigment than there is yeah like
those consistencies are important how
the color looks when it dries is I guess
a thing yeah and I mean what when it
comes to the quality of paint for me
personally there's there's there's
another factor that plays into it
I use a lot of heavy bodied mediums that
are just clear mediums and then I use a
self-leveling medium and these are both
acrylic mediums so in a lot of cases I
may be using the the acrylic paint
itself as just an added pigment to put
into these heavy bodied mediums so it
all depends on how you use the paint and
whether or not you created the paint the
the piece to last for a long time Lisa
said probably because you have a YouTube
and they know it no I don't get special
treatment from them at least I don't
think you should mister and letter I
write them a stern letter okay second
question from Deanne do you gesso or
under paint when starting a new painting
uh yes and no sometimes there are some
paintings that I've just there are some
paintings where I've just done charcoal
on the on the raw canvas and then just
start painting on there there are some
paintings that I'll put a layer of house
paint of acrylic enamel on there a flat
will work because I like the I like the
the texture of the actual canvas behind
it and then there are some paintings
that I'll want the gesso because I want
to do very very
detailed work on the eyes and stuff and
obviously anybody that has worked on
pieces that have texture
sometimes the texture will take away the
brushstroke and you'll end up having
weird things going on so it all depends
sometimes I want that rawness in the
background because I'm using it or I
want it to come out through the paint
and sometimes sometimes I'll need a
gesso piece but I personally will not
just sew a piece because that whole
gesso and then sanding and then gesso
and sanding that's just that's all prep
work so a lot of times I buy my rolls of
canvas with the gesso on there already
and if you are using raw canvas you're
doing more under painting than gesso
ain't right yes just putting a base
layer flat down yeah exactly exactly I
mean a lot of it I'll prepare the under
painting sometimes the under painting is
the texture that you see in the in the
finished piece and that's it's one color
layer of all this beautiful texture that
will eventually be popping out but the
picking of that under layer color is
very very important so there's a lot of
it just depends on the piece and on what
I'm feeling and whether or not I have an
idea to be like yes this is what I'm
gonna do or I'm just letting the piece
take me Lisa said I like to do some
texture with gesso on some yeah yeah and
I have used I've used gesso to do
texture I've used the heavy bodied
medium clear mediums to do texture I've
used plaster of Paris to do texture I
like experimenting with different things
to see what happens with the work and
how long it'll work there's a lot of
pieces that I have here in the studio
that are just never gonna see the light
of day laborious pyramids okay question
three are most of your paintings planned
slash sketched out or do you just see
where the brush takes you both
both I I don't I think one of the
reasons that I can't necessarily do
tutorials well is because I never know
what I'm gonna do so as far as like
prepping for it I have no idea I may be
I may be doing an under painting and
doing a full-on sketch underneath I do
that a lot when I'm doing figures where
I want the details of the piece be
alright to be exactly what I want them
to be but then again sometimes the
texture is what's going to take me into
piece and I'm gonna form the figure
based on that or sometimes I'm gonna
just do a thick under layer of paste of
acrylic paste and then I'm gonna form
the me personally is what allows me to
experiment and push myself outside of my
comfort zone so yeah it's just it's much
more free there's there's not really
there's not really one way that I do it
I think it depends on what I'm working
on and how I'm feeling in that moment
yeah a lot of times Rafi's feeling
strongly some kind of way
and he's just trying to capture that
feeling however it comes out and then
sometimes I see him like that there's an
image in his head that he wants to get
on the canvas and then then he's a
little more like structured if you could
call it that yeah it's not really
structured but it is no I love golden
pasted yes I love the golden pace I get
the little sample packs blick has a
sample pack of all the different
Golden's they've got the the ones with
the broken glass and things like that so
yeah they're like really cute little
packages which I always adore the little
cute looking things so the packaging yep
hey just to realize the Dion questions
on your paper how'd you do that
oh she a cheap posted she posted on
patreon what questions
of time questions yeah yeah questions
ahead of time questions and then I
printed them out you guys are totally
welcome to do that any time
yeah or live-streaming if you want to
print out print us out questions
I tried spackling on raw canvas put on
the paint love the outcome so posted to
an art group holy cow you would have
never you would have thought I killed
someone never do that what what our
group oops yeah I did it anyway
experimentation show a few and your
samples no but their samples then you
got an order you have to order the
samples so many samples no he's so fancy
with his samples oh you have some for
show yeah oh yeah those little
containers yeah they're these little
guys these little tiny golden guys so
like that's regular gel clear tardo and
then a coarse pumice gel and I believe
they have like a little six-pack of
these I'm not going to go through my
golden shelf and and see but yeah these
these these little sample packs
I think the sample pack full was like
nine dollars and I'm blick yeah it's so
funny to me what's acceptable as art
materials and then like what like it was
tradition to use marble dusts that you
get at like Home Depot but that was like
a traditional texture material for
certain art results these are very
technical terms I'm using yeah but like
that's acceptable but like experimenting
with other mediums like spackle is like
arnux
yeah I think you know what and that's
that's so stupid
whenever you're dealing with whenever
you're dealing with an art group if they
are like if you're trying something new
and they do what they did that where
they're like you know I can't believe
that you did that don't know if you love
the outcome then you love the outcome
because here's here
so the reason that we put gesso on
canvas is because a long long time ago
people used to paint on walls they
painted on plaster walls they painted
these big murals that's where people
painted on when they did churches and
different things like that
so because they were so used to painting
on these walls and that was what they
knew how to paint on
we started gesso in canvases because it
was way lighter but it still gave you
the same consistency of a wall we are
way beyond using paints that can only
stick to a gesso wall and art has always
been about experimentation in fact da
Vinci the Last Supper is not doing so
well because that all the pigments that
were used in that we're an
experimentation of the kind of pigments
and the kind of things that you could do
back in the day and a lot of the
acrylics that we use and a lot of the
even the the latex paints and the
different enamels is due to an
experimentation that artists did at a
certain time I forget what her name was
she experimented with latex she
experimented with fiberglass there are a
lot of creations that exist now in our
and a lot of techniques that exist now
in art because people did things like
you spackle or experimented with
different things so yeah and before it
was common practice somebody had to be
the first brave soul to try it and see
what happens I mean that's the
quintessential thing about art is using
whatever is that your display exactly
using the materials that are available
to you in order to be able to express
something that you want to express there
is no formal thing that says that an
artist has to be a painter that uses the
high quality materials that are given to
him by other artists and you have this
standard that you need to like that
that's not the art world that is the art
world for a bunch of really insecure
people that maybe have some kind of
status that want to keep their status by
saying that's not art that's not how you
do it you don't do it like that you have
to do it this way because this is
way that your ancestors did it like no
no no you were an artist if you want to
throw some spackle on some raw canvas
then that's exactly what you should do
especially if you think it looks awesome
I guarantee you that there will be a
bunch of other people that think it
looks awesome in fact I would love to
see what the results were like sorry
that was a rant yeah yeah yeah screw
them
Lisa you could go to golden and request
a sample box got one of the samples of
each product yes Lisa do that hey Deanna
I love that speckle go ahead Tracey I
finally made it to my first live stream
all right Tracy I have nothing to ask I
just like listening while I try to make
a decent painting of a yeah yes painting
of cows I have sample boards from 20
years ago when I was a faux finisher and
I have spackle for texture a lot have
spackle for texture yeah they are still
intact yeah exactly exactly I mean I
knew I knew an artist in Fort Walton
Beach who would do the faux finishes and
he used that those same techniques and a
lot of his art works and he had some
beautiful pieces he had a piece of a
Golden Buddha and then you had these
like faux finishes for the background I
thought they were absolutely amazing and
so did everybody else that saw it I
could imagine that the only person the
only people that will complain about it
are the hoity-toity artists they're like
oh you used faux finish stuff I think
the people that get really upset about
that kind of thing are the ones who have
massive amounts of student loan debt and
they're like they're trying it's it's
interesting because you have you do it
and not to say anything because I know I
know a lot of artists are doing very
well that when
to art school but I also know a vast
huge amount of artists that are
self-taught that are doing very well now
as well I also know a lot of artists
that went to art school and have this
perception that maybe they learn from
their art teachers of what it means to
be an artist
and it is it is standing in their way of
actually making it in the art world on
their own there they're trying to follow
this rule set that was set before them
and with the advent of the internet and
with different changes just in a way
that you see galleries like that's just
not you got to evolve you got to move on
you got to keep going and growing that's
a good way to say that yeah if you
really look at my mail boxes you'll see
the faux finisher in me yes yeah we love
your mail boxes they're so awesome
they're great oh yeah look at that
my my my my 3 my 3 heart people that are
here yeah this has been an awesome
conversation so did hopefully I answered
those questions oh yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah and the there is no I when it when
it comes to people like that
the I think Dionne you had asked me
something about that like about this
month the snobbish people in the art
world and a lot of people assume that
the snobbish people in the art world are
just in that like 1% the hoity-toity art
market you know the stock market and in
actuality it's it is prevalent out there
one of the reasons one of the things
that I don't tell a lot of people is
that when I I was in one of the
galleries downtown here and it was a
co-op gallery
and originally I joined the coop gallery
because I thought to myself like oh you
know what I'm going to get to meet these
artists and a lot of these artists are
older than I am and they'll be able to
guide me and and this is gonna be a
benefit to me so I was excited about
joining the gallery
soon after I joined the gallery I had my
wall up the first thing the first
comment that I got on my artwork was
that oh you're back the back fear you're
hanging mechanism for your paintings is
subpar and my thought was like why are
what I mean it works basically what I do
you know I'll show you guys because this
will be it's very secure way to hang
paintings if anything I'd go for a
sturdy over like fancy and the back of a
paint yeah so for my paintings for my
paintings the way that I finished them
and with the bigger ones I will use like
a screw and a washer on there but
essentially what I do is I have hanging
wire and I have a industrial stapler and
I will staple the hanging wire wrap it
and then stable on top of that to secure
it so and this is an industrial stapler
where the staples are about 3/4 of an
inch deep so they get in there and then
I'll hammer it in the rest of the way
this is not going anywhere right takes
me a few seconds to get the mounting on
the painting and they are ready to hang
and if the and if the person that buys
the painting wants to put a frame on
there or put their own mounting then
it's not that big of a deal these
staples could be pulled out with some
leverage and they're able to do what
they want to do and I didn't spend a
whole bunch of money buying a mounting
system for painting that chances are it
was going to go that's my thought I am
more focused I am more focused on the
front of the painting and the way that
they are
and feels then the actual mounting on
the back as long as it is safe and
people will be able to mount it on their
wall that's all I'm concerned with what
the gallery was like it's yeah it's
subpar this there's no way I would never
let that leave my and and I remember I
remember my response to them was so you
wouldn't let that leave your house so
you're gonna spend all this time on the
back of the painting and you're going to
charge your customer additional money
because of the mounting on a painting
you're gonna be really really proud
about the mounting on the painting so
when you're showing this piece of this
person yes you're gonna talk about the
art but you are gonna make it a point to
show the mounting of the painting well
guess what I don't talk about the
mounting of the painting I just talk
about the art I I think people at that
gallery eventually start to get very
annoyed with me because I didn't buy
into some of them loved you yeah
absolutely
they were like tell us what you think
Rafi we want to hear some of them were
like I never yeah I never yeah Dan said
Wow snotty gallery is Rafi the small
gallery that wants to work with me are
very down home yeah I like it I like it
yeah I've seen the wire staples and it's
freaking awesome again screw them I have
to say I do use the hook mostly and a
little I hook on tiny paintings yeah
yeah yeah it's secure that's like that
the back of the painting has one job to
hold the painting up on the wall now if
what I'm doing fails at that job then I
need to reconsider what it is that I'm
doing yeah then it's a problem mm-hmm
which by the way I think on this
painting you could see this is just a
wire but then he also has like the heavy
duty
Frick what is it called picture hanging
wire I guess yes the picture hanging
wire and I'm not sure but if you look
these up they're called soft strand
that's the brand yeah soft strand and
then you've got the different this is a
number six which is very thick and then
this is a number four which is what I
use mostly that holds about twenty-five
to fifty pounds but it's definitely
something worth looking for
they're called super soft strand and you
could get these thick rolls they have
them in like four or five sizes on
Amazon yeah super duper oh yeah that's
burly I don't know if you can see how
burly that is it's pretty serious it
will hold a hundred pounds yeah so that
yeah because you know I get to staple
those to the back of the paintings so
yeah hey Dion can I ask which art group
you post in Dearing I met o D hug I like
D hook better I'm gonna call it a deal
argh
all right honey why don't you tell them
about your week and how it's been going
this week's been kind of a blur real
busy weekend at the market it's
transitioning from like lovely spring
time just soul-crushing heat here yeah
so it's getting to the time where I'm
looking around at the Palafox market on
Saturday and I'm like this is about to
turn from a market and to a vendors you
exhibit and what I mean by vendors you
exhibit is that instead of shopping the
booths people just come by and look at
us yeah like we're on exhibit yeah and
that's not the most fun so I think I'm
gonna reel it back a little for the hot
months I think you should tell them what
ended up happening with
the market manager and how you handled
that I am so proud of this woman she
took care of her stuff she and she did
it in the most loving way possible and
yet still completely empowered
completely stood her ground good and
tell him yeah so not this past weekend
but the weekend before not that that
really matters
was the week following the catastrophic
raining on the things and my diva
moments and the market manager came by
to see what was going on and see how
everyone was doing and she said I think
I said something like that I hadn't
accomplished much I had spent all week
doing damage control for my displays and
she said you looked so sad last weekend
and she said don't you have an evac plan
and I said yes I do I just did not
execute said evac plan during the storm
and actually that's kind of because I
lost my cool last weekend and then I
said and that's kind of because I'm
having some less than warm and fuzzy
feelings and sort of achy feelings about
the market policies that are happening
because I feel like I don't have clarity
and I'm not trying to change the
policies but I just want to try to
understand why some of them are the way
they are some of them feel a little like
a double standard some of them feel a
little alien ating some of them feel
like they're creating an us-versus-them
situation between market management and
artists and she actually sat down in the
grass next to me and taught we talked
about it for about an hour and I told
her all the different things I was
feeling and she explained to me why
things were in place the way they were
some of the things she didn't even agree
with and some of the things needed to be
a certain way for pretty good reasons
actually that once I got clarity on I
was no longer upset about it was a
really good
conversation I didn't sugarcoat anything
I didn't keep anything inside I
addressed every single policy change and
issue and explained how I was feeling
and she listened and addressed
everything back so it was actually a
very empowering conversation that
probably would have happened eventually
but maybe it would have been like
dragged out or maybe would have taken a
lot longer to get around to if I hadn't
gotten rained on yeah that weekend I
think I think the the fact that like you
put yourself in a position where you
were either going to stand up for
yourself and speak your mind because one
of the one of the conversations that we
had obviously off-camera several times
was when you when something like that is
going on where you're interacting with a
person that is maybe making you feel a
little less than it is very very
important to always speak your mind and
it doesn't mean that you have to yell at
them it just means you kind of put your
foot down and you say no no no we're
gonna talk about this because I don't
know where you're coming from you don't
know where I'm coming from let's get
this cleared out and it doesn't mean
that things will be clear it just means
that at least you get what's going on in
here
out into the open and you could really
for sure know where this person stands
either a they are a butthole and you get
to interact with them and understand yes
they are indeed a butthole or you
realize that you know what I had the
wrong impression about this person yeah
and going into it I had prepared myself
for either outcome like I might walk
away from this conversation feeling like
oh they're a bunch of buttholes that run
this thing yeah and maybe I need to
rethink my involvement or I would walk
away with with clarity and I count
myself as fortunate in this instance
that it was a very productive
conversation but I also count myself as
like llego me because I was prepared
to do whatever necessary actions if it
came down to everyone's just a butthole
yeah yeah we have we have a different
way of dealing with things like that
like I tend to I'm me and I I even know
it I know that there's a portion of it
that's egotistical I have this idea that
people are intimidated by my sense of
confidence which is hilarious to me
because I am definitely not a confident
person but when I go into an interaction
with somebody I understand that whatever
words come out of my mouth or whatever
words come out of their mouths they
can't necessarily do anything to me so
I'm not afraid of them and I kind of
assumed that they're kind of afraid of
me you know what I'm doing and it's one
of the things I told you about the
market manager was that she was probably
afraid of us and she said yes well that
word on the street if you will was that
we're kind of the oh geez at the market
and wish and don't mess with us
yeah which I was like I'm not I'm not
special
I mean I'm special yeah but I'm not like
requesting green units that's the
difference right that because she's like
I'm not I'm not and I'm like yes I am
yes I am yes that's true you shouldn't
mess with me yeah I'm a real nice girl
while CLE that is huge very awesome says
Lisa thank you Lisa I'll bet the manager
learned a lot as well they come from
such a different direction about the
same thing I am proud of you too Thank
You Diann yeah she came away from the
meeting feeling really good also and
like feeling like she knew me on a level
that she had been wanting to you but I
think she was a little afraid let me
approach I'm sure she was I'm sure she
was I mean it's intimidating you hear
you hear a story I mean I don't do I
don't necessarily do the market anymore
I am a part of the market because I take
clean mornings and help her set up and
then I go and pick her up in the
afternoons and
and she in return watches my prints that
I take out there I tell them I don't
just watch them I also sell them mostly
watches them because that really many
many sales of my prints which easily
could translate into like everybody
hates my art no they really like no I
know so I wanted to mention something
before we let you guys go on and I want
to show you because I didn't get the
chance to show you look at the stuff
that Deanne posted mmm that's beautiful
I didn't know that was on there that's
gorgeous I'll go where I can see bigger
images to not just do that is that
gorgeous beautiful Deanne all of these
pieces that you posted on discord oh
mazing gorgeous work amazing look at
that look at that that is so lush and
vibrant chase commented on there he was
like and so we're gonna have to go on
there and say something yeah I need to
get on there and see bigger a bigger
version yes those paintings are amazed
those are really beautiful holy cats
they should be afraid of us Oh hahaha
that's the secret not secret truth yes
yes really yes really they are amazing
yeah really amazing I'm I I don't I
don't know if I could pick a favorite
cuz I like them all for really different
reason yeah so do I sit away beautiful
use of color I love that man you guys
you guys are so freaking talented I
think so don't we have this tribe family
that are also good at their various
things yeah that I don't know anything
about they're real good at and I just
appreciate it and get to hear like your
experiences yeah cuz I mean Lisa when
when we were going on there so we looked
at the mailboxes and the mailboxes are
just one
of the many artistic things that you do
but way my early days I was approached
by somebody to paint a mailbox he wanted
to do a gift for his mom and you know
originally I was like well what do you
use what do you paint so like I found
the right paints to paint it which was
like the outdoor acrylic enamels and it
was not easy no I was like how am I
gonna make this look I did this like
rainbow thing with these shapes to it I
can't even remember what it looked like
yeah I remember I only have a vague
recollection but I can't like picture it
it was the same people that bought the
the piece from me at the flea market the
first and only crucifix piece like the
cross the abstract cross that I did yeah
that they never paid me for Rafi I want
you to know by the way because of you I
have gotten up the courage to post some
of my canvas and art groups just to get
used to comment oh yes that's awesome
congratulations on being a brain yes yes
and and Lisa if any of your canvas
pieces and stuff I know that you're
still figuring out things like discord
and different things like that but feel
free to post them on there and if you
need help we could do we could do a
one-on-one tutorial thing to do that for
discord postings hey one wait I want to
see Dion's work - yes Dion's work is on
discord now I'm pulling it up on the
phone but mostly I look at this cord on
the computer but there is a phone app
for discord the computer app seems
easier to use though and and on the left
side of the screen there are the hashtag
channels so there's hashtag instructions
hashtag let's chat today that's where we
would talk on discord and then hashtag
share your art and that's where you guys
all of you guys could share
ah run discord discord is cool I like it
I have to remember to open discord more
when we're home in the studio yeah and
what that's that's the plan moving
forward with discord what we're going to
do is just get into habit of just
opening it up in the studio because
it'll I actually have it set up that
whenever you guys type something my
computer talks in this weird computer
voice it's like you're in trust our son
or I just got hit on here burrows yeah
yeah so it's kind of fun because we'll
be in here painting and working on art
and out of nowhere their computer will
be like Deon has posted a painting and
I'm like we're like thank you robot
voice alright we probably should wrap up
the livestream yes post your cow yeah do
post your car yes post your cow I want
to see your cow Tracy Lisa said I don't
use those outdoor enamels I use liquid
liquitex basics yes okay I will try
discord
yeah liquitex the liquitex basics are
better back when I this is essentially
like maybe two months after I started
showing my stuff so I was a wreck I was
an absolute wreck you guys there are
some horror stories of commissions that
Rafi took one of which like I was like
don't cry it's okay like he looked like
he was gonna burst into tears
remember the Michigan State golf cart
cover stories that we'll share another
time but yeah experiment very there is a
reason why I am very very much pushing
just create what you want to create
because I've tried it all and there none
of it ever got me anywhere only my
original creations are what has gotten
me somewhere but it's good you tried
those things because then you had the
experience yep oh yeah I could speak
from experience
it's like no don't never do that don't
do it don't do it or only do that if
that's your thing yeah and rest Oh Liam
clearcoat the crap out of them yes yes
all of my outdoor stuff right now any of
the paintings that I use that that I did
I create for our outdoor that's yeah
that's pretty much where I go I'll have
to use the liquitex basics more often I
do buy them yeah yeah I definitely need
to try that thank you and with that I
think we'll call it a wrap yes about an
hour
yes Lodhi you kids have had me learn
more technology but it's cool yes I'm
learning the technology too
yeah all of us a little secret is that
all of our friends joke that I'm a 95
year old lady in a 35 year old lady's
body because me and technology I'm slow
on the uptake I will admit that but I'm
enjoying all the things like this Gord
Tracy will see this one's the first one
that looks halfway decent well I can't
wait to see Tracy
yeah it'd be awesome no don't go I'm
glad you guys could join yeah I am too
this was so nice because it was you know
it wasn't I mean don't get me wrong I
enjoy when we do the live stream we'll
be doing a live stream on YouTube
tomorrow but it's it's usually a little
bit overwhelming for me because it's so
many people are on there yeah this was
really really nice it's nice to have
just like an intimate chat
yeah with a few of us yeah the other the
main live stream can be a little bit
like it's it's own thing that it's it's
own thing this is something this is
something else and I love it I love it
I love you guys you guys are amazing
yeah you guys are amazing I love you too
and with that I guess we're signing off
we are signing off I love you guys
happy evening to you happy evening to
you and we'll talk we'll talk all the
time yeah I am gonna go recover fully
and I should be a hundred percent very
very soon gonna have some soup and some
game of Thrones Game of Thrones so much
going of us you guys good night guys
