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Welcome to the Lehigh Valley Arts Podcast, where we explore the local arts culture in the Lehigh Valley. We’ll be doing this through conversations with individual artists, administrators, and organizations. We’ll explore all types of mediums with the goal of enriching local culture.
Elise 0:04
Welcome to season four of the Lehigh Valley arts Podcast where we explore the local arts, culture and community in the Lehigh Valley.
Ben Orr 0:11
We'll be doing this through conversations with individual artists, administrators, musicians, poets, actors, and arts and cultural organizations will discuss all types of mediums with the goal of enriching local arts culture.
Elise 0:23
This week we welcome artists Brandon Dominguez. Brandon Dominguez is a boundary pushing contemporary artists navigating the realms of abstract and pop art. At the heart of his creative universe are the iconic characters Brian the brain, and Mooney, the moon, who takes center stage in his vivid compositions. Dominguez masterfully employs vibrant colors, crisp lines and dynamic motion to convey the universal spectrum of human emotions. Influenced by the whimsical charm of rubber hose animation, his work invites viewers on a journey to explore the essence of creativity, and the myriad of emotions that make us uniquely human. And each piece Dominguez seeks not only to showcase his artistic prowess, but also to unravel the intricacies of what it means to be a creative being.
Ben Orr 1:08
Brandon, welcome to the show.
Brandon 1:10
Hi, thanks for having me.
Ben Orr 1:12
Yeah, for sure. We're, we're super excited to have you on. We've been your name has been in our list of people to reach out to for the better half of the year. And yeah, we're, we're super excited to have you on. So tell me a little bit about yourself. How did you find yourself here in the Lehigh Valley?
Brandon 1:28
It's random, because I'm originally from Mexico City. Well, I'm from Toluca, which is an hour away from Mexico City. And I moved here in 2020, after I got engaged in came to marry my wife, my now wife, which we've been dating for over 10 years. Wow. So yeah, we did the whole traveling back and forth for a while. And then 2020 We plan to get married, go through this whole process of visas in green card. And this whole process, for sure ended up here. We had everything planned, and then everything shut down. So I literally arrived to the country three days after all the borders were closed.
Ben Orr 2:15
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. That's crazy.
Brandon 2:19
Sorry. So we had the whole like, we married at the Rose Garden in Allentown. Yeah. Friends and family, we just put a laptop in front of us. And that was, it was awesome. Man. 2020. We have the full on 2020 wedding. Yeah.
Ben Orr 2:35
How has your wife impacted where you are today?
Brandon 2:40
It has influenced a lot of not just who I am as person, but also why I chose to be an artist. Yeah. Because I've always been very creative. And I've always been since I was a kid, like, drawing and all this stuff, but I never took it. That serious. And as you grow older, you know, I went to business school, and didn't, didn't finish. And I realized that wasn't my thing. But you know, as you grow up, you, we tend to put away those creative ideas and the creative things we do. Yeah, because we have to be serious, and you have to find a serious job. And in 2020, being with her stuck at home. It was when I started to just share drawings and stuff online, just because I was feeling like it was fun. Yeah. And she's always been the one that Why Why don't you try to paint this? Why don't you try to use this medium what? You know, so she's always the one that kind of pushes me to try new things. So yeah, that's how she's influenced what I do.
Ben Orr 3:44
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, I know, the idea of having a partner and being a creative is one that is difficult for most people to find balance with, how do you often find yourself balancing being in a, in a relationship and also being in a relationship with with your art practice?
Brandon 4:03
Thankfully, I have a very supportive partner. Yeah. So that makes it easier. But I think it's, you know, like everything, any career, any job, it's a good thing to separate things. Yeah. Even though it's hard as an artist to to do that because in my my head, I'm constantly thinking, new ideas or new colors and new concepts so that that part is hard to shut down. Then she'll sometimes will be like, you know, you never stop, like thinking of it or you never stopped drawing, and sometimes it's difficult, but I think I'm good at Stepping back at times. You know, I sometimes if there's a big event or I have to finish a certain series of paintings, so a commission where I have to finish something, you know, I'll draw on the bed and stuff like that, but I try not to do that because it's important to to balance those things.
Ben Orr 5:01
I'd love to hear about some of the inspiration that you draw from for what you're doing right now with your, with your art practice.
Brandon 5:08
When I started to paint, I tried these very abstract concepts with a lot of new ones and a lot of ideas that were very personal to me. But those paintings looking back, they're cool, but they're too, too abstract to, I don't know, too personal, which, in a way, art is that way. But I realized that I was having a hard time, not only connecting with my emotions, but also having a hard way, expressing those emotions. So when I started painting and try to, because I went through like a lot of ranges and mediums. I started doing doodles with Copic Markers. Then I went to trying to be more realistic drawings with colored pencils. So doing all of these different things I, you know, was vaguely finding my own style. Yeah, but then one painting, I painted a brain and realize, okay, that's really fucking cool. Like, it looks so cool the brain. And then I was thinking, why don't I draw some eyes and the mouth, and legs, and you know, and then all of a sudden, I had a character. Yeah. And that way, I realized that I had a vessel to express myself better. So in a way, a lot of my paintings when he's there, most of the times, it's kind of like my own way of painting myself, putting myself in these scenarios and expressing what I feel. So these characters serve not only as a fun way to express what I want to, or the ideas I want to express or the places I want to place them. But it's also like a good way to connect with the viewer. Because sometimes, certain people identify better with a certain character than other. So that's yes. Where it came from?
Ben Orr 7:08
Are you familiar with the idea of audio description? So audio description, is a way that we make art more accessible for those that are blind or hard of sight, right. And so us being an auditory program really like to lean into that and advocate for that. So before we go to too much further talking about Mooney and Brian, would you be willing to provide a brief description for our audience about what they look like?
Brandon 7:39
Absolutely. I like that. It's really cool. So Brian, is both characters have their their based on rubber hose cartoons, the style of the animation that really old in the 1930s 1940s, the most of the styles, if you look at all of those black and white cartoons, they all had robber like motion, because of the way the animators would animate these drawings. So the eyes have usually like a triangle cut in the middle. Instead of drawing, you know, like more detail, I then you have that shape, and it's easier to animate the gloves. You know, the Mickey Mouse, like, everyone, like everywhere started to use gloves, Tom and Jerry, you Mickey Mouse, Popeye, it's because it was easier to animate the hands that way. So the brain, Brian, I just grabbed the word brain, and I moved the letters around in his name's Brian now. He's a pink brain with two big eyes. He has long arms that look like hoses almost. He has four fingers on each hand with white gloves to long legs and red shoes. So that's Bri and Mooney is a moon morning is a moon. She's very round, very cute. She's Gray, and same style, the rubber hose with the eyes, but she has very few details. Because being a moon, he has a couple of craters here and there. But her focus is mostly about helping me express a lot of emotion. So if you look at Mooney she doesn't have too many details, because everything she does or I want to convey with her is extremely expressive. So sometimes she'll have a long tongue. Sometimes she'll be like her mouth will be very wide open. And yeah, that's how she looks.
Ben Orr 9:38
You mentioned how Brian got his name. In past interviews, you've mentioned that the artist KAWS is one of your favorite artists and one that you look up to. Aside from the rearranging of that (the word Brain), is that name a conscious nod to the artist KAES himself whos name is Brian Donnelly.
Brandon 10:02
I was talking about this with my mother in law. And she was like, what? What's his real name? Yeah. And I remember his last name Donnelly, as like, Oh, his first name was Brian, you know, so it's weird. So maybe subconsciously idea. But at the moment, being 100% serious. I just saw the word brain. just rearrange the letters, and it was bright. But now, you know, it's kind of weird how it circles back to some of, to one, of my favorite artists.
Ben Orr 10:30
Yeah, for sure. And for those that may not be super familiar with the artist, cause if you look back on Brandon's Instagram, you'll actually see a piece that is of Brian standing next to a sculpture of KAWS in a mall in New York. So if you go back and look at it, you'll get a really good idea of what of what his work looks like.
Brandon 10:56
Yeah, his work is very inspirational. I definitely draw a lot of the colors and how vibrant his work is. What I admire the most about someone like him is how creatively he's not just a painter. He can make collectibles figures, you know, vinyl figures. Yeah, he can make giant wooden sculptures. He can, you know, like his work goes beyond the canvas. Yeah, so that's something that I look up to. Because if you look at my style it, I think it, I hope it looks a bit different than that. Because there's a lot of other artists that inspire my work. There's Matt Gondek, a pop artist in LA. Daniel Arsham, which is like something completely different than me. But when I look up to all of these different artists, not only the work, the medium, the, what they convey with their work, what I admired from any type of parties, and it doesn't matter if it's a big name, someone I just met someone that starting, I love to see how they can create that piece of work. Yeah, that's my favorite thing to look at. If I buy a book from someone's heart, I want to learn about the artist to see how they created that certain piece. You know, first because that, for me is very intriguing. Because going back to costs, the guy can grab a pencil will make a drawing, then he does that digitally, and then it goes to a canvas. You're just kind of how you operate. Yeah, but anyone could do that. You know, you could grab your pen right now. Sure, like a sketch, take a picture, maybe add color on your computer, and then you can try to paint him whether you're an artist or not. Sometimes I think it's important to, to touch base with that creativity that we all have in us. So for me, learning about the artists go into the museums, it's not just about that final piece, but about how they cut their Yeah, and how they created them. That's what always intrigues me.
Ben Orr 13:05
In line with that, and I think the artists that you you are talking about are a good example of this, there is in this contemporary, I hate to diminish it to sing street art style, but that's what the common thread is between a lot of these artists, I find there to be a sense of aging or of death, or of like kind of a nihilistic thought process going into a lot of their work. And I think that your work stands in pretty stark contrast to that, with how upbeat, exciting and celebratory it is. And while, you and KAWS do draw on some visual similarities, it's like you're going in completely different directions as to what you're trying to say.
Speaker 1 13:56
Yeah, I like how you worded that. It sounds really nice. But yeah, I try to end that's how I am as a person I tend to, to be, you know, in a good mood and be the happy guy in the room. Of course, you know, this morning wasn't like the greatest morning for me. I didn't sleep well. I wasn't in the greatest mood, but I tend to move away from those emotions kind of quickly. So I tried to express the in my work a lot. I say I'm a contemporary artist, because that's what I am, you know, your life. And it's 2022 2024 we're all contemporary artists. But the part I like about it being a contemporary artists is that we all don't shy away from doing one thing. And that's I think that's a very great way how you put that and yeah, everything tends to be moody and nihilist and I can dwell in that at times. My last exhibition, salt gates, I did exhibit more of that sort that side of my emotions, you know, like, the frustration and the anger and the feeling, you know, towards people. Yeah, I don't usually do that. But I wanted to that for that exhibition. Yeah. But, yeah, I like to express the best part of things, the bright colors, and sometimes the flowers, the clouds, certain shapes that can give that good vibe. You know?
Ben Orr 15:37
Yeah. I, I feel like, it's, it's a lot of the imagery of KAWS with kind of the, the feeling and emotional context of someone like Murakami.
Brandon 15:55
I try to, when I work, go into a series of work, I don't like to stick to one thing. And one thing only, I like to have this repertoire of shapes and colors and moods, and you know, flow from there go into, may be very happy things, sometimes a little more moody. And it's something that I've been, as an artist, it's part of that journey of learning how to express what I feel, and also learning how to understand what I feel, which is something that art has taught me.
Ben Orr 16:29
In that same direction, you've mentioned that, with Brian, you see a lot of yourself, right. And in some past interviews, you've you've mentioned that while you can't be out there, soaring through the clouds, being on the beach and traveling, that you like to live vicariously through him. What are some things that Brian as a character has taught you, and that you've been able to actually bring into your everyday life?
Speaker 1 16:54
He's definitely taught me how to understand my emotions a lot better, for sure. Because in the beginning, he always was smiling, he always was with his very upbeat pose. And the more I started to understand the character and trying to put them in different scenarios, different poses different colors, I started to realize sometimes, you know, I made this collaboration with this artist in New York, oh, he's this he's a street artist. He goes by the name. gargoyles of New York. And his work is extremely vibrant. But also his messages tend to be very, the it goes into the satire, in you know, sadness, and things like that, even though the works extremely vibrant. Sure. So when I saw it, I was like, I would love to start to express, you know, that it's okay to be sad. And then we stuck with that. So that was, the message was, it's okay to be sad. And Brian was in a very, like, sad looking like posts. And from then I started to realize that it is okay. Because I used to try to step away from them, you know, like, it's the way how I was, I grew up, you know, like, if you feel bummed out, you just try to move on from there and focus on the next thing. But he helped me to realize that sometimes it's okay to not feel that great. So he has helped me to understand myself better emotionally. When did when did Mooney come into the picture? I had this moment where I tried to focus on like, character development, then why not make different characters and I started to get commissions. And I was thinking, you know, it's a cool way to make money, make sure I had this commission for it was a CBD company. And it was like, Oh, I can make like a little weed guy with like ice and ours. And it's fun, you know, and it looks cool. After I did that commission, I was like, wait, no, this, I don't like this. In I had a bunch of sketches. There was this little cactus with the same aesthetic. And it would, there was Mooney. And there were these other characters that I was developing. But it stuck to me, like the moon because I just like how the moon looks. Yeah, and I'm bad at circles. So it was also a cool way to you know, try to be better at it. So I drew the moon. I liked how they look. She first had hands and everything. And then I took the hands and the legs off. And it was like, holy shit. Like, this is so cute. Like, and from there she is that like, best part of me type thing. Yeah, but that's not really she's not representing me. In a way she helps me represent the fun thing out there in the world, or the happiest moments out there, you know, because Mooney is not I see her as my creation. Not me because Brian sometimes can be very representing of how I feel and who I am. But her I see her more as my this. This is my little thing. This is my little creation thing. And I can put her in all of these like different places and colors and she's usually happy in. Yeah, that's how I that's how that's what she represents to me.
Ben Orr 20:17
Yeah, I saw a piece of yours and I believe it was called "The Creation." And it's Brian holding Mooney above his head. Is that like a visual representation of that that moment?
Brandon 20:31
Exactly. Yeah. And funny enough, that was the first painting of them together. Oh, that's beautiful that I did on my last exhibition in that exhibition, trying to be more descriptive for for our audience. Yeah, the exhibition was at the alternative gallery, shout out to the alternative gallery. So if you it was really fun, and we had some guest artists, we had some rubber house films being played. So we had 1930s films, yeah, that were playing old cartoons. So that the people would that would see my work could understand where it comes from, and teach because there were kids and stuff. So it teaches like also like a little bit of history of work to cartoons come from. So that was fun. And on the main wall, the work goes from left to right, and meets in the center. So Brian, being on the left, it was all about my existence, my emotions, the happy parts of me the sad part of the annoyed part of me the, you know, the good and the bad. Yeah. And with colors that are very, like comfortable for me, comforting for me, which is a primary color that love, I love to paint with red, blue and yellow. And that side was very black, very moody. And on the right side, we have Mooney. And it started with more white paintings and happier tones and ping green and blue, a little bit of moodiness but mostly expressing what it's like for me to be a creative person. And they can be in the middle and he's holding her above his head. With all these shapes coming together and all these colors, blending it together. Because that's for me being an artist. That's kind of how it feels. Not only expressing who I am and what I feel, but also showing. And in a way, that's a word like flexing. What it feels like to be creative.
Ben Orr 22:38
Yeah, for sure.
Brandon 22:39
You know, cuz it's fun. It's a fun experience.
Ben Orr 22:43
It's from the deepest part of your soul.
Brandon 22:45
Yeah, yeah, sometimes.
And sometimes it can be as simple as I like this color. And I'm just gonna paint it just because it looks cool. Yeah, it does. It doesn't have to have that deeper meaning, but subconsciously, it does.
Ben Orr 22:57
Well, you've mentioned that you had a couple guests, artists there. And you've mentioned a couple of artists that you've worked with now. On your never again, studio podcast interview, you mentioned that one of your favorite things about being an artist are the conversations and opportunities that you've had to work with others. Who are some of these people and how has their presence in your art career helped shape where you are today?
Brandon 23:18
Well, the first person that I would like to mention a great way to express my art. I also, I love to bring my art everywhere I go with me, and also be as easily accessible for anyone. So I love to make stickers. So one of the first persons that helped me with the sticker wall and this whole community, it's a whole culture. It's a he's at deal. dot that dog, tha D O G. He's someone that's been doing sticker art for years. And he's the first person that introduced me to this community and gave me like the first tips and you know, so that's one of them. Man, there's so many artists that I've worked with. Well, everyone at the alternative gallery there it's an a great community of artists. Yeah. Which hopefully, I get to move in soon. I was selected for part of their...
Ben Orr 24:28
Resident artists program?
Speaker 1 24:29
Thank you. Yeah. So hopefully that's in the works. But yeah, everyone there. They're all amazing. They know who they are. Like the top of my head. Some of the guests artists that were with me at the salt because exhibition. The first one is, their name is Tylor Sky. They go on Instagram as Tylor sky art. He is There's someone I met recently thanks to art and we got to do a painting together and exhibit that painting that day. And it was sold that day. And our our styles are very different and somehow they work great together. Another person would be Emily Autumn, she is an an artist that is based in the the Alternative Gallery. She and her partner David own Rugged imperfections, they do these amazing works of art with because she's a she does painting and they're able together to make great works of art with tufting and making rugs. All of my people at ESO arts in Lancaster, there's a bunch of artists. Andy, Zach, They're awesome. Jay Echeverria. They're an artist here in the Lehigh Valley. And they're the co founder of the Alternative Gallery. They're someone I look up to, because they've not only introduced me to a lot of people, but also, they're always on the move. So thanks to their work, I can see the different galleries are around and different people. So it's, yeah, there's a lot of great artists here in the Lehigh Valley.
Ben Orr 26:34
For sure. So you talked about in the exhibition that you had, that that learning point for the rubber hose animation that was playing there. In the past, you've also mentioned about Sam Raimi, Spider Man, the as a huge source of inspiration for you growing up, and especially what got you into drawing again? Moving on from that, how have you seen or felt or even experienced the influence of a lot of those, those early inspirations from childhood impact what your work is now?
Speaker 1 27:08
They always come back, because it's, it's very cyclical, like, I started trying to redraw cartoons or characters from certain movies, or shows that I would watch as a kid, you know, tried to redraw the Simpsons tried to draw Spider Man. And in a way, as I grow up, or grew up as an artist, it kind of comes back, you know, because now I not only see those characters as fun, because it's still very enjoyable to watch these cartoons and films. Yeah, but they can bring inspiration to what I do. And it's fun to have those eyes where you can be watching, or I can be watching the really shitty movie. You know, I saw this, this film called saltburn, a handsomely, I didn't like it. But it was shot beautifully. And some of the color palettes was like, Oh, by the way, they use this Indigo with his forehead and, you know, things like that, where I can draw inspiration from even though I might not like, what I'm watching. Yeah, it's fun to see how those things kind of come back in, in a way I can notice that it not only inspires me, but I can see how it inspires so many other artists, like going back to cars, like one of his most expensive, expensive paintings was one of his work, so redrawing this instance. And it's like, that's crazy, like how we all draw inspiration as artists from all of these different things, even as a kid like, you know, from cartoons that I used to watch, and now I can re watch SpongeBob and I can see, I'm going to start working on these paintings where Brian and Moonie are like, splatter. They look like splats and that's something I drew inspiration from plankton, when he is like splat on the floor. You know, so it's inspiration from everything.
Ben Orr 29:03
Waving and splatters and drips seems to be a common motif in your work.
Brandon 29:10
Yeah, they, I like to give a lot of motion in my paintings. Because in a way, sometimes, you know, I'm a very visual person, I'm not the greatest at reading. I'm not the greatest that stinks still or, you know, just staring at this one thing for too long. So in my work, I tried to bring as much motion as possible as they can. So sometimes these strips or these flows or lines or splatters or shapes can help me use the image to convey motion. That's something I love to do.
Ben Orr 29:44
So that, to me, brings us to the art piece that you've submitted to talk about which is shine which is the 12 eight by 10 canvases. So again, I want to I want to go through this this Art description, audio description process and see what we can get out of it.
Brandon 30:05
I love this. This is like a cool learning experience for me finding like a way to describe what I do. It's 12 canvases, they're eight by 12. So it's very symmetrical. Through each painting, they all have different shapes, very abstract shapes. Because at the moment, I was trying to lean into the try not to make things too, too perfect, because that's what I tend to do clean lines, clean cuts, very neat and pristine. But here, I tried to just grab colors. And if I remember correctly, I think my wife showed me a video of something that it was through a microscope, if I remember correctly, and there were these like, shapes that like ingrained in my head. So it's 1212 canvases, they each have different colors, none of the colors are the same. Some of some of the blues might look similar. Some of the greens might look similar, but they're all every single color is different. None of them repeat. So the motion the painting goals, it's from right to left. And there's all of these cubes and kind of like splats, woven together. And as you go through the painting, there's it starts with pinks, and blues, greens, yellows. And as you progress, you start to see Brian in the middle of the work, but he doesn't have color, he's in grayscale, so that your focus is on the colors surrounding him. And he's kind of like this guide of going through these paintings and going through these colors and shapes. And that's kind of where I wanted the viewer to go with the painting.
Ben Orr 31:52
Was this piece part of the Sulcus exhibition?
Speaker 1 31:55
No, we had an event at the alternative gallery. I was able to do a pop up studio for that one open house event. And yeah, Brandon, the creative director of the alternative gallery was like, Hey, you want to be one of our artists here to do like a pop up studio? Which curious enough happened to be the studio I picked for the resident artists program. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. But uh, yeah, I wanted. It's this huge wall. And I wanted, I set up those 12 canvases right in the middle. So there was nothing else. But that, which that was not fun. That was a pain. But yeah, that was that. That was like my main piece for that event.
Ben Orr 32:40
Very cool. There's been a number of pieces that I've seen you post about that all use multiple canvases and pull them together. Yeah. What about? What about that medium? Or what about that way of expressing your work through multiple cells? Almost like animation?
Brandon 32:59
Again, on point with what you're saying. Because going back to the motion, you know, if it's only on one canvas, sometimes it doesn't look like it's moving. So if I put it on several, it might give a little more emotion. And it's also like a very pop art thing. Yeah, very Andy Warhol thing where you're using multiple canvases type thing. But it's fun, because it's, it's a good way to give more motion to the painting. Instead of doing the one canvas. If I do three or four or multiple, it helps me to express that motion. For sure. That's a very pop art thing.
Ben Orr 33:43
Yeah, that that makes perfect sense. When it comes to to the colors that you specifically chose, there are a lot of these blues. Was there anything? Anything that you're aiming for, with the specific shades of blue that you chose? Or like one over another, by the way?
Brandon 34:03
No not really, because I when I go for a color palette, I usually use colors that I like, or that I'm feeling at the moment. Last year, I was in love with blue. This year. I'm in love with green. So maybe this year, I'll paint a lot of green pieces. But usually I don't. Maybe not consciously I don't go too far as to why I'm picking this certain color. It's more of a vibe. You know what I'm feeling at the moment? Yeah. At that time, I was using a lot of brown and blue and usually blue is one of my least favorite colors. And somehow I use it a lot. But um, I don't go that deep into sometimes why I picked these colors. Okay. Yeah, sometimes they do for the sulcus exhibition. Those six it was six colors that I use through the entire paintings. Those were more curated specifically for something I wanted to convey. But most of the time, it's just free flow, whatever it looks pretty next to this color, let's go, you know?
Ben Orr 35:05
Make sense. I think it's notable that Brian is the one in this piece. What made you choose putting Brian as the one in grayscale over Mooney who has already traditionally grayscale into this piece.
Brandon 35:19
He helped me to put myself in places where I can be at times. And mooning being a moon, you know, it could be very easy to put in these, like, very out of body experiences type things or in space, or, you know, they could flow maybe a little more easy. Yeah, but why use him instead? Specifically for this? It's because I would love to experience that, you know, it's something like imagine, like, just floating and just being surrounded by these colors, and just enjoying that that'd be, you know, kind of cool. Oh, so for that piece, that's, that's why because it's, sometimes it helps me to kind of in a, in a way, put myself in that experience.
Ben Orr 36:02
I'd love to hear about the Lehigh Valley a little bit more. Like as an artist, what makes you want to continue to live and operate as an artist here in the Lehigh Valley.
Brandon 36:13
If you look at all these big cities and go into LA, or going to Boston or going to New York, you notice that, you know, there's a lot of art, there's a lot of museums, tons of artists move to those big cities. Would I like to live in one of those places? Probably possibly, in I'm sure it makes sense, career wise to do that eventually. But right now, I'm happy where I am. It's a great scene, what it's developing here in Lehigh Valley. It's something very special, because a lot of artists and this is something I, I spoke about with Brandon, in the last podcast, he was explained me how a lot of artists that leave the area, to you know, find opportunities and grow with their careers, they're coming back. Because even though you know, it might be a small city, it might feel like we're a suburb of New York, there's more traffic, for sure. There's more people for sure, yeah. But when it comes to the art scene, there's something very unique and palpable, that it's something that's starting to grow. But it's leaving room for any type of artist to create something meaningful, and show their work. And that's something that I've been enjoying a lot as an artist, seeing that. I don't see a lot of people doing what I do, which is it's a good thing. Yeah. And at the same time, seeing so many different styles, and so many different mediums that are being a showcase. They're not just at Smart vending events that I've seen smaller artists, if you want to call it that way, exhibit their works at awesome galleries around here, you know, with all different types of backgrounds and that very connected community vibe that it's happening here. It's what so far, it's enjoyable, that it's making me stay here, you know, awesome. Yeah.
Ben Orr 38:16
Very cool. Well, another thing that we like to cover on the show is this idea of art education, and what that means, and how it differs, and its meaning to everybody. In past interviews, you've talked about how your art practice as it is today is relatively young. Yeah, that you started. really not all that long ago. No. So I, I'd love to hear about that, that education portion. And however, however you want to take that or whatever that means to you.
Speaker 1 38:49
You know, for me, education or school was always like this, you know, talking to Elise about school, like how I always like kind of, didn't like, you know, stablished going to school and do your homework and all that. But it as I grow older, I realize how important it is to educate yourself in whatever it is that you want to do. My background as an artist, it's nowhere close to art, you know, because I went to business school, I was like, aiming for that, like, make my own business and, you know, completely different. I realized that didn't work for me, but I do see the value of what I learned at the moment. Now. You know, even though I want to do this for a living, and I want to keep growing as an artist, of course, I tried to dive into whatever is available for me at the moment, which is a lot you can get a lot of information, you know, easily as an artist, but I do see the value of using whatever Is that you learned before as an artist, because I went to business school, I didn't like the vibe I didn't like what type of, you know, mentality, you everything people, it was not for me. But some of the stuff that I learned, you know, helped me as an artist, you know, because sometimes you have to do like the business thing, sometimes you have to like, sell stuff, and this and that, yeah, marketing, blah, blah, blah, it is important to keep learning, whatever it is that you can get your hands on, if you're lucky enough to go to school, go to college and do that, if it works for you, like, go for it, and make the best out of it. In my experience, so I'm a self taught artist. But there's a lot of information out there. You can go to YouTube, I started I'm trying to start to get better 3d modeling and animation. So there's courses out there, there's, you go on YouTube. And there's these amazing artists that are professional in that have been doing that for years, and you can get a whole course out of them. They're Skillshare, which is a great website. For any sort of career, there's stuff to how to make a resume, how to do this, how to use Instagram, how to like all of these things that might seem mundane, that's a great platform to learn, you know, because not, it's not always easy to go to college and pay for that. But whatever tools are available to you a podcast, or an audiobook, if you pay Spotify Premium, and you can listen to some audiobooks, if you don't like to read like me, like, just go for it. Yeah, I'm always an advocate for being yourself. And, you know, this is a podcast, that it's aimed for artists, but you can be an artist in any medium, you know, absolutely. And we were discussing earlier, even being a teacher. And being that patient in a way is like a form of art, or editing a video or editing a podcast that in a way is a form of art. You know, there's traditional art mediums, and whatever it is that you want to do, I'm always advocating for diving into that creativity, and not shying away from it, whether it is painting, whether it is singing, photography, anything, just go for it, you know, even if it's for hobby, don't shy away from being creative, because that's something that I always express. And that's kind of like my motto, like, always create, like, whatever it is, because everyone's very creative at something. And the world needs that. You know, apps because it can be sometimes very boring out there. If you've like, if you're like my wife, and you can do whatever thing you want to do, and you do well at it, just go for it. You know, if you want to, I don't know, build chair. I don't know, whatever it is, just go for it.
Ben Orr 43:11
Yeah, I love that. And that that phrase, always create is something that is ever present in your work. It's like the words themselves are written there. And one of your earliest photos that you have posted on Instagram. Is that brain with the radiating and it says always create on it. Yeah. How long has that phrase been been with you like that? Those two words together "always create?" How long has that been around in your mind?
Brandon 43:44
For me that little brain painting with like very, I think of it of like very 70s intro type of vibe. The two words, those two words together means so much to me. And I was very inspired by a friend of mine. He a co writer, he's from Mexico. We call him Georgiou. He is a writer he writes short stories and one of his books. I remember he mentioned how grateful he was feeling of being able to write in how grateful he was of being able to create something. And I was like, fuck yeah, you know, like, that's, that's very inspiring, because it's, you know, being able to be an artist. It's something to be proud of. Because if you can make $1 out of it, that's incredible. You know, that's something that someone paying for your work. And if you're able to express what you are, who you are, whatever it is that you feel, whatever idea and if you're able to put that out there in the world You know, it's something to be very proud of. And being creative and always creating is something that I live for. Because if I weren't doing this that probably like go crazy with all of these ideas in my head. Yeah.
Ben Orr 45:15
You, you mentioned before we came in. For the listeners, we sit down with the artists and just talk a little bit about the show about us as hosts and kind of gush on the artists and tell how much we love them. But one of the things that Brandon mentioned in that pre conversation was that English is not his first language, right? And that phrase, "always create," Was that something that stuck with you even before English, like this, when you think always create is "Always Create" what's in your head? Or is it?
Speaker 1 45:50
Yeah, yeah, it's It's definitely like, it, like stuck to me in English. I'm originally from Mexico. His book was in Spanish, so it might have been paraphrased differently in English, or he might have expressed differently. But that's what stuck with me, you know, and that's what I put in the painting. That's since then, since that moment that I painted that something that stuck with me, you know, and something that I always tell people, you know, because even my nephew, he, he's seven, his name is Connor, and he was part of my event, because his dad is an artist, he works with stained glass, Mikey DeNora, he goes on Instagram, he's Mikey DeNora Glass, I believe. And, you know, he's around does when we do events, or if we happen to have an abandoned we're, so he is leaning into that, you know, being creative, not, I don't know, if he wants to do that for growing up or whatever. But he's enjoying drawing. And when we when we, you know, had family gatherings, he'd be like, hey, I want to play and pretend like I'm setting up and selling my art. And I was like, Hey, do you want to do that for real? And he made a bunch of drawings, and he was selling them. And he made money out of it. And, you know, that's, that's incredible, you know, I was able to help him to have that platform to do that. You know, like, even if he doesn't want to do that. I will not just him, but anyone support that? You know, yeah, because I'm like, I'm like the biggest fan for other artists. You know, like all my friends, I love to share, I love to talk about their work. Because I think it's extremely important to have, if you have a voice to me, if I have a platform to tell people that are listening, or seeing my work, that they should be doing something that they should be creative, because you know, we need those ideas out there.
Ben Orr 47:47
Awesome. So when I first came across you it was you as a vendor at playback. And from a couple of the other interviews that you've done recently, as well, it seems like that's a common thread, at least in terms of meeting people, as an artist in the Lehigh Valley, would you would you mind telling me a little bit more about your experiences as a vendor, and maybe, maybe give a tip for other artists that are looking to try and find some success in the vending market?
Brandon 48:15
Well, it's a great way to expose your art. Thankfully, I've been able to promote myself and sell my work and have an audience online, which is like, so surreal. When watching the office, and all of a sudden, I get a notification that somebody from, I don't know, Europe wants to buy this. It's crazy. And obviously, all of these online tools are great. But it's also very important to know your community, and connect with your community, because you're part of a community as an artist, and there's a lot of good art there out there. And thankfully, the Lehigh Valley is a good area where that's very accessible way to do so. There's a lot of events, there's events for anything, you know, plants advance food. So there's a lot of different opportunities to meet people. And if you're starting as an artist, you know, sometimes going into a bigger gallery can feel scary. But if you do a smaller event, and you set up a table, sometimes they can do like a $10 fee or something. Not even a fee sometimes and you can show your work, you can meet the right people. So I think vending, even in summer when it's sunny and you're gonna be sweaty and you know, all you need is a table a chair and show your work and be there and meet meet people, you know, because you don't know you can meet the right person.
Ben Orr 49:48
Well, what's next for you? What's what's coming up what's on the docket?
Brandon 49:57
A break, I need a break. Because December 23, I had my first solo show. That was a lot of work. It was fun. It was great. But it was a lot of work. This year, I'm in the works to finally hit a studio. Because it is important as an artist to get your own spot. Thankfully, at home, I have like my own little tiny studio slash office slash storage, where I can work and that's wonderful. So hopefully, you know, that happened soon. And just keep working with other artists. That's what I always look for. Being able to work with other artists, hopefully new projects, not only I'm in the works for hopefully making some collectibles, Brian some collectibles and Mooney so hopefully that happens. I'm commissioned to do the poster for the...
Ben Orr 50:54
World of Animation Festival?
Speaker 1 50:57
Yes, that's at the Emmaus theater, that's going to be this summer. And yeah, just keep doing my thing.
Ben Orr 51:07
Awesome. Super exciting. Well, where can people where can people find you online? what's your what's your Instagram? What's your website?
Speaker 1 51:14
Everywhere online. I'm at BrandonDM.Art And if you want to get yourself some stickers and prints something fun, some Brian some Moonies check out my website. If you want to work as an artist together, send me a DM. Because I'd love to just keep meeting creative people.
Ben Orr 51:36
Awesome. Well, Brandon, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Brandon 51:40
Thanks for the opportunity. It was great. Great space. Great meeting you guys. Very, very happy for this.
Elise 51:45
Brandon. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. You can check out Brandon's work currently on display at es o arts in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I'm also excited to announce that Brandon's work has recently been selected to be a part of midnight galleries expression of the mind exhibition. This exhibition is coming up soon, so stay tuned for more information on that. Our opportunity of the week is winter replay. 20 Presented by Marz Meets Venus going on Saturday February 24 From one to 8pm. At 143 Westland and street in Allentown. There will be vintage apparel, tattoos, clothing, art, jewelry, food and music. For more information check out the Marz Meets Venus Instagram page at MarzMeetsVenus. Thanks for tuning in to the Lehigh Valley arts podcast. Don't forget to like the podcast leave us a review and follow us on both social media and streaming services at Lehigh Valley arts podcast.