Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Graffiti Park Radio! 🎨🎧 Where creativity knows no bounds.
Listen to Graffiti Park Radio were we’ll tap in with artists, our proud partners, and community stakeholders who believe in empowering the next generation of art visionaries and the valuable teaching moments that come from living, breathing art.
Anika Jones 0:00
Announcer, let's get scratching. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the vibrant world of graffiti Park radio, where creativity knows no bound. We'll tap in with artists, educators, our proud partners and community stakeholders who believe in empowering the next generation of visionaries beyond the hidden alleyways abandoned warehouses and local city transits, where artists are known to leave their mark. Graffiti Park Foundation has redefined and reimagined the persona of street Museum.
Dan Moloney 0:29
Hello, hey, we're here Good morning, afternoon, evening, midday, Wednesday. Good Wednesday. Good Wednesday. It could be a Sunday when you're listening, it could be a Tuesday. I hope it's good. Or, you know, Hello, we're here. I'm Dan, hello, as always, we have Miss Anika Jones, well, hello everyone. How long do you guys think that intro is? You had to guess, maybe 38 seconds, two minutes,
Dan Bulgatz 1:00
a minute after all is said and done.
Dan Moloney 1:04
30 seconds. 30 seconds on the intro. Welcome to another episode of graffiti Park radio, Dan and Dan and Mr. Dinka Jones here, and we are joined by the lovely Miss Camille. How are you doing? I'm doing well. I'm excited. Good. We are. This is a long time coming to get you on here.
Kamile 1:23
I felt so bad. I literally, was like, I can say yes and only Yes,
Dan Moloney 1:31
yeah. Camille was like, do you have this date
Kamile 1:33
available? Yeah, are you Yes? Literally, a month ago,
Dan Moloney 1:38
we'll circle the wagons, lots of moving parts to get everyone in here, but we are always excited when we do. Yeah,
Dan Bulgatz 1:47
can I ask? What's keeping you busy right now? Why are you booked a month out in advance at the moment?
Kamile 1:52
Because I love to travel. I'm not an international travel or, like some people, but I like to be. I feel like you go so hard on murals sometimes that, like my offset, when I like to tune out, is just to be on the go. So I like to go to places I have access to, like friends, family and stuff. And it's usually California, okay, it's often a skip away. So it's so easy to get to. It's also not 112 degrees, yeah, so like to Dave out and then come back in between.
Dan Bulgatz 2:19
Okay, yeah. Do you have a favorite place you like to travel while work is a little quieter, Pismo
Kamile 2:24
Beach. My sister lives in Pismo blessed. So that's my top spot. I mean, it's 59 like foggy. They have the
Dan Moloney 2:33
opposite seasons a little bit. So my dad lives in Morro Bay. So you already know
Kamile 2:37
Morro Bay's a spot. Yeah. Central coast, Central Coast. If I could, I'd be there. So it's full time. Yeah, it's great. Gas is $6 a gallon. Oh, it's so expensive. So,
Dan Moloney 2:50
you know, it's not 112 Yeah, that's true. You get what you can pay one way or the other thing, the weather is good because you should walk, yeah? So Camille, you have, you have lots of talent in fun things. You dabble in outside of murals. You got stickers. You got lots of fun stuff. Tell us a little bit about your art background, how you got first started.
Kamile 3:13
Okay, so I'm trying to think how to make a long story short. So I have a I have a sister of 15 months under me, who's also an artist, and so both of our talents grew together. I would say when we were really little, my mom said we used to color like hours a day, and so she provided. She comes from a creative family, and so does my dad, to be honest. So we would color like all day. We colored a lot. And then as we got older, our styles changed, probably, like early high school, I started going into portraits, and she started going into, like, a really bright, vibrant so we went the opposite so we still would draw together, develop our talents together, but went the opposite way and did portraits. And then as I got into my 20s, obviously, the dream is to do art full time. So I was like, How can I make this work? And I was going to do digital art, but I hated school, literally, with a passion. Do not enjoy school. And like, I'll learn. I like learn, learning. But I just I didn't know how to branch into a creative space. So ended up figuring out for a company I worked for that was like screen printing and embroidery. I thought that was created enough, but it wasn't fulfilling me. And so then we went to a dreamer convention where you literally learn how to make your dreams a reality as part of work. And I was like, I'm gonna take advantage of this opportunity. I'm in front of, literally, a guy that's called a dream manager. He went on TED talks as a dream manager. He teaches people how to fulfill their dreams. And I couldn't figure out how to get from A to Z. I was like, How do I do murals? And I like, even with all the access to, you know, YouTube and different artists, onions. Instagram and whatever, I could not figure it out. Like, just how to make it work, and that was before graffiti Park. So I
Dan Moloney 5:07
mean, like, sorry to cut you off. Like, make it work, like, financially, or just even, like, get your foot in the
Kamile 5:12
door. Yeah. Like, how do you become a muralist? How do I do it? And not even full time? I wasn't even thinking that at the time. I was like, How do I even achieve a mural because going from such a small scale of portrait work or paper, and I didn't even do much canvas work, that's a huge feat to try to go big. How do I scale my art? So in the class, the dreamer class, we literally worked backwards from your goal. So you want to do a mural. What steps does it take? And I was the example in the class. So I had a lot of help from people who know how to make dreams happen. So like, literally, this guy named Dan Ralphs on TED Talks. He was a leader. He helped me make a plan. And he was like, mentor. Who do you know? Who do you know in Vegas that can help you achieve? Like not only painting it, but get you a wall. Is there somebody like that would help that would let you paint their garage or do something to practice? So my first steps was to do the chalk murals. You know, the sidewalk street festivals did two of those, and so I kind of was practicing on how to do the second one, I did a stencil, because I just didn't know how to scale it. So did a stencil. So that way had more time to grid. So grid work first, and then ended up getting a mural in. When was that 2017 Okay? Funny story, I didn't complete the mural because I couldn't figure out how to scale it. So that was my practice. When it was at a restaurant and I didn't finish it. So I was like, I'm a failure, like, I can't do this. And my next mural that dreamwork convention was 2018 the beginning of 2018 and I went, and I made another stencil again, and went to the arts district. My friend helped me get a wall, like in the alleyway where all the graffiti is, and pulled it off. It took me like, a hot minute I did in the rain in January. I was like, Why is it raining? It was like, all the things wrong. The one day it rains. Yeah, my paper, my paper was coming off the wall. It wouldn't stay taped. And Anyways, long story short, that's where it started, is that wall. And from there, let's see, trying to think 2021 is when, like, I started doing murals full time that July, I quit my job with $2,000 and that was literally, like, if I quit my job, it's gonna force me to be so uncomfortable I will do it. Yep. And I was living at my parents house, so I don't have the pressure of too many bills, and I went to Hawaii for two weeks with a mural booked with my old boss, like a house mural. And from there, my brother got me a gig in Salt Lake City. At his job. Didn't know how to pull it together, but pulled it off somehow. And they got three more, three more murals at the end of that year, and nothing from October, beginning of October, till I met you guys that next February, really, yeah, so And Sean actually, is the guy who introduced me to graffiti Park, yes. And yeah, so, man behind the lens, yes, yes. So I had met him through Ike or one of our his buddies, um, who's a famous wood artist from back east, incredible talent. And he helped me through Sean to connect to graffiti park since the beginning. And that was a volunteer project at the elementary school. I think it was at Cortez, yep. And then from there, I kid you not, I've done 20 murals with graffiti Park, and then I've done almost 40 murals. Nice. Well, that's a long story, but that's, that's how it started, that's how that's how it evolved. Was the right way to answer that question? That's right or wrong? Yeah, yeah. So it's kind of, it's
Dan Bulgatz 8:55
cool. So that very first project, I guess I want to say that was at cambiero Elementary School. It's Cortez elementary school. It's like a landscape photo with like a quote up at the very top of it. You're saying is for that very first mural with us. You had no idea how that would go. You didn't really know,
Kamile 9:13
oh, I wore my white Nikes. I didn't even know that I was gonna paint that day. Like I wasn't. I didn't quite understand how the process worked for the volunteer projects. So I had showed up thinking I was just meeting you guys. And literally, I remember the exact thing you guys were sitting on the back of the track, and you're like, hey, let's I'll go show you the wall right now. And I was like, I'm in my white nights right now. So anyways, I was like, you gotta paint right now. I didn't want to like, yeah. I didn't want to back down, yeah. So, and I remember there was a lot of artists, I think, on that yeah, project. So I was like, it's time. Oh, so many So, yeah, so, anyways, um, and I had no plan. I literally just freestyled that, like, just because I took the ugliest wall. Do you remember that texture? Yeah, the wallpaper. I don't even know what I was doing. Saying that
Dan Moloney 10:00
we found you a wall. That was the first project. We had milk crates out with all the paint. We usually just have them in the 94 so it was an
Kamile 10:09
upgrade. It was right, yeah. Okay, so that was such a fun wall. So that was in 2021
Dan Bulgatz 10:15
Oh, was it? I think so. 2021
Kamile 10:18
this is why we got the fact check. I should have wrote it down.
Dan Bulgatz 10:21
But the coolest part about that, we've started to get away from those a little bit, I guess, but we would call them C caps, community collaboration art projects. And essentially it was the only way for schools, they would lump sum and pay for a certain amount of materials and give us a specific like theme to go along. And all of these artists that were looking for opportunities, either to paint or to scale, or any of those examples that you just gave, we would essentially buy all the paint and the supplies and have the walls pre prepped for them to come in and get experience and different opportunities for mural curation gigs. So going back, I guess this is now on four or five years ago, those would was like our first ways that we would get into it, if almost like a job interview, to ensure that people were ready to make that step up into scaling their art into large forms, like getting commissions, that sort of thing, right? Yeah. So can I ask amila, somebody that's literally done it herself from the ground up, taught yourself all the way through, what pieces of advice do you have for other artists that are looking to either scale their work into bigger things, or looking to take that leap and call themselves a full time artist? So
Kamile 11:30
this is a fun question, so I actually stalked low key stocked one of my favorite artists. What's his name? Joan Jonah, never I think. Or, anyways, he's a Venice if you look at Venice Beach artist, he's one of the main artists that have the huge black and white portrait murals, and he's all over Venice Beach. Anyways, he was do, he was just finishing a mural when I was there, and I was like, I want to talk to him. As soon as he's coming down his scissor lift. Like, I'm gonna go talk to him. I'm gonna see like, if he has any advice for me of being a muralist, because in my mind, I want it to be that big of a scale, like whole sides of buildings. And I was like, maybe he has some interesting thing. He told me, find a mentor. He's like, that's the only thing I can tell you. He said how I started was he used to be a tattoo artist, and the tattoo artist that mentored him, was also a muralist, and so he had a mentor. So the first thing is try to find a mentor. Because I feel like if somebody's doing murals full time, I mean, I think of all the artists at graffiti Park, every single one is the most approachable, kindest people. I have learned so much from the other artists by asking questions. They're so like everybody is, I feel like, I mean, graffiti Park is collaboration over competition, that's and everybody lives that. And so if you can find somebody who's willing to offer advice or answer your questions, that's going to be the number one thing that I can tell anybody trying to do this, even no matter where you're at in the mural process, too. Like, I feel like, ask questions. Like, I've come to graffiti park a few times. I've been like, you have any advice on, like, you know, fees or, I don't know different, yeah?
Dan Moloney 13:15
Like, when you're working on your other stuff, you'll send us a text like, Hey, I'm doing this and this. Yeah. Do you think it's a good idea if I do X, Y, Z, for sure? So I think that's a super like, admirable and like, useful trait for someone to like there don't have an ego about asking for two questions or help,
Kamile 13:31
and if you get shot down the first time, you're not getting responses, depending on who you're talking to, don't take it personal. Go to the next person and just try to get information. Try to get your questions answered. My next thing is one of my things, when you're buying paint, to not overspend, like you can do spray paints, a little bit tricky, but if you're doing house paint, for example, they literally have the square footage of what the coverage is. So to not overspend, I can't tell you how many times I bought quarts or gallons when I quite literally just needed a sample size. Heard that most of the time, and I still make that mistake. Even recently, I went to buy, like, a gallon and two quarts, and I used, like,
Dan Moloney 14:16
barely any of it, Dan and I bought 15 gallons of the wrong paint, like, a month ago. It's so
Kamile 14:21
sad you just walk to the dollar splay out. So, yeah. So just get sample sizes. Yeah, if you're, if you're paint, huge hit. Yeah, be a real Yeah. Oh, use trim brushes. Um, if you're using, if you're doing brush work again, I would just get trim brushes. They're my favorite boosters, just because of the flexibility a lot of the time. And obviously you can get them more expensive, but for the price, I mean, they're six and $7 and they have the flexibility the rubber handles so your hand doesn't get tired with line work, if you're doing brush work, that's so important,
Anika Jones 14:56
yeah, watching your story on that you're like and her. Letters and every precision. Yes, I was inside, incredible.
Dan Moloney 15:03
How do you record? Right? She's perfect. I'm like, that gives me anxiety. Do you have it in your mouth? Like, how do you
Kamile 15:14
So, it's really cool. Well, and every time I think of Sean at one of the things, he put the GoPro on my hand. But the handle thing. I need one. I need to invest because, literally, I have a thing. So I have my camera on, and I rest it, usually, like, rest my my pinky, and I follow my hand.
Dan Moloney 15:31
So that way, always, so you're looking at the wall, not your camera. Um,
Kamile 15:36
sometimes, no, I'll try to look at the wall, because otherwise my lines are off. Like, I can't do the lines, so I'll just so it just I get it in position. So many
Anika Jones 15:44
different skills going on at once,
Kamile 15:48
videographers, photographers and murals,
Kamile 15:51
like you guys are, it's amazing. It's amazing. It's crazy.
Dan Moloney 15:53
Yeah, so go for it. That's when, like, I think that's one of the things that we haven't talked too much about on the podcast, is like, how? Yeah, okay, being a full time artist, you're not only a full time artist, you're you're a marketer, you're a videographer. You have to, you're doing admin business work. You're, like, depending on your skin. Yeah, you're doing your bookkeeping. So talk to us a little bit about that journey over the last few years. Of you kind of figuring that out.
Kamile 16:18
It's pretty gnarly. I've had to now that chat GBT is available, game changer. I mean, I'm not going to be using my brain nearly as much like I've had to have my boyfriend recheck my math so many times on quotes, square footage, like I'm not that side brained, obviously. So I can't even do the basics. I mean, it's crazy, but um, oh, it's been so much practice, um, just trying to figure out what apps to use to send invoices look legit. Do my digital I mean, if you can, as soon as you can, you want to figure out how to get, like, an iPad, you know, yeah, establish a brand, even if it's like, basic so you can be like, Hey, I don't know, just put your signature on the top of an invoice look legit. Because the more legit you look, in my opinion, the more professional you look, the easier it is to get your own murals, like people want to see that you're even if you're like, let's say you don't have all the things that you should have, you know, like insurances, different stuff like that. Yet, really, what's important is how professional you present yourself and like on paper, you know, are you sending, like, I have a mock text, mock emails, even like emails, like, somebody send me just wants to know, what's your process for? How to, how do I get a quote on my mural? Or what's your process? Literally, copy and paste. Tweak it a tiny teens, like, try to streamline your process as much as possible, because when you get busier, you don't have time to work through those details. And, like, create a custom text message or custom email to everybody and all that type of thing you want to I was telling myself before. Like, at the beginning I tell myself, I've painted 20 girls. I've only painted like, two. I've done 20, like, not really, but, or, Hey, I've done art since I was, you know, ninth grade, officially, like, where I felt legit, like I called myself an artist. I identified as an artist. I felt like I could confidently say I'm an artist. So that's what I would tell myself going in, you know, like, how big can you make yourself? So you so you lead with confidence. Because, I mean, most people who are going to pursue murals as a trade and as like a full time job, probably have the skills to back it up in some way or another, where you know whether it's on paper or not. So you got to tell yourself, like, I'm confident I can do this and and that comes across to clients very easily, 100%
Dan Bulgatz 18:45
so what is your process like for learning a new skill or venturing into, say, a new medium or to trying something different?
Kamile 18:54
Sometimes, I literally, that's a great question. I've been pondering it myself, because some of the murals I take or some of the mock ups that I send you guys, I'm like, What am I doing to myself? Like, I wonder what you guys think sometimes, when you see some of those mock ups, you're like, Bill's like, gonna do it again, just like the madness of you know, sometimes I send the craziest mock ups with so much detail
Dan Moloney 19:19
your most recent one we're doing so we we've been busy. We've did a project, I think, two months ago, and then we're back at that school doing another project in like couple weeks. We got one this weekend. We're working with you. So that mural, they love that. They're like, No changes. Love it. You're with all the words,
Kamile 19:39
oh, the inspo was mad. Steves, you know that Marilyn, I think he's in LA, and he does, like, the craziest colors and stuff. I took direct inspo. I was like, I want to try to mimic that. So I guess, to answer the question, I always keep inspiration walls. So that way, like, well, two things, I keep inspiration boards. So that way, if I'm, like, filling. Really dull, like, I just don't know where to go. I scroll through and see, like, what styles speak to me, because it really gets your brain flowing. It gets you in the flow. Of, like, I'm ready to present something I want to create. Also looking for me, looking back in my previous work helps me get into the flow. So that's the first thing I want to do. I want to the flow, kind of remove any barriers of like stresses or things going on. So that way I can kind of approach a creative space, a creative mind, and then from there, really just depends what I'm doing. I try to stay organized. Because, you know, the artist artists typically are not very organized. I feel they try to stay organized. Like, what am I trying to accomplish here? Am I sending out quotes? Am I trying to meet deadlines? Most of the stuff are deadlines, whether it's graffiti Park gives me a deadline, or if I'm setting deadlines for myself personally, because a lot of artists also procrastinate, yeah, like this, just the creative brain and procrastination. So try to stay organized. What am I trying to accomplish? Give myself deadlines. Try to be like, what? What's my calendaring look like? Availability or how busy do I want to be? And that way, when you're talking to people or clients and things you know already know where you're at, yeah, yeah. Does that? Does that answer your question? That's
Dan Moloney 21:17
nice, yeah. Never said. Artists aren't organized.
Kamile 21:22
Non organized, and always
Dan Moloney 21:26
you didn't hear from me. I
Anika Jones 21:27
love it. I love it. Speaking of the stereotypes around artists, how's it been for you being able to set a tone for your artwork, set a name for yourself as a female in a male dominated arena? Like, what has that been like for you, not just as a professional, but just as a female, just artists, you know, in
Kamile 21:47
general, that's a fascinating question, because I think people underestimate until they do it, how physical? Yeah, murals are. It sounds scary. Yeah, it's very physical. It can be very scary. I easily understand why it's male dominated because of the physicality of it. If you like, I'm 36 I literally was like, I have to start really pushing the gym and yoga. Accomplish this in a couple years. A female body is so different, yeah, than the male body. And if you don't support, like, your structure. And I'm not a naturally athletic person either, so, I mean, my body is not athletic. You just have to stay on top of that. That's super important. Since being a female and, like, represent, I wouldn't even, yeah, yeah, that's awesome. And now I'm older, like, I know, like my body, like my body is has limits. Oh, was I talking to? I think it was Cody, like, at the end of, like, the three days chair, like, how could it do? I, like, started swimming, I'm not kidding, to, like, try to open up my upper back, yeah, because, and doing laps and stuff. Because I, like, I want that freedom. I want that flexibility of what's going on with my arms, that's what I'm working with. And so that's super important, is to like, being physically fit is actually, uh, I feel like under and
Anika Jones 23:11
under guess, and even wanting to make sure you don't wimp out or seem like you went out to the guys, you know, like, Yeah, didn't think of that.
Dan Moloney 23:19
Yeah, those three day projects are very different now, even as two men, we'll talk about that on the end of a Sunday. I'm like, that was a lot different five years ago. Yeah,
Kamile 23:27
it is, oh, I remember talking to you guys about this. Actually, I was like, because I think it was last summer, the summer before, when you really started getting consistent where, like, it was several weeks in a row that you guys were like, we have had no days off, no breaks. I mean, we were, like, going dead straight. And I remember, like, asking. I was like, how are you physically holding up, like, literally upright blue tape, yeah, taping, yeah, taping her bones together and stuff. But, um, that, that aspect, I've never really been overly competitive. Like, I don't have, like, the female complex, male complex, or anything like that. So as far as that, I'm pretty humble. As far as, like, um, asking for help. Like, am I really having a hard time or or whatever, but support yourself. So like, if I need extra ladders or extra things, like, physically to make my job easier, absolutely invest in that first. Yeah, yeah. Like, there's, like, really handy things that are being made now that make standing, even on ladders so much easier, like those gorilla ladders that are like the full step. I mean, they reach like five and 10 feet, I think now so there's different ways that you can physically support yourself. That's my number one complaint about being a female in, like, a predominantly
Anika Jones 24:39
male arena where there's and I love that you guys talked about, um, creating a space where she can call you and ask you advice on projects that don't have anything to do with graffiti Park, and you're giving that advice that is that, you know, collaboration over competition piece that we're really trying to bring together, especially marginalized. Artist, because it's like, if I already feel like, straight up as an artist, as a male artist, that's successful, that I'm not going to get all the supports I need, or people helping me with bids and different things like that. What's it like for a female what's it like for a new artist? What's it like for someone new to town? You know,
Kamile 25:14
it'd be really hard, because, like, I think people who haven't invested in the two dance, like trying to get to know you guys probably would be a little bit like, because the graffiti Park is so cool, it's so big, it's such a wonderful concept. It's like a muralist or artist dream concept, right to, like, have a group of people that you know you have access to, and like, work together. I actually, since working with graffiti Park, don't like working by myself, and I realize now, because it's so it's such a good it's such a community feel, which, I mean, you guys have strategically built it that way to make sure that everybody's supported, not only by you guys, but by each other. So it's actually been, really, I've had a recent challenge of not wanting to do murals by myself. So that's been an interesting new challenge. And I don't know if it's like like that men are so supportive in certain ways in my life that like, I gravitate towards the males that are in part of graffiti Park. I'm trying to figure out how to say this, that they're so supportive that, like, I rely on the dependence there that comes with like, being not only the physical support, but also, like, emotionally supportive. Does that make sense? Because everybody's like, everybody's so supportive, the males in graffiti work are not intimidating in the way of like, there's like, never be so kind and
Anika Jones 26:42
wants. It's a cool part of the team. Yeah, it's exactly
Kamile 26:47
that, yeah, yeah, it's a cool group. Like, really. So if you can get into
Dan Moloney 26:53
and man, thank you.
Dan Bulgatz 26:55
No, I know that's such an amazing compliment, because so much of what we do, like Dan and I realized, you know, like five gallons do weigh over, like 40 pounds. You know, each of these ladders is not insignificant when it comes to weight, putting up the scaffolds, doing all of these things. And unfortunately, with artwork and with murals and with all this stuff, it could just seem like, oh, okay, it's another four hours of detailing, and then this, this, and you're all done. And then you don't think about, well, yeah, but then I got to take it down. I got to wash all the brushes. I got to do all the things, you know, like, then take all the videos, do all the recording of it. And so one thing that I'm glad that you're feeling the results of is that we really do try to take out a lot of the burdens that artists will face in that barriers to entry, even to doing this full time. And so thank you so much. That's like, one of the best compliments I think we've ever received.
Kamile 27:43
Oh, for sure, I feel like I've been with graffiti Park long enough now that I've seen so much of your growth that, like, I'm very aware of how much you guys as individuals have grown and opened up. Like, I don't know if you realize, like, not only maturity wise, for lack of better words, but also like, I mean, I remember when you guys went full time yourselves, like doing graffiti Park, like you got rid of your side hustles, just like a muralist would that goes full time. So everybody kind of has been growing together, and I've been with you long enough that I've watched that growth and understand, like, where you guys are going. So it makes me more comfortable, and I imagine that new artists coming in would quickly discover that comfortability and like how they can grow with graffiti Park and outside of graffiti Park.
Dan Moloney 28:33
Well, Camille, we have one minute left if someone is interested in finding your artwork, seeing what you're working on, where can they find you?
Kamile 28:40
Mainly Instagram. Instagram is my team. What's your handle? Oh, Cam Gen studio with a, k, so, k, A, M, j, e, n, studio.
Dan Moloney 28:50
Cam Gen studio on Instagram, another episode where we had to bring a guest back because, you know, 30 minutes just isn't enough time. I got questions about stickers. I got questions. There's like, Patrick, star, prison Mike, there's a lot of, oh, if you're just listening, Anika has got a bunch of them on her cup. But cam Jensen studio on Instagram, if you're interested in finding us, it's graffiti Park, underscore LV on Instagram, YouTube, all the things. Thank you so much for joining us today. Camille, thank you. It's been an honor.
Kamile 29:24
Awesome. Next time you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai