Now That's Art with Mike Ruby

I’m very excited to share my interview with the talented and creative Heather Dawson. She is a Brooklyn based artist who turned her hobby of handcrafted fused, stained glass into her career! She details how she did it and how she runs her company. It was a joy to pull back the curtain on her creative process and her entrepreneurial journey. Heather shares that she was let go from her job, which ultimately turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It gave her that needed push to go all in with her fused stained glass. Her inspiration comes from traditional flash tattoo designs. VERY COOL! She is such an inspiration and proves that your hobby can turn in into a career. It is not easy as she states, but if you are passionate about starting then it certainly is possible.

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Rachel Clark is on the podcast! She was a recent contestant in HBO Max’s Full Bloom Season 2. It is so great to have her on the podcast. She is truly an inspiration. Her creative journey was largely undefined until as Rachel says “flowers found her”. In this episode, she tells her story of how she landed onto the HBO Max show Full Bloom and how she approaches creativity. It was a great honor to spend some time with her as she shares some amazing pearls of wisdom to all creatives and artists. She embodies what it means to be a modern creative. 

This episode we discuss ways to create your personal brand online, creating through tough times and learning to trust yourself better. As a fan of Rachel’s work, it was such a pleasure to dig a little deeper into her creative process. She has a wealth of passion and for the creatives looking to grow in their approach, Rachel has some amazing insights.

Also check out her in Season 2 of Full Bloom on HBO Max (Not Netflix)

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Illustrator, Designer and Founder of Novel Swim based in New York City. She is a Jew-Dominican who had a dream to be in the fashion world with her own line. She was working in the corporate world, where she could have stayed and likely been promoted, comfortable and finically set. However, after the passing of her beloved grandma, she knew her life and her work needed to be lived at her fullest potential creating. She took the leap and quit her corporate job to pursue a life in fashion. Laura knew nothing about starting a fashion line but knew her “nerd-instinct” could get her through. 6 years later, Novel Swim is thriving and coming off a recent victory being featured in Free People with her latest collection Paradise City. Our conversation is perfect for the creative looking to start but are afraid. Laura does an excellent job of guiding us on her journey and encouraging us to live our fullest story as well.

Paradise City Collection: novelswim.com

Instagram: @lauraprosenbaum and @novelwim

Get 20% off your first order with the coupon code NOWTHATSART at checkout! 

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For Bookings: [email protected]

Preparing Your Creative Mind 

Sydney Rahimtoola is a photographer, filmmaker, and performer, Rahimtoola aims to increase the visibility and accessibility of stories of black and brown communities. She is from Queens, New York and a graduate from the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague based in the Nederland’s.

Her interview is simply inspiring. She talks about her creative process, the importance of discipline and moving out of love and not fear. She also  shares her experience working with Psilocybin and how this has impacted her art.

The creative process is a messy and mysterious land which provokes anxiety, fear and uncertainty. You are not alone in this. My conversation with Syndey is so empowering for me as it is a reminder that these can be your ammunition to which you paint, film, express yourself with. There is a wealth of knowledge in this interview, and I hope we all learn something new from this amazing creative.

Follow her on instagram at @sydrahim2la. 

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This week's episode is about the Creative Recovery. There is no guest this week just a reflection on my creative recovery. Here are some highlights below.

Creative Recovery

⁠For the past 10 years, I have been creativity blocked, though I did not know why. I found myself consuming massive amounts of content but not creating anything in return. I felt like a failure and just worthless. ⁠

⁠As hard as I tried, I kept starting projects but not finishing them causing many of anxiety attacks. ⁠Have you ever felt like this? At the end of the day, you are most alive when you are creating. ⁠It wasn't until I learned how to invite anxiety in and learn how to manage it. ⁠⁠You are not a failure or worthless. You will and can start creating again as it is just one breakthrough away. ⁠

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See you next week!

⁠

Today's episode we have writer Audrey Alunan who details her personal history of creating and battling creative blocks in her life. 

At 17 years old, she wrote for Seventeen Magazine on their Style Counsel for the fashion shows she was attending. Around that time, she was Tumblr famous from her personal essays and blog posts. After those amazing experiences were coming to an end, she entered into a depression and encounter a prolonged writers block. She talks about how she overcomes blocks in her everyday life and gives tips for others to do the same. Audrey does a great job describing creativity by talking about being ok with the unknown in the creative process, using creativity as a self-discovery tool, and towards the end, how to find inspiration in your life.

You can follow Audrey on Instagram @sus7.0 

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Dave Justice is the creator and CEO of the Kamilwok Clothing Brand based in Brooklyn, NY. His message to creatives is simple: never give up on your dreams and to keep being great and believe in yourself. His positivity message is what sets him a part from his competition. Though, it is more than a good line, Dave lives and breathes his message. As a young black business owner in Brooklyn, Dave is a self-made artist and he is inspiring others to do the same. He talks on creating as a way to free mind, using hard times as motivation and how to stay above negativity.

Follow him on Instagram:

@daveehunnit

@kamilwok_brand

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Hope you enjoy the episode!

How To Create In An Algorithm World

On the pod is our friend Travis Atwell. This episode is a good one! You will find some pearls here for sure, I know I did.

Visit his website at http://www.travisatwell.com/ and you can follow him on instagram @travisatwellmusic

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I am honored to have a friend and a designer Matt Varner on the pod this week. You have seen his design work for Warner Records, Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, SNL season 46 title intro and Snoop Dogg’s Pounds premier water pipes and smoking accessories. It was a joy to have Matt on the show. He dropped some great insight on what it means to be creative, the importance of forgiving yourself as a creative. why we should stop “shoulding” ourselves, and much more.

You can check out Matt’s work here: https://mattvarner.com/

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I am honored to have a friend and an amazing Brooklyn based Photographer on the pod Tony Tripoli. In this episode, we talk about why we should stop “faking it till you make it”, knowing your worth, thinking beyond the world of social media whenever we start our creative work and much more.

If you are starting out on your creative journey or have been doing this for decades, I truly believe you will learn something great here. Tony does a great job at distilling his life lesson’s so that we can all learn how to be better creatives.

You can check out Tony’s work below:

Personal website: https://www.artripoli.com/

Scum of the Slum blog: https://www.scumoftheslum.com/

Podcast “Your Two Loudest Friends”: https://anchor.fm/your-two-loudest-friends