Conversation with Repurposer Collective members. Part 2

Currents of Connection: How Art, Water, and Community Weave a 32-Foot Tapestry of Unity

Dive into the inspiring story behind Currents of Connection—a breathtaking 32-foot collaborative tapestry created by the Repurposer Collective. In this episode of Salvage, artists share their personal journeys of transforming NASA ocean current maps and repurposed materials into a stunning, unified artwork. From the thrill of creative problem-solving to the joy of collective creation, discover how this project celebrates connection, sustainability, and the elemental power of water. Hear firsthand how each artist’s unique voice harmonizes into a powerful statement about community, creativity, and our shared planet.

Listen now and explore the beauty of art that binds us all.

This podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.

If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. 

Music theme by RC Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

Transcript

Hi and welcome to another episode of Salvage.

Today we're going back to the conversation I shared a little while ago about the Repurposer collective's collaborative art project called Currents of Connection.

Let me remind you what Currents of Connection is.

Here's the statement.

in a culture that prizes self-reliance. Currents of Connection invites us to remember the elemental force that binds every life on Earth, water. From the amniotic seas within our bodies to the tides that sculpt our coastlines.

Water links us across distances, languages and circumstances.

So this project I layered NASA and Britannia Ocean current maps with my own photographs of clouds and waves. So, weaving scientific data and lived experience into one tapestry, and had the members of the collective take sections of the work and create their versions of it, which will then which were then put together into one 32ft long

tapestry of varying techniques, varying materials, all repurposed materials, though.

And it's 32ft long and six feet wide. Really an amazing, amazing artwork. So this is

six more members of the Repurposer Collective, giving you their take on participating in this project. Enjoy.

First, let's welcome Joanie Share.

Thank you for agreeing to the interview.

I would love to know.

What made you decide to participate in the collaborative project?

Well, the collaborative project to me, when you started describing it in the very beginning as said, man, I mean, the whole concept of everybody working together

on one piece and everybody having their own

spin on it within a framework was exciting.

It's like,

you know, you're you're a part of it makes you feel you're part of a group,

but you're also an individual within a group.

And you have a very open ended theme or concept that you can adapt and put your own spin on without feeling like are carbon copy or lockstep with someone else.

the whole idea of

connection and water

and earth was all

a perfect combination of working together as a team.

It was great. That was exciting. I'm so glad, and I'm so glad that you. Yes, I do remember when I first was talking about it, you were almost. You were an instant in. You were one of the first. People were like, come in, come in. Yeah. No questions to this. I mean, I saw no downside. I thought this is a,

first of all, this whole idea of working together, the concept of what we're all doing and repurposing is what is a team in itself, a small bucket

in a world of consumption.

And I feel we're working against the whole concept of this. We're really working upstream.

Going upstream to find something that's bigger than us.

But in a beautiful, interesting, thoughtful,

artistic way. And I love it. I'm so glad. So what were your first thoughts when you received your block?

Oh, my first thoughts.

I had to figure out how to make it

the right size because it was small, so going.

And it was bigger than I had. I had to figure out how to do that. So once I figured that out, and to me, it was just, you know, I work this way anyway, I work kind of abstractly,

thought of the fact of water there. There's everything positive about this. For me. That was water. So colors I had so, so organized.

What I had, my material was figuring out what I was going to, how to make that look of water. And I knew that whatever I did in the middle was fine within the parameters. But I also know that no, my edges had to match up, so I had to think about what I was going to do, what someone else might do.

So that's how that's how I started doing it. And what were the techniques that you used to create your block. Because that was a pretty big block. Mom was that one of the bigger ones. So I laid it out on the floor in my studio. My suit is pretty big, but I laid it out so I could look at different things.

I knew the one thing was always given that it was going to be,

some sort of

Our first stitch for motion stitching on it in some way that that was always going to be a given, but then I could figure out, well, what I was going to use as materials on the flow for me that would flow into someone else.

So I just started pulling on materials, and the thing that I had the most over, the one thing that made the most sense to me was like these,

bags they would put newspapers in.

And to me, that was such a the irony of the whole thing now. So that's why I did the other piece with it.

Also the fact that you're using plastic to wrap paper to keep paper dry was just too funny for me. So I knew that's what I was going to use.

The browns were a little harder, but not that much. I mean, I have so many other pieces of plastic that that I can use to do that. And then the overlying thread was to think about like the swirls in the water. And that was going to be white. So that for me that was pretty easy.

Did you learn anything while you were making them making the dip?

Because, first of all, even though I was laying, I was making judgments as I went thinking, okay, this is what my eyes can be like. What happens if I not exactly match up with someone else? And what happens with the edges? And how do I know that the swirls are going to be enough with someone else's swirl?

And I actually went back and added some to, more green to some of the blue to make sure that the swirls of the water current was actually more dominant rather than just the white thread. So that's what I was doing to kind of

as I went, I made adjustments. So that was a learning process I was learning process.

Yes. Yeah I agree.

And I know you're unfortunately a little too far away to have seen the finished product all in person.

But I know you've seen the videos, the images. So what do you think had a it turn out to you? I think it's fabulous. I think it's so exciting and so cool. Yeah. I feel like now I've traveled a lot and I've walked into the different spaces the recently where they have all these, walls of art that are projected.

And then they, they put you into it. This I feel, is much more real. It's more tactile because I feel like I mean. I feel like it really in the water and being part of this is being projected to it

Would you participate in another collaborative project. Absolutely.

Yeah I'm really thinking of them. I mean, you already mentioned that we're going to do another one. So I'm already thinking about community. So awesome. Awesome. Yeah, I haven't given I haven't had time to give it much thought.

yeah, I'm, I'm game to do another one. Not me too. I think it's great.

No, I just what I wanted to, as I, you know, I feel like you're an are our cheerleader, and I'm really enjoying that. It's, I think because I've needed that.

I've been looking for a group like this for a long time. This is enlightening, I love it. Oh, good. I'm so glad. Because, you know, I've never been a cheerleader, but I'm perfectly happy to be an art cheerleader. Yeah. I mean, most of us as artists are never cheerleaders. But this for it, in a way, is. Yeah, it's really good.

Oh, awesome. Well, thank you, thank you.

Please welcome. Diane Janesco.

So thank you so much for joining me today to, indulge me, asking you a few questions.

what convinced you to join this collaborative project of ours?

it just seemed like a really cool idea. And to be, you know, a part of something bigger and, it gave me a goal and, you know, something to work towards.

And, you know, it just seemed really interesting. And I like the idea, like the whole big project thing of it. Oh, good. Good, good. So what were your first thoughts when you received that email? With the first? With the block from me.

Like. Okay, how do I find this? I don't. It goes, my friend. I never work, so I tried it on my burner and it came up all dorky, so I actually had to go to the library and print it out, tile it, and, you know, I watched, I've watched some of your, videos on how you did things.

I thought, well, I better get get some, information before I start this. And since I've never worked in plastic before. So, yeah, I just got really into it, and, and I followed your your, demo videos and and just just got right into it. Awesome, awesome. So I guess because you've never worked with plastic before, you definitely learned a lot from making your block.

True. Yeah. It's very slippery. And it does have the transparency, a lot of it. So you can overlay them and, it's sort of it, it bunches up if, you know, if I was saying to fast, if maybe the substrate wasn't strong enough, what kind of crinkle

What do you think they did turn out?

I thought it I thought it worked out great how they all said together. And like you mentioned, some of them really, really connect, like they're, you know, continuous and some of them are a little bit different and more, you know, the colors and the, shapes.

So I thought it worked out really, really good for such a big project for, pieces coming in from, you know, 20 different people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. So would you do would you participate in another collaborative project? If I had a harebrained idea? Yeah, I would awesome. Yeah, because I'm already working on a harebrained idea.

Please welcome Marian Rich.

Well, thank you, Marian, for joining me for this conversation. Thank you for having me.

Pleased that you can be here. So what convinced you to participate in this collaborative project of ours? Yeah. It's funny, I've been thinking about that,

I think it's a bit of a story, starting with when I met you and saw your studio and the show. Yes. That's right. You came to our first annual exhibition. I did before joining. I did, and I, I think I joined,

because I wanted to support the effort. You know, it's less because I want to work with plastic.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Which I never really thought about. I, I, I'm a collage artist mostly. I do some drawing and you know, other things, but mostly I'm into collage and I use paper. Right.

But I guess I had come back from this trip in February that I took to Cancun by myself for my birthday, which is really great.

And every morning I would collect plastic on the beach, and I made all right out of it when I got home.

So there was definitely synergy. Yes.

And when the project came up, I thought, okay, this is what I am going to do. This is how I can be part of this collective. And I'm a collective kind of person.

I've lived my life as part of a collective, and I like collective act. It's. You're in the right place. Yeah. So.

this project was, a great way to dive in.

So what were the your first thoughts when you received your block from me?

I was like, oh, boy, oh, boy. Be careful what you wish for. Yeah, I have no idea. Okay. What am I going to do? So I think the first thing I got into was, okay, I've got to find blue

plastic

because there was so much water

in my piece, you know? Right.

What techniques did you use to construct your block?

don't even know that I would call them techniques.

the first thing I had to figure out was, well, my husband's an obsessive Mets fan.

So then I realized the Mets blue

was, the right color. Blue. So I had these, like, towels that they hand out of the game, you know? So you.

so you could do this. Oh, okay. Towels and say Mets.

So I had a bunch of those. I think I also had an old Mets T-shirt or something, but then I had to figure out, like, what's the substrate? Yeah. It was like

the first huge dilemma.

you are one of the few members who lives close enough that you got to see the finished. Yeah. Product, you know, at the Unison Art center. What do you think?

How did it turn out? Oh, my God, I just thought it was exquisite.

yeah, I walked into that space and, I just, like, lit up. Wow. Look at what we created now. It's just very beautiful.

Yeah. I thought it was gorgeous.

I was so impressed with, the, you know, just the amount of creativity in that, you know, in the pieces, how different they were and yet how they, you know, it's like us, like humans, right? We're so different. And we're all the same. Yeah. You know. Yeah. I love that metaphor. Yeah. I, I mean, unfortunately, we live in a culture where we're all different is what gets the, the focus, the individual.

But of course, the beauty of human life and creativity is the collective. Because without each other, we couldn't do shit. Absolutely. Yeah.

I agree completely. Yeah. So that was lovely. And also, you know, some of the members are, textile artists. Fiber artists. Yes. Sowers, which I'm not. I've done some

Well, you know, it's actually interesting that some of the people who sold their blocks, they were doing it for the first time.

Interesting. Yeah. How do you like that? Yeah. I mean, I'm happy that anyone is experimenting and doing things however they do it, but, yeah, I think it's always wonderful to try new technique. Why not? Right. Yeah. Yeah. Until you grow.

I just want to say, really, Natalya, that mostly I'm part of your group because of you. Because I, I just think what you're doing is really, important. And, so I thought, even if I don't do much of anything, I want to be of support.

I think you can. And I think that attracted me to the project. Oh, here's this great way to participate and say so. Well, thank you. I really, deeply appreciate it. I do,

Well, I'm sure you can guess that this episode was brought to you by the Repurposer Collective. Our doors are open just for a few days longer. They close at the end of the month, April 30th. So just a few days left to join us. If you like what you're hearing

and you want to take your creative reuse practice to a whole new level.

This is the community for you. Go to repurposer collective.com and click the link to join.

And now back to our conversation.

Please welcome. Neha Luhar.

Thank you all for joining me here.

What made you decide that you wanted to be a part of a collaborative project like this?

I participated in group shows before in which, you know, everyone maybe contributed something that was thematic, but I liked the fact that we were all making something in our own style and method. But to contribute to the overall whole that the piece wasn't complete without everyone's participation.

And I just I loved the fact that it was a collaboration, but without maybe some of the,

Oh, sometimes the you're trying to agree on something and you're not quite communicating what you want, and you're working with someone else and you're trying to make kind of trying to come to a compromise. I appreciated the fact that it was facilitated in such a way that it was that everything was resolved regarding, you know, the any kind of disparate argument you may have had in the in between.

Right. And I like having I thrives oftentimes when I'm frustrated in my practice with some limitations. So the size given

that go with this, you know, like that is a challenge to me that I like that because my mind likes problem solving and doing things that are outside of my realm of comfort.

I've participated in projects like this in the past as well,

But it was the first time that I was

in charge of a project like this.

I thrive on limitations as well for my work. And I was hoping, exactly like you said, that others would enjoy the challenge.

you know, a completely different challenge.

So I'm so glad that you did.

when you first received your block from me, the image of it,

what were your first thoughts?

Honestly, I was looking at it.

I think I was looking at it on my

email,

I just thought,

oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?

it just really got me

at first stumped.

Like, what?

What will I do where I'm at if I'm saying I'm going to make the best out of it with what I have? I'm looking at this pile of materials. But, you know, what do I what do I do? And so I was just kind of paralyzed, I think for the first, probably for at least the first week at least.

And I'm not good at starting things immediately. I'm a procrastinator anyway.

I, I understand I'm very deadline driven myself.

But,

I knew I wanted to do it, you know? I knew it was going to happen.

I just

couldn't picture. I didn't immediately picture what I was, what was really going to happen with it. And I think part of it was because, being part of the project helped me to do something I've always wanted to do, which is I was living in a household with someone who was a very is a very creative quilter.

And we've always talked about,

my learning how to sew or as working on something together, but it's it never really happened. But the project and my problem solving and verbally discussing it with her helped

00:26:51:12 - 00:26:52:19

Unknown

kind of form that

that create that catalyst of ideas to, you know, do it. It wasn't because she had the idea. She was just trying to help me execute what I was trying to figure out.

Right. So that's perfect, actually, because I the next question I was going to ask you is what techniques did you use to create

okay. Block. Well, my it was so such and the whole thing was such an experiment for me. I have never done anything of this nature. I had, of course, initially planned, you know. Oh, I'm going to hand stitch this, and I'm going to use this plastic and I'm going to whatever.

And then I because of going through my studio, I was going through

three, four boxes of paper and ephemera and stuff,

like at least once a week and literally being merciless, just pitching. It had like three different piles, you know, recycling must keep and, donate to a group kind of thing. Okay. So this is what I was doing every night until my back hurt.

And then I had, but, anyway, so I was looking through these papers and all of a sudden, the because I had sorted things by color, I started thinking about some of these papers as the land and, you know, and I started kind of creating this calico sort of papery thing on a table, like, not glued down really, or anything, just trying to figure out, could I cut it?

What what was I doing? Prior to I had gone to because I didn't have access to a printer that would print the image tiled. I had gone to a local print shop and they gave me a

big grief about,

oh no, it's printed this big, it's going to cost you $55, blah, blah, blah. And I kept saying, well, I want this on.

I need to follow the,

the pattern and the, the form of that of that shot, that aerial shot in the water. But I said I don't need anything high quality. And I guess he thought I was doing it for school like a, a teaching project. And so in the end, when it came time, he did it on a very low quality paper.

And when it came time to pay, he was like, you know, this took me a while to figure out how to get this done. Whatever. You can just have it. Oh, that's so nice. And it was so nice because I was very frustrated at the time. And, you know, you think you're going in to get something printed, you know, like, oh, I'll be in here 15 minutes and yeah, five minutes later.

But anyway, so I'm sorry, I'm off topic with no, no that's it. It's interesting because, you know, I, I was trying to figure out

the least expensive way that everybody could print it. And I know some people have printers at home, some people do not. So I researched various ways, but then you just you never know what is actually going to happen where that person lives.

So I'm so glad that you did get it for free, because it could have been very expensive. It could have been. And I was spreading because I said, well, I really don't want to spend more than $40 on this, because how ironic is it that the materials used for the actual piece cost me nothing? They're the remnants of life.

And, one of the big

points of meaning for me was, with all this paper that I've saved, I mean, it's years, maybe decades of this stuff that I was really kind of forced to confront. Right. And so one of the things in there was,

I guess it was an envelope like of from India, from my grandfather, from,

years and years and years ago.

I'm not even sure it was a letter addressed to me. It was just something from his

camera manuals and some personal effects that I had gotten that was sort of left over. And the texture of that paper and the feeling of it was what actually kind of got me excited to, like, complete it. And. Oh, that's so cool

And no one would know. I mean, if you look at the piece, you can actually see, like, his name and the address, of where he was at the time. But

I wouldn't even say it's sentimental at this time. It's more like, I've gotten so used to having these things around. Do I really need them around? And then it felt really good that I could use it for the project.

Instead of just

throwing it in the garbage or putting it back in the pile of, stuff, I can't figure out what to do with it. Right. Well, I'm happy that this project helped you purge.

It did. And then it just kind of organically became this other thing, right? Because of the bodies of water. That was what I was kind of trying to emphasize on. And then I had made my new canine friend at the house that I was staying with, and, he happened to be murdering this toy that was shades of blue.

How perfect. Right. And so it just kind of I mean, it literally is like, make this with what you literally have in front of you, you know? And it was I liked the immediacy of it. And I wish I hadn't discovered that I enjoyed it so much was the end of my stay, because I would have liked to make a few more pieces, in that feel, just for myself with other things I had.

Well, maybe you can still go back to that. So I could maybe go back to that. I think the most fun part was putting it through the long arm limb now. Oh, it was a long arm machine. It wasn't a regular sewing machine. And so I now I'm jealous. Yeah, right. I was really lucky. She has, she's this gifted quilter, so she does all of her piecing and everything upstairs and, like, a loft area.

And then downstairs there's, like, a sunroom where the where the loom is. So you can really see. And good lighting for nighttime stuff, too, if that's what you need. And so we had fun. She had I think she was very tickled watching me kind of guide it around and, you know, futz around because here she had spent a lot of time creating patterns.

Right. And I was just trying to follow the lay of the, the quadrants of the, of the land on the the section of the map. Yeah. You were freestyling, I was freestyling. Oh, that's so cool. I didn't realize that you did it on a long arm machine. That's fun. Yeah, I always wanted to play with one. Right.

I have played it, you know, at, like,

shows. Yes, stuff. But I've never really played with one as in making my own artwork with it. So, now I have a feeling you would be

amazing with it. I feel like after that you won't look at your some of your hand piecing game because you, you get such an enormous amount of detail and things done, but not that it's automated because you are really, yes, literally handles your hands full body experience.

It really is. Yeah. And it can get away from you really quickly, but it can also

be a fun way to

steer or something and take control of something that you had no idea you could have control.

Well, I'm glad that this was your your creative outlet at a time when it was needed and in a time that you could do it to be part of the project too. Yeah, I really wanted to be. It was important to me. So. Oh, that's so exciting. Thank you so much.

What do you think? How do you how do you think it turned out?

I think it turned out so beautifully. I wondered in my mind, while I was imagining it, whether even my contribution would flow into the other pieces, or would it look pieced together?

Honestly, I couldn't, I mean, unless you were

going to really scrutinize something more up close, out of the breaks between each of the quadrants, I just thought it flowed together so beautifully. It seemed so continuous and

expansive. I, I just was marveling at how large it is. Yes. And the fact that you had this vision and then put it together,

it looked like a continuous piece. As I said, it must have been really strange when you took it, when you installed it to take all the pieces.

But it was sad because they were all this harmonious family worlds, different than, say, pieces of a puzzle that are not that fit together. Yeah, yeah, this was just so different. And I feel like it belongs together. Like I could never imagine you saying, hey, right now, hey, the project is over. Would you like your piece back? Your section of this?

Yeah. Beautiful thing

would just be so

strange. Well, you can't have it back yet. I assume that eventually you will get it back.

But I have high hopes of exhibiting it again, so you can't have it back yet.

Please welcome Debbie Kauffman.

thank you for joining me for this little conversation. Okay. My first question to you is what convinced you to participate in the collaborative project?

I, I'm doing a lot of collaborations, and I've done collaborations for years with the quilting. When you quilt for somebody else, that's just part of my everyday thing. The chance to collaborate with so many at one time,

was kind of a draw.

And, and we're all kind of speaking the same language. We're all talking about the same things. So that was another draw, you know. Yeah.

What were your first thoughts when you received your block from me?

I don't know that I knew the and had really looked at the entire image. So I was confused about what was what. When you get a piece of it you're like, where does this fit? I'm not. Yeah.

I was confused, but it didn't take long. Got to figure it out.

And what techniques did you use to construct your block?

I work

for the most part, with a long arm.

And so I wanted to

image the image to look like I could use the technique where I cut the strips of plastic, and couched them with the couching foot on the long arm. I had done that for your, lily pads at one time. Oh, that's how that was done.

Okay. And I thought, I bet that could work, especially in the top portion. And and it did, it did, I did some applique type stuff and then, and then the couching, the bottom portion,

goes back to the longarm,

history

I learned a long time ago that layering is important. So underneath the bottom portion I wanted to add some, some depth, some dimension.

So I layered batting. So there's a piece of of the couch. We found a new couch last year. It's wrapped in all this nasty foam. So there's a piece of that on the bottom, and then there's a piece of cotton, and then there's a piece of wool on top of that black dimension. And when you quilt that, it really puffs.

Yeah. Because your piece is really dimensional. I did not realize that's how you did that. Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's a quilting thing. A lot of, custom long armors layer that

poly or wool and then the, the, poly or cotton with the wool on top to get that dimension.

Was there anything that you learned while creating the block?

I needed to remember that that technique, the layered batting. Eats up,

eats up the length. So I needed to like somehow elongate the bottom portion and leave the top portion. Yeah.

Note to self. Right.

What did you do? Your block differently. If you had to do it again,

I would just alter that bottom. That's the only thing I wasn't

super thrilled about because we wanted it all fit together nicely.

And it it shrinks up a couple inches. Yeah,

I think it worked out, though. You know, that for me, the

I think visually for me. So the bottom portion is

a wave of water essentially. So looking at the whole thing together, for me, it was important for that

crest of the wave to match up.

And if anything

didn't quite match up

below that crest, that didn't feel as.

Distracting. Yeah. It just like. And that crest matched up perfectly. What? We're.

Happy accident? Yeah.

So what do you think had a turnout?

I think it's I think it's fantastic. It was really fun to work with everybody and, see how

how it fit together.

And you. I mean, that's the thing with community type projects that I'm learning is that you just don't know. And you have to be ready to take a left turn or alter or fudge just a little bit. And I think it looks great. I would love to see it all in person. All in all, 30ft of it up close.

Yes. Oh, 32ft of it. 32. Yeah, I think I think you, you know, you lose a bit a little bit in the, in the video, in the, in the images. To get up close and actually see that other techniques and the other materials people use would be really cool too. Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right.

you think that if I got a harebrained idea for another collaborative project, you would participate? Oh, probably in a heartbeat. Okay, good.

It went really, really well. As far as my part of it. I had done so many of those techniques before. It, it did just it went smoothly. So

Minor tweaks here and there. That's kind of typical right there. I think most of us as artists accept to tweak something, expect to tweak something at some time or another.

Right? Yeah, absolutely. Especially working with the materials that we work with. It's. Yeah.

Please welcome Carol Paik.

thank you, Carol,

for agreeing to chat with me.

You're. You're welcome. Anytime I chat with you any time. Yes. I would love to know what convinced you to join our collaborative project,

the. Oh, the. Yeah. Oh, well, it was kind of obvious. I mean, I always do anything collaborative with you.

So I, you know, collaboration is an interesting thing I sort of learned

over the years. It doesn't always work out for the best, but I happen to know with, the group that we have sharing particular objectives, that

it was going to be great. And I of course, I've seen the

the marker. I'm in the mural. So I knew

that it was going to be really an interesting project, but basically if you asked, I would do it.

I'm so glad to hear that, because you're asking again and again be

okay. So you actually did two blocks

for the project.

And I think I sent you your first block first, and then later on you said you do another one. So when you receive your very first block,

what were your first thoughts?

You know, the first block was actually easier because there were a couple of different colors and a couple of different textures.

So, you know, I could sort of immediately see how I could use the brown paper, you know, and the materials I had on hand

pretty easily, you know, would work with the piece gave me the second piece was harder because it was almost all that one dark blue with, swirly things in it. So that was a little more of a challenge, I thought, to use, you know, repurposed materials.

But the first one seemed pretty easy, which is, I guess, why I said I would do a second paint.

So what techniques did you use for both of the yearbooks? I mean, I think there are pretty much just well, the first one because there was paper in it, so there was trying to think. Now there was a little more collage involved and a little more plastic because there was a greater range of colors, I think. So

it was some some sewing, some

collage.

I'm trying to remember now, I think,

yeah, there was a lot more paper. And then the second one was much more stitching. Yeah. At large blue field. Yeah. Yeah. Of course by the time I did the second one I had then had the chance to see some of the squares that other people were making and I was like, oh no, I'm going to have to really work on this.

Right. Because the standard was so high, the quality was so high, and the pieces that I saw coming in, not to say I didn't make an effort for the first piece.

The pressure really was on. That's funny. Well, I think both pieces worked great. Did you learn anything new while making those two pieces? Yeah, I mean, I think I volunteered.

I was like, oh, sure, I can do this. I it's actually really hard to work

larger when you're trying to make it fit into a big piece, because just simply sort of transferring the image was just a much greater challenge. When you're working with such a large piece, I mean, ordinarily it doesn't trouble me to work large because I'm not trying to match sides or, you know, so, you know, I guess the takeaway is always that working with others presents unique challenges that don't arise when you're working with your, you know, just by yourself.

Yeah. Which is always a useful thing to remember it just metaphorically.

That is true. Would you do anything differently next time if you had to like, say same project needed to be repeated, something happened. Would you do anything differently with my particular pieces?

I can't think of anything offhand. I mean I,

I think each, each piece that you gave out probably presented its own,

unique challenges. I was looking at some of the other pieces that had more of the white in them or. Yeah. And I was so interested in how people,

you know, solve those problems. So I think each square presented its own set of issues, with the ones I was given.

I mean, I'm, I'm,

I, I'm happy with the way they turned out. And I think seeing them next to the other pieces is, was really interesting. Well, that's actually brings me to my next question, because you were there to help me install it.

You were actually the very first person besides me to see the whole thing come together.

What did you think? How did it turn out? Well, it hurt. I mean, it's always so interesting to see how different people interpret similar, things and for them. And it was fascinating to see each individual piece. I think

maybe the image itself

was so varied that it was hard for

it. When you stood back from it, you could definitely see it.

I think it was, you know, if you wanted to make a mural that

that where the the image that you're trying to project is clearer, you might have needed a clearer, you know, like stronger lines or, you know,

but I think it turned out really well in that the message you're trying to project was not necessarily that specific.

You know, it's more about the, the what the, the, the ocean and, you know, and the planets. And I think that came up, came across I think,

you know, I see I am trying to think of other examples of large scale mural like that. Obviously, it's easier if it's a very recognizable, very concrete, clearly defined image that you want to like a portrait of a person or something.

Yeah. You know, it would need to be very clearly delineated, but I think this worked out

very well. I mean, I think when you came up with that image in the first place, you had something you were aware that people were going to interpret it differently. Yeah.

and I couldn't have predicted how they interpreted it, like there was just no way.

Yeah. And I was actually I mean, the fact that they fit together as well as they did was pretty amazing because I knew just from translating, you know, my own piece from the small work into, to scale that, that's hard. You know, it's just technically difficult to do that. I think those pieces matched up astonishingly well. Yeah.

Some people are like. It's like they work next to each other or something. It was really quite incredible.

so if I came up with another collaborative project would you be game again. Probably.

No I mean you're, I do the, the, the magnitude of your ambition and vision is really inspiring and I love to be part of it. So I mean if the timing were right I would certainly do it. It's just a question of

timing, but I think, yeah, you should always count on me. Awesome. Thank you. I will always count on you.

Thanks for being here today. I hope you enjoyed our conversations and I'll see you next time.