Trascrizione completa di Creating Beauty from What’s Left Behind

single day on the side of the road, and there's gotta be a better use for this. So I started picking it up and then I just come from a very like, you know, environmentally environmentally conscious family. So I was like, okay, can I truly build art without going to the store at all? Can I not buy art materials? So that's where the whole like don't stain it, don't paint it came into play. I was like, I don't want to yeah, just buy anything to make this art. So ⁓ I literally go to the store like twice a year just to buy a handful of supplies. So I had to dive into I do use glue now, which was like an added thing years later. So I didn't wood glue for the longest time. It was just nails and wood. so yeah, that I try to just be as minimalist as possible. And it just helps so much too with the storytelling. I love the opportunity to storytell by having these caveats within my art. It just adds so much to the the the nature of what I build. Well, I have to imagine, you know, a a big reason you have an online following is people are curious about this. Like Th that that you can create something so beautiful out of what would normally be seen as garbage. That that unto itself is a really amazing narrative. Yeah, and people message me every single day saying like, ⁓ I saw this blue dress on the side of the road and I thought of what would I do with this or whatever. That's just like a crazy thing to hear from people all over the country. They're just like whenever I see wood on the side of the road, I think of you now and I'm like if ⁓ People like following the journey of it. ⁓ I enjoy being part of the journey of it. And yeah, I don't know. There's a lot of different ways to relate it to like no, there's a lot of discarded people in society and people that don't feel they have a place. And it's just like you just have to find the right artists or right group of people that will give you a chance to be something new, right? So there's a lot of like combining into like the bigger picture of like, yes, it's just taking wood from the side of the road and making art, but ⁓ You know, there are those like glimmers and moments of it it translates to different people different ways. So I do appreciate kind of all those side effects that happen ⁓ hads to Yeah, that was actually my next question for you. You know, I feel like people when they think of art, some people have like a very sort of austere or more formal understanding of what it's supposed to be. And I think oftentimes it prioritizes polish, right? Like a part of the reason that it's art is because it's been designed and perfected in some way. Is that always the way you've like sort of reframed imperfection as being valuable? I mean, you just sort of like touched on that idea of how you apply this to your sense of humanity too. Yeah. I mean, yes, if you look at the word success, you think of polished. You think of a car, a house, a significant other and money, right? But who's to say that a polished or successful person can't wear raggedy clothes and not have a lot of money but is the happiest person on life. Right? So with art, it's I I don't have a disdain for museums or galleries or anything like that. It's I didn't grow up understanding any of it. I said, why is this why is this thing being put on a pedestal and worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, right? Or millions of dollars, yeah. Fully, yeah. Yeah. is it just because of the way it was created or the way it was presented? So I just I never s understood the art world. I still don't understand the art world. I didn't take art classes growing up or I just kind of fell into this and you know, I I do kind of just question things and and most and I think that's a very healthy thing, like question things in our society and people think we do live in a box and we don't. There's there's not as many constructs as you think. So in my head I was just like, what if I could just take wood from the side of the road and sell it for just as much as prolific pieces of art, but it was literally all recycled materials and it's from a kid who doesn't know anything about art. And again, it's not to gain the money of it. It's like can I prove that concept to myself mm and to the world? Like can a random kid from a no name town as far as like you know, was Wisconsin and Milwaukee is actually fiftieth in in funding for the United States art. Yeah, we're not very prolific art community. No, not at all. It's sad actually. Very, very sad. So I'm just trying to like ⁓ I don't know, not change the narrative, but just bring light to like, hey, there's kind of zero stipulations as to why this would make sense in my head or why I per pursued it. And I just truly enjoy it every day. And it's like a video game of like, okay, what could I do next with this? So I like the playful approach you have to this. Like I can sense that, you know, it is about And this way it's n you know, a business for you. You know, you've turned it into a venture. But it sounds to me more like you're, I don't know, still in an active experiment with yourself. ⁓ fully, yeah. And with social media and the world and everything. Like I don't it's super playful. Like there aren't business reasons why I do X, Y, and Z. ⁓ and a friend actually asked me like two nights ago, they were just like, Well, why what determines your next project or how do you lay out your year and I was like I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow, dude. Like I was like, I have inspiration and ideas that spark. And like sometimes it's built around like pop culture and the world. You know, we just we just got out of like the Super Bowl and NFL era, so like, you know, that won't roll around again until fall time. So there are like kind of things happening in pop culture that I build things around, but not really. Like I just I find things You don't do like a President's Day sale piece? Yeah, right. Yeah, no. And just make a giant mattress that's fifty percent off. Yeah. There's

like I don't know. I just I find things on the side of the road. They inspire my brain in a good unique way. And I just throw on some music and start cutting some wood and make art. It's it's pretty simple. There's no rhyme or reason. ⁓ All right. Well let me take this a little deeper for you then. So you have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. Without the traditional art world validation, at least initially, what odds did you have to ignore to get to this point? that's a very like interesting phrased question. I mean, you do you know the odds of becoming a human being? No. What do you know? Yes. There's an actual s there's a scientific number to you existing today. And it doesn't matter your race, gender, where you're born, but just the odds of being born as a human being. Let me hear it. Is four hundred trillion to one. You would get struck by lightning eleven times before you have the chance to be a human being. Yeah. So when I think of like I don't really go into the micro of like he didn't take art classes, he doesn't have acceptance from the art world. He's from a s like that like you could dive into those numbers, but like we woke up today. Those are the odds I focus on. Like And that's why I've gone from like being in music and when that passion and avenue died, I moved on to the next thing and I became an entrepreneur with my brother. And then when that wasn't seeing alignment in my life anymore, I I switched to the next thing. And it's like, you know, you just have to be grateful and and aware that like the odds of you being here as a human is crazy. And what you do with your one life is important. And I'm not saying you have to Be somebody or be something, but like if you can choose happiness and your passions, like I don't care if you sit in a park all day and write. If that's what makes you a good human and happy with your life, that's all I care about. So the odds of me being here is four hundred trillion to one because that's the odds of me being a human. And what you decide to do with your life is up to you. Yeah, you have agency in that. Yeah. Yeah, that's ⁓ that's like all I care about is like the macro of like, you know, the odds of being here and and I've had like A handful of near death experiences. So that adds on to like my qualm with like or not qualm, but like my avenue of ⁓ just chasing gratitude every day, really. So Okay, so I'm hearing you describe yourself as like a delusional optimist in some ways. That's where it comes from, yeah, yeah. Yeah. where did that like where did that first that ember sort of like I mean, I hear it as like a burning like fire and passion for life. And where did it s where did that start? Can you like pinpoint that for me? And then how do you protect it? Because I feel like the world, especially on social media, is such a lug yucky it's so easy to become cynical, I feel like, in this twenty twenty six moment of modern history. Is it okay. Is it easy bec to become overweight in our society if you choose to eat foods and that aren't healthy for you and not exercise? It's very easy to become overweight, right? Yeah. It's also a choice to not become overweight and unhealthy with your body. It's eating the right foods, consuming the right things, and moving your body every day and feeling some sunshine, right? Mm-hmm. So social media's not a exact parallel, but like there's been bad news throughout the entirety of hu human history, right? Mm-hmm. It is way more acceptable. And trust me, I get into the spirals of it just like any other human. ⁓ yeah, that doom scroll. You can I can actively feel like my IQ diminishing and my like my like vibration. You know what I mean? Like decelerating. Fully. So I think it's just very you know, it it's just an active choice of just like you just have to choose the things you consume that you put into your body is literally part of things you consume with your eyes and your ears too. And it's not easy. It's data and information is so much more accessible to our, you know, modern age right now and it it's frustrating in a sense. And that is also what is very inspiring to me as a creator. I said if people are gonna be scrolling online and consuming things, I can't control how much that happens throughout the day, right? Sure. But if I put my best foot forward and try to create something positive or lighthearted. ⁓ and and inspiring for them to creating a little bit of beauty, I think. Yeah, inspired You know, you come across those videos that like make you tear up or have faith in humanity again. I just wanna be a part of that category, right? ⁓ and it's just, yeah, it's I mean, I won't say it's having self control because that's like a kind of a cop out with it, but there's horrible, disastrous things and not great things happening in human history constantly. Unfortunately it's very accessible and in our face a lot right now. And I'm very empathetic to that. I just it's it's not about blurring it out. It's having buckets of like, okay I'm I'm aware of social issues happening in our world right now. I do care about them and I do know my place with them and the emotional bandwidth that I have for that. Also, what is true is like I have a career and an opportunity to bring light into the world and positive energy into the world through what I'm doing. A lot more humans can do that more than they realize. A lot of people think like, ⁓ I just work a mundane job and people won't find what I do interesting and like There's inspiring stories and interesting stories everywhere. That's why we do like see random acts of kindness on the internet and we tear up about it. But it's literally just like a person holding a door open for an elderly person and then like it, you know, it like the simplest acts, they don't need to be filmed and put on social media for them to be important, but there is beauty all over the world. It's just are you looking for it? Hmm. I you're inspiring me. I feel

like I have opted out of social media. in the recent past because I don't know that I have the I like the word you use bandwidth. Like I don't know I don't know that I have the emotional bandwidth for it and because I don't know that I have the control. I mean I have a very strict nutritional diet for myself, but I don't have the same kind of diet. It's not easy. It's I mean so it's easier for me to just delete the apps than it is for me to like know that they're there. You know what I mean? And then to not click. It's too easy to click. It's harder for me to add to get in the car and go buy a tub of ice cream and then eat it. That's a ton of friction for me. Yeah. Compared to it being on my phone in my pocket. And the beauty of like I think the world that we grew up in is like there was the five o'clock news and it ended at six and then you moved on to game shows and stuff, right? So you really only consumed news and world happenings for an hour a night with your parents if that was your you know, that was my that was my upbringing and like now it's you wake up and you open up the f your phone to see a text message and it's like you happen to open up Instagram and the first thing is this world thing happened and this person died and it's just like it's so much more accessible and in your face now. So it's not easy to have to I think there are horrifying things happening in the world and so I don't want to diminish that. Yep. But I do I do have this sense that like there were always like catastrophic like geological events that happened There were always wars. There were always like egregious, like individual tragedies. But there is something about the fact that we amplify it and can see it now and then have a collective sensation about it that feels l very unnatural and very unhuman. Like I I think a lot about like what would it have been like to live in the Middle Ages and of course, like, you know, people were wearing those huge masks with frankincense and myrrh in them, thinking that would stop the black plague. So like I'm very happy that like I don't know, I can you know I have access to modern medicine and I didn't d die in childbirth and all of those things. Yeah. But like would my life have been happier even if it was shorter because I wouldn't have had access to the information. How much of this is self inflicted because of our extreme access to information? Fully. And more people announcing it and being, you know, the the voice of it, you know. Growing up there was one or two news commentators that voiced it and then you only heard it through one on one conversations in your town. Now it's a creator can get on TikTok and make a video saying the exact same thing who's not a journalist or a politician and just amplify it to tens of millions of people within minutes. So it's like I don't know if it's for us to figure out today how to question it and if it's natural or not, it exists right now. But I love that you're choosing to see the light and to be a like a light bringer to it. I mean, good on you to like want to do your little part to make your corner of the world A more beautiful place. Yeah, I just I see an avenue to do it. I don't I know I'm making art. I know it's a way to bring the stories of what I'm doing to light. You know, and I just want to bring like value to humans and make them think a little bit outside of the box and and whatnot. So I just kind of stick in my lane. I enjoy the storytelling component of it. And it's just it's it's like an inspiring challenge for me every day to make the art, but then also how do I bring this to the world in a positive fashion and then also to like the companies that I align with or the things I do, I have to do a better job of it. But I really try to like work in a give back component or a wholesome component to like if I'm doing a collaboration with the brand, I try to get them in on that alignment. I like that. Or make this a wholesome campaign, not just Yeah. And try to push some sort of like layer of altruism to it. I think that's really smart. Okay, so you know Just being a little fangirl a little bit here. Like you've worked with celebrities, you've worked with some bigger brands. You know, is there one moment that made you stop and think like, holy cow, is this happening? Was it the Mike Tyson moment? You know what I mean? Like what made that sort of meaningful for you? I'd be doing an injust if it's if I chose one of ⁓ Yeah. I think I wish I had a deeper time to reflect on these 'cause they go by like in the blink of an eye. I mean my NFL collab a year ago was Absolutely insane. Mm-hmm. To be right there, center stage and have my art displayed to tens of millions of people that night was just wild. As someone who I I think of myself as like a very normal person from a very normal suburb of Milwaukee, like it's very surreal. I don't know how true celebrities and people that are put on a pedestal deal with you know, twenty thousand people singing words back at you. Cause I've only had just like a glimpse of that and it's like Just overwhelming in a good and I don't know, overwhelming way, I guess. So I mean the NFL was crazy. I got to meet the voice of SpongeBob and he actually signed this piece of art. That's cool. And he like loved that art and that video blew up like crazy. ⁓ yeah, I mean, I dive a lot into nostalgic, as you can kind of see. That's kind of my forte. So like it's I mean, just like meeting my childhood idols and people that it's just crazy. Like I was writing a script for a video last night and I have bed sheets that I had as like eight years old or nine years old in there of the NFL logos. It's the NFL logos all over these bed sheets. And I remember idolizing Brett Favre and Amon Green. ⁓ of course. Yeah. My you know, so much my childhood. And they were just like, those are the the pinnacle people in my head, right? And then At the NFL draft this year, I got invited last minute to play at a celebrity

football game and Amon Green was our quarterback the entire game. Like like thinking back in that moment, it was just like I I missed a couple catches that he threw to me and I was like, Like, you have like sixty minutes left and Amon Green is throwing you dimes right now. Don't screw this up. So I like locked in. I ended up winning ⁓ V P of that game and Amon Green gave me the trophy for it. That's ⁓ What dream come true. I mean it's like so surreal, actually, what you're describing. It very much is. There's just so many of those moments. That was like all in one weekend, right? And then ⁓ I got to I mean, most recently I got to go to the Notre Dame campus and install a piece of art there. And like I grew up heavy on the movie Rudy and just loved that movie. And to walk the same sidewalks as like that story and my childhood with that and now now have a piece of art installed at like One of the most prestigious and prolific schools in American history is like so cool. So it there's so much of it. I it yeah. I try not to like think about it too much 'cause it just like overwhelms my head of like anxiety and everything else of just like what did No, no, keep staying grounded, staying grounded. That's I think this is like this is what's really like, you know, it's working for you. It's working for you. I just like keeping it very just like I don't know, I I enjoy doing stuff like that. It's just Yeah, you just can't think about it too deep. You just have to like move on to the next exciting thing in the best way. So very blessed to pursue it all, yeah. Well, you grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee. Your art's made in Milwaukee. Why is it important for you to stay rooted here? And what do you see in your art contributing to Milwaukee's like global story? Like is there any part of this that feels like you're recasting a narrative about this place? Fully, yeah. that I mean I Trying think like the best word way to phrase it, but I do enjoy being here. I want to be here. Every part of what I do is putting Milwaukee on this pedestal with me. Mm-hmm. I kind of have it written into every contract that I do that I exclusively have to wear merchandise from Milwaukee clothing people. So there's one brand here called Unfinished Legacy. They're amazing. They're the best. And thankfully, pretty much every company I've ⁓ worked alongside they've been cool with like me wearing it. So like the entire NFL campaign, I was wearing my Milwaukee hoodie. I had a three minute segment on CNN. I've been on the Today Show and it's all wearing a Milwaukee hoodie. First of all, their brand messaging is just incredible. Just unfinished legacy. Real. Yeah. Yeah. And then they just they tie in so much of Milwaukee with them. And their stuff is well received by athletes and rappers all over the world in that street wear you know, industry and Brema and I are we're good friends and they moved home from LA and started up their store in Milwaukee here. And the night that the store opened, I moved home from Los Angeles as well. Mm-hmm. I was working for a nonprofit out there for a bit. And Brema and I sat down that night. He's the owner of Unfinished Legacy and he said, Hey, nobody thinks of Milwaukee as anything. And he's like, This is an untapped city as far as the the art world. We have an opportunity to put Milwaukee on a map for no other reason than it just hasn't done bef been done before. And it's if you go into New York or LA or Chicago or Miami or all these other cities that have established roots within the art community, mm-hmm, you have to earn that respect and you have to respect you have to represent it while moving forward. Mm-hmm. Here there's no rules. It's the underdog it is unfinished. You get to like it yourself. Yeah. It's the underdog of an American city of where somebody comes from and that's why there's stories of like, you know, like Chapel Roan. She's a by girl who came from the the center of Missouri, right? Like you just don't it's more impactful because it's from a town or an area that like it's you just the odds of that happening are just more and more slim. So yeah, I don't know. Being from Milwaukee, I'm just on board to represent it well and promote it as an artistic, flourishing place that like has these pla these ⁓ people coming from it and I just I'm happy to be a part of that, you know. ⁓ I'm so excited that you are though, 'cause I feel like you're you're doing it in such a beautiful and humble and amazing way, but you're also elevating us. You know what I mean? I think I don't know, at one point I have to stop saying I'm not from here. I've lived here for seventeen years, which is almost half my life. Yeah. But I don't always feel like I'm from here. And I often get the sense that people here just don't think nobody would ever call you out on that and be like, ⁓ you're not from like Go to any other city like a Boston or a Chicago. There's like, ⁓ you're not from here if you didn't grow up on this yeah. Specific thing and you haven't been here since birth or whatever. Like Milwaukee, everyone's family, everyone's, you know, wholesome here and like it it's that the definition of Midwest nice. And like I don't think you have to have be here for X amount of years to say you're from here, right? Like, ⁓ it's a very inviting and welcoming community. So ⁓ yeah, I don't know. I just I hope that through stuff that I'm doing and other amazing artists within this community and unfinished legacy and stuff that people can come and visit here and put it on their roadmap to visit here at some point when a few years ago it they probably never even knew where Milwaukee was in the country, right? So Yeah. To be a part of like that and to help build the city up a little bit, like if I could just be a part of that, that's huge. I love that. So what advice would you give Other creatives who are trying to build an audience and I mean what you're describing, like I really believe you. This is who you are.

Like I think people say authenticity, but that word is so overplayed. But this is this is you. How do people build an audience and I don't know, not fake it? You know what I mean? Like be their real self. Be your real self. I've recorded so many real moments in my life. Mm-hmm. Of when things happened. Like I built this Crayola box. It took me a few hundred hours and When I opened my phone and saw that Crayola DM'd me and responded to me about this box, I literally I have another phone for filming and I literally just hit record and just let that play because I was running around the studio screaming. Yeah. Losing my mind. And it didn't even flourish in anything. It was just like such a cool moment of that recognition. And like the easiest way to show up on social media or just promoting your brand in general is like just Know what you're innately passionate about. Like know what you care about at the end of the day and what you're good at messaging across to the the world because then it'll flow so much more authentically through your voice and people can hear that, right? And the the easiest way to explain is like document, don't create. You know I document the journeys of me picking up a dresser on the side of the road, bringing it to my shop and what I turned it into. I don't just stand in front of the camera and show you something and show it going up in the walls of an art museum. Like that's actually what I disdain from. I just care more about like here was all the raw moments I documented from digging through dumpsters or finding stuff on the side of the road, turning it into something in the late nights, building it into something, and now here's what it is. Cause then people can relate to that, right? They can't really want to see how things are made. I mean, there's sort of like an innate curiosity with people. ⁓ my gosh, yeah. Like think of like I mean, the the greatest movies or music videos or anything that like comes out in our in our world, but then you can watch the documentary of how it actually came to life. Like, you know, it's just crazy watching all the the art and ⁓ intention that went in behind all of it. So ⁓ don't be afraid to post. That's Rule number one, everyone's first video sucks. Okay. Everyone has a hundred videos that come out before anybody sees the light of day. Mm-hmm. The I think the easiest translation in my head, too, this is like a very easy correlation that I refer myself back to from time and time again, is like say you're running out on the street, right? And you're you say, Hey, I want to run a marathon by the end of the year, or I want to run a 5K at the end the year. It doesn't even have to be a crazy lofty goal, right? I want to run a five K by the end of the year. That's three point one miles. You throw on your running shoes, you go out for a jog, and you're just running at a ten, eleven minute pace, right? There's a guy or a girl who comes up behind you and is running past ya and they're sweating.

They're running at seven minute pace. You say, How many miles have you been running? They say thirteen. And you're like But you're like, ⁓ I'm just running a five I'm just trying to run a five K. I know I'm starting on day one. Like that guy's like running, he's been running for years, right? He's been training for this moment and he still is training, right? Mm-hmm. That's like z such a similar thing to social media. You can't Okay. You can't look at somebody. I've been posting videos just for my art for five years. Eight sure. Eight years now. Right? If you scroll all the way back in my TikTok, you'll find a bunch of videos that got three hundred views and five likes and nobody cared about it. And when they didn't care, I just tried something new. And I tried something new and I repeated the process and then as things started catching wind, I started, you know, taking those as data points and moving forward and adjusting. But it's been like eight years of posting art content, right? Mm-hmm. So you can write off like all the reasons why that marathon runner is running faster than you and has been training for years and is still training. And you're okay with like still having your goal ahead of running a five K at the end of the year. And when you run that five K, it's gonna feel so incredible. You can't finish your five K raise and be like, ⁓ but that guy ran a marathon this year. Like that's not realistic, right? So why do you do that on social media? You can't say my video only got five thousand views and this person's got two hundred thousand. Like ⁓ your video got five thousand views. Imagine five thousand people standing in front of you watching what you just did. Yeah. Now I know our attention spans are quick and people might might not remember your video, but like you have to give yourself credit along the way and be down to be on the journey and document what you're doing, not going viral, I will tell you, literally means nothing the day after. Like what? Say more about that. I feel like people think of going viral as like and then, you know, happily ever after you're Your life of the rainbow. I wish I could go back to the day before I ever made a viral video. Trust me. I say that with my whole chest. I had a video get five million views five years ago on s on in on TikTok and that was my first viral video and like doesn't move the needle in ways that you think. Really? I mean, yes, it gets you more exposure. It does can lead to things, but it's not like the end all be all. There is no finish line to art and creative journey. ⁓ I love that. Yeah. And like Yeah, I agree. And trust me, if I could I was it it's like going back to somebody buying my piece of art for seven hundred and fifty dollars at a wedding, that was my I made it moment moment. Not getting hit up by Crayola or the NFL or the NHL or the Milwaukee Brewers. Like my moment was at a wedding from a stranger buying my art for seven hundred and fifty bucks. And I remember the first video that ever had take off and do well, it got to seventy three thousand views and I thought I became a millionaire that day. Yeah. I thought I literally had my life set off in front of me. Now if I get seventy three thousand views, I I say what went wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like trying to Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Well your perspective changes. Yeah. Fully. And you're the marathon runner then. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, so I mean, you can't look at, ⁓ well, you know, the Kardashians get this and Elon Musk has this and Jake Paul and Logan Paul and get this amount of views or Ike from Milwaukee gets this amount of view. Like, you can't. You have to start at day one. And that's like a just take that with such a blessing and a grain of salt. I just I need that perspective to like lay into people because it's just, I don't know. I when I started, I was again, everyone gets two and three hundred views to start and five people caring about their art. But trust me, I I was going live on TikTok for like two three years straight, pretty much every night. I was sitting here listening to pop punk emo music for two years straight, building my art. And when I talk about documenting, there was like fifty people watching at all times of me building my art. I actually think it's more creepy that only fifty people were watching than the five thousand views. Yeah. Like those fifty people were like tuned in. Yeah. I'm saying like fifty dedicated people would watch me for three hours straight building and Then when I would release a piece of art, you know, they saw all the the the brain waves like working of like as I was working on stuff like, ⁓ what if I did this here, this here? And I'll tell you, ⁓ like when I was selling my art on a website, like to, you know, everyday people, now it's more like commissioned stuff for sports and pop culture stuff. But when I was selling my art to everyday people, the only reason I'm here today is because like ten of those people on those TikTok lives saw the journey. And cared about this art. And they if I like total up how much money I've made, you know, from from this journey, 95% of it is from a TikTok live audience that I just decided to go live one night and show me building art. Mm-hmm. And that's just like I credit those like ten people who really believed in me from the start and were willing to invest in my art. It's not gonna come from your family and friends. They're actually gonna disappoint you more than they're gonna help you. They're gonna say they care, but they don't really care in a sense. ⁓ Or they don't understand it. They don't understand it. They're gonna say, ⁓ so and so is trying to be somebody. And trust me, I still hear that to this day. And that was you know, that's after the NFL and everything now. Like even when I was able to to make it in some people's eyes or success, like it the the remarks still come from friends and family. But like you literally need to put your your

content and your voice out there. To a completely huge audience of just strangers and see what sticks and see what avenues happen. and follow that path and just don't care about what anyone thinks. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. I wish I need to put a photo up in here of like there's like those photos from Earth of just space, like yeah, you know, a hundred thousand miles away and how tiny Earth is. I just gotta like put that up somewhere 'cause that's like when I when I have friends who are crashing out about s very small problems or whatever. I just send them a photo of Google images of Earth. I'm just like, hey, we're on a floating rock, my guy. It's I care so much, but I also have perspective of how much it doesn't matter. Right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. So Well, this podcast is called Making New Possible, and I can't think of another guest that's like more perfectly embodied that. So I really appreciate you. like taking time to talk through this with me. I'm curious what making new possible means to you right now. Like is there a boundary or a norm you're excited to push next? I know you j I you just told me you don't have a a roadmap for your art this year. That's fine. But Yeah. I mean making new possible is like you get to wake up every single day. Mm-hmm. That's I think the opportunity to make new possible. Unfortunately, ninety nine percent of our ⁓ society just gets stuck in a very routine and we live in a very routine society. You wake up, you get your kids or dogs ready for whatever for the day, you go to work, you come home, you make dinner, laundry, you know. We do have a routine lifestyle, in the world. But like, you know those moments where you like don't have your phone for two hours? And you're like, ⁓ yeah. This is kinda nice. Yeah. I'm like actu I think of it as living in real color. Right? Like how am I when am I like living my actual life? Yeah. So so that You know, you go on a I don't wanna say a a spiritual trip for a weekend, but you go on like a trip that like opens up your eyes and it's not i induced by money or posting this for Instagram or whatever else. It's truly just like, ⁓ I feel so different and so inspired on this trip and I I touched grass, right? And I I can't remember the last time I touched grass. Mm-hmm. So when I think of like new beginnings and new opportunities to s restart every day, I'm not saying quit your job and go touch grass all day, but like just when the cashier asks you how you're doing, don't just be looking at your phone and say, Fine. Like just look at the cashier to say, I'm doing great. How are you? Mm-hmm. And watch for their rebuttal. Because like eye contact, honestly. Those are the me those are the moments that make us human. You know, I that's just if you do more of those throughout the the day, you'll you'll realize like how much beauty there is in the world and it'll inspire you to Be a better human and think more freely and creatively. Mm-hmm. And it will get you out of your bubble or your self-constructed circle of like, ⁓ the world is on fire and I'm not good at what I do. And, you know, I'm just gonna, you know, sit on the couch and watch Netflix versus you know you want to like paint or build something or be creative. So like and trust me, I'm s speaking this because I go through it as well. Mm-hmm. There's a reason at four o'clock every single day I go to the coffee shop down the road. to get myself out of my studio. I don't have coworkers here. So I go and say hi to the baristas at four o'clock every day. ⁓ they're probably expecting me. I'm running a little late today. and yeah, I just go say hi to them. And we just like they all know my name. I know all their names. We just say hey. I say, How's your day going? It's like our, you know, little coworker catch up. Mm-hmm. And that five bucks I spend there every day is like to creatively inspire me for the night. 'Cause otherwise I'd just be sitting here on my phone like consumed by all the bad happenings in the world and you know, wanting to watch a TV show or whatever. I'm at there's a time for leisure and there's a time f there's just also so much opportunity for like things that creatively inspire you every single day. And I know in Milwaukee we're just about to have the sun come out f you know for the next eight months. And you can feel it the little like inklings every fully. Yeah. So I know that does wonders. Like there's so many outside factors, but you also have to you have to get up and put your running shoes on. Just like you're training for a five K You have to do things that are good for your creative spirit. not to be an artist full time and post videos on social media, but because it's good for you and it makes you happy as a human. Yeah, it makes you feel alive. Fully. My God, this was so much fun. Thank you so much, Ike, for coming to share your perspective and your worldview. And I just I'm really excited for you what you've created and for all the lives you touch, I do believe you're like sprinkling goodness on and creating all kinds of positive Ripple effects from that. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Keep keep going and growing. Appreciate that. And just I'm gonna be here cutting wood in my studio like every other night. So it's it's about just you know, find something you love and doing it every day if you can. So I'm grateful I get to do this. It's incredible. ⁓ you're the best. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you. Thank you so much.