Last Thursday it was First Thursday Arts Walk which I wandered down to. For literally months I had been hanging onto the pair of red screaming guys with the intention of trading them at bARTer Sauce. The red screamer guys were found in the bushes by Marlo & I underneath the stairs of her studio one night. (If these are yours then sorry dude - you'll have to trade with the bARTer Sauce to get them back!)
What is bARTer Sauce you ask? It's this cool art trading experiment run by my friend Rosalie who I met through our Seattle Etsy Street Team group, EtsyRain. Rosalie is rad and she has a super great fun writing style. If this is the first you've heard of the bARTer Sauce craze that is sweeping Seattle then you certainly should head here to check it out.
Instead of having me write up a witty story of intrigue and espionage of how I came across the pair of red screamer guys, Rosalie sent me some pretty fun interview questions instead.
Please enjoy:
Q. You live in a cool building. Wanna tell me a little about it?
A. I live at the Apex Belltown Co-op http://www.speakeasy.org/~apex/ and I get a nice cheap room in exchange for being awesome and updating that website. Actually I get cheap "rent" anyways. It's not really rent because I'm actually 1/22 of an owner of the building. Bought into it when I moved here and then my "rent" covers neat stuff like electricity and dish soap. Totally sweet. It's set up like a dormitory (except we're all adults who do our dishes) with each person having their own room and then we all share kitchens, bathrooms and a couple of lounges. Including a rooftop deck with plants and water views and stuff. And hey! Guess what? There will be a new opening in July. Maybe another bARTer Sauce trader needs a cheap place in Belltown?
Q. Tell the good people of bARTer Sauce how you stole the best skirt in the world from me. And you know if you don't tell them, I will.
A. The best skirt in the world was made by my friend Betsy. At the last Punk Rock Flea Market Betsy had a momentary lapse of sanity because she was moving and doesn't everybody have lapses of sanity when they're moving? Anyways she decided she would sell a ton of her cool stuff for $5 to clean out her studio. I was sharing a table with her at PRFM and after we got all set up I spotted the skirt and said OMG this is an amazing skirt! And I handed her $5 just as Rosalie, who was at the next table over with UglyBaby Shower Art came around the corner also holding out $5. The skirt was already in my hands so I won. But then Rosalie made unveiled threats at me all day as I pranced around wearing the skirt. I was quite lucky to make it out of there alive. And now I can't wear the skirt without looking over my shoulder all the time... Last time I wore it I was in Port Townsend where I figured I would be safe.
(To read Rosalie's side of the skirt story click here!)
Q. Gimme the link to your Etsy Shop, your website and anything else you want the good people to know about
A. Etsy: http://www.rekoj.etsy.com/
Portfolio site: http://www.rekojdesign.com/
Q. Tell me about your painting on sweatshirts and how cool you are.
A. I hand paint funky line drawings on used clothing that I rescue from various places. The line drawings are like magic giving used clothes new life. I find a sweatshirt or a skirt that is nice but kinda plain just begging for some graphic and I give them just that. Viva la Line! I started drawing these stylized line drawings all over my school notebooks until I realized that my doodles could serve a better purpose than being hidden in my film lecture notes. So, being way too impatient and indescive to ever commit to a screen for printing, I figured out a way to paint direct on fabric with screen printing ink. The rest, as they say, is history!
Q. Tell me about your first kiss.
A. Ha! 3rd grade - Josh Sawyer - in the cab of my Dad's truck as he was driving us to see a movie and had to stop for an errand. Josh was the playground bad kid and the only reason he liked me is cuz I kicked his ass on the monkey bars playing chicken the first time we me. I think I pushed him away and stuck my tongue out at him. Then we went and saw Hook which is a rad movie.
Q. Tell me about the meanest thing you ever did in grade school.
A. Breaking Josh Sawyer's heart by telling him I didn't like Vanilla Ice and couldn't hang out at his house anymore cuz he wouldn't stop playing it. Other than that I was pretty nice kid...
Q. Tell me about the strangest dream you can remember having.
A. The night before my grandpa passed away I dreamed about sitting and talking with him over a cup of coffee in his old cabin he used to live in before my Mom was born. The next day when we found out he had died I totally got the heebie jeebies. Then I wrote a bad poem about it.
Q. Do you like potatoes?
A. Of course. They're tasty =)
Q. Do you high five?
A. Just last week. But I'm thinking of quitting. You know... giving up the habit before I get permanently addicted.
Q. If I told you that a homeless looking woman just showed two men her boobs right outside my window, would you believe me?
A. Totally believe you cuz I live on 1st Ave too and there is some crazy shit out there in this town.
Q. What's your favorite movie and what do you like so much about it?
A. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cuz they say words like "Cowabunga" and kick ass and stuff. Plus film escapism doesn't get much better than giant talking turtles. And yes - I know that I just revealed just how much of a geek I am. Cheers!
Q. Have you ever tried to write a novel?
A. Yep - in 7th grade I worked out a deal with my English teacher that instead of writing a short story every month he would let me write and turn in a chapter a month. I got pretty far with it too. Granted... it was written by a 7th grader...
Q. What was it about?
A. The story was about a parallel universe from ours where elves & humans were at war and my main character could speak to dragons so to utilize that talent he was kidnapped at a young age. Later on he brings peace between the races by traveling to our world for the key. Like I said - it was written by a 7th grader. Sweet huh? Way too much Tolkien early on methinks.If I was to write a novel now it would certainly be about a rock star. Or a girl who lives in a crazy co-op trying to make it as an artist at the same time that everybody else in her demographic is trying to "make it" as an artist too... not that I know anything about that.
3 comments:
(whispered quietly but with conviction) give me that damn skirt.
i've seen that skirt and it is totally as great as they say it is! loved the interview, it was really fun. and the whole barter sauce thing is awesome! i want to go. now i just need to dig up some screaming red dudes in NJ....
kecia
Have you checked out the bARTer Sauce site? Rosalie takes way more art than just screaming red dudes - I'm cetain that you could find something spectacular to trade! She loves "found" art with a good story!
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