 I'm so excited to be supporting my friend Kate Mick this Saturday night at The Parlour for the release party for her second album, Sugar In Your Teeth. Fellow mountain adventurer and creative collaborator Matt Gillooly will be kicking things off at 8pm along with the amazing John Farone. It's going to be a great night! I'll be scooting over right after my Small Business Saturday art sale at Joyful Bliss Yoga from 1-4pm to join Kate with our band The Swampbirds! More info here.
It was AMAZING to be invited to be a part of Kate's creative process. The week I returned from Spain, Kate was in my living room with her banjo and I was on my bass, and together we worked over the next few weeks to come up with some bass lines that could accompany some of the banjo melodies and vocals that she had been working on over the last year. From there, we collaborated with Derek Santos on guitar, and later with Pedro Weinburg on drums for a song titled Knees, and then with the with whole Swampbirds band for Moon Song and Rock & Roll. It was fascinating for me to experience how with the addition of each instrument, the song would morph and transform, taking on a new energy. It felt fulfilling to be able to simultaneously contribute to, and experience, a highly creative, collaborative metamorphosis!  Photo: Kate Mick About a month later, I found myself at Big Nice Studio in Lincoln fumbling around on my bass with a sprained ankle, eating pizza and sketching mountains for clients in between takes 😂
With every step I took out of my comfort zone (which began with saying YES when Kate asked me if I'd contribute to her album) I could feel myself growing. As challenging as it was for me being so new to playing music, I am SO grateful to have been a part of this project! Kate made it so much fun to collaborate and work together. I loved how open she was to inviting in the talents of so many wonderful people in RI, including Jen Long of the Whale Guitar, who designed the cover art.  I was inspired by Kate’s commitment to the process from start to finish. She has the emotional resilience of an ultra-marathoner; committed to bringing her best work forward with consistency, patience, determination, and kindness. I'm grateful for the insider's perspective I now have on the process of what goes into making an album of music with a full band: this project was a HUGE undertaking!!
Come on out and celebrate this huge accomplishment, and make sure to get a copy of Kate’s album on bandcamp, or pick up a CD at the show this Saturday!
I can’t wait to play the album on all of our 2020 mountain expeditions - it’s the PERFECT soundtrack for cruising into the next great adventure!
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I welcome you to email me directly and let me know how I can support you on your path. When I was 15, my dream was to attend art school in Vermont.
I had this awesome vision of immersing myself in the mountains every day, getting lost in the stars each night, and making incredible art that told of the awe and wonder I felt from it all. I'd do whatever I needed to do to get in with Burton Snowboards, and eventually I'd work my way up to designing the most incredibly awesome line of women's snowboard decks that anyone had ever seen. Last night I got to meet one of my favorite contemporary printmakers, Daniel Danger, at the Sprinkler Factory, and ask him a few questions about his creative process, surrounded by vibrant walls adorned with *fifteen years* of his work as a full time artist!  Credit: Tiny Media Empire Growing up in a family of makers, Daniel never doubted his ability to make a living as an artist. He shared with me that he dove right in to full time artist right out of school; even though he wasn’t quite sure what the path looked like, he knew himself well enough to understand that full-time devotion to his craft was the path to success. He couldn’t NOT do it.  Credit: Tiny Media Empire Curious to learn more about his mindset, I asked him what sort of routines he had for himself. I was surprised and inspired to learn that pre-fatherhood, he didn’t instill any specific habits or routines with his work; his motivation and enthusiasm to create was enough of a driving force to lead him towards success. Now that he’s a father, he shared that he’s instilled habits and routines out of necessity- and he’s still a full time maker! Check out Daniel's work and order prints on his website.
“IF WE GO, WE GO TOGETHER.” 15 years of screenprints by Daniel Danger Sprinkler Factory, Worcester MA Opening Reception: Saturday November 2, 5-8 pm Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 1-4 pm and visit the Sprinkler Factory here |
Joanna Elizabeth
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