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David Verespy
170 Plays6 years ago
Episode 26 with DAVID VERESPY
Hi, I’m David Verespy, Professional Photographer. But, I am way more than that, I am an active creative professional who really can’t sit still without creating something. I have been a creative all of my life, whether it be drawing, doodling, painting, sculpting, photography, print making, writing, inventing or exploring the creative world. I create with an eye towards a unique view and experience while capturing the moment.
I have a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture with a Minor in Art from the University of Rhode Island. I am a registered Landscape Architect and have been in the profession of Landscape Architecture for the past 27 years. I have been an active part of that community, holding leadership positions in the Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In 2007, I started my own Landscape Architecture firm designing and managing the construction of numerous commercial and residential properties. I create beautiful gardens and spaces, each a series of imagined vignettes brought to life in stone and plants.
But, I wasn’t satisfied, I found myself continually drawn back to a vantage point behind the lens. I am that guy who will stop in the middle of Disney, the airport, the slopes or on a busy street, pause what I am doing to take that special photograph for another person or family. Why? The moments we live in are fleeting. Time and people pass us by without a thought and then are gone. When I have the opportunity to capture a moment for someone that means something to them it means so much to me. A moment in my life to stop and take a photo for someone is nothing compared to the joy it may bring to them in creating that life-long memory. Each time I stop to do this I envision the image finding its home framed as a centerpiece on someone’s shelf, a treasured memento of a special time.
Photography has always been part of who I am. I can usually be found with at least one camera on me. Early on I started with a Kodak 110 camera with a pocket full of flash cubes. I would cart that camera all over the place, capturing view of the world from a child’s perspective. I worked as a photographer for both my high school and college yearbooks and newspapers gaining more technical experience and using better equipment. An immersion into Photography during my college years allowed me to experiment with different technologies and equipment, expanding my creative voice. Over the years I gathered equipment, experimented with other formats and learned all I could. It wasn’t till I had children, which coincided with the emergence of Digital photography, that I put all the equipment and learning to good use. I was a very early adopter of digital imaging, which has expanded my creative voice. I have recently taken my photography to the skies and am a licensed drone pilot.
Photography is at its most basic level is the manipulation and capture of light. I look for the perfect natural light or work with studio lights to sculpt shadows and light to create the ideal image. I try to go beyond merely cataloging that moment, I capture the energy, emotion and essence of that moment. When I am photographing people, I endeavor to capture who they are. Each photo tells a story. Let me help you tell your story.
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Transcript
Introduction to the podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host, Ken Vellante. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer. Yeah, sounds good. Voice sounds good. OK, good. You got a good voice on the record, brother. That's good. It helps. That's good. If I pronounce most of my R's, we're going to have a successful podcast.
00:00:32
Speaker
That's okay if you leave him out. That's fine. I'm used to it. Being up here in New England. We hear the people from Massachusetts all the time. You got a box of c c? Oh, man.
Meet Dave Varespe
00:00:45
Speaker
All right. Hey, hello, everyone. You're listening to something rather than nothing. And this week, I'm very pleased to have a great guest on the program.
00:00:58
Speaker
Dave Varespe, we actually went to school together at the University of Rhode Island and have been able to reconnect primarily over his art. He writes some great photography, does drone footage, and creates just these incredible art pieces that Hilda described.
00:01:24
Speaker
Dave Varespe wanted to welcome you to the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast. Thanks, Ken. I'm happy to be here. I'm really excited to be here. It's an honor when looking at the list of past attendees. I feel very honored to be among them. Well, thank you. And thank you for your great artwork. It's been a pleasure. I can speak for my own personal experience of
00:01:50
Speaker
connecting with you over a passion of both of ours.
Artistic Beginnings
00:01:54
Speaker
And, you know, I knew, you know, I knew you in college, but one of the main questions I have that we kick off the program with has to do with what you were like when you were younger. What were you like as a young kid? Were you around art? Did you do art? What were you like? So as a young kid, I spent a lot of time outside. I was constantly outside. I think my parents kicked me out all the time.
00:02:18
Speaker
So I was out playing in the trees running in the woods. We had a lot of land around us So I was just always outside and you know nature played a huge part in my my upbringing and I was also a latchkey kid, so I would come home from school My parents would have me call them and or they would call me and say are you home? Yep, and then right outside and I was gone for till dinnertime It's pretty much different than what we have today and
00:02:47
Speaker
But in the evenings and other times and on the weekends, I was drawing a lot. Battlestar Galactica was huge back then. And we were always drawing the ships from that. We would draw these huge war scenes and just always sketching and drawing. And then that's carried through into high school where I started focusing a little bit more on art and took some different
00:03:14
Speaker
looked at some different areas of art and took some pottery classes and I was actually had done some throwing clay and some painting stuff and just a lot of more and more getting into the art every chance that I could in a more formal level at school. I won the sort of best artist award for my high school when I was there, which was kind of cool. Um,
00:03:42
Speaker
It was something that I always really connected with and spent a lot of time drawing when I was a kid. In high school, I ran cross-country, indoor track, outdoor track. So that took up a lot of time. But that sort of got me into another area of art, which was like drawing figures and actually looking at it and starting to gently draw
Family and Career in Art
00:04:13
Speaker
like hands and feet and legs and musculature and really Get into looking at the details all of all that which had Had a big effect on some of the work that I had done at that point in time And then that was great at the same time that was right at the same time you were running So you kind of you know a bit of incorporation of like, you know The body into what you were developing with your artwork that is that fair to say?
00:04:41
Speaker
Absolutely. So it was a, you know, Grey's Anatomy was a book that I had gotten turned on to in, in high school from one of my art teachers. And she was like, Oh, check this out. And it was all about drawing the figure. And it was a medical reference book. But I was like, Oh, those are really cool. So I started taking that as sort of a, the lead on that and saying, Okay, let's look at what I have to work with being my own body and sort of drawing my legs and feet and hands and
00:05:11
Speaker
Sketching with the muscul muscles look like and stuff. It was cool. It was definitely Very exploratory in in that respect Now you have You have a famous artist well-known artist in your family. I believe a Jean uncle Can you talk about can you talk about maybe you know your relationship there or the type of art and Who we're talking about?
00:05:40
Speaker
So my uncle was out in Kelly. Um, he was a famous poster artist from the 1960s and seventies. Um, Rick Graham, I believe was one of his contemporaries, Wes Wilson. And he did a lot of work for the Grateful Dead and the Steve Miller band and Journey, um, Phil Moore, um, Avalon Ballroom.
00:06:09
Speaker
So very big in the Haight-Ashbury era. He was personal friends with all of the Grateful Dead. And, you know, he did amazing artwork. I mean, if you have a chance to look up any of the psychedelic posters from the 60s, you're going to find his work, Mouse Kelly Studios. He is actually in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is cool. So I want to do a road trip out there to check out that exhibit.
00:06:36
Speaker
But he never really played a huge role in our lives back here because he was in California. We're in Connecticut. Travel wasn't as easy back then. But, you know, apparently he was the black sheep of the family, sort of, when often did his own thing, did the whole art world and lived in, you know, San Francisco during the sixties. So.
00:07:02
Speaker
drugs, sex and rock and roll were probably part of a big part of his life. And my dad was a Navy guy. So sort of the complete opposite end of the spectrum from what he had experienced. Sure. So, you know, when I was going through high school and looking at, you know, what my next steps were and going to college and whatnot, you know, I looked heavily at the art schools and was definitely sort of directed away from that. And
00:07:31
Speaker
the whole, it's like that Geico commercial of, you know, you're going to school for art, what are you going to do with that? Yeah, right, right. So there was the question of, you know, why don't you go for a degree with something that you can, you can use.
Artistic Preferences and Critiques
00:07:46
Speaker
And, you know, I landed in landscape architecture, which combined two of my favorite loves, which was the outdoors and art and design. So that's how I ended up at URI. And I actually have a minor in art from URI.
00:08:01
Speaker
And so that's how that played out in my family. And it was sort of a keeping the, you know, we don't want you to end up like your uncle. We want you to be successful and that he was very successful in his art. We want you to have a career and take that route. Yeah. And I've seen, I've seen the, I've seen the work. Um, it's, it's, it's just a style, you know, that, that I love it.
00:08:30
Speaker
I've always felt it's like kind of like a modern, you know, art nouveau with the posters and just incredible, incredible pieces, fun, vibrant, colorful, and just reflective of like the culture that I was there. I remember, you know, when, you know, back when you and I would be around the same, you know, same patch of earth.
00:08:52
Speaker
that music was pretty vital for both of us. We both liked a lot of music, and the kind of the culture that comes out of music, too. Oh, absolutely. We spent a lot of time up at the living room in Providence. Yeah, yeah. That was great. Yeah, absolutely. So it's great to hear about that connection. And talking about your art and some of the things you've been exposed to in your development,
00:09:21
Speaker
What what forms of art attract you primarily and both as a consumer, you know, things that are really important to you as far as consuming experience in art and, you know, the the the forms of art that you do that really, you know, you love to put your energy in. So what forms? You know, as far as art goes, I love live music. I'm always astounded at how these artists can get up there.
00:09:49
Speaker
and put together a show with these instruments. And it just, I'm in awe of these people. It's amazing how they can do that. So I always love live music. As far as consuming other types of art, I love photography. I really love Impressionist paintings. Surrealism is another one that I really enjoy. And going to art galleries and just seeing new stuff, anything that sort of
00:10:18
Speaker
pushes the boundaries and makes you think a little bit about who you are and where you are in the world definitely has an effect on me and is stuff that I'm drawn to. I'm really, I'm not into the shock art. There were a few people at URI when we were there that were big into shock art and I was like, okay, but you know, there's, there's not a whole lot of craft to it. You're relying on the shock factor. I just, I don't,
00:10:48
Speaker
I'm not drawn to that. I have a lot more appreciation now that I've gotten more and more in photography over the years, and I took a lot of photography when I was at URI, a lot of time in the darkroom. But looking back at the work of Ansel Adams, I have a huge appreciation for craft. And some of the work that these people are putting into it, I'm starting to get into astrophotography now a little bit.
00:11:15
Speaker
and seeing the planning and the preparation and the time and the after work that these artists are putting into getting this stuff done. And when you look at Ansel Adams, you know, you see he's, he wants to take this picture that he has planned in his mind of the moon in a particular spot over a particular mountain range. And it's only going to be at that location a few times a year and with the snow there and
00:11:43
Speaker
So he's dragging up these large format cameras with glass plates up into the mountains during the winter. And if there's a cloud in front of the moon, well, that's it. We'll try again next year. So looking at the craft behind some of this work is amazing. And, you know, anything that shows that huge amount of craft and the time that people put into perfecting their craft, really I'm drawn to.
00:12:11
Speaker
I don't know if that answers your question or not, but yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Um, I really, you know, what types of stuff I like is like graffiti art. Like you look at like Windwood walls and there's a couple other down in Miami and there's other places around the country when these artists doing graffiti art is just, it's really cool. Cause you think about the tools they're using and how they've mastered that tool. And it's just totally cool.
00:12:41
Speaker
And there's a lot of energy there. It's very raw. Uh, reminds me of like the punk scene back in the early nineties and the eighties where, you know, there's music had a certain edge to it and it was very raw and it's very emotional. It kind of taps into that same energy. I just love it. Yeah. I enjoy that myself as, uh, as well. And, um,
00:13:05
Speaker
You know, I even think in magazines like Juxtapose magazine, which kind of connects, you know, the art magazine connecting to some, you know, say street culture, graffiti. We think about some of the stuff, you know, early hip hop, Beastie Boys, things of that nature has a good, good energy and good, good,
00:13:25
Speaker
a good vibe to it. One of the things I wanted to mention for our non Rhode Island East Coast listeners, the reference that both Dave and I will make to URI is the University of Rhode Island. It rolls off our tongue as URI, just so folks know what our reference point is.
00:13:49
Speaker
So at URI, Dave, I took a course on the philosophy of art. And you might remember I was studying philosophy in English literature. And I studied that question and have tackled it, thought about it over time. But I wanted to ask you what your idea of art is, according to your thinking.
Intentionality in Art
00:14:17
Speaker
You know your theory or your thoughts on it. What is art? Yeah, I've given this a fair amount of thought and you know what I was going through from high school into Looking at colleges. I had to do a portfolio review and put together a portfolio for some of these art schools I was looking at and You know I got a lot of comments back on some of the pieces that I had done early on and the question was very always very simple It was why? like
00:14:47
Speaker
What do you mean, why? They're like, well, why did you create this piece of art? And I'm like, I don't know, because it looked cool. Yeah, typical high school kids. So, you know, that spurred a lot of thought into me. And it's like, okay, why am I creating art? Why did I create this piece? And why does it look the way it did? And why did I create it the way I did? Am I copying somebody else? Am I being authentic? Am I being inauthentic? So I think, you know, with a lot of what I've done since then, it's,
00:15:17
Speaker
partially been experimental to a point of, you know, what happens if I do this? What happens if I do that? You know, in the dark room, we would be in there in the middle of the night, we're like, Oh, let's pour some boiling water into the set of negatives before, while we're developing them and see what it does. So you had this certain experimental to it. But there was always a certain intentionality about what you were doing. And I think with some of my earlier your pieces of art that were being critiqued was
00:15:47
Speaker
with the question of why was there wasn't necessarily an intentionality to it. It was just throwing colors on a paper for no good reason. And with modern art, everything is done. You look at these modern art pieces and they all have a certain degree of intentionality to them. And they're doing it for a reason. And a lot of times you have to examine an artist's entire body of work to figure out that intentionality because
00:16:17
Speaker
They may have gone down the rabbit hole and started over here somewhere. And it led them to a piece that is now hanging in in a gallery. And there's a whole thought process that's evolved along the way. And it's been very intentional. It's not at all haphazard. And I think for something to be considered art, I think it needs to have a certain intentionality to it that we've done for a reason.
00:16:46
Speaker
Yeah. And I appreciate you bringing that up because, you know, the, the topic, uh, as I've discussed it over the course of, you know, time on the podcast, it definitely has looks as far as the, let's say the, you know, the viewer and the artist, and there's a relationship there. And I think there's a, can be a lot of attention paid to, you know, what is the intent of it? Is the intent of it as a joke? Is it supposed to be high art?
00:17:12
Speaker
You know, is, is there a mistake in it? You know, what is a mistake when you're creating something? And, you know, I believe it's, uh, it's kind of like a ripe area to look at as far as what you mentioned, you know, what, what is the intent behind it and what, um, what they're trying to, uh, to achieve. Uh, Dave, I, yeah, go ahead. It's not so much the intent behind it, but it was done intentionally. So the artist actually.
00:17:41
Speaker
Thought about doing it the way they're doing it as opposed to just sort of like doing it. Gotcha. There's a difference there maybe No, that's going. Yeah. No, that's that that's helpful. I got a related question, which is a new and difficult question that That's come up. Of course, you know, we're in this you know the crisis right now with pandemic regard, you know around novel coronavirus COVID-19 and
00:18:09
Speaker
And in preparing for this episode, I started to think around really a fundamental question about art and when we produce art and why. Because I think when you described your experience was a common experience of being interested in art and having family members saying,
00:18:30
Speaker
you know, what are you going to do with that, right? What are you going to, how are you going to, you know, sustain yourself or make a career out of that? But you were, you know, you're a creator. I think that fundamental question of what to do it with art and how to do it really comes to the fore, you know, right now in the times that we're in, my question related about why to create and the times that we're in is,
Art's Role in Emotional Processing
00:19:00
Speaker
What is the role of art in in times that we're experiencing now? What is the role of art in a pandemic? That's a really interesting question because it you know, it's going to have multifold Uses or its purpose is multifold because you know anybody who's in this situation
00:19:24
Speaker
Um, you know, we're facing the idea of borders being closed and quarantine regions and the kids being out of school for eight to 10 weeks or two weeks, or who knows, there's a lot of uncertainty and that's going to breed a lot of uncertainty in your mind and scary feelings. You know, art is going to be hugely important for those people going for the people going through it, meaning all of us.
00:19:52
Speaker
to process those feelings, those emotions, to express it in a way that is tangible and can be understood and whatnot. I suspect to see a lot of dark art coming out during this period and stuff showing fear and uncertainty. And then I think on another front, as a societal front, the art is very important because A, it is going to capture it and tap into that emotion.
00:20:22
Speaker
really become a record of the feelings of this time. But it's also going to be for the cartoonists and whatnot of the world and the dark humor artists to really bring some levity to the situation and some perspective and different viewpoints to it to keep everybody upbeat and provide some humor and some relief in all of this by, you know,
00:20:52
Speaker
the character artists or the cartoon artists, New York Times style, or New York magazine style to really bring some different viewpoints to it. So I think the role of art in any crisis situation, whether it be a war or pandemic or whatnot, is to offer some different viewpoints, some some levity, and a way of processing what's going on.
00:21:22
Speaker
Yeah. And I framed the question, I looked at two different ways of framing and I appreciate your answer. I mean, you know, for me, there's an assumption within the question, what is the role that, that, that there is a, that there is a role. And, um, I think underneath there, there might even be a question, um, to explore, you know, is, is there.
00:21:43
Speaker
Is there a role I think both you and I would agree that that there is as far as maybe the emotional The emotional components of it or processing or a reflection of the times? But it is I appreciate taking a stab at it's a challenge. It's a challenging one and it feels It feels it feels new. Um, I know we share a you know a common thinking on it that it is vital and I think maybe even the question is whether it's you know, even even more vital and
00:22:14
Speaker
Now to see what comes out of all of this art. Yeah. Yeah, I Very cool stuff coming out. I I I agree. I agree and I'll be it'll be interesting to watch and it'll be interesting to see as we go along You know artists amongst many other groups, you know in the economy are in a kind of tough spot, right? I mean they do perform many of them. I'm thinking of musicians and
00:22:39
Speaker
and many other types of forms that are more public in professional performance, with those being curtailed, I think the presentation of where you find those performances is going to change as well. Maybe some more things online or accessing a performance that way. We'll have to follow it.
00:23:05
Speaker
I've seen that both just recently that the Metropolitan Opera will be presenting their operas online to be able to watch and stream, which those are the ones that you would have to go to the theater if you actually did want to see the performance and you didn't see it live. So I'm just seeing a lot of different ways in which, you know, the art that we enjoy will be presented nowadays.
00:23:32
Speaker
Yeah, it is interesting. Um, I know a lot of artists who are musicians and whatnot are definitely feeling the pain right now with their shows being canceled. Um, not being able to gather in groups of 250 in Connecticut, which really it's a lot of their shows are getting canceled because they just can't perform. Um, which is sad and it's going to put a lot of people in a very tough spot.
Dave's Creative Process
00:24:02
Speaker
Hey Dave, if you could take one, you do different forms of art as we discussed. If you took one form of art that you do, could you take us through your creative process as far as getting the material, creating the material and saying that it's finished? Can you guide us through that? So one thing that's
00:24:30
Speaker
Interesting about me and there's a little bit of a backstory and if you wanted if you want to bear it through it, you can yes, absolutely You know, I had gone through a huge slump in my art for for many years sort of in business but doing business for myself, you know, you get in the grind and it was a lot of paperwork and a lot of overhead and whatnot and getting away from the art and the design and then 2017
00:24:58
Speaker
I broke my leg and ended up being laid up for a couple weeks. So when I was laid up, I had my phone and my iPad with me. And I said, OK, let's see what these devices can do. They're hugely powerful. Men went to the moon with less computing power than I've got my phone right now, which is really cool. So I started playing around with what capabilities do these devices have?
00:25:26
Speaker
because there's a bajillion different apps and whatnot. And you've got this sort of supercomputer in your hand. So I just started playing with that and using different apps and taking photos with it and importing photos from my PC or from my camera onto the phone and using that as a way to edit stuff. So I do a lot of work on both my iPad and my phone.
00:25:55
Speaker
You know, it's between a lot of the work that I do is photography-based. So I will bring, I'll either take a picture with the phone, which sounds scary. Some people cringe at that, but it works. Or I'll actually take photos with my big DSLR and then import them and start using them to edit on the phone. And just going through and looking at them and
00:26:25
Speaker
manipulating those images to get to what I'm looking for. And the body of work that I've kind of been in now with this winter abstractions, there are a lot of black and whites. And it was looking at the structure of branching of trees and how a lot of the trees have different feelings and different emotions to them when you look at them. Whereas like a hickory tree is going to have a very much different feeling
00:26:55
Speaker
with the branching structure as opposed to a beach or an oak tree or a maple tree or whatnot. So those, that comes into play and trying to, seeing what sort of emotions those would evolve or evoke through, you know, the branching structure there to see if the images, to create different feelings to them. And a lot of it has experimented with this idea of pareidioia.
00:27:23
Speaker
which is where your mind wants to create something that's familiar out of a random data set. So if you look like at clouds in the sky, for instance, you'll see bunny rabbits and whatnot. Or if you look at smoke, a picture of smoke, you might see a face. Or if you look at sort of a random pattern in tile,
00:27:46
Speaker
you might start picking up on different forms and features and faces or whatnot that start to pop out. So if you take a look at some of the pieces of work that I've been doing in this winter abstraction series, it starts to, the images are mirrored and flipped and whatnot. And the, you start to pull out different images and your body, it's almost like a workshop test where your body, your mind will start
00:28:16
Speaker
putting together different pieces of the images at different scales and coming up with faces and different pictures of stuff and images. So the longer you stare at it, the more it sort of talks to you and you start to sort of process it and put something together as it comes out of it. And I've just started printing these out, whereas they've sort of existed in pixel format. And I've just started printing them out and
00:28:47
Speaker
printing them bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger, uh, to see what they look like and see how, how far I can push it. And you call that series, you call it the winter abstraction. Yeah. Most of the black and white ones you're seeing, you're seeing coming through right now or what I'm calling the winter abstraction series. Um, cause I've had to come up with a name.
00:29:14
Speaker
when I started exhibiting some of these things, they're like, well, what is the name of it? I'm like, I don't know, what's your abstraction? What, what do you want to call it? But I do the same thing with in, I do something very similar in the springtime where I'm focusing on I don't know if I've shown you any of these pieces. But there's some flowers coming from the world of landscape architecture. Trees and flowers and whatnot are a big part of
00:29:41
Speaker
who I've been and the work that I've been doing for so many for over for like 30 years. There are some flowers that have a very random, very random flowering structure to them. Like if you look at like peonies, beautiful flowers, gorgeous flowers, all these different colors, they smell really good. But the petals inside of it are sort of randomly arranged as opposed to like a daisy flower or a rose, which have very predictable
00:30:10
Speaker
geometry that falls in a very particular way. So the like the peonies don't have that and it's very random. So photographing those and then taking the same process to it, you end up with some very cool stuff that's very sort of Georgia O'Keeffe-esque, where you end up with these sort of folds of color and soft pastels and it's very
00:30:41
Speaker
very similar to her work and your mind starts to see images in it and evoke feelings and whatnot. Yeah, I think the name is useful to attach to these and I'm glad that you actually picked this
00:31:01
Speaker
this part of your work to go into deeper because for me personally I really wanted to hear more about your process on this and I think they're just beautiful works and I think as you had described what happens to the viewer's mind of trying to piece together where it is or to look for patterns
00:31:20
Speaker
I think they're incredible pieces. I live in Oregon now, which is the land of trees, it seems to me. Trees and branches themselves have emerged as being important for me in a way that I just never predicted. I think I may have taken things for granted like many of us.
00:31:45
Speaker
I came into contact with the concepts, the Japanese concept of forest bathing, just basically going into the forest and experiencing both the amount of time that you're there, the air, the experience, and being transformed by that. So I think there's that experiential piece to it, and plus with the work that you do,
00:32:13
Speaker
I just find it fascinating to look for those patterns and see those patterns. It's very complicated, but also it moves your mind to a very, just incredible place of trying to find the connection in what you're seeing. So there's a simplicity to it, but there's also a very intricate piece to your work.
00:32:39
Speaker
Want to mention the listeners to you know to take a look we'll get into you know where to find your stuff But I'm really worth the time. They're very unique in in beautiful pieces Thank you. Yeah, it's kind of cool because the way that the images are set up they actually They draw your eye into it and you kind of get drawn into them a little bit, which is a lot of fun and I've really
00:33:02
Speaker
When I'm out taking the pictures of the tree canopies that I use as a base images for these pieces of work, I get a lot of strange looks from people. And if you look through my phone, you'd be like, why does this guy have so many pictures of trees on his phone? Really bizarre. It's like he's obsessed, but that's okay. That's where good stuff comes from when you obsess on it. Um, but you know, I've worked on, you know, taking these portions of the trees and then
00:33:30
Speaker
Trying to isolate the branching structure through photo manipulation and things like photoshop or light room and just Taking out the sky on some of them and just focusing getting it down to a very simplistic black and white image. So that you can see that branching structure. Yeah, and thanks. Thanks for your work in doing that. Now I'm gonna Thank you. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna throw
Why is there Something Rather Than Nothing?
00:33:57
Speaker
The 100 mile an hour fastball at you right now, and I'm going to ask you, why is there something rather than nothing? This is what everybody struggles with. In physics, we're always taught that nature abhors a vacuum. And I think that's part of the answer, is where there's a vacuum, I think there's a need to fill it.
00:34:26
Speaker
And for me, there has to be something. Because as a creative person, if I'm not creating, I spiral down. And as long as I'm creating, I'm up. And so there has to be something. And if there's nothing, then I try and fill it with something. I'm always doodling or drawing on the paper or whatnot. A sheet of blank paper doesn't stay blank in front of me for very long. And there
00:34:57
Speaker
There's this need for people to express themselves and whether it's nervous energy or creative energy or whatever you want to call it It needs to come out and it needs to find a way into the world Yeah, I it's it's I I I really appreciate your answer and um, I I appreciate the the variety of ways to to approach this question I I tend to dip a little bit more recently and
00:35:24
Speaker
In a point that you mentioned around, you know, some of the science and in cosmology and in space and Yeah, it's it's it's a tough one. But um, I really I really enjoy your thoughts on that. Hey Dave, um, I Want people to be able to connect with with your work. I enjoy it so much and yeah before we You know as we wrap up here, can you can you help guide?
00:35:54
Speaker
listeners to either connecting with the the work that you do Where to find it?
Where to Find Dave's Art
00:36:01
Speaker
And and how to connect with you if that's if that's applicable So how could they can connect with what you do? so There's a couple places that you can find me one. I have a website David for sb.com and some of my artwork is on there and along with some of my
00:36:22
Speaker
sort of Bill Pang photography work. And then there's Facebook page that has got some of my David Varespe photography that has got some of my artwork on it as well. Instagram, I'm on Instagram at David underscore Varespe going to be expanding my Instagram presence into a couple different realms. Currently I have David Varespe designs and David Varespe. David Varespe design is where I'm starting to
00:36:53
Speaker
experiment in the world of pattern making, which is kind of fun. So it's sort of an out branch of or take off of some of the work artwork that I've been doing, which has got a lot more colorful stuff and some fun patterns and cool stuff going on in it, which I add to periodically. And that's a lot of taking sort of, again, flowers and other things in nature and creating these repeating patterns that could be used in a variety of different ways.
00:37:23
Speaker
So those are probably the best ways to reach out to me or to see what I'm doing. It's all sort of in the past six or eight months really started to explode a little bit. I've been adding a lot more online so that people can see what I'm doing and taking the initiative to get out there and put some more of the stuff into the world.
00:37:47
Speaker
Yeah, thanks for that. And I encourage the listeners to take a look at these works. And I love the music stuff that you do as well, the concert photography. There's some really special images there. And again, for any music lovers, I think you might really like to see those.
00:38:08
Speaker
I just wanted to say, Dave, it's been a real pleasure to be able to connect with you after, after, you know, quite some time and not having a chance to chat. I think there's something, I think there's just something special about a way to, to connect, you know, after this time and to do it in a way, you know, where just a great way of being able to talk about art and to learn about it more about each other through
00:38:35
Speaker
through our and through your work. But yes, everybody, Dave Varespe here on something rather than nothing. It's been a great pleasure to talk with you, Dave, and really appreciate you spending the time with us. Thanks a lot, Ken. I'm really excited to be on here. I was definitely honored to be invited and looking forward to putting more work out so that you guys can enjoy it. Thank you, brother, and have a great day. You too.
00:39:16
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing.