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Holly is Wildness By Design
161 Plays2 years ago
I was visiting the ocean. The ocean always transforms me.
I went to the market and faire. There I saw such fantastickal ART.
I saw animal-people and people-animals-both.
They were all the creations of someone named Holly who is Wildness by Design.
So, Something (rather than nothing) is happy to present Holly!
https://www.wildnessbydesign.com/about-holly/
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host, Ken Zalante. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer.
Meet Holly from Wildness by Design
00:00:17
Speaker
This is Ken Volante from the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast, and very excited to have Holly from Wildness by Design, artist from Coastal Oregon. Holly, welcome to the show. Oh, well, thank you so much. I'm glad to be here.
00:00:38
Speaker
Yeah, it's really a pleasure to be able to chat with you and folks and listeners. I encountered Holly on the coast of Oregon and was really just enchanted by her art pieces. And just to give everybody a little sense of the categories when you go onto a website that you can find. Combat cats, oceanic commentary, passionate poultry,
00:01:06
Speaker
Perfectly absurd, posh predators, pigs in a blanket, and those are the categories that Holly you have for us. I'm thrilled and intrigued right off the bat.
Holly's Artistic Background
00:01:18
Speaker
One thing, Holly, though, I wanted to know a little bit of your background and when you were born. Were you an artist when you were born? Is that where you came from?
00:01:31
Speaker
Well, so that is quite a loaded question. And you know what? It requires quite a bit of introspection, which is actually not something I'm very well known for. So was I born an artist? In truth, I do not think that I was. Now, I was born with a creative aptitude.
00:01:56
Speaker
When I was young, not only did I do art, but I was also an avid builder, which still follows through today. I do a lot of construction as well. But I happen, I think, to be one of the lucky children in the world whose parents were very, very supportive and wanted us to explore as much as possible all of our skill sets.
00:02:19
Speaker
art was one of the big ones that my mom and dad nurtured. So I think I was pretty lucky. You know, I didn't get the whole pass off. You know, my parents saved a lot of my artwork much to my chagrin. Looking back through some of the stuff you did when you were six. Yikes. I mean, yikes. But yeah, no, I don't know necessarily I was born an artist, but I know that I was born with the innate
00:02:46
Speaker
desire to create and it came out in quite a few different avenues. Art just being one. Yeah, I love that. And Holly, I mentioned early on, I met you over at the coast and you had your art there and I adore the coast and I always find that anytime that I'm there and I try to go there as much as possible to be a
00:03:11
Speaker
kind of a magical place and very connected in my head to art.
Impact of Oregon Coast on Art
00:03:17
Speaker
What does, for you, and do you share some of those identifications with the coast and being an artist by the coast? Is that part of how you think? Well, I can certainly say that it has shaped my entire life. You see
00:03:36
Speaker
We, my whole family moved here when I was three and a half years old. I'm 30 now, so I've been on the coast, oh geez, I'm real bad at math, on the spot, like over 26 years, we'll put it that way. Yes, yes, it has shaped me as an artist, but also just me as a person. There is a reason why I chose the name for my business, Wildness by Design. I was quite fortunate to live
00:04:03
Speaker
such a secluded life. I mean, my parents had 13 acres here, they still have it, 13 acres here on the coast, and it butts up to hundreds of acres of national forest. And to say that our population is pretty small is very accurate. You have to drive very, very far to get to the nearest Home Depot, I think, is almost two hours away. So yes, that calm, that peace, that
00:04:31
Speaker
beautiful silence. That's been a huge part of being able to create art, especially for me anyways. Yeah, and I really think, like I said, when I chat about the Coast and chat with artists about it, I just like the fantastical. And of course, that's heavily present in
00:04:56
Speaker
and the work that you do, which kind of has this kind of shape shifting of, you know, animals within what would say, you know, human roles in kind of these odd juxtapositions.
Artistic Evolution: Animals in Human Roles
00:05:11
Speaker
I read on your website that you kind of move towards a revelation of like what you wanted to do or what really excited you, that kind of weird connection.
00:05:25
Speaker
So what happened there? I love that story, but can you talk a little bit more about how that kind of changed how you approached art and what you wanted to do with it?
00:05:36
Speaker
Yes, yes. I'll go a little more in depth even than what I wrote about, which was basically the origin story of what you had mentioned. Perfectly Absurd, Oceanic Commentary, that whole series of art. That's not something that I've been doing my whole life, that series. This has been the last seven years of my life, but it all started with
00:06:01
Speaker
with an exhibition that I kind of was begrudgingly talked into by my younger sister. She had owned an art gallery in Seal Rock, which is not too far from our hometown, Waldport.
00:06:12
Speaker
Oh, lovely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And she really, really wanted to put on an ocean themed exhibition. And truly and honestly, I had never done any nautical art before this exhibition. It was something I found too repetitive, monotonous, and it's been done a thousand times, especially on the coast.
00:06:34
Speaker
But I did. I agreed to help her out. At the time, I was designing rock albums. I was in competitions, so my stuff was very out there and Salvador Dali-ish. Certainly not what I'm doing now. But, well, in any case, I agreed, thinking I could come up with something simple and sufficient, if you will.
00:06:59
Speaker
Oh boy, was I wrong. The nautical theme was my kryptonite, as it turned out. I couldn't think of anything. Three weeks before her exhibition was supposed to be aired to the public, I still had nothing but five sheets of blank paper. Which is distressing. Scary. Just scary and distressing, yeah.
00:07:22
Speaker
Oh, it was actually, yes, it was pretty terrible. So I was sitting in my studio and that night my husband came home and he brought me my absolute favorite bottle of scotch, LaFroy. It's a very, very intensely flavored scotch. You either love it or hate it, which is often the theme in my life. But in any case, he brought it home and he'd seen how stressed I had been about
00:07:47
Speaker
not having anything there and I'm promising that there should be, you know, there would be something there. So I cracked open the bottle. I put on one of my favorite films, which is Casablanca. I was very fortunate as a kid. My dad
00:08:03
Speaker
made us watch a lot of those old movies, including Three Stooges, Casablanca, things like that. But in any case, I put that on because I just felt like I needed a different perspective. And I put that on in my studio. I have a TV in my studio because I love to watch movies when I'm creating. So I'm having a drink and I'm watching Casablanca. And right next to my television, my
00:08:29
Speaker
Sea Creature reference book is open and it's on a puffer fish. And I'm watching the movie and I'm looking at the puffer fish. I go back to the movie,
Breakthrough in Nautical Art
00:08:39
Speaker
back to the puffer fish, and suddenly it was just kind of a eureka moment, if you will. I wanted to bring together the style, the class, the time era, the history.
00:08:53
Speaker
with the sea creatures, so that was actually, yeah, Puffing Fish was my very first one of the series, and I did it that night. I just slammed the whole thing out. It was definitely an all-nighter, but...
00:09:06
Speaker
I love that. I remember having a puffer fish. It's so distinct. Well, to be honest, they are such a difficult subject matter to do in black and white. It's hard to get all the detail. So it nearly broke me, but it was such a challenge that
00:09:31
Speaker
Well, frankly, after the first five, I just simply never stopped. So flash forward, here we are seven years later, and it's a full series. And it branched out into other things. I became delighted with the expressions of cats and other creatures. I mean, obviously, animals have such a wide range for emotional expression.
00:09:53
Speaker
Yeah, it was quite the revelation for me because I had always said I would never, ever, ever do nautical art. Well, and I like that you were on the, you know, being on the wavelength, the eccentric animal wavelength, I ended up where I could notice that and ended up where I'm chatting with you. So I appreciate you moving in that direction. When I saw your artwork, I'm not sure if you've heard of the
00:10:23
Speaker
German artist Michael Sowa from a little while back but it was animals kind of in human situations of like jumping off like jumping into swimming pools and pigs that looked like they were cars turning a corner that kind of wildness. I bet you I would recognize it if I saw it.
00:10:47
Speaker
Yeah, I just I really love that. Hey, I wanted to I wanted to ask you, I heard you mentioned if you wanted to to mention a little bit more the rock posters. So what was that? What was that like for you? Were you doing that for
Rock Albums and Art Competitions
00:11:02
Speaker
for groups? And, you know, what was that kind of adventure and art for you like?
00:11:09
Speaker
Oh, gotcha. Well, to be honest, my earlier artwork, pre-teen, tween, all the way up until like 17 was very, very, very
00:11:24
Speaker
What's the word? Dark? Maybe? Gothic? So that was what I was doing before all of this, the oceanic commentary came about, and it had always been on my bucket list to design a cover for a rock artist, as I am a hardcore rocker myself.
00:11:45
Speaker
Yeah. So what I was doing at the time was there's quite a few wonderful sites and I'm blanking on the names right now. So big time bands and artists, musicians, they will put out a call for artists.
00:12:02
Speaker
Like Sublime, for instance, that was one of the competitions I entered into. So they offer a cash prize, and then first place gets this amount, second place gets this, third gets that. But the big thing was that they would use your art for their cover. And so that's at the time what I was really focusing my creative energy on. And it's certainly different from what I'm doing now. And I feel like
00:12:28
Speaker
what I'm doing now is more true to my whole person, not just one side. I was a diehard punk in high school. The change, the spikes, everything. But that's just one facet of who I am. And the series I'm doing now is all of me, especially the comedy. That was the part that was missing with the other stuff.
00:12:54
Speaker
Well, I find that that can be, in talking to artists, that it can be a real difficult process because you tend to be multivariate and humans tend to be multivariate and present different parts. And it's nice to be recognized when you do things in a certain category, but artists change like everybody else and change maybe most of the time more rapidly in a certain sense.
Exploring Art, Creativity, and Skill
00:13:21
Speaker
You know, it's just allowing force for you and artists in general to be the different manifestations of yourselves rather than just this. And I think that's a that's a strong tension for artists when I've talked to them. Do you find that to be to be the case? I mentioned in that doing different. I mean, yeah, 100 percent. Yeah, I would agree with that 100 percent. But the other thing about it is
00:13:47
Speaker
It's easy to get stuck, I think, for, I mean, that's why they say writer's block, you know, artist depression, all, there's a lot of terms for it, you know, when you become stuck. And there's a lovely quote, I can't remember who it's from, but without, without change and growth, there is stagnation. And that is what happened to me before I came across, well, before really, I agreed to something I didn't really want to do, but it opened up
00:14:17
Speaker
whole nother world for me within my own world so yeah I mean stagnation is an easy easy place to get stuck when you are creative I would say
00:14:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So I wanted to dig in on the conceptual. And obviously, we talk a lot about art. And we've used that term in this conversation. But I'm always fascinated by what creative folks and artists like yourself, what you believe art is. So the question is, what is art?
00:14:57
Speaker
Oh boy. That is a question that I honestly struggle with quite a bit. Now I think, of course, there's the dictionary definition of art and there's the current social definition of art. I suppose what I want to ask you is, in what sphere do you mean that question? Do you mean what is art to me personally?
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. I always like to ask it is what is art? And I think it allows for two things to be said, at least when I've heard it. One would be you can engage into kind of like an objective discussion about an artwork should have this criteria and this criteria and be this way and try to create that kind of
00:15:53
Speaker
that logical argument. But I think with art, to answer the context of what you're asking, I think it is that personal component. When you see something and you're like, oh, look at that art piece and you know it in your heart and you know it to be true, end up asking the question is, what is art for you? When you see something, you're like, oh, that art piece is the most beautiful thing I've seen.
00:16:21
Speaker
what is it that makes that so yeah so we're going with the combination of both which is honestly I'm sure how it is for most people anyways um I will say this I am probably
00:16:35
Speaker
I haven't met too many artists that are so black and white, hahaha, not only just because I do black and white, but I don't have a whole lot of gray area with my definitions of things. I tend to be a little more on the critical side of examining art. I think for me personally, it does drive me a bit nuts. There's a difference between being creative and being an artist, at least for me.
00:17:03
Speaker
Being creative can, as I've seen in some museums, they stick a red thumbtack on the wall and suddenly that is a piece of art because it represents the struggle of women in Uganda or something.
00:17:18
Speaker
I don't think that that is art. There's no skill involved. There's a concept that is lovely, that could be expanded on, but I don't find that to be art. For me, art needs to have an element of expertise. It needs to have
00:17:35
Speaker
some form of a technical skill that also complements the concept. What that is is totally different and unique to each person. I've seen some abstract art that the person standing next to me is like almost in tears and I
00:17:54
Speaker
don't understand it, but that's not for me to understand. What I do see, though, is wonderfully applied skill, use of color, even the shapes that they use. But I've also seen the opposite, where someone just threw paint on a canvas and it just looks to... I mean, it just doesn't look like it was well thought out at all.
00:18:17
Speaker
So for me, the technical skill has to also expand on whatever the concept may be, and it can be very simple. I mean, mine are arguably, in my opinion, quite simple. I do a lot of comedy. I feel that comedy is definitely the focal point of my stuff. So, I mean, simplicity is fine. There just needs to be some skill, if that makes sense.
00:18:41
Speaker
Yeah. And I like the piece you were talking about, the comedy. And I'd see it when I was looking at your work. I would see it in the terms of comedy. I would also see it as the trickster, right? There's this big trick you played on, folks. And it takes some couple seconds to catch up and be like, oh. So it's that trickster element, the jokes in the comedy. I love that because,
00:19:07
Speaker
It's a particular way of just grabbing attention. I wanted to ask a follow-up question, Holly. Just your basic thoughts on the role of art, given as you described it.
00:19:24
Speaker
What do you think? The question is, humans are really connected, really lose their minds over art. I've done 150 plus podcasts about these questions about art. But what is the role of it? What is the role of art for us humans?
Art as a Reflection of Time and Truth
00:19:43
Speaker
What is it doing for us that's so special?
00:19:46
Speaker
Well, that is a really good question. And it is also attached to me in any case, to your previous one, what is art? So that technical end of things and then a concept, well, that's important. But in your concept for art, there's also a very true, there's a vein of truth specific to the artist, almost like a snapshot.
00:20:13
Speaker
not just of that person, but also of the time. I mean, there is quite a reason we have classes titled Art History. It's not just about the technical skill and the concepts. It's also, to me anyways, a mirror or a reflection of a time in history, and then underneath that, more specifically, a reflection of the person creating.
00:20:39
Speaker
Sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can't, it's more subtle, and obviously art speaks to everybody differently. Some people, you know, when I look at certain pieces of art, I can't quite really see the truth of that artist, but for some, I almost, that's all I see. So what is the role of art? Well, not only it's really multi-layered, at least for me, not only is it a
00:21:06
Speaker
glimpse into a perfect stranger that you might not ever meet. Sometimes you never meet the artist. So there's that. And then it is also, to me, a reflection of that particular time in history, which is very special to me. History is, while it's certainly not all good and it's not all bad, it is a very important part of the future.
00:21:34
Speaker
So to me, the role of art is almost like a mirror. You get to hold that up and take a very good, hard look, not just at yourself, but even the person who's making it. And that's special, I think.
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah, and I like the challenge that can be within that, within the art. I heard you say one piece I liked about what you said, which is, you know, there's components of an emotional response to Nara, but you mentioned the word truth, that you find some truth within it there. And I think that's always fun to...
00:22:12
Speaker
kind of think about that it's that immediacy or truth in what's being displayed that causes that reaction. I wanted to know another question. I got two more big ones for you, Holly. So I just wanted to give you a little bit of context. That's only fear with some of these. But one of the questions I wanted to ask you was,
Influences: Teacher and Sister
00:22:40
Speaker
As far as, as far as the influence in this, the influence question, who or what made you who you are? Like in your, in your, in your life. I mean, is there certain, certain people, certain place, certain things, an album, a song that, that really make you who you are? Oh, this is the most internal observation I've had to do. Um, okay.
00:23:11
Speaker
I would say, well, okay, so you actually got to see my art in person. Well, at least the prints, but the black and white is done in charcoal, which is, I'm sure as you know, or maybe you don't, charcoal is the oldest. I love charcoal. Me too. It is phenomenal, but it is also the oldest form
00:23:33
Speaker
or rather, I should say, the oldest tool that humankind has had to communicate. Cave paintings, all of those are done in charcoal. The very first ability to write and hire anything, I mean, other than carving into stone. Charcoal is the very first tool that humans had to communicate and to express themselves. So charcoal, not only is it wonderful medium to work in, but it's also a very ancient one.
00:24:03
Speaker
My love of charcoal started when I turned 14. I took a basic figure drawing class in high school. It was an elective. But my teacher, Mr. Wiesner, who was quite the character,
00:24:19
Speaker
big handlebar mustache, tiny little round, like very round glasses, and extreme, like a ponytail that went all the way down past his back. He was kind, he's kind of an enigma to me. He had extremely high expectations for all of his students. No matter who you were, what your skill level was,
00:24:45
Speaker
You were going to be held at the same standard. And Mr. Wiesner was a very old school art teacher. We were not allowed to use a pencil. We used instead sticks of charcoal.
00:24:57
Speaker
So we sat there in that class, we weren't allowed to talk, we weren't allowed, we were only allowed to replicate the images that he gave us, and that's what we spent a whole hour doing. Granted, it was difficult for most high schoolers, although I will say, if you misbehaved, you got a dry chalkboard eraser beamed at you across the class, so.
00:25:18
Speaker
okay yeah there's that too yep everyone caught on real quick um but uh it was the first time i spent so much time with this particular medium and uh he he really made you rise to the occasion didn't matter what we were sketching you really wanted to at least have him not say nope that's terrible do it again you you you wanted just him to just walk by and
00:25:46
Speaker
and say nothing, because that was the best compliment you could get from him. So that was, he was a huge part of my charcoal fascination. Interesting character, still around to this day, I ran into him not too long ago. Oh my. But yeah, so that, so Mr. Wiesner, huge, huge part of my life. As far as the art goes, as far as everything else, definitely my younger sister,
00:26:17
Speaker
She's the one who pushes me outside of my safe, comfortable, creative boundaries. After all, she is the one that kind of pushed me into the whole, you know, nautical theme, but that turned into something amazing. And ever since we were young, she's always really done that for me. So we're kind of opposites, actually. So definitely my sister.
00:26:44
Speaker
I love that. I love that. And too, I think with the turn that you talked about with being pushed into the area, that was deeply frustrating for you that led to something else. It's just that odd combination that you don't know where it's going to lead to. And sometimes being around the right people, including your sister, get you.
00:27:06
Speaker
get you in that spot. And even though it doesn't seem so initially, I think that's that's really special. Big question. And then I want you to do some self-promotion, Holly. So the big question, the big question is the the title of the show, of course.
Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
00:27:24
Speaker
And it's another I mean, you're talking about you have to handle a lot of introspection and conceptual questions. But the way here
00:27:32
Speaker
The cuddle of the show is, yeah, I mean, it's why is there something rather than nothing? And I accept all answers pleasing, profound, whatever amusing. But that's the question. Why is there something rather than nothing, Holly?
00:27:47
Speaker
Well, you might not like my answer because it is a little bit simple, but I would say that there is something rather than nothing because nothing cannot exist without the complete total opposite, something. I feel that
00:28:05
Speaker
We are fortunate, all of us critters here, all of us living critters anyways, to be a part of and existing in the something because I'm quite certain that beyond that beautiful blue sky,
00:28:22
Speaker
I don't know if there is anything else. I mean, we know that there's the planets, the universe, but that blackness that we see up there, maybe even the black holes, there is nothing somewhere. I just, for one, feel grateful that I'm existing in something. And you know what, Ken? Maybe that's why so many of us create. Now, obviously not all of us are in the creative,
00:28:52
Speaker
industry you know art or music or poetry but you know even having children you're creating it must be because without doubt deep down we all know that somewhere there is potentially nothing and we're quite fortunate to live in the something. I really I really I really love your answer there Holly and
00:29:23
Speaker
I think in the expression of like the living or the ability to live in something or to be around something or to do something or to create something I think that's just that's a wonderful mystery and it's it's pretty darn cool. So I appreciate you. Okay, Holly Tell us tell the listeners tell the listeners now that you handled the big the biggest question of them all tell the listeners
Where to Find Holly's Art
00:29:46
Speaker
where to find your art either in person or regionally or online or where all your spots are. So lead us to your art.
00:30:01
Speaker
Ah, allow me to light the way. So this is just so everybody knows, this is my very, well, it's my second year of going public with all of my artwork before I, before it's just been sitting inside of my garage doing nothing, so.
00:30:20
Speaker
So, on that note, I would direct as many people to the website as possible. It's just the, you know, the www.wildnessbydesign.com. I am very active on the website because I am not very active or good at the social media. I have somebody helping me with that, thankfully, because as you know, as I've mentioned before, I am completely technology illiterate.
00:30:48
Speaker
So definitely the website and then of course in person Walport's my home I do I will be doing the farmers market probably from here on out that's in in Walport every Wednesday during the summer months and I'm also popping up in local events Surrounding areas Toledo. I do the art oyster and beer festival
00:31:13
Speaker
Looking into the Seafood and Wine Festival, which is a hugely popular event here on the coast, I mean, wine, food, art does not get better than that.
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Well, it's nice to hear about you and in that beautiful area on the Oregon coast. And, you know, just to hear about, you know, like just just the way you come about your art and the different things you've worked on. I've really enjoyed getting the chat with you, Holly and everybody. Make sure you check out that website, Wildness by Design.
00:31:51
Speaker
a lot of a lot of just really fun things that'll make you smile and you know, so just some great image and great artwork. So check Holly out and Holly just wanted to thank you so much for you know, jumping on to the to the podcast and just want to thank you for the things you create and hope we hope I get to run into you soon and chat some more about art.
00:32:14
Speaker
Wow, sounds wonderful, and thank you for having me. I was really excited about this. You ask phenomenally good questions. Questions that I... Admittedly, even just... Yeah, well, anyways, they're loaded questions. There's a lot going on there.
00:32:33
Speaker
No, and it's fun. It's fun. I'm glad that you're that that you say that too. I think a lot of times, you know, being asked larger, interesting questions is a good kind of a good exercise away from some of the mundane. So with that and with that in mind, that's my that's where I'm placed in my bed. So thank you so much. Thank you so much, Holly. And hope to chat again soon. Indeed. Thank you.
00:33:04
Speaker
This is something rather than nothing.