The Austin Artist Series

Austin, Texas is known around the globe as "The Live Music Capital of the World." And it is home to some of the most creative souls around. Whether in music, visual or performing arts, writing or design, Austin is filled with talent.

The capital of the great state of Texas, Austin was named by Money magazine as the second best place to live in the country in 2006. And today it becomes the focus of the Austin Artist Series here at Interviews with Rita Mae Baker.

Introducing the artists who help keep Austin colorful:

John Haney

Douglas Brown

Jason Manzano

Introducing Austin Artist ... Jason Manzano

Age: 26
Location: South Austin
Occupation: Sound engineer, musician, photographer, photo retoucher, graphic designer, film editor, occasional actor
Website: resonancedigitalstudios.com

This is the third in the Austin Artist Series.

Explain briefly the job of sound engineer as it relates to both film and bands.
Essentially the job is the same for both film and music. I record the sounds in the best quality I can, then manipulate and give interest to those sounds to create a final product. Although the job is the same, the experience of doing sound work for film and bands is really quite different. For film the initial recording aspect is always done on location. No matter how much I try, I can never have complete control over the environment. I am always competing with talking, generators, car noises, etc. These issues can be cleaned up or replaced, but they are still issues. Also, on film it is one huge collaborative effort. I am working with anywhere from a 2 – 50 person crew, and my efforts are just one amongst many to create the final product. Recording music is an entirely different experience. It is usually a small more intimate and relaxed setting where I have much more control over all of the variables.

How did you get into the business?
The business was always there, it just took me a long time to embrace it. I always toyed with recording as I did with many of my other creative pursuits back in High School, but they were never realistic to me as a career until a bit later. I kept learning these things more and getting more interested to suit my own needs. My band needed a recording, I did it. Logo? I am sure I can figure that out. Someone wants some pictures taken or retouched, yeah let me read a few books, and I can do that for you. The thing for me was that once I started learning about how to do something, I couldn't stop. I tend to take it all the way. I really enjoyed everything that gave me the opportunity to create any type of digital product, but it wasn't until other people started coming to me to get these things done that the wheels started turning. And it wasn't until the last couple of years that I have really gone all out into making it my career.

Is it what you really want to do or is it a stepping stone to something bigger?
Yeah, this is what I really want to do. Create. I love it. To be honest, if I were just doing one of these things I would probably get bored of it eventually. The diversity of things I create keeps me interested, and I am sure I will expand to many more throughout my life.

You've been playing guitar in a band for 12 years, you studied guitar in college. Talk about your history and your relationship with music and specifically with the guitar.
I picked up guitar around age 13 or so. My mom had a couple of classical guitars lying around from her days as a Mariachi. She showed me a couple of licks and I took off with it. I remember my first lesson was the first four notes to La Bamba. I played those four notes every day for about three months because that was all I knew. I eventually started finding other people who knew how to play and had them teach me. Eventually we started calling ourselves a band and practicing all the time, even though my first couple of bands never performed for anything more than our parents and friends in a garage. I may have played a total of two gigs before I left high school. In college, I started over with new people but gigs were a lot easier to come by. I didn't actually change my major to music until my fourth year of college. I was doing engineering and philosophy before that because it had been drilled into me that I needed to have what other people thought of as a "real" job. You know, eight to five Monday through Friday. (God, that is my worst nightmare.) I wasn't doing to well in school. I wasn't a hard partier or anything, but I lost my full ride and got kicked out of the College of Engineering because I was spending too much time with my music. It wasn't until I got kicked out and had a total breakdown that I said "Hey, I am spending all of my time with my music anyway, might as well make it my major." So, I spent the next five years of college as a guitar/music technology major and all of the sudden my grades went up because I actually cared about what I was learning. I played in bands that whole time, and for a while after (up until a few months ago really) and finally gave that up to focus on other pursuits.

What is the most misunderstood part of the work you do?
Out of all the things I do, I would say that the most misunderstood part is how important sound is to a film. I have seen so many independent films that put all of their focus on what a film looks like, but their only expectation of the sound was that it was there. Those films are lacking. I saw an example one time of the same scene done with good picture and bad sound vs. bad picture and good sound. When it sounds right the viewers think the bad picture is done for effect. Vice versa the film seems lacking in production value.

What is the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge for me is to temper my desire to perfect my art. I try so hard to be the best at what I do, but sometimes I spread myself to thin because there are too many things I am trying to perfect. And if I spend all my time learning, then I sacrifice the time I could be spending doing.

The biggest reward?
The biggest reward is the end product. I get such a sense of fulfillment when I have a great design, or photo, or song, or film in my hand that I can be proud of.

Austin is touted nationwide as the creative capital of the country. What's it like to live there? How is it different than other places you’ve lived?
Well, I am actually from Houston. Oklahoma is just where I spent my college days, and in a large part is where I discovered my desires and talents. But I have always been drawn to Austin. I wanted to move here right after high school, but I couldn't pass up the full ride Oklahoma was giving me. So I basically moved down right after I graduated. Six months later, I am well into building my career, and my business. Austin in amazing, I love how the populace supports the arts. There is so much more to do here…lots of outdoor fun, live music, a sense of keeping things natural, spiritual. Plus there is actually a market for me to do what I want to do and make a living at it. In Oklahoma I could find films to work on, and bands to record, and pictures to take, etc. But there wasn't enough of it going around to quit my day job. There were plenty of people interested in this stuff, but very few who were willing to follow through with it. Maybe it was because they didn't have the public support Austin has.

Who are the people whose work have influenced you? Who are your personal heroes?
There are so many places to pull influence, and inspiration from. Sadly enough, most of the photography and graphics I see I never know whose works they are. Music, is totally different though. I definitely have my favorite artists and producers. For guitar I am a huge Santana fan. As far as bands go I am really into all of Maynard's projects, System of a Down, Maroon 5, and a lot of old Michael Jackson stuff… His music was phenomenally produced. Danny Lohner is a pretty bad ass as a producer and musician. He has his fingers in so much of my favorite music. As far as personal heroes: Maynard, da Vinci. Da Vinci was into all types of art too. He got into and excelled at everything. I do completely different types of art, but I see him as inspiration of how much one man can accomplish.

Introducing Austin Artist ... Douglas Brown

Name: Douglas Brown
Age: 31
Location: Austin, TX
Occupation: I do so many things: Painter, Graphic Artist, Illustrator, and most recently I've gotten into storyboarding for television and film. I guess you could say I do anything creative.

Websites:
For graphic design: www.albumartist.com
Plain ol’ art: www.douglasbrownartist.com
Personality: www.myspace.com/douglasbrownartist
To buy prints, magnets, mugs and more: www.cafepress.com/douglasbrown
This is the second in a series of interviews with Austin Artists.

1. Talk briefly about your work at Albumartist.
Albumartist is a graphic design studio based in Austin, Texas. Since 2003, we’ve been producing work for a wide variety of clients: musicians, bars, entertainment venues, film makers, manufacturers, and city departments. I provide identity branding, sales and marketing material, illustration and storyboard services. At Albumartist, I'm the lead designer so everything you see come out of that office is my work. My style as a designer is to have everything very clean and simple, but many times I have to follow the clients' aesthetics. After all, they sign the checks. In regards to my paintings and illustrations, it really depends on what the client is seeking. I'd love to have someone commission me to create a book cover where I could actually paint in my style.

2. At first glance your paintings and illustrations seem to have an Asian influence, but you say the influence is actually Andalusia, Spain. How did you develop an interest in the culture there and how has it influenced your work?
My influences come from all over the place. Let’s see if I can trace it back.

Comics I tried my hand at self publishing a long time ago. Got to the first issue and it was just too much work to write, draw, ink, and market the title. But the line work and style of comics stayed with me. I've sought out cultures that use a lot of line work and detail in their art ever since. I started with the Maya because that was the origin of the character. Then in 2002-3 I went to Panama to visit family during Carnaval. I loved it. It got me interested in looking into my heritage, Kuna Indians. They have a tremendous amount of detail in their work and very rich colors. After I made a set of paintings inspired by the rainforests, and those cultures, I decided to look into other cultures with lots of detail in their work. I'm making it a goal to try a little of every culture. My dream would be to raise funds to visit these places. Although books and the web are helpful, I'm missing something by not actually being there. So if anyone wants to fund a trip in exhcange for art, contact me through the sites listed above. :)

Shakira Yes. That's right. The pop singer. She's only a couple of years younger than me but she's been involved in her passion all her life. I used to draw quite a lot but I let myself go stale and got involved with everyday activities. It made me wonder what or where I would be if I'd dedicated myself like that. It pissed me off and got me painting again, and I'd love to thank her for it. She is the subject of "Something in the way..." which is pretty much the lynch pin of my style. It has everything: beautiful woman, tons of detail, exotic setting, mixed mediums. If I ever become collectable, that's the piece to own.

Ancient cultures After Mayan, my interest drifted over to Middle Eastern art, which in turn came from the war. I remember seeing on the news how people were buying lots of copies of the Qur'an and other texts to get a feel for the culture there. I thought about some of the buildings like the Hagia Sofia and thought "Oh yeah, they do have some cool looking stuff" so I picked up a book on Moorish architecture. I was totally blown away by it. Now that I've done a few works with those influences, I'm starting to drift again and look into Japan.

Women What can I say? I love looking at them. Pretty much every one of the cultures I've been painting has in unique way of painting their women through decoration. At first I did nothing but nudes because I love the curves women have. Then I started placing them in these wonderful settings of these far away places. After that, I started integrating architectural motifs of these cultures as tattoos on the women. Now, I'm painting drapery and revealing form through the clothing and making them sexy and strong is my challenge.

3. How does it feel to sell a piece of your work?

It is a rush to know that someone out there likes your work enough to pay for it. I'm always happy to sell a piece but afterwards, there is a little tinge of sadness because I'll probably never see it again except for the prints, and the memories making it. This is especially true when it is a piece that holds lots of meaning, like this one painting, "Oksana". It was a life size painting of a guitar player with a prosthetic arm and covered in tattoos telling the story of how she lost her arm. At the time I was writing a screenplay and had to get this girl out of my head, so I made the painting. She looked incredible. Late at night I would talk to her about the story, life, etc. Everyone else didn't care much for her, but for me it was difficult to let her go.

4. Austin is undoubtedly the creative capital of the country. How do you think growing up there influenced your art? What role has your Panamanian heritage had in your art and your life?
(Growing up in Austin) definitely influenced my love of music. My early work revolved around musicians. That is the reason my company is called Albumartist. Originally I made the company to cater to musicians but over time, I expanded to other businesses. As for my heritage ... I think going to Panama really sparked my curiosity in studying other cultures.

5. You talk about the influence of your mother on your work. Tell us about her and how she has made a difference in your life and those around her?
My mother was from Panama. She met my dad when he was stationed there. She was a beauty queen and won a number of titles. Shortly after I was born, we moved to Austin. I think things started to fall apart after he came back from being in Alaska. He started to drink. Then he left us high and dry. My mom didn't know much English and took two, sometimes three jobs to keep the house going. When she would work, her friends watched over us. My brother knows more about it than I do. I was kept sheltered from all the things that happened. I know that she's incredibly strong and never wanted anything back from us in return other than to do our best. When I decided to go to school for art, she supported the decision, and still does. I would say that she's the strongest woman I've ever met.
When it comes to my pantings, I'm not interested in having them be sexy. Let's face it, if I wanted a pin up girl, I'd buy a photograph. Instant gratification and perfect realism. In my work, I want to create women in fantastic settings that are sensual, caring, and strong, and be a reflection of the women I grew up around.

Introducing Austin Artist ... John Haney

Age: Old enough to know better, to young to care.
Location: Texas Hill Country / Highland Lakes.
Occupation: Graphics guy, creative, painter, lawn jockey and hillbilly.
Website: http://johnhaney.typepad.com



This is the first in a series of interviews we've titled the Austin Artist Series.

1. You "paid your dues" as a graphic designer working in advertising and marketing firms. How do you compare your work in commercial art to the work you do now that you have left the corporate world and devoted yourself full time to your art?
I wouldn't say I "paid my dues" as a graphic designer. I loved almost every minute. When I think of one paying one’s dues, its more like some physical endeavor, a test of endurance and/or nerves. Maybe I paid my dues before I got into the creative field. Farming and ranching, hot tar roofing, hardware sales, plus lots of other mundane jobs, it didn't take long to figure out these were not for me. Then rough-necking, the last gig before the arts, a love-hate relationship of a job. These are the men that punch the hole in the earth and drill down to where the oil or gas is supposed to be, and then move to the next hole every 1-3 months. I had only thought I had done physically demanding, dirty, nasty, and dangerous work before. This was the real deal. And the interesting characters one meets -- on one crew I worked on (four men), I was the only one that had NOT done jail time. I was in my early 20s and learned a lot of new
things.

Graphic design never felt like real work. I still love the graphic arts. I felt so lucky to be a part of the business, at the time in Austin there was only a couple of agencies with accounts over a million dollars. Getting into the business was the most difficult, the competition was stiff. And to stay in the business for 20 years seems like a miracle. I still enjoy collaborating and working on graphic design assignments from time to time.

Comparing the type of work for the commercial art world to what I'm doing now is a bit different. Organizations paid me to create on demand -- make some thing, convey a predefined message, make it attractive, pretty, easy to digest, move one to action. I have the most respect for great copy writers. Now, as a painter, no one pays me to create. Funding comes from those that enjoy the creations by electing to place them in their homes or offices to enjoy daily, to share with others. Would you think a lot of people have thoughts of escaping/exploring, to write, paint, create, sing, dance, to follow one’s bliss? In the dream it seems so romantic. But is it?

2. You do a great job of painting people's faces and, in fact, that's your most recent collection of work on your site. What draws you to this particular form?
This series "Painted Faces" started by chance and grew into some thing I hadn't imagined at the time. Most all of us are voyeurs. People watching is a past time is older than dirt. You could say that’s how it started, seeing someone that looked interesting. At the mall, in traffic, on the street, at a party, a snapshot, a picture, they are everywhere. Every person has a story or two, some times it can be read in their face. .


The series also began to grow from a desire to explore. Explore a singular subject matter, different techniques, styles, moods, color combinations, movements in art history, pay homage to artists of influence, have fun with it. I'm not sure if there is an end to the "Painted Faces" series. Maybe, when I get to one hundred paintings, I publish a book "101 Painted Faces by John Haney."

Throughout this journey of exploring the subject matter I've learned about Eastern and Western ideas about the human face. The Buddha’s face, the closest to what one would call “perfect,” demonstrates symmetry and balance from the top, middle, bottom and side-to-side, giving the viewer a sense of harmony and peace. In Chinese medicine, a beautiful face is said to be a harmonious face. The Chinese art of “face reading” is an expression of the belief that observation of the face can reveal the personality and health of the patient, thereby allowing for diagnosis and treatment. Even in Western corporate culture, the human face is used as a meter for one’s psychological and emotional profile.

I am offering the viewer the opportunity to reflect on a fleeting image and to examine it more intimately. Each viewer brings his or her own unique experiences to the table and is free share in the universality of the human face on his or her own terms. A hope to delight in the unusual juxtaposition of colors, the unexpected surprises found in the provocative personalities depicted in the portraits.

3. You grew up in small towns, spent your commercial art career in the vibrant city of Austin, and now have settled in Texas Hill Country. How has each influenced your art and your personality?
Living in Austin 20 years, it's not difficult to find/see an interesting character for inspiration. What a great city, I love it, and 60 miles or less in any direction is the prettiest country in the great state of Texas. All of my youth was living in
rural areas of Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. That old saying; "you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy" is true for me. I feel blessed to be on this chunk of earth. It is an easy drive into Austin, and Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are down the road to enjoy all they offer and to the airport to getaway to the cultural capitals of the world. Its great to get away, even better getting back. It's fun, interesting, inspiring to visit other places. I don't know if I could or would enjoy calling somewhere else home base as much as this area. Me Casa.

4. Tell us how you go about the process of your work.
My process? Hmmm. I don't know if I have one. It varies. Some days I try to make a plan, X amount of hours on this task or the other, then move to the next, X amount of time painting. Other times its the first thing I do in the morning, sitting in my boxers with paint on brush, before ya know its midday, I am starving and parched. Most of the evening/night, getting a bit irritated when I need to stop, eat, go to the bathroom and other mundane tasks. It's strange when all things are flowing in harmony, time and space slips away, you wonder how did all this come together and who did it. It’s been a great day.

5. Please share with us an image of one of your paintings and tell us how it came to be, the story that it tells.
The image I've chosen to share here is called "High-Lites in her Hair.” The idea/thought was born of overhearing some ladies talk about getting highlights. I had no idea. I then started to notice hair highlights, natural and cosmetic. I've seen hair jobs that are quite artistic. I thought how fun, to paint highlights of colour. Also this one was a bit of a break thru for me. I was loosening up. I had
executed a hand that I wasn't ashamed of, I really enjoyed playing with colors, the eyes fell into place, the composition pleased me. This one had more rights than wrongs for my eyes any way.

With my paintings I want to, I hope to, bring something, and offer something. Give, share, exchange. Bring joy, it may have visual appeal. Is it interesting or insightful. I am so thankful for the oppurtunity to share my craft. The hope is that others may find something joyful of these creations. Right now I think my gig is to try to provide, individuals with an imaginative experience that maybe a bit more intense, revealing, and a meaningful version of an actual experience. Art improves our surroundings and stimulates creative thinking. It provides cultural benefits and enrichments.

The reason I ask questions

As I have scrolled through a variety of blogs and discussion boards and even posted notes seeking interviews for this blog, I've had a lot of inquiry about what my motivation is for doing a blog like this.

It's simple ... The stories I hear are inspiring.

As an example, I recently asked a group of Craigslist users in Philadelphia "Is there an article of clothing you'd never part with?"

A 74 year old man who calls himself Harley responded by saying he would never part with his late son's baseball cap and team shirt.

It seems that 28 years ago, Harley's 19-year old son had just joined the Marines and was on his way to basic training with a buddy. They were involved in a car accident and 18 hours later, Harley's son was dead. Harley still feels guilty that he couldn't have somehow delayed his son just a few minutes.

He describes his son as "funny, intelligent, handsome and my only child."

"He was all I had, my only child and his mother had died of cancer only five years before."

Harley keeps the shirt and cap and launders them every year, remembering that baseball was his son's passion.

"I once punished him for 'cutting classes' at school to sneak off to a Phillies game. At the time it seemed fitting, NOW it’s still a lump in my throat."

Rest in Peace: Norman Mailer

Literary giant Norman Mailer died this morning in New York. He was 84. (read more)

More than his death, this man's life was remarkable. He was the epitome of the non-conformist attitudes of his era. In so many ways, he knew unequivocally what it meant to pursue his own path and was never afraid to do it. I am partial to him for his role in co-founding the Village Voice, one of America's first truly successful underground newspapers. In doing so, a speaker was created for voices that might never have been heard. Of course, as Hunter at the Huntington (NY) Public Library's Adult Reference and Services Department posts, "It was impossible to ignore someone who wrote in the voice of God, the devil and everyone in between."

Other comments left about Mailer in the blogosphere:

"As the oldest-living enfant terrible in human history, he gave American literature and the times in which he lived the best show it ever had or could ever want." -- posted by Tom Sutpen at If Charlie Parker was a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats

"A brilliant writer who will not only be missed, but read in perpetuity." -- posted by Anthony Rainone at his home Anthony Rainone's Criminal Thoughts

Readers can find a great account of Mailer's life at Fair Proxy Web, where writer Izabel, sums it all up by saying, "He made the most of his own time on Earth."

To hear Mailer in his own words, check out this Rolling Stone interview with him.

Introducing M. Heart

Age: 36
Location: Western Massachusetts
Occupation: Graphic Designer, Art Director
Website: www.secretnotebookswildpages.blogspot.com


1. You created your blog Secret Notebooks • Wild Pages a few months ago. It's a beautiful collection of your own work as well as the work of others. How are you enjoying blogging and how has it changed your daily outlook on things?
when i created secret notebooks • wild pages, i didn't really have a clear idea of what i would focus on or where it would lead. however, only days after my first post a friend handed me a copy of Artful Blogging magazine. through it, i was introduced to challenge blogs and the wonderful, creative community who participates in them. immediately i wanted to be involved — i love a good creative challenge. as soon as i started, people began to visit the site and leave positive feedback. it was very inspiring, and i knew right away i wanted to take the blog in a more creative and personal direction than i'd originally thought i would. as a result, the last couple of months have been a very creative period for me. i'm constantly taking photos, considering my next digital illustration, and looking for new artists and events to write about. it keeps my mind occupied and my thoughts more focused and positive. i look forward to seeing where else it might lead.

How did you choose the name?
the writing of jack kerouac has had a profound influence on me, and name of the blog is taken from his "Belief and Technique for Modern Prose." it's the first of his 30 steps towards spontaneous writing, "scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy." i'm amazed by how many of kerouacs 30 steps seem appropriate to blogging. "write in recollection and amazement for yrself," "write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it" "struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind" there's no doubt in my mind that if jack kerouac were alive today, he would have a blog — a crazy, joyful, adventure of a blog, to share with us. adopting one of kerouacs 'rules' as the name of my own blog reminds me to keep the posts natural, truthful, and uninhibited.

2. You post something every day and highlight the work of so many varied artists, while sharing your own work and thoughts as well. How do you go about choosing your subjects each day?
for years, i carried an unlined sketchbook with me everywhere. i'd constantly jot down random thoughts, sketches, names, recipes, lists...everything. secret notebooks • wild pages is my new sketchbook — the only difference is that it's digital and i'm no longer afraid to share it with people. i try to keep the subjects spontaneous, and don't plan them out more than a day ahead. most of the photos and pieces of art were created only hours before they were posted. i'm a creature of habit and motivated to post every day — which motivates me to create something to post every day.

3. Some of your latest entries share your sadness over your mother's recurring battle with cancer as well as a bit of the feeling of your own fall depression. In other times you posted self portraits of you in a new hoody dress and also in a unique blend of feminine and vintage. How does it feel to put your emotions and style on display for the world to see?
when i was a little girl out shopping with my parents, they'd sometimes discover that i'd snuck into the window display with the manequins and was posing there, perfectly still, attracting the attention of people passing by. being behind the computer screen feels a lot like being in those window displays. you'd never catch me walking down the street in a crazy wig and white mask, because i'm rather shy in person, and doing so would mortify me. but if i could stand in a window somewhere, very still and quiet and wait for people to notice...

as for emotions, they are much more difficult to put out there. however, everyone has experienced sadness, depression, and anxiety at some point, and can hopefully relate. i've read some very personal, poignant posts on other blogs, and even if i haven't experienced the exact same situation in my own life - the loss of a child, for example - i have experienced loss, and i can empathize and maybe try to offer words of support. or, be reminded to count my blessings. we live in a society in which we don't socialize with friends and family as much as we used to. i think we're turning to the internet to replace that, searching for a support network, some kind of connection. whether or not we'll find one there, i don't know.

4. The series on puppets is fascinating? What drew you to the subject?
i've always been fascinated by puppets, and used to drive up to st. johnsbury, vt every summer to attend bread and puppet's "domestic resurrection circus & pageant" weekend, until they stopped holding them in 1998. a week after meeting j, almost 13 years ago now, i went to his apartment for the first time only to discover a whole cast of very unique, detailed marionettes on his living room floor. when he told me he'd made them, i was completely blown away. there's something timeless about them, and they seem to have been bestowed with a bright spark of life. they told me a lot about the imaginative, detail-oriented person who created them, and they didn't lie - apparently puppets don't fib — except for Pinocchio.

5. You talk a lot about your commute and even shared a great NPR piece on commuters. Describe some of the fascinating things you have seen and heard as you travel.
my 40-minute commute takes me on some beautiful, mountainous roads. there are rolling green hillsides dotted with black and white cows, sweeping views of the bershire mountains, quiet woods, quaint houses and often a beautiful moonrise. it's gorgeous to look at, but far from exciting. there aren't many other cars to deal with, or people to look at. there's nowhere to stop for a decent cup of coffee or a pizza. i don't think i'll ever get used to that. if i'm not listening to my ipod, the only station that comes in is npr (which is fine, actually). my commute gives me a lot of time to reflect. oddly, the first and only time i've ever seen the northern lights was while driving home from work one night. i thought something was on fire in the distance. than i thought there must be something wrong with my eyes. it wasn't until i pulled over that i realized i was experiencing the northern lights - an other-worldly green and red flickering over the berkshires. i wish there could have been someone else on the road to see it with me!

one other scene does stand out in my mind though. it's since been torn down, but there was a crazy old ramshackle farmhouse i'd pass by every day. an old man with long white hair and a long white beard used to live there, with a menagerie of farm animals - cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats. the house was quite crooked. there were piles of random junk in the yard, half hidden behind unmowed grass and weeds. it was a mess — but it was also fascinating. sometimes i would drive by and catch sight of the cows standing with their front legs on the porch, staring into the windows and front door, which was seldom closed. one summer afternoon, i caught a glimpse of the man sitting on a wooden chair in his overgrown yard. the sun was behind him and glowing through his white hair and beard. standing behind him, one on each side, were two cows, their heads bowed over his shoulders. in front of him were a couple of the dogs. he had a chicken on his lap. the whole scene was illuminated by the saintly yellow light of the setting sun, and if i ever learn to paint, that scene will be the first one i try to recapture.

Looking for a new interview?

For those of you who've been waiting, breath held tightly for a new face to appear here on Interviews with Rita Mae Baker, you won't have to wait long. We've been talking with several talented artists and entertainers from Austin, Texas and you won't want to miss what they have to say.

In the meantime, if you have a suggestion for someone we might interview for the site, please send your suggestions to us here at ritamaebaker@yahoo.com.

Introducing Ficali McPipe

Age: 27
Gender: Female
Location: New York
Occupation: HR bod
Blog link: Sea Horse Chronicles

How did writing become your form of creative expression and what role does it play in your life?
It's something I've always enjoyed, even as a child. Being visually, musically and spatially inept, writing has always been my means to express myself. Words can be fun, and I enjoy the art of playing with them, albeit often with rather unsuccessful results. I guess it started in grade school, when I used to write poems of a ridiculously childish nature, and insist on reading them out to anyone who would listen. My parents, bless their hearts, found it in themselves to somehow convince me this was a talent and encouraged me to grow it further. If I'd been them, I'd have probably thrown those poems away.

Today, my medium for writing is my blog. I don't really use it to keep friends and family aware of the haps in my life, but rather as a means to express myself. Usually, the content is an exaggerated distortion of the truth it's based on, but it's important to me as my outlet for creativity, while at the same time allowing me to step back and retrospectively view my own life with a sense of humourous objectivity.

You have lived in Bombay, London and now New York? Where do you feel your sense of home?
It's a great question and one I've often asked myself in the past. Sense of home is not tied to geography for me, it's really a question of emotional attachment, I suppose as predominantly driven by the people I care about. As long as my parents continue to live in Bombay, there will always be a part of me that will think of Bombay as home. And the same for London, with the close friends I have there. But if I had to pick one, given how happy I am right now in New York, and given that I don't envision myself moving elsewhere anytime in the near future, I'd have to say this is home. I guess the acid test for me is, when I come home from a terrible day at work, or when I'm ill, at a psychologically vulnerable point, I don't yearn to be elsewhere. I'm happy, even relieved, to be home, and that's when I know this is really "home." Now, if only all my friends and family would be compliant and come live here in New York, I could give you a much more definitive answer to this question :)

A year ago this month, you walked past a diner in New York and saw a man who appeared to be Salman Rushdie eating eggs at your favorite diner. It made you think seeing him there was a sign. A sign of what?
Most of us, I think, are at risk of being lulled into a complacency by the quotidien routine of life. Often, I'm so busy rushing from one thing to the next, so focused on the objective, that I fail to notice the little things happening all around me on the way. So when something slightly out of the ordinary happens, however small, but yet significant enough to have grabbed my attention for that moment, I take it as a sign. Not a sign to portend great or terrible things to come, rather just a sign to me, because it's made me pause in my course of action, and alter my sign of thought. For haven't these moments ultimately, however infinitesimally, altered the course of your life in some way? In all honesty, I'm not even sure if it was Salman Rushdie I saw in the diner. But all the same, thinking I saw him there just brought home to me the specialness of the place, and the central role it continues to play in my life.

How do you feel about Rushdie's writing and the controversy surrounding it?
I admire Rushdie's writing greatly. I certainly haven't ready all of his books, but both "Satanic Verses" and "The Moor's Last Sigh" left me with a sense of awe. He's an extremely talented writer and definitely deserving of the accolades he received. In my opinion, the controversy surrounding his writing is not different from that surrounding any strongly opinionated political or religious work, and while the reaction (especially to "Satanic Verses" I believe) is perhaps inevitable, he's ultimately only exercising his right to freedom of speech.

Who are your favorite writers?
I'm not sure if I have favourite writers, per se, as much as favourite works from a variety of authors. To highlight a couple of my absolute all-time favourites, I'd have to pick Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami) and Nobody's Fool (Richard Russo). Most often I tend to stick to character-driven novels, which may even have little to no plot, but which express the depth of the multi-faceted human character truly like a work of art. I Know This Much Is True (Wally Lamb) is a great example of this.

In an entry on mental mapping, you wrote in September 2005, "With so much changing in my life around me, I find that more marked now than ever. Every once in a while, I have to pause and check in with myself, take stock of where I was, where I am, and where I'm going. And sometimes, my maps change so rapidly I feel like I'm caught in swirling waters, losing track of who I am." Do you think we get a clearer understanding of who we are as we grow older, or do we simple continue to add to the mental map?
I wrote this entry in a Kerouac-ian moment of philosophical inspiration, but I can't say it's a particularly wiser insight than most people probably do anyway, at some intuitive level. The concept of mental maps is the simple, life-old concept that we are continually influenced by our experiences in the world around us. I do believe that in the case of most people, this gets less as you grow older, mostly because a lot of the significantly life-altering choices have already been made, and life paths have already been embarked upon. So it's just a matter of one's sphere of daily experience getting narrower. This must lead to a clearer understanding of, if not who we are, then at least where we are in our lives. Having said that, I certainly don't believe that a person's capacity to adapt, change, and evolve along with the course of life diminishes with age - in fact I've seen much evidence to the contrary. I personally hope, and intend, to continue expanding my world of experience, and continue evolving with this irrespective of age.

Your native home of India is much different today than the days of your parents. What is better and what is worse, in your opinion?
I'm hardly qualified to give a thorough answer, though, like most bloggers, I'm happy to posit an opinion :). India has opened its markets to the global economy over the last decade or two, and this has had tremendous impact on the overall career, growth and lifestyle opportunities people there can now afford. It has opened a world of choice to people across the socio-economic levels, and this is a dramatic improvement for such a large society to go through over such a relatively short span of time. However, the greatest benefit from this lies not in the materialistic opportunities this presents, but rather the expansion of thought, awareness and a cultural open-mindedness which could only be achieved through a genuine inter-education of intellectual ideas in the world environment. This change, a more gradual one but far more powerful, manifests itself across the various spheres of life, from increased social liberalism, to environmental conscientiousness, intellection expansion and an encouragement of individual freedoms - and this, I see as a tremendous improvement from the times even of my own childhood.

I genuinely can't put my finger on what might have gotten worse (although I'm sure there are things which should be listed!), other than possibly pollution and congestion, which are natural products of population increase and I would hardly list them as specific to India.

Introducing Frank Rodriguez

Age: 35
Gender: Male
Occupation: Marketing Consultant

Photography Website and Blog: www.organicphoto.com

"You click some good personality," one of your customers wrote of your photography. It is clear that you have a gift for capturing human emotion and essence in your work. How has your interest in people and your skills in photographing them developed over the years?

The motivation for buying my first camera at 16 was to photograph the friends I made at summer camp. I enjoy many types of photography, but people are by far the most interesting subject to me. This eventually led me into event photography where there are often many opportunities for capturing human emotion and essence (to use your phrase), but there are usually very small windows of opportunities for making those photographs. As my eye and my equipment improved, I got more hits. After nearly 20 years of making photographs, I enjoy being at the point where I can often anticipate opportunities and capture many more hits than misses. I also have to thank digital technology because it's a feedback system that has allowed me to improve my skills more than film photography did. I should mention that I credit much of my people photo skills to having only made black and white photographs for my first several years in photography. Color is a giant distraction from the essence of a portrait. I love color, but I have no use for it if it doesn't serve the photograph. I turn many of my digital photos into black and white.

Your website is called organicphoto.com . What is the origin of that name?

I wanted a short and catchy name that was either descriptive or evocative of what I do. I originally wanted to get imagesniper.com but everyone I ran the name past reacted very negatively. A few weeks after trying to figure out a name, the name came to me in my sleep. I immediately knew this was the one so I got up and bought it.

You have a collection of photos from the annual Burning Man festival on your site. Can you tell me a bit more about the festival, how you came to be involved, and what its appeal is to you as a photographer?

I first learned about Burning Man from a National Geographic cover story many years ago. The cover photo was an elderly woman wearing a skin tight fluorescent tie-dye outfit and she was walking through a sandstorm in the middle of the desert. It looked like something out of an alternate reality. I was instantly intrigued, but it wasn't until 2004 when I read a Craigslist post of a person who was asking for help in driving their Volkswagen bus to Burning Man that I made the effort to get there. I was motivated by a desire to see a different aspect of American culture than I'd ever experienced. I'm half Puerto-Rican and I grew up in a Hispanic and black neighborhood, so white culture always seemed lacking in flavor to me. Culturally speaking, Burning Man is an entirely new level of flavor! It's also the greatest place on earth for a people photographer.

What is your history with photography? (How did it become your form of creative expression?)

As I mentioned, my original motivation was simply to photograph the friends I made at summer camp, but after having a terrific experience in my senior year of high school of making short films with Super 8 movie cameras, I became enamored with the visual arts. While in college, photography distinguished itself to me as a means to work independently, so I changed my focus to photography and I just keep getting deeper as I learn more about digital photography while also returning to my film roots by exploring medium format and Polaroid photography.

You wrote on your blog: "Most of the serious photographers I know do not shoot for money, they shoot for the love of it ..." This seems to be true for most people in creative professions, as well as service jobs like education and law enforcement. We all need money to pay the electric bill, but we do the work because we love it. Meanwhile, the bankers and engineers and salesmen are scooping up a bigger share of the profits and really do seem to make money multiply. What is your take on what this represents in our society? Is one group more self-serving than the other? How does money create a disconnect between a society and its values? (pick any or all of these questions)

That question deserves more attention than I'm qualified to give, but my take is that these seemingly opposite pursuits (chasing the almighty dollar vs following your bliss) are both expressions of a person's values and priorities, but it's important to note that these pursuits need not be mutually exclusive. There are many successful people who give back in different ways, so I don't think one group is more self-serving than the other. Money creates a disconnect in society by putting too much emphasis on personal gain to the exclusion of values and community.

In our day to day lives, the majority of our personal interactions are with people who serve a business purpose to us. We go to work with people because it results in a paycheck. We go to the store and buy from people who sell what we want. If you take public transportation to work, it's expected that no one talk to anyone else because everyone's purpose for being there is to get to the place where they earn a paycheck. This voluntary isolation from the many people around us creates a mental prison similar to the one that happens when a dog is put on a leash from the time it's a puppy. The limitation of that leash will become ingrained to the point that you can eventually take that leash off and the dog still won't go beyond the limitations of that leash. I think many of us are doing the same thing to ourselves when we isolate ourselves from people who don't serve an economic interest to us.

My wife and I had a tremendous experience at the Burning Man festival in Nevada over Labor Day week. Imagine living in a city of 45,000 people where you can't buy anything. In its place is a gifting economy where people are encouraged to give gifts to strangers, expecting nothing in return. Being gifted by strangers has the overwhelming effect of inspiring most people to reciprocate, not just to the stranger giving you a gift, but to everyone you come in contact with. People don't seem so weird or menacing when they're giving you a gift, so our usual defenses and excuses for not interacting with people are quickly and effectively broken down. Until I experienced this, I didn't realize how much I accepted the usual way that people in our society interact with each other. Money itself isn't bad, but our relationship with it has definitely made our society poorer in spirit.

Welcome to the site

Welcome readers! Sit back and get ready to read some intriguing questions and answers with some of the most common people on the Internet.

Here are a few FAQs about this blog to get you started:

Who is being interviewed?
Bloggers, visitors to message boards and chat rooms, people whose e-mail addresses can be found online.

Why are some people identified and others not?
We want the site to be open to all people who use the Internet, some of whom would like the opportunity to be interviewed in order to promote their work or their ideas. In other words, they want you to know who they are. Others are just taking the opportunity to share their ideas and experiences without the fear of those ideas and experiences coming back to haunt them.

Why are interviewees allowed to only use their first names or ficticious names?
The idea of Interviews with Rita Mae Baker is to have great conversations with real people, with real opinions, facing real issues, who live in the real world, where no one can be too protective of his or her identity. Allowing interviewees to speak anonymously increases the chances of presenting readers with more interesting and honest conversations about a wide range of topics.

If people are making up their names, how do we know they aren't making up fictious answers to your questions?
You don't. Part of the reality of the Internet and today's world is that with such a "flow of information and opinions" everything you read, even (or maybe especially) from the "mainstream media" must be taken with a proverbial grain of sand. I will do my best not to knowingly publish dishonest answers and will take special care to ensure that interviews are listed as the opinions expressed by the interviewee.

If you have other questions you would like for me to answer here, please feel free to submit them in the comments section. Remember also, I am interested in interviewing anyone about anything or something specific. Send me an e-mail if you are interested in being a part of the interview process.