the eighth magazine

Hello and welcome back to the eighth. For our first issue of the year, we’re focusing on community.

The structures, the support systems, and the people that surround us in both our virtual spaces and in our physical lives. In this issue we highlight a few community makers.

From artisans to activists, we’re showcasing those whose work has helped sculpt the communities around them.

And lastly, a note to our Heat community: We miss you. We hope you are doing well, despite everything that is happening in the world right now. And we hope you enjoy.

ETHEL’S CLUB FOUNDER NAJ AUSTIN

BY MELANIE MIGNUCCI

PUBLISHED ON BUSTLE

ON CREATING COMMUNITY DURING TRAUMATIC TIMES

Following the killings of Breonna Taylo McDade, a others, thousa have taken to t to protest po and systemic WINTER 21

police George Floyd, or, Tony and countless ands of people the streets olice brutality racism.

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And just as necessary conversations are happening about how exactly to eradicate these traumas, many are focused on how Black people can heal in the face of this widespread grief and anger.

Naj Austin, founder and CEO of Ethel’s Club, decided to offer one solution in the form of free virtual healing and grieving circles. The wellness space for people of color pivoted to online programming once social distancing restrictions closed their Brooklyn, New York, clubhouse in March. The digital event — a therapist-led workshop with meditation, song, and more — received such an overwhelming response on Instagram that the app broke. (They can’t see notifications, and they’re trying to get through their flooded DM inbox.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

BY AMANDLA BARAKA

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Bustle spoke to Austin about how she’s helping to create community through traumatic times, and what comes next.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

My way of escaping my feelings has always been to work, which is very aligned with what’s going on in the world right now. I’ve felt a lot of sadness, usually at night when I can’t work anymore and I have to confront how I’m feeling.

Members of our team have gone to protests, though I have not. It’s a complex discussion we need to have in the Black community — feeling like if we’re not doing one of the many things, we’re failing, or not doing our part. But I’ve told my team, look, let’s focus on what we’re really good at, which is making Black people and people of color feel seen and heard in ways that they’ve never felt before.

Going to these protests means being in a space with like-minded people working towards one common goal.

It’s been really frustrating for me to not have that community because of COVID, and not be able to touch other people.

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DESIGN & ART DIRECTION BY ANNIKA HANSTEEN-IZORA. THE ICONOGRAPHY WAS INSPIRED BY A SYMBOL OFTEN REFERRED TO AS S A N K O FA . A W O R D I N THE TWI LANGUAGE OF GHANA, THE TERM T R A N S L AT E S T O “ G O B A C K A N D G E T I T. ” WINTER 21

Hearing from Ethel’s Club members who’ve joined our grieving sessions in the past has helped me keep going. The last one we had was right after Kobe Bryant died. There was a very palpable sense of grief and sadness. Mental health was an issue before the current protests — it was always affected by systemic racism.

But this is compounding it, and I think everyone’s in a different place than they were a week and a half ago. And you’ve got all the fallout from COVID that hasn’t been met.

Originally, the virtual grief circles were supposed to be for 75 people, and that’s what we told the therapists facilitating them. Within a minute of announcing them on Instagram, we had 75 DMs from

people asking if it was full. We just added people until we got to 500.

We had to add another night of 500 slots, and then a third with 600. That filled up in six hours.

Even I was overwhelmed by the response and this is my entire business model. We gained over 100,000 followers since Friday, and there are so many that I can’t see the notifications. If you need intimate programming of 12 people, I’m your girl, but 500 people on Zoom is totally out of my comfort zone.

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“M HE AN BE CU PR IT AF BY RA

MENTAL EALTH WAS N ISSUE EFORE THE URRENT ROTESTS — WAS ALWAYS FFECTED Y SYSTEMIC ACISM.”

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People are very focused on what can be done now, which is totally fine.

But we’re thinking a lot about what’ll come after. I’m trying to prepare for what Black people are going to need in September. I’ve reached out to different organizations leading the protests to see if we can work with them. After everyone donates and posts to Instagram, how do we keep up the level of engagement and education around what’s happening?

I’d love for there to be more conversation about that.

It feels like there’s always something I can be doing. Craft emails for people to send out to their local community, help people make Google documents with shareable resources. When you see this mass mobilization, it’s hard to not want to help in all of the ways. The other night I was thinking that we should figure out a way to feed protestors on the ground. How are they getting food? I hadn’t seen any donation funds that help with that. That was me at 2 a.m. two nights ago. Was that bad? Probably, because then I didn’t sleep. But it’s hard to tamp that impulse down.

Now, we’re trying to figure out ways to make this programming more accessible, and also make it easier for people who believe in the work we’re doing to donate.

I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.

But if I can help give people space to unburden themselves, if I could have that feeling resonate across the country, that would maybe help me sleep at night. Maybe.

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MEL AN ABRAN

BY K

EY AW L ROM H E AT I LLST

W E-LI ELLI BANDRO Y B Y E H V P E A VI ENE TOGR PHO NG BY G I STYL

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L + ME SKI

RICC ANIE

ARD

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NIE NTES

“CORK, THE SURPRISINGLY VERSATILE SUBSTANCE BEHIND ALL THREE—AND THE EMOTIONAL CENTER FOR MELANIE’S EPONYMOUS LINE OF FUNCTIONAL HOME GOODS AND GIFTS.” WINTER 21

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“I LIKE COMBINING MATERIALS IN WAYS THAT YOU DON’T EXPECT, AND PLAYING WITH WHAT YOU THINK MATERIALS SHOULD DO VERSUS WHAT THEY CAN DO.” 23

What do a standard wine stopper, the bulletin board in your local post office, and Bay Area–based creative Melanie Abrantes‘s shapely hand-turned bud vases have in common? Cork, the surprisingly versatile substance behind all three—and the emotional center for Melanie’s eponymous line of functional home goods and gifts. “I’m half Portuguese, and in Portugal they use cork for everything,” explains Melanie, who grew up visiting her family’s homeland, the largest producer of cork worldwide. “I always wanted to work with cork as part of my own heritage—plus, it’s such an amazing natural material.”

It’s also a medium that can be shaped using many of the same tools and techniques Melanie picked up in woodworking lessons as a design student in Los Angeles, a fact the highly skilled maker has happily capitalized on, carving out a unique niche by combining wood and cork in many of her beautifully understated

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pieces. “I really love the juxtaposition of cork’s softness with the hardness of wood. I like combining materials in ways that you don’t expect, and playing with what you think materials should do versus what they can do,” she says.

From modern hanging planters and stylish canisters to sleek fruit bowls and streamlined candlesticks, Melanie’s line exquisitely showcases the possibilities of the two materials she loves most. “I hope I’m making products that can stay with you for a very long time, and that you’ll be able to really cherish,” she says. And thanks to her popular spoon carving workshops, DIY kits, and pocket-sized whittling guide, those eager to follow in Melanie’s footsteps can craft heirlooms of their very own. “I think working with your hands is such a special and powerful thing. It’s something I do every day, and I want to encourage others to try it, too.”

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VA R I O U S P R O D U CT S HAND-CARVED BY MELANIE: SMALL D E C O R AT I V E B O W L S .

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VA R I O U S P R O D U CT S HAND-CARVED BY MELANIE: SPOONS, VA S E S, C O R K F R U I T BOWLS & SMALL BOWLS.

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BEHIND-THE-SCENES P E E K I N TO A N AV E R AG E DAY I N M E L A N I E’S L I F E IN OAKLAND (PRE-COVID) 9:00am Hit the trail My dog, Rover, goes everywhere with me—he’s my second in command.

We do a lot of hiking. California has so many beautiful trails and it’s a great way to get exercise and see the sights. We love to go to the Berkeley Marina. There’s always a million dogs running around off leash and it’s right on the water, so you have a great view of San Francisco.

10:00am Produce haul I love to cook, and lately I’ve been trying really hard to shop locally and buy food that doesn’t come with so much waste. I like to hit up the farmers’ market each week; there’s one in Temescal that has everything.

I’ll normally pick up any produce I need, and maybe some snacks for students if I’m teaching a workshop later. I also grab fresh flowers—that’s my treat to myself. It feels frivolous, but it’s only $5, and I love waking up and seeing flowers in my kitchen and dining room. It brings me so much joy.

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10:45am Into the studio My studio is in Oakland, in Jack London Square.

I have an office space in the front where I teach classes and do computer work and then in the back there’s a multipurpose space where I store my big cork blocks—they’re 75 pounds each!— and my woodshop with my bandsaws and my lathes. I use the same set of tools whether I’m working with wood or cork. The only difference is that cork is a lot softer, so it’s incredibly delicate—I can be working on a piece and it can completely fall apart, whereas wood can withstand a lot.

A big chunk of my business is wholesale orders, and I’m lucky to work with a lot of wonderful boutiques. One of my favorites, Crown Nine, is super close to my studio. Weirdly enough, it was one of the very first stores I ever visited before I moved to Oakland. I met Kate, the owner, and we struck up a friendship. She’s this powerhouse woman who mostly designs custom wedding jewelry, but she also loves supporting local makers; I’m so grateful and honored that she chose to carry my work. She has some of my planters and small bowls that work great for her rings. I’ll pop by to drop off an order or see if she needs anything—and also to go shopping myself!

5:00pm Watercolor break Three or four years ago, I started setting monthly goals as a way of encouraging myself to try new things. Each month can be something as small as picking my clothes up off the floor every night, or taking 10,000 steps, or learning something like meditation. One year, all of my goals were creative things, and I decided to teach myself watercolor. I painted a postcard

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every day for 30 days and I really enjoyed it, but I didn’t pick it up again until last year when I did no social media for a month—and that was really hard! To distract myself, I kind of replaced social media with watercolor, and I got this amazing, giant set of paints. The reality is, I’m not good enough to sell anything, but it’s still so satisfying to play with all the pretty colors. more pressure; you can really test the limits of how thin you can get it.

1:00pm Time for class I teach two or three spoon-carving workshops every month, which is a really fun way to meet people. San Francisco is the tech capital of the world, and everyone is on their phones 24/7— but when you’re carving a spoon, it’s just you, your tools, and that piece of wood. You get to unplug from technology for a few hours and just have fun. And it’s a great meditative exercise, too! When you work with your hands you kind of get lost in the movement and repetition, and then by the end you have something beautiful to look at and take with you.

7:30pm Finally, a nightcap Nido, in Oakland, is one of my favorite barsslash-restaurants. They have a great happy hour and some of the best margaritas in the Bay—and I’m from Texas, so I love myself a good Tex-Mex situation. Especially during the summer, I love to hang out on their outdoor patio with friends and just have a drink and enjoy myself.

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N //////////////////////////////////////////////

NATALIE

OSBORNE

BY BERRY THOMAS P U B L I S H E D O N T R I A L B Y I N S P I R AT I O N . C O M

If you follow Natalie’s Instagram, you know that her pieces have a signature look. Her bold, graphic portraits have a cohesive style that is instantly recognizable in any interior. In fact, I love seeing her work photographed in people’s homes (on this wallpaper!), styled in varying interior styles, each with that familiar face looking back.

My conversation with Natalie Osborne is one of my favorites, not because she gives away any artist’s secrets to effortless creation, but because she breaks down the time, energy, and financial commitment that goes into being a successful full-time artist. As a Creative, it’s a relief to hear that the struggle so many of us have in finding our voices may just mean we need to commit more fully: To take our Art as seriously as we take our work.

TBI: I’ve found that as more and more artists share their work on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, the more everything starts to look the same, and it’s hard to find unique voices in all the “trendy” visuals. Your work is so bold and distinctive, how did you develop your style?

N: As I am painting one piece, I always have the visual of the next painting in my mind. I can’t wait to finish the painting so I can start the next one. I think my style came along from painting only what I have visualized mentally. That’s half of the work, being able to see what you are going to paint before you paint it. Some of the ideas come out successfully, and some fail.

I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t, based on that process.

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TBI: What inspires you about portraiture? Do you have a muse?

N: After I step back and look at all of my work, I see my mother in each portrait. There are so many beautiful photographs of her permanently in my mind. But I think I paint portraits because of my favorite paintings in art history. When you walk through a museum and see portraits, you see these small paintings of women.

Those portraits show the woman’s face and some design or print representing her dress or jacket.

As a young girl, I thought, “this must be how you make a painting.” So that childhood idea has stuck with me.

TBI: How does marketing your work play into your process?

Does promoting on Instagram come naturally, or have you had to develop it? Is it challenging to remain authentic to your aesthetic on a platform that is driven by “likes” and “followers”?

N: As a painter, marketing on Instagram plays into the process very naturally. I take a picture of the painting with my phone, and I examine the picture until I know what needs to be changed or if the painting is finished. I then stage the work in a picture to list the painting for sale in my online shop. So the images are already in my phone, and all I have to do is post them to Instagram to let people know that paintings are available. It doesn’t matter how many likes a painting gets as long as people know that the painting is available. The link to buy the painting is on my Instagram page, so it’s a very easy process of selling the paintings.

TBI: Listening to your interview on Black Faves Podcast, I learned that you’re an artist full-time.

Do you have any tips for other artists wanting to quit their day jobs?

Has COVID and quarantine culture changed what it’s like working for yourself?

N: Yes, I quit my job in 2017 to focus on selling my Art full time. I was able to do this by making sure I had two consecutive days to create work for sale. I listed my availability as Wednesday through Sunday for my job, and I used Monday and Tuesday to create and sell my paintings online. Any spending money I had went towards supplies for creating paintings to sell. To this day, my profits fund the costs of operating the business.

My tip for artists wanting to quit their day jobs and sell Art full time: Before you quit, put money aside to pay up a year of rent. The cost of month to month rent will devour your ability to grow your art business. Then set up your Etsy shop and your Instagram.

Use your Instagram to show the Art you have for sale and nothing else.

Look at it as your business profile.

Only post what is available and make sure to include a link to your shop in your Instagram bio. You are usually your only financial investor, so price your work in a way where the profits can sustain you AND be used to finance new pieces to sell.

And also, never ship work that hasn’t been paid for. People will present “opportunities.” Never ship a painting that hasn’t been purchased.

Quarantine culture has taken the art fairs out, and that was a big way to

build capital fast and market myself, but when you’re a full-time artist, you’re already in quarantine. You create, sell, market, from home, or your studio. So that part hasn’t changed.

TBI: In your work, are you more rewarded by your creative process or the end product?

N: I do not feel rewarded by the creative process, lol. I don’t know how people feel zen and relaxed when they paint. People think painting is fun. It’s work. And if you want it to be really good, then it’s hard work. Realizing an image that only exists in your mind presents a struggle: How do you get that onto a canvas, and will you be satisfied if the result doesn’t match the vision?

Can you step back and see it for what it is instead of what you want it to be?

I enjoy the finished piece. But sometimes I say, “That painting kicked my butt! That painting beat me up! That one was hard.”

TBI: Do you have any tips on how to get unstuck creatively, when you can’t find your muse?

N: When I get stuck creatively, I look at pieces I made years ago. I think what would a new version of this piece look like now that my process has developed. I look to my past to see how I could do something better, now that I know better.

“People think painting is fun. It’s work. And if you want it to be really good, then it’s hard work.”

TBI: As a full-time artist, how do you balance your personal time with your creative time?

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N: Personal time? Being a full-time artist doesn’t include much personal time. To be able to have a personal life, a full-time artist would benefit from being signed by a gallery or an institution that handles the pictures, selling, framing, shipping, emails, customer requests, and supplies.

If you don’t have a dealer or a gallery, you can pick times to close your shop and take a vacation by not answering emails and DMs, and not having anything for sale for a few days.

TBI: This year the Black Lives Matter movement has (finally) sparked a national conversation about systematic racism in this country and brought to light the segregation that exists in so many different facets of our daily lives, including Art. Has the message of Amplifying Black Voices and sharing Black creative work on social media impacted your business? When does it feel performative vs. authentic? If this question is leaving something out, do you have anything else you want to discuss?

N: Police brutality is soul-crushing.

Watching it continue for generations has pushed me to a level of fear for myself and others, which has isolated me. I’m almost agoraphobic.

It’s like I’m hunkering down. Like my life is underground. I am trying to hold on to sanity. This problem is insane.

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It is very strange to me that the recent collective idea to combat police brutality is to highlight black creatives.

Maybe it’s because people don’t know what to do to support black Americans in this horrific time.

I will say this, if you feel like black Americans are your fellow Americans and police brutality is devastating the country, just say that.

The people who talk bad about the unrest and how horrible people are who smash windows will talk about it without pause. And those are usually the people I have never heard say anything about the horrors of police brutality.

To support your fellow Americans, you don’t have to buy yourself a trinket from a black-owned shop.

You can say, “Police brutality is unconstitutional, these killings violate the rights of American citizens, and it is a crime against humanity.”

Thank you for your powerful and inspiring words Natalie. I feel honored that you shared your thoughts on the creative process, the business of being an Artist, and your experience with me and my audience. You can follow and fangirl her work here and purchase paintings and prints on her Etsy.

And let’s all say it together: “Police brutality is unconstitutional, these killings violate the rights of American citizens, and it is a crime against humanity.”

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Punk Noir is an Art Exhibition for the RuleBreakers ARIA BELL PUBLISHED ON DALLASOBSERVER.COM

It’s the beginning of a new year, and the South Dallas Culture Center is halfway through its gallery season. The institution is kicking off 2020 with a new exhibition called Punk Noir by Nigerian American artist Dawn Okoro, which will run from Jan. 25 through March 21.

“THREE GRACES” ARCYLIC 72IN X 72IN CA N VA S

Okoro’s art has been shown at the Texas Biennial, Notre Dame University, New York University, Rice University, George Washington Carver Museum, the MoCADA Museum in Brooklyn and is now ready for its Dallas debut.

After seeing her thought-provoking pieces of work, SDCC’s general manager John Spriggins, who curated the show, was immediately blown away by the boldness present in Okoro’s art.

“There was a strong focus on the figures itself, use of color and a come-as-you-are relatability in the art,” Spriggins says. In addition, the subject matter highlights alternative black creatives in a compelling way, which perfectly aligns with SDCC’s vision to educate and promote a more impartial community by engaging the public with art and cultural experiences influenced by the African Diaspora.

Growing up, Okoro felt isolated as a result of her introverted nature, she says, adding that she often struggled to fit in. She became interested in punk music but felt like others wouldn’t understand a young black girl’s affinity toward the genre and kept it to herself to avoid being made fun of. Okoro’s perspective began to change as she became an adult and learned that black artists have contributed widely to punk. She saw a shift in black culture’s embracing of punk, as evidenced by the Brooklyn-based Afropunk music festival.

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Okoro decided to capture this progression visually. She started photographing black writers, musicians and other artists in their natural element as the focal point of every piece and used those photos as inspiration for paintings.

The artist found her subjects to be free and expressing themselves unapologetically, in upmost punk spirit.

Okoro wanted to make a tantalizing show celebrating being black, different and living in a world not defined by societal standards. Her paintings’ vibrant color palette was inspired from images from fashion and from her artistic inspirations, Andy Warhol and Barkley L. Hendricks. Punk Noir first debuted in Austin in 2018, and received rave reviews. The following year, the show made its appearance in San Antonio.

There’s a special treat for the Dallas opening as the show will include paintings of local Dallas artists.

Adding to the theme, local African American punk band The Good Sons will be providing headbanging tunes so attendees can jam out to while enjoying the art.

Just like punk rock bands rejected the extremes of a mainstream industry, the exhibition defies all punk norms.

“I want people to walk into the exhibition and feel like they belong,” Okoro says. “I hope they can feel the sense of movement and see themselves reflected in the pieces.”

“ROSHI” (LEFT) ARCYLIC + ZINC ALLOY SPIKES CA N VA S 72I N X 72I N

“LOOKING EAST” (RIGHT) ARCYLIC + COPPER LEAF CA N VA S 72I N X72I N

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I WANT PEOPLE TO WALK INTO THE EXHIBITION AND FEEL LIKE THEY BELONG. WINTER 21

“ Q I D A D A” ( L E F T ) A R CY L I C 72I N X 72I N CA N VA S

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“CHASSIS” A R CY L I C CA N VA S 36I N X 362I N BLACK AND YELLOW SERIES 2016

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E T S Y. C O M / S H O P / N ATA L I E O D E C O R

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CONTRIBUTORS Alexa Riddle Linh-Yen Hoang Kirsten Finkas Lora Faris

PRINTER All digital for this issue!

TYPOGRAPHY Noe Text DINPro