1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:06,139
[Opening theme music]

2
00:00:14,247 --> 00:00:19,119
Hello, and welcome to this episode 
of ArtsAbly in Conversation.

3
00:00:19,119 --> 00:00:21,354
My name is Diane Kolin.

4
00:00:22,122 --> 00:00:27,193
This series presents artists, academics 
and project leaders who dedicate their

5
00:00:27,193 --> 00:00:33,233
time and energy to a better accessibility 
for people with disabilities in the arts.

6
00:00:33,233 --> 00:00:38,505
You can find more of these conversations 
on our website artsably.com, 

7
00:00:38,505 --> 00:00:43,977
which is spelled A-R-T-S-A-B-L-Y dot com.

8
00:00:44,978 --> 00:00:50,116
[Theme music]

9
00:00:57,357 --> 00:01:01,628
Today ArtsAbly is in conversation with 
Jessica Kenney, a non-binary 

10
00:01:01,628 --> 00:01:05,064
disabled neurodivergent multimedia artist.

11
00:01:05,064 --> 00:01:09,602
You can find the resources mentioned 
by Jessica Kenney during this episode

12
00:01:09,602 --> 00:01:13,273
on ArtsAbly's website in the blog section.

13
00:01:14,607 --> 00:01:19,746
♪ Jessica Kenney playing the flute ♪

14
00:01:58,251 --> 00:02:03,389
[Jessica Kenney playing the flute]

15
00:02:05,358 --> 00:02:10,096
Hello everybody, welcome to this new episode 
of ArtsAbly in Conversation.

16
00:02:10,096 --> 00:02:13,032
Today I am with Jessica Kenney.

17
00:02:13,032 --> 00:02:15,435
Thank you Jessica for joining us.

18
00:02:15,935 --> 00:02:23,276
And Jessica is a non-binary disabled 
neurodivergent multimedia artist, and

19
00:02:23,276 --> 00:02:31,951
doing a lot of different things from poetry to 
music to painting, sculpture, digital art.

20
00:02:31,951 --> 00:02:35,321
So, Jessica, welcome to this episode.

21
00:02:36,256 --> 00:02:37,924
Thank you for having me.

22
00:02:37,924 --> 00:02:43,096
So my name is Jessica Kenney, I'm a 
Fredericton-based artist, musician and poet.

23
00:02:43,096 --> 00:02:44,831
My pronouns are they/them.

24
00:02:45,365 --> 00:02:46,733
Thank you.

25
00:02:46,733 --> 00:02:52,372
So what brought you to the arts, 
what is your background, and 

26
00:02:52,372 --> 00:02:56,009
what brought you to where 
you are artistically today?

27
00:02:56,409 --> 00:03:00,346
Well, I've been creating as long 
as I can remember, to be honest.

28
00:03:00,346 --> 00:03:03,950
I started playing piano at five.

29
00:03:03,950 --> 00:03:09,455
I really enjoyed, my grandparents 
had a piano in their house, and 

30
00:03:09,455 --> 00:03:15,828
my mom used to play piano, 
so she showed me what she had learned.

31
00:03:15,828 --> 00:03:18,298
So that was really fun to learn from my mom.

32
00:03:18,398 --> 00:03:24,737
My mom also had autoharp, so it's like a - 
an autoharp is like a harp, but

33
00:03:24,737 --> 00:03:28,775
it has all these cool keys going 
across it, and there's felts on them.

34
00:03:28,775 --> 00:03:33,546
So what they do is they help you press 
the strings so that you can create chords.

35
00:03:34,047 --> 00:03:39,652
It's like a guitar, but a little simpler, a little bit
smaller, you can kind of like hold it in your lap.

36
00:03:39,652 --> 00:03:45,592
So we'd often, my mom loved to sing, 
so she would sing, and we'd sing with mom 

37
00:03:45,592 --> 00:03:50,096
and we played autoharp with her, 
so it was fun, I learned a lot.

38
00:03:50,096 --> 00:03:56,903
I was always into art as a child, 
so I was creating a lot of times.

39
00:03:56,903 --> 00:04:02,508
I know it was a little hard for my mom, 
because she would often get frustrated

40
00:04:02,508 --> 00:04:05,778
with how quickly I could switch between 
things, because I was going through art

41
00:04:05,778 --> 00:04:10,049
and music, and I love reading, 
and I really love school, 

42
00:04:10,049 --> 00:04:13,019
so I was really into that type of stuff.

43
00:04:13,019 --> 00:04:17,023
So it was hard for my mom to 
keep up with all my hobbies.

44
00:04:17,023 --> 00:04:19,092
I think I've carried that forward with me.

45
00:04:19,726 --> 00:04:23,363
It's still hard for my mom to keep up with my hobbies.

46
00:04:24,264 --> 00:04:26,266
So

47
00:04:26,899 --> 00:04:30,737
a lot of times, you know, you could 
find me like on weekends, 

48
00:04:30,737 --> 00:04:36,075
I was a little obsessed with piano scales, 
so I was playing scales a lot, 

49
00:04:36,075 --> 00:04:41,247
for a long time on piano, that was 
my thing, and it was exciting, 

50
00:04:41,247 --> 00:04:47,654
and I later picked up recorder, because 
I wanted to play flute, but flute is - 

51
00:04:47,654 --> 00:04:52,125
at the time, my family didn't really 
have the economical means to 

52
00:04:52,125 --> 00:04:55,295
get me into flute, so I played recorder, 
because I thought, you know, 

53
00:04:55,295 --> 00:04:57,864
there's got to be some transferable skills there.

54
00:04:57,864 --> 00:05:02,135
I know after high school, I 
kind of moved on to college.

55
00:05:02,135 --> 00:05:06,305
I wanted to follow my passion, which was art.

56
00:05:06,305 --> 00:05:09,909
I still love music, but I had kind of, 

57
00:05:09,909 --> 00:05:14,947
it kind of slipped away from me for a little while, 
because I was focusing on the art side of things.

58
00:05:14,947 --> 00:05:21,454
I'd fallen in love with just the expression 
of, and magic of hand-drawn animation.

59
00:05:21,454 --> 00:05:24,924
I went to school for animation.

60
00:05:24,924 --> 00:05:30,596
I actually have two college diplomas, 
so I went for 3D, so like video game,

61
00:05:30,596 --> 00:05:35,868
computer graphics type of stuff, 
and back in 2008, it was exciting.

62
00:05:35,868 --> 00:05:39,505
I really liked it, but I really loved hand-drawn.

63
00:05:39,672 --> 00:05:44,711
We spent, I think, the first six months of 
college doing hand-drawn animation,

64
00:05:44,711 --> 00:05:49,382
and I was so happy, so I learned so much about illustration.

65
00:05:49,382 --> 00:05:58,491
We did a lot of figure drawing, 
and I ended up having, 

66
00:05:58,491 --> 00:06:03,129
basically once I had finished college, I decided 
I wanted to pursue a career in animation.

67
00:06:03,129 --> 00:06:05,598
It was everything for me for a long time.

68
00:06:05,698 --> 00:06:12,004
Like, I just - the expression of it was so, 
like there's so much going on, 

69
00:06:12,004 --> 00:06:14,674
and that was very appealing to me, 

70
00:06:14,674 --> 00:06:17,810
because there's, you know, you're moving things,

71
00:06:17,810 --> 00:06:23,416
you're expressing and acting in animation, 
like in character animation.

72
00:06:23,416 --> 00:06:28,888
I later got into effects animation, because 
explosions and stuff, that was fun.

73
00:06:28,888 --> 00:06:35,061
So you can do like explosions, or water, 
or like sparkly stuff, like anything,

74
00:06:35,061 --> 00:06:40,066
and it's just the joy of creating in animation 
was really there for me.

75
00:06:40,066 --> 00:06:42,335
I ended up - 

76
00:06:42,335 --> 00:06:46,572
Life kind of decided I needed to take a different path, and I ended up

77
00:06:46,572 --> 00:06:52,011
and I ended up with fibromyalgia 
and PTSD after a car accident.

78
00:06:52,011 --> 00:06:56,949
So sometimes life throws curveballs.

79
00:06:56,949 --> 00:07:02,255
I ended up struggling with managing 
my disabilities for a long time, and 

80
00:07:02,255 --> 00:07:05,758
I had to learn to take care of myself, 
and it was hard, 

81
00:07:05,758 --> 00:07:10,263
and I didn't really have the space 
to create for a really long time.

82
00:07:10,263 --> 00:07:18,371
It took me a long time to get back to being 
able to sit down and do anything creative.

83
00:07:18,371 --> 00:07:25,178
I lost my artistic voice for a long time, and I actually fully 
stopped creating for a number of years.

84
00:07:25,178 --> 00:07:30,783
Over time, I learned how to embrace the chaos 
in my life and find new ways to manage.

85
00:07:30,783 --> 00:07:35,354
I got some answers as well, 
on top of the PTSD and the fibro.

86
00:07:35,354 --> 00:07:38,357
I learned that I had ADHD.

87
00:07:38,357 --> 00:07:43,129
ADHD is something that you have your 
whole life. You don't just acquire it, but 

88
00:07:43,129 --> 00:07:50,136
I learned that I had had ADHD this whole time,
which explains why I couldn't finish projects and 

89
00:07:50,136 --> 00:07:55,842
the many hobbies, and 

90
00:07:55,842 --> 00:07:58,244
that helped a lot.

91
00:07:58,244 --> 00:08:04,383
In 2020, actually on Halloween, I picked up flute, 

92
00:08:04,383 --> 00:08:07,320
and I'd always wanted to play flute, 
so I thought, 

93
00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,189
you know what? If not now, when? I was 30.

94
00:08:10,189 --> 00:08:14,427
I was just like, what's stopping me at this point?

95
00:08:14,427 --> 00:08:17,630
I needed to pick that up, and I did.

96
00:08:17,630 --> 00:08:24,370
During that time, I also got some other health 
diagnosis, and I wasn't coping very well.

97
00:08:24,370 --> 00:08:28,541
I felt like at the time, I felt like I had enough to deal with, 

98
00:08:28,541 --> 00:08:32,445
and why did I need something new to think about?

99
00:08:32,445 --> 00:08:37,850
So I was a little unhappy, but 

100
00:08:37,850 --> 00:08:42,288
at that point, all I ended up doing was actually
playing flute for a really long time, 

101
00:08:42,288 --> 00:08:49,395
just so I could cope well, 
because I was having trouble.

102
00:08:50,963 --> 00:08:57,770
When you have a lot going on, 
sometimes it's upsetting, and that way, 

103
00:08:57,770 --> 00:09:01,941
that was all I could do for probably 
about six months at one point, 

104
00:09:01,941 --> 00:09:05,111
I just sat in my living room and 
played flute for six months.

105
00:09:05,111 --> 00:09:11,617
As a side effect, I got quite good at flute, 
so that's the silver lining.

106
00:09:11,817 --> 00:09:16,389
At that point, that takes us to about 2021.

107
00:09:16,389 --> 00:09:21,460
I had met Ysabelle Vautour in 2021.

108
00:09:21,460 --> 00:09:26,232
We'd met at a show that she had 
at Charlotte Street Arts Center, 

109
00:09:26,232 --> 00:09:29,268
and she'd encouraged me to start creating again,

110
00:09:29,268 --> 00:09:34,707
because I hadn't picked up illustration in a really long time.

111
00:09:34,707 --> 00:09:39,345
It's hard to get back into illustration, because when you stop for a long time,

112
00:09:39,345 --> 00:09:42,949
as with anything, even music, your skills, 

113
00:09:42,949 --> 00:09:45,084
they're still there, they're just dormant.

114
00:09:45,084 --> 00:09:51,457
You have to put the practice in to bring them back and make them vibrant again.

115
00:09:51,457 --> 00:09:54,226
I look at it as tarnish.

116
00:09:54,226 --> 00:09:58,097
Everything is a flute reference for me.
I look at it like tarnish.

117
00:09:58,097 --> 00:10:01,067
If you have you flute out, it tarnishes.

118
00:10:01,067 --> 00:10:03,936
It's normal, actually, it's a chemical reaction, 

119
00:10:03,936 --> 00:10:09,442
but it's just like our skills.
Sometimes our skills, they tarnish.

120
00:10:09,442 --> 00:10:13,012
It's easy. We just have to pick them 
back up and shine them back up 

121
00:10:13,012 --> 00:10:14,647
or live with the tarnish.

122
00:10:14,647 --> 00:10:18,718
Because tarnish is aesthetic, it doesn't affect how it works.

123
00:10:18,718 --> 00:10:20,686
I think it's a good reference.

124
00:10:20,686 --> 00:10:22,688
Yeah.

125
00:10:22,688 --> 00:10:24,490
So, yeah, 2021.

126
00:10:24,490 --> 00:10:27,660
Ysabel was like, hey, 
you should try creating again.

127
00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:29,929
I was like, cool, okay.

128
00:10:29,929 --> 00:10:31,564
So I did.

129
00:10:31,564 --> 00:10:35,501
We ended up doing a mentorship together in 2022.

130
00:10:35,501 --> 00:10:39,005
We were collaborating a lot.

131
00:10:39,005 --> 00:10:41,707
We were creatively enabling each other.

132
00:10:41,707 --> 00:10:46,979
Ysabel had done the residency with the 
Botanical Gardens here in Fredericton.

133
00:10:46,979 --> 00:10:52,585
We worked on a collaborative piece with textile painting.

134
00:10:52,585 --> 00:10:55,354
That was cool. Ysabel did the layout

135
00:10:55,354 --> 00:11:02,261
and I naively had said, oh, I want to hand sew 
this all. It shouldn't take very long.

136
00:11:02,261 --> 00:11:04,497
I learned a very hard lesson.

137
00:11:04,497 --> 00:11:06,799
We don't need glue!

138
00:11:07,033 --> 00:11:10,669
I did hand sew it. It took a couple of months.

139
00:11:10,669 --> 00:11:17,643
And I definitely learned some stuff that I want to do next time I do that.

140
00:11:17,643 --> 00:11:19,645
But it turned out beautifully.

141
00:11:19,645 --> 00:11:21,681
The piece is called The Winding Path.

142
00:11:21,681 --> 00:11:23,449
It's on my Instagram.

143
00:11:23,449 --> 00:11:29,488
It's all these cool cotton batik pieces 
that have been laid out.

144
00:11:29,488 --> 00:11:33,459
And they're colorful and really cool in their designs.

145
00:11:33,459 --> 00:11:35,628
They're all different pieces of fabric.

146
00:11:35,628 --> 00:11:39,698
So I sewed them after we had together laid them out.

147
00:11:39,698 --> 00:11:43,069
And there's actually an intentional hole in the piece.

148
00:11:43,069 --> 00:11:44,904
It was intentional.

149
00:11:44,904 --> 00:11:50,409
Because the piece was about, you know, 
how sometimes, as people with disabilities, 

150
00:11:50,409 --> 00:11:53,312
sometimes we're making our own path.

151
00:11:53,312 --> 00:11:55,314
And it can be winding.

152
00:11:55,314 --> 00:11:58,484
Because it's not always the straight line of, like, I'm doing this.

153
00:11:58,484 --> 00:12:01,520
And then I'm going to do that in a quick succession.

154
00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,390
Sometimes we have to take our own time.

155
00:12:04,390 --> 00:12:12,264
Because it's not always as easy 
as it could be or as it should be.

156
00:12:12,531 --> 00:12:15,968
And I was I'm so proud of that piece.

157
00:12:16,769 --> 00:12:17,903
So, yeah.

158
00:12:18,003 --> 00:12:22,741
And during that mentorship that we did together as well, 

159
00:12:22,741 --> 00:12:25,711
Ysabel really helped me learn how 
to navigate the art community.

160
00:12:25,711 --> 00:12:29,715
Because what I had been prepared for when I went to college 

161
00:12:29,715 --> 00:12:32,885
was navigating the commercial art space.

162
00:12:32,885 --> 00:12:35,921
So navigating, like, how to work with the studio,

163
00:12:35,921 --> 00:12:39,992
how to work with other people 
in a studio on a TV show,

164
00:12:39,992 --> 00:12:45,764
or how to make a piece of a game 
and hand that off to a developer.

165
00:12:45,764 --> 00:12:47,700
So I was used to that.

166
00:12:47,700 --> 00:12:50,803
I was used to, like, okay, 
and that teamwork stuff is really good.

167
00:12:50,803 --> 00:12:54,039
Like, obviously, that has a place, 
and I had transferable skills.

168
00:12:54,039 --> 00:12:57,610
But the art community is different

169
00:12:57,610 --> 00:13:00,646
being a traditional artist.
I do have traditional artist skills.

170
00:13:00,646 --> 00:13:05,551
I just didn't know how to navigate 
the spaces of, like, finding funding.

171
00:13:05,551 --> 00:13:09,221
Or, like, having a show. Or having a CV.

172
00:13:09,221 --> 00:13:11,290
Like, I had resumes. But I didn't have a CV.

173
00:13:11,290 --> 00:13:13,926
So I learned so much.

174
00:13:13,926 --> 00:13:19,064
And just kind of learned finding 
my place in the art community 

175
00:13:19,064 --> 00:13:21,500
has been really fun and interesting.

176
00:13:21,500 --> 00:13:24,370
Because it's been very different for me.

177
00:13:24,436 --> 00:13:29,008
Because I've gone from being a very 
digital artist to completely moving to being

178
00:13:29,008 --> 00:13:32,511
a very traditional artist working 
with physical mediums.

179
00:13:32,511 --> 00:13:35,981
So it's been very different.

180
00:13:36,949 --> 00:13:43,322
The summer and fall of 2022, 
after the Botanical Gardens residency, 

181
00:13:43,322 --> 00:13:46,892
Ysabel and I attended the Quiet Parade.

182
00:13:46,892 --> 00:13:49,562
We did a large project

183
00:13:49,562 --> 00:13:52,998
which was one of the bigger projects that I've done.

184
00:13:53,666 --> 00:13:58,137
We decided to make giant monarch butterfly wings.

185
00:13:58,137 --> 00:14:01,874
So we had some production issues because 

186
00:14:01,874 --> 00:14:07,713
I originally wanted to paint on tulle,
which is, like, a mesh netting with acrylic.

187
00:14:07,746 --> 00:14:09,982
It didn't work out the way that I anticipated.

188
00:14:09,982 --> 00:14:14,620
So we had done some samples. 
and it didn't turn out exactly how we wanted.

189
00:14:14,620 --> 00:14:19,592
So we improvised and we found plastic sheeting.

190
00:14:19,592 --> 00:14:23,495
and we learned that you can put gesso on plastic sheeting,

191
00:14:23,495 --> 00:14:25,364
which is cool.

192
00:14:25,364 --> 00:14:31,770
So we had these giant hand-painted wings on, like, wire and plastic.

193
00:14:31,770 --> 00:14:34,573
And so we were doing costume design.

194
00:14:34,573 --> 00:14:37,443
And also painting.

195
00:14:37,443 --> 00:14:39,445
And trying to...

196
00:14:39,445 --> 00:14:44,149
I needed to make several copies of the wings.

197
00:14:44,149 --> 00:14:46,151
And I needed them to be accurate.

198
00:14:46,151 --> 00:14:50,389
So it was difficult because I had to maintain...

199
00:14:50,723 --> 00:14:53,359
I had to find what was my original.

200
00:14:53,359 --> 00:14:55,427
And only trace off the original.

201
00:14:55,427 --> 00:14:56,862
So that I didn't have...

202
00:14:57,196 --> 00:15:00,399
Because when you trace things, you have...

203
00:15:00,399 --> 00:15:02,801
It's like artifacting.
Like, you lose quality.

204
00:15:02,801 --> 00:15:04,470
It's like if you take a picture.

205
00:15:04,470 --> 00:15:06,772
And you keep just saving that same picture.

206
00:15:06,772 --> 00:15:07,506
And saving it.

207
00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:08,274
And saving it.

208
00:15:08,340 --> 00:15:09,675
It loses quality.

209
00:15:09,675 --> 00:15:11,243
It's like that with tracing, too.

210
00:15:11,243 --> 00:15:13,846
Believe it or not, if you're tracing your own work.

211
00:15:13,846 --> 00:15:16,982
and you're trying to make 
copies of your work by hand.

212
00:15:16,982 --> 00:15:18,817
You have to be really careful.

213
00:15:19,385 --> 00:15:22,688
So we couldn't actually fit these giant wings.

214
00:15:22,688 --> 00:15:24,423
We also made giant tutus.

215
00:15:24,423 --> 00:15:25,557
Which was awesome.

216
00:15:25,557 --> 00:15:26,725
Had a lot of tulle.

217
00:15:26,725 --> 00:15:29,128
Luckily, it was wedding season and there's used tulle.

218
00:15:29,128 --> 00:15:31,697
People buy it for, like, draping and stuff.

219
00:15:31,697 --> 00:15:33,299
And so I got a lot of used tulle.

220
00:15:33,299 --> 00:15:36,835
And we made these hand-sewn tutus on ribbon.

221
00:15:36,835 --> 00:15:37,970
It was awesome.

222
00:15:37,970 --> 00:15:42,141
But we couldn't fit the wings in my car 
when we were going to Halifax.

223
00:15:42,141 --> 00:15:46,445
And so we had very, like...

224
00:15:46,445 --> 00:15:50,716
Even my mom helped. My mom.

225
00:15:50,716 --> 00:15:54,386
We have pictures of my mom with the hair dryer out.

226
00:15:54,386 --> 00:16:00,125
Like, drying all these, like, sheets and sheets 
and sheets of monarch butterfly wings.

227
00:16:00,192 --> 00:16:03,329
And it was hilariously fun.

228
00:16:03,329 --> 00:16:05,197
But we couldn't fit them in my car

229
00:16:05,197 --> 00:16:08,267
so we ended up having to ship them 
flat without assembling them.

230
00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:10,669
So when we got to the hotel, we had to assemble these wings.

231
00:16:10,669 --> 00:16:14,840
And luckily, Ysabelle's spouse, Ramneet, was with us

232
00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,445
and had the idea of - we should use the stapler!

233
00:16:19,445 --> 00:16:21,580
And it was such a good idea.

234
00:16:21,580 --> 00:16:25,551
It was so simple, but I was like, thank goodness!

235
00:16:25,551 --> 00:16:34,259
Because the way that I had thought 
that they would fit together didn't work.

236
00:16:34,259 --> 00:16:36,829
But the stapler was perfect, and you couldn't see it.

237
00:16:36,829 --> 00:16:39,965
So we were stapling late into the night.

238
00:16:39,965 --> 00:16:43,102
Luckily, the parade was rain dated

239
00:16:43,102 --> 00:16:45,537
and we went the next day.

240
00:16:45,537 --> 00:16:47,673
And things were assembled.

241
00:16:47,673 --> 00:16:49,942
And tutus had been sewn.

242
00:16:49,942 --> 00:16:52,010
And it was it was great.

243
00:16:52,010 --> 00:16:53,712
We actually had four pairs of wings

244
00:16:53,712 --> 00:17:00,386
because Ramneet, Ysabelle's spouse, 
and my spouse Samuel, had come with us

245
00:17:00,419 --> 00:17:04,356
and they had also dressed as butterflies with us.

246
00:17:04,356 --> 00:17:06,592
And we had...

247
00:17:06,592 --> 00:17:09,028
A full army of butterflies.

248
00:17:09,028 --> 00:17:10,429
There were four of us.

249
00:17:10,429 --> 00:17:12,531
It was quite the time.

250
00:17:12,531 --> 00:17:14,099
And Quiet Parade was so unique

251
00:17:14,099 --> 00:17:16,001
because it was accessible.

252
00:17:16,001 --> 00:17:18,737
It was a low sensory accessible parade.

253
00:17:18,737 --> 00:17:21,039
They even had like on...

254
00:17:21,039 --> 00:17:22,741
I can't remember exactly how they did.

255
00:17:22,808 --> 00:17:25,144
But on radio channels, they had like visual...

256
00:17:25,144 --> 00:17:26,545
they had description,

257
00:17:26,545 --> 00:17:27,846
they had audio description.

258
00:17:27,846 --> 00:17:30,549
You could hear the parade audio described.

259
00:17:30,549 --> 00:17:31,450
Which was cool.

260
00:17:31,450 --> 00:17:34,653
And they did have a band but they all 
had mutes in their instruments

261
00:17:34,653 --> 00:17:37,289
so they were playing very like piano.

262
00:17:37,289 --> 00:17:39,958
And it was so cool.

263
00:17:39,958 --> 00:17:43,328
And we had certain guidelines for design as well.

264
00:17:43,495 --> 00:17:49,168
So we weren't allowed to use certain materials and things like that.

265
00:17:49,168 --> 00:17:51,170
Because like it couldn't be too shiny.

266
00:17:51,170 --> 00:17:52,938
There couldn't be stuff that was really loud.

267
00:17:52,938 --> 00:17:54,773
Because it was a low sensory parade.

268
00:17:54,773 --> 00:17:59,344
Because parades are not always accessible 
for those of us with sensory needs.

269
00:17:59,344 --> 00:18:01,814
So I think it was so cool.

270
00:18:01,814 --> 00:18:07,753
And it's such a once-in-a-lifetime 
experience to be able to experience this

271
00:18:07,753 --> 00:18:10,088
and be part of it,
and create that project.

272
00:18:10,088 --> 00:18:12,458
So I'm super proud of that.

273
00:18:12,458 --> 00:18:13,926
And it was so fun.

274
00:18:13,926 --> 00:18:17,162
I think Ysabel and I had a ball going.

275
00:18:17,162 --> 00:18:21,700
And it was a good experience.

276
00:18:22,534 --> 00:18:26,371
So that kind of takes me until 2023.

277
00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:32,811
In the fall, I actually did a residency with 
the Fredericton Arts Alliance in 2023.

278
00:18:32,811 --> 00:18:35,481
And so they're like a local art group.

279
00:18:35,481 --> 00:18:40,252
And they do provide like residency opportunities in the summer

280
00:18:40,252 --> 00:18:43,388
in the Casemates downtown in Fredericton.

281
00:18:43,388 --> 00:18:46,658
And I had decided to work on an installation

282
00:18:46,658 --> 00:18:48,227
because I hadn't done installation work.

283
00:18:48,227 --> 00:18:50,529
And I thought, you know what? I should do that.

284
00:18:50,529 --> 00:18:53,165
Why not? How hard could it be?

285
00:18:53,632 --> 00:18:56,702
And I have no fear.

286
00:18:56,702 --> 00:18:59,605
I only realize when I get into it how big things are.

287
00:18:59,605 --> 00:19:01,607
And

288
00:19:01,740 --> 00:19:03,275
But it was very fun.

289
00:19:03,275 --> 00:19:06,845
So what I wanted to do was I was looking for 
this convergence of art and music.

290
00:19:06,845 --> 00:19:10,382
So that had started becoming a thing 
in my design increasingly.

291
00:19:10,382 --> 00:19:13,185
I was like, I have to do this convergence of art and music.

292
00:19:13,185 --> 00:19:14,887
They have to go together.

293
00:19:14,887 --> 00:19:16,922
There's got to be a way that this works.

294
00:19:16,922 --> 00:19:18,323
So I thought, how can I do this?

295
00:19:18,323 --> 00:19:20,659
And then I was like, oh, I do textile stuff still too.

296
00:19:20,659 --> 00:19:24,062
So I was like, I'm going to make a giant felt board.

297
00:19:24,062 --> 00:19:29,301
And I think, I can't remember if someone 
had sent me a picture of a cork board

298
00:19:29,301 --> 00:19:33,505
that was giant that someone had on Facebook 
Marketplace, or if I just found this thing.

299
00:19:33,505 --> 00:19:36,742
But there was this four foot by three foot cork board.

300
00:19:36,742 --> 00:19:40,946
And I thought, oh, I could make this into a felt board.

301
00:19:40,946 --> 00:19:45,017
So to the fabric store we went

302
00:19:45,017 --> 00:19:48,287
and got a lot of flannel

303
00:19:48,287 --> 00:19:50,923
and a lot of felt.

304
00:19:50,923 --> 00:19:57,195
And yeah, over the course of a week, 
I made an installation to do sheet music.

305
00:19:57,195 --> 00:20:01,433
So I have this four foot by three foot felt board

306
00:20:01,433 --> 00:20:04,503
and I stapled the flannel onto it.

307
00:20:04,503 --> 00:20:06,838
So it's white flannel. It's very, very soft.

308
00:20:06,838 --> 00:20:10,809
I had white pieces of actual felt.

309
00:20:10,809 --> 00:20:13,812
I chose not to get felt off the roll

310
00:20:13,812 --> 00:20:17,783
because it's really hard to cut straight lines

311
00:20:17,783 --> 00:20:21,019
and I didn't have tailor's chalk.

312
00:20:21,019 --> 00:20:25,791
And so I very badly needed to -

313
00:20:25,791 --> 00:20:27,926
Also, I wanted to have it so that it was scalable

314
00:20:27,926 --> 00:20:31,363
so like, if I had to send it somewhere 
where it needed a smaller board,

315
00:20:31,363 --> 00:20:33,899
because four foot by three foot is kind of large,

316
00:20:33,899 --> 00:20:35,767
that I could put it on a smaller board.

317
00:20:35,767 --> 00:20:39,871
or I could just have things set up 
individually or something like that.

318
00:20:39,905 --> 00:20:45,410
So I did all these little tiny sheets of, like, you can buy them.

319
00:20:45,410 --> 00:20:49,381
They're just cut out sheets. It's a little bit 
more expensive than buying off the roll.

320
00:20:49,381 --> 00:20:52,451
And then I had needle felted the staves,

321
00:20:52,517 --> 00:20:55,253
so the black lines that you see on music,

322
00:20:55,253 --> 00:20:59,291
onto these white pieces of felt.

323
00:20:59,291 --> 00:21:02,794
And Ysabel is actually my partner in the case.

324
00:21:02,794 --> 00:21:07,366
I actually had two partners. I had 
Ysabel and I had Laura Forrester.

325
00:21:07,366 --> 00:21:10,068
I think her last name was Forrester.

326
00:21:10,068 --> 00:21:14,339
But so I think we had, I had two artists with me that week,

327
00:21:14,339 --> 00:21:16,875
which was cool, because our theme was collaboration.

328
00:21:16,875 --> 00:21:21,880
Ysabel had suggested that 
instead of putting it portrait style

329
00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:23,915
I should put the felt board landscape.

330
00:21:23,915 --> 00:21:25,584
So we did that and it was perfect.

331
00:21:25,584 --> 00:21:27,886
So we could fit more sheet music on it

332
00:21:27,886 --> 00:21:36,762
and my spouse had helped me find a font 
to print out all these paper stencils

333
00:21:36,762 --> 00:21:39,531
for the sheet music and stuff.

334
00:21:39,531 --> 00:21:41,400
And that way it could be -

335
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:43,502
Because I'm used to just doing it by hand.

336
00:21:43,502 --> 00:21:47,939
So I was going to put in Photoshop 
and get all my assets done by hand.

337
00:21:47,939 --> 00:21:51,543
And then this was, ended up being.

338
00:21:52,778 --> 00:21:56,148
He's a software developer so he's very precise.

339
00:21:56,148 --> 00:21:58,450
So he was like, well, if you do it this way,

340
00:21:58,450 --> 00:22:01,086
you can scale everything together

341
00:22:01,086 --> 00:22:05,223
and you can have it be more reproducible.
And I was like, oh, I love this.

342
00:22:05,223 --> 00:22:10,328
So he put it in LaTeX was the program he used,

343
00:22:10,328 --> 00:22:14,433
and made it so that we could print all these things off.

344
00:22:14,499 --> 00:22:18,170
So I was hand weeding all my stencils out.

345
00:22:18,170 --> 00:22:22,474
And then I was pinning my stencils to black felt

346
00:22:22,474 --> 00:22:26,144
to get like music notes and rests and different things,

347
00:22:26,144 --> 00:22:28,280
and then hand weeding again.

348
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,348
There was a lot of scissor mileage.

349
00:22:30,348 --> 00:22:34,119
And so I made giant sheet music.

350
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:39,024
I learned so much. There's so much 
precision to written music

351
00:22:39,024 --> 00:22:45,397
that I think that unless you're writing it 
by hand, like we do tend to miss it.

352
00:22:45,731 --> 00:22:51,169
Like when you go above B, your notes turn over

353
00:22:51,203 --> 00:22:57,509
or like where like your whole rests 
and your half rests sit on the page.

354
00:22:57,509 --> 00:23:01,947
And things like that. There's so much precision 
that like I think we take for granted.

355
00:23:01,947 --> 00:23:04,783
because like reading music and writing it,

356
00:23:04,783 --> 00:23:08,386
like just physically writing it out are different.

357
00:23:08,386 --> 00:23:10,155
It's a different feeling.

358
00:23:10,155 --> 00:23:13,325
I wanted people to be able to 
kind of like connect with music too.

359
00:23:13,325 --> 00:23:16,128
That was the point of the project as well.

360
00:23:16,161 --> 00:23:19,831
Because I find, I know like when 
I show my mom my sheet music,

361
00:23:19,831 --> 00:23:23,068
she's like, Jess, that makes my eyes 
cross. It's really too complicated.

362
00:23:23,068 --> 00:23:25,470
And I'm like, oh, it's not that bad.

363
00:23:25,470 --> 00:23:27,372
I mean, I work with it all the time.

364
00:23:27,372 --> 00:23:29,574
So for me, it's not that scary.

365
00:23:29,574 --> 00:23:32,077
But I think when people see sheet music

366
00:23:32,077 --> 00:23:34,980
and they're like, it's a different language.

367
00:23:34,980 --> 00:23:36,615
It's very difficult.

368
00:23:36,615 --> 00:23:41,686
You know, we've been trained to 
read the alphabet alphabetically

369
00:23:41,686 --> 00:23:43,388
since we were really little.

370
00:23:43,388 --> 00:23:46,424
But if you're not trained to read music.

371
00:23:47,425 --> 00:23:50,495
It is a different language. It is hard.

372
00:23:51,730 --> 00:23:55,567
This is what I wanted to try to encourage people to do

373
00:23:55,567 --> 00:23:59,204
is have this kind of friendly, touchable thing

374
00:23:59,204 --> 00:24:02,274
that they could walk up to and touch and play.

375
00:24:02,274 --> 00:24:06,845
So that you don't need to necessarily understand how to read it.

376
00:24:06,845 --> 00:24:09,781
You can just introduce yourself to it

377
00:24:09,781 --> 00:24:11,049
and make something

378
00:24:11,049 --> 00:24:13,685
and maybe see some of the patterns that are there

379
00:24:13,685 --> 00:24:17,689
like, you know, just put notes 
on lines, or put notes on spaces

380
00:24:18,790 --> 00:24:20,826
and stuff like that.

381
00:24:20,826 --> 00:24:23,428
And kind of see some of the different elements.

382
00:24:23,428 --> 00:24:30,101
I hope what people are taking from 
that is not scary, it's just different.

383
00:24:31,069 --> 00:24:33,205
So that was the goal of that project.

384
00:24:33,205 --> 00:24:36,208
And it's been exhibited at a couple different places.

385
00:24:36,208 --> 00:24:38,310
So it was in Speaking Out

386
00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:41,546
which was a group exhibit last year.

387
00:24:41,546 --> 00:24:44,983
And it was in a group show recently,

388
00:24:44,983 --> 00:24:47,385
Bodies in Motion, which is a group show 

389
00:24:47,385 --> 00:24:52,524
with Ysabel Vautour and Ramneet Kalra.

390
00:24:52,524 --> 00:24:55,060
So it was pretty cool.

391
00:24:55,060 --> 00:24:57,195
It was at the Provincial Archives,

392
00:24:57,195 --> 00:25:00,765
which the show just finished on the 3rd of June.

393
00:25:01,299 --> 00:25:03,235
Oh yeah, yesterday.

394
00:25:03,435 --> 00:25:04,436
Yeah, I know.

395
00:25:04,436 --> 00:25:06,505
I can't believe we're in June already.

396
00:25:08,006 --> 00:25:08,707
So.

397
00:25:09,241 --> 00:25:12,644
I have a question for you. It's going back - 

398
00:25:12,644 --> 00:25:19,284
I love this idea of connecting 
the music to the other kind of arts.

399
00:25:19,284 --> 00:25:21,519
Because music is an art.

400
00:25:21,519 --> 00:25:26,491
But if you consider art as a broader view,

401
00:25:26,491 --> 00:25:28,593
you can connect all these things.

402
00:25:28,593 --> 00:25:36,601
And so you can even communicate a language that is 
not necessarily the written language of music.

403
00:25:36,601 --> 00:25:40,238
Or the art of cutting and pasting.

404
00:25:40,238 --> 00:25:41,806
Or the art of sewing.

405
00:25:41,806 --> 00:25:46,211
It's about the intersection of all that.

406
00:25:46,578 --> 00:25:47,746
Absolutely.

407
00:25:47,746 --> 00:25:52,817
I wonder too if the intersection of this all is expression.

408
00:25:52,817 --> 00:25:56,054
And this is what I've been moving towards in my thoughts.

409
00:25:56,054 --> 00:25:57,822
And I'm so happy you brought this up.

410
00:25:57,822 --> 00:26:00,592
Because this is what I've discovered.

411
00:26:00,992 --> 00:26:04,362
I was at a flute -

412
00:26:05,497 --> 00:26:09,434
I went to - During Catapult,

413
00:26:09,434 --> 00:26:12,837
It's an arts accelerator, it's art business classes.

414
00:26:13,672 --> 00:26:16,007
I was really grateful to be part of that.

415
00:26:16,007 --> 00:26:19,044
During my graduation weekend,

416
00:26:19,044 --> 00:26:23,181
for that I was also attending a flute conference

417
00:26:23,181 --> 00:26:25,383
because it was in the same city.

418
00:26:25,383 --> 00:26:30,622
And I was like well I have some time in between 
my last few classes with Catapult

419
00:26:30,622 --> 00:26:33,792
and these flute lessons,

420
00:26:33,792 --> 00:26:36,027
these flute classes that they are putting on.

421
00:26:36,027 --> 00:26:38,630
It was put on through Haynes,

422
00:26:38,630 --> 00:26:40,432
which is they're a flute maker,

423
00:26:40,432 --> 00:26:41,900
and Long & McQuaid.

424
00:26:41,900 --> 00:26:45,503
So they had put these classes on at Mount Allison,

425
00:26:45,503 --> 00:26:49,774
which was in the same place or very 
close to where we were in Dieppe

426
00:26:49,774 --> 00:26:54,646
to go see these flute classes

427
00:26:54,646 --> 00:26:57,415
and to do the Catapult graduation in Dieppe.

428
00:26:57,749 --> 00:27:01,186
And it hit me all of a sudden when I was at these flute classes

429
00:27:01,186 --> 00:27:06,324
and they were talking about, you know, 
all these different techniques,

430
00:27:06,324 --> 00:27:07,859
and expressions and things.

431
00:27:07,859 --> 00:27:11,162
I was like these people are painting with sound.

432
00:27:12,097 --> 00:27:19,270
Because I know for me I'm a lot 
more heavily based in visual arts.

433
00:27:19,270 --> 00:27:21,873
So I know a lot more about that.

434
00:27:21,873 --> 00:27:24,809
And music I'm mostly self-taught.

435
00:27:24,809 --> 00:27:26,544
I've only recently had lessons.

436
00:27:26,544 --> 00:27:31,182
So I don't know as much about it as I would love to know.

437
00:27:31,182 --> 00:27:33,084
But it hit me so hard.

438
00:27:33,084 --> 00:27:38,456
I'm like you know these people are painting with sound.

439
00:27:39,724 --> 00:27:43,461
And like in music we do talk about colour, right? 
We're talking about tone colour.

440
00:27:43,461 --> 00:27:47,565
And we're talking about different types 
of expression and things like that.

441
00:27:47,565 --> 00:27:52,270
So I found it really cool to like start 
making these connections

442
00:27:52,270 --> 00:27:56,241
between like art and music

443
00:27:56,241 --> 00:27:58,910
and tone colour, and colour and art.

444
00:27:59,511 --> 00:28:03,181
It's been so cool to see these connections.

445
00:28:03,181 --> 00:28:06,384
And this is my goal is like this is what I would love to share.

446
00:28:06,384 --> 00:28:08,653
Because I know for me too.

447
00:28:08,653 --> 00:28:11,589
Learning music has been hard sometimes

448
00:28:11,623 --> 00:28:14,592
because I learn differently.

449
00:28:14,592 --> 00:28:16,795
I have ADHD.

450
00:28:16,795 --> 00:28:20,231
Things are a little different for me sometimes when I'm learning.

451
00:28:20,231 --> 00:28:24,636
So where art and stuff I picked up really quickly.

452
00:28:25,904 --> 00:28:28,740
I don't pick up music as quickly.

453
00:28:28,740 --> 00:28:32,644
Like some stuff I do and some stuff I'm just kind of like okay.

454
00:28:32,644 --> 00:28:34,679
I have to think about this for a while.

455
00:28:34,679 --> 00:28:38,483
Yes but you chose the flute.

456
00:28:38,483 --> 00:28:42,520
And the thing with the flute is that - 
not in the right -

457
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:48,560
It's a very good thing because the flute has a lot of vibration.

458
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:49,594
It does.

459
00:28:49,594 --> 00:28:52,030
And when you play the flute it vibrates,

460
00:28:52,030 --> 00:28:54,732
it makes your whole body vibrate.

461
00:28:54,732 --> 00:28:59,871
And because you are working a lot with 
sensory cues and sensory things,

462
00:28:59,871 --> 00:29:01,906
the flute brings you that

463
00:29:01,906 --> 00:29:06,478
and can - in a way there is no good 
or right way to learn music.

464
00:29:06,478 --> 00:29:14,419
It's your own way to learn music and 
appreciate and grow into music.

465
00:29:14,419 --> 00:29:21,259
And so your way of learning is based on everything else that is artistic.

466
00:29:21,259 --> 00:29:26,131
The colour that you can associate to the sound.

467
00:29:26,131 --> 00:29:29,167
But also the whole -

468
00:29:29,167 --> 00:29:32,103
this small instrument which is the flute

469
00:29:32,103 --> 00:29:34,405
has this power to be -

470
00:29:34,405 --> 00:29:38,510
to make your body artistic, in a way,

471
00:29:38,510 --> 00:29:40,512
with the music.

472
00:29:40,745 --> 00:29:43,948
It's true and I know

473
00:29:45,283 --> 00:29:50,922
It really struck me when I first picked flute up 
after being away from music for many years.

474
00:29:50,922 --> 00:29:54,425
I played piano primarily when I was really young.

475
00:29:54,425 --> 00:29:59,631
I played piano up until about the end of high school, just casually.

476
00:29:59,631 --> 00:30:03,168
And it's different.

477
00:30:03,835 --> 00:30:08,206
Like I was describing to my music director 
at church, I had said to him, 

478
00:30:08,206 --> 00:30:11,409
I was talking about scales on piano, 
I'm like, you know, they're laid out.

479
00:30:11,409 --> 00:30:13,077
It's laid out so nicely.

480
00:30:13,077 --> 00:30:14,679
And with piano, it's very visual.

481
00:30:15,713 --> 00:30:17,749
But with flute, it's so in the air.

482
00:30:17,749 --> 00:30:24,589
And I didn't mean it as a little joke, but at the same time, it's true.

483
00:30:24,656 --> 00:30:25,857
It's so in the air.

484
00:30:25,857 --> 00:30:27,492
You don't visualize it.

485
00:30:27,725 --> 00:30:32,063
And when I had first picked up flute, I forgot to buy music.

486
00:30:32,463 --> 00:30:37,402
And as we often do with ADHD, sometimes, 
you know, we go for the thing,

487
00:30:37,402 --> 00:30:40,205
and then we forget stuff on the list, and

488
00:30:40,205 --> 00:30:41,739
so I bought a finger chart 

489
00:30:41,739 --> 00:30:43,741
and luckily I got the flute.

490
00:30:44,108 --> 00:30:47,478
But at the same time, I went home and I was like, oh, no.

491
00:30:47,545 --> 00:30:48,479
And it was during COVID.

492
00:30:48,479 --> 00:30:52,250
So I didn't want to just go back out and be like, oh, I gotta go buy music.

493
00:30:52,517 --> 00:30:55,086
So I sat with the finger chart for a really long time.

494
00:30:55,086 --> 00:30:58,523
And I was just like, well, I guess I'll just 
work on these fingerings 

495
00:30:58,523 --> 00:31:00,358
so I can learn how to do fingerings.

496
00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:03,094
And I hadn't read music in so long.

497
00:31:03,361 --> 00:31:06,331
I didn't remember how to read music anymore.

498
00:31:06,331 --> 00:31:08,366
So I was like, I got to learn this again.

499
00:31:08,366 --> 00:31:09,934
This is the most important thing.

500
00:31:09,934 --> 00:31:15,940
Because I didn't want the frustration of 
having to think about reading music,

501
00:31:15,940 --> 00:31:20,478
and trying to play music, and trying to 
do fingerings, and trying to sit right

502
00:31:20,478 --> 00:31:23,114
and like all the things we do with an instrument, right?

503
00:31:23,114 --> 00:31:27,852
So I really felt like...

504
00:31:27,852 --> 00:31:31,456
I was thinking about it recently, because

505
00:31:31,456 --> 00:31:34,058
I play other instruments, too.

506
00:31:34,058 --> 00:31:36,628
You can't play just one.
They're too much fun.

507
00:31:37,195 --> 00:31:39,897
So I recently picked up clarinet.

508
00:31:39,897 --> 00:31:44,335
And so sitting with the finger chart 
for clarinet, and I was thinking back

509
00:31:44,335 --> 00:31:46,237
about when I sat with the finger chart with flute.

510
00:31:46,304 --> 00:31:49,574
And I'm like, you know, it's like 
you're introducing yourself to it, 

511
00:31:49,574 --> 00:31:51,843
or it's introducing itself to you.

512
00:31:51,843 --> 00:31:53,978
And you're learning how to work together.

513
00:31:53,978 --> 00:31:57,148
And like, because I know a flute, it's so second nature.

514
00:31:57,148 --> 00:32:02,053
It's so like, once you learn all the fingerings, 
it's so easy to associate them.

515
00:32:02,053 --> 00:32:06,324
It's so easy to have it feel connected in the way that you play.

516
00:32:06,858 --> 00:32:11,462
I don't have that experience with clarinet, because 
I haven't been playing that for very long.

517
00:32:11,462 --> 00:32:14,832
But I've only been playing it for a couple of months 

518
00:32:14,832 --> 00:32:18,136
and I'm still... Fingerings are hard with clarinet.

519
00:32:18,136 --> 00:32:20,571
They're not very similar to flute.

520
00:32:20,571 --> 00:32:24,909
And so it's been, I'm experiencing that again

521
00:32:24,909 --> 00:32:30,915
and it's really made me think about kind of 
those processes and like learning processes.

522
00:32:30,915 --> 00:32:32,951
It's been really cool.

523
00:32:33,017 --> 00:32:34,018
Wow.

524
00:32:34,018 --> 00:32:40,191
So piano, flute, clarinet, autoharp.

525
00:32:41,292 --> 00:32:44,896
I also... I dabble in piccolo.

526
00:32:44,896 --> 00:32:47,699
I was getting into viola

527
00:32:47,699 --> 00:32:53,304
but I found, I casually play viola and violin here and there.

528
00:32:53,304 --> 00:32:56,307
I don't - they're harder to play.

529
00:32:56,307 --> 00:32:58,376
I do better with wind instruments.

530
00:32:58,376 --> 00:33:02,947
I find strings are, as sometimes 
as much as we want to do something, 

531
00:33:02,947 --> 00:33:05,316
it's okay to just keep it as a fun thing.

532
00:33:05,316 --> 00:33:08,152
And that's what I'm doing with the string family right now.

533
00:33:08,152 --> 00:33:09,220
I love it.

534
00:33:09,253 --> 00:33:13,791
But it's a little bit more challenging 
for me than wind instruments.

535
00:33:13,791 --> 00:33:16,994
So I also played recorder in high school.

536
00:33:16,994 --> 00:33:22,166
I have alto recorder as well, here at home.

537
00:33:22,734 --> 00:33:26,404
Invite a full orchestra to play with you.

538
00:33:26,938 --> 00:33:27,739
I know.

539
00:33:28,239 --> 00:33:31,242
My mom's like, we have to get you cymbals for your knees.

540
00:33:31,242 --> 00:33:34,278
And then you can be like a one jazz band.

541
00:33:35,813 --> 00:33:38,649
There is something I read too.

542
00:33:38,649 --> 00:33:40,785
Are you also writing poetry?

543
00:33:41,119 --> 00:33:42,787
Yes, I am.

544
00:33:42,787 --> 00:33:45,223
I do write poetry.

545
00:33:45,223 --> 00:33:50,094
So it's definitely been interesting.

546
00:33:50,094 --> 00:33:52,196
I write a lot of free verse.

547
00:33:52,196 --> 00:33:56,834
I've got a little bit of published work in different things.

548
00:33:57,201 --> 00:34:02,974
So right now I'm writing a poetry book about the...

549
00:34:02,974 --> 00:34:05,209
I have it written down, actually.

550
00:34:05,209 --> 00:34:10,681
So I'm also illustrating it, about 
living on government assistance.

551
00:34:10,681 --> 00:34:19,590
So it's interesting because like I'm 
using imagery of like the seasons.

552
00:34:19,590 --> 00:34:23,094
So I'm calling it the chronic seasons of my life.

553
00:34:23,094 --> 00:34:26,898
And I'm talking about the lived experience 
of living on government assistance

554
00:34:26,898 --> 00:34:31,335
because I don't find people talk about that very often.

555
00:34:31,335 --> 00:34:35,573
Or they do and it's just within their own groups.

556
00:34:35,573 --> 00:34:39,377
And we need to start talking about these experiences 

557
00:34:39,377 --> 00:34:45,983
because I feel like people think that people living on 
these different safety nets and assistances that

558
00:34:45,983 --> 00:34:53,124
the government provides, that they provide 
enough sustenance that people can get by easily.

559
00:34:53,124 --> 00:34:55,960
And that's not the case.

560
00:34:56,527 --> 00:35:01,899
It's very difficult. You know, people with 
disabilities often live in deep poverty.

561
00:35:01,899 --> 00:35:05,970
It's not an easy life.

562
00:35:05,970 --> 00:35:13,211
And it can make you very dependent on other people, like 

563
00:35:13,211 --> 00:35:19,884
family and things like that, which is not 
inherently a bad thing, but it can feel bad.

564
00:35:19,884 --> 00:35:23,821
It can feel difficult, especially when, you know, other people are 

565
00:35:23,821 --> 00:35:28,126
hitting milestones in their life, like 
buying a house or buying a car 

566
00:35:28,126 --> 00:35:31,662
doing all these exciting things that people do.

567
00:35:31,662 --> 00:35:37,235
But you're kind of like, well, I paid my bills for the month 

568
00:35:37,235 --> 00:35:39,737
and I was able to buy food, which those are great.

569
00:35:39,804 --> 00:35:42,773
And that's important, but it's hard.

570
00:35:42,773 --> 00:35:50,014
It's hard because you're not able to be 
as involved in your community or in

571
00:35:50,014 --> 00:35:55,853
life itself because you just financially can't.

572
00:35:55,853 --> 00:36:02,894
So I feel like it's important to start a conversation about that.

573
00:36:03,494 --> 00:36:04,161
Yeah.

574
00:36:04,161 --> 00:36:06,364
So I'm trying to share, like, different things.

575
00:36:06,464 --> 00:36:08,799
Like, I've got a poem about, like, my cats 

576
00:36:08,799 --> 00:36:12,270
and stuff like, my cats are my best friend 

577
00:36:12,270 --> 00:36:14,939
because I know sometimes, like, we can feel very isolated.

578
00:36:14,939 --> 00:36:17,909
It's hard, especially, like, during COVID.

579
00:36:17,909 --> 00:36:22,280
A lot of us are immunocompromised 
and a lot of us are still isolating

580
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:26,317
and because it's still there.

581
00:36:26,317 --> 00:36:31,188
Like, COVID is still there and we are still 

582
00:36:31,188 --> 00:36:34,492
immunocompromised and it's difficult.

583
00:36:34,492 --> 00:36:37,862
There's still a danger to us and 
we have to do what's right for us.

584
00:36:37,862 --> 00:36:43,201
But it can be hard because it puts barriers 
in place for us to participate in

585
00:36:43,201 --> 00:36:48,673
community and to participate in, 
like, events and things like that.

586
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:54,111
So, like, the poem about my cats is, like, 
you know, sometimes I feel really isolated.

587
00:36:54,111 --> 00:37:00,184
I'm home a lot, but I have cats and I also 
have rabbits and they're very sweet.

588
00:37:00,184 --> 00:37:05,856
And so I spend a lot of time with my pets and 

589
00:37:05,856 --> 00:37:11,095
I just was talking about the poem, like, you know, 
sometimes I'm having a really hard time and then

590
00:37:11,095 --> 00:37:15,466
the cats will hop up and sometimes they'll sit 
on me or they'll, like, they'll purr and

591
00:37:15,466 --> 00:37:18,369
it's very sweet and, you know, 
they make you feel better.

592
00:37:18,502 --> 00:37:21,906
They really take your troubles away 
because you're like, oh, I have this little

593
00:37:21,906 --> 00:37:28,112
sweet cat and so you can pet them 
and they're soft and they're lovely.

594
00:37:28,112 --> 00:37:30,615
And so I could talk about cats forever.

595
00:37:30,615 --> 00:37:35,152
But so, yeah, so I'm trying to talk 
about, like, kind of the happy parts

596
00:37:35,152 --> 00:37:40,024
and also, like, the difficult parts like, 
you know, why do I have to live like this?

597
00:37:40,024 --> 00:37:44,495
It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my choice to be disabled.

598
00:37:46,430 --> 00:37:52,036
You know, being able-bodied is a 
temporary condition and disability is 

599
00:37:52,036 --> 00:37:55,573
one of the few things in life that doesn't discriminate.

600
00:37:57,341 --> 00:38:00,778
So it's very hard.

601
00:38:01,479 --> 00:38:05,683
I've kind of been picking up the poetry and setting it down.

602
00:38:05,683 --> 00:38:08,919
So I've got about half finished.

603
00:38:09,086 --> 00:38:14,458
I'm hoping to finish probably next year, I think, is what I'm thinking.

604
00:38:14,625 --> 00:38:16,293
I'll generously say next year.

605
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,964
It'll probably be a little longer because I've got to do my illustration.

606
00:38:21,432 --> 00:38:26,570
I'm hoping to do, I'm thinking about doing 
gouache and watercolour with that

607
00:38:26,570 --> 00:38:29,640
just because I like how they play together, I like how they layer,

608
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:33,644
and I think I could get some really 
vibrant seasonal motifs going, 

609
00:38:33,644 --> 00:38:36,280
especially with the gouache because it's so bright.

610
00:38:37,448 --> 00:38:40,551
But yeah, it's been interesting.

611
00:38:40,551 --> 00:38:43,921
It's hard going between mediums sometimes.

612
00:38:43,921 --> 00:38:48,159
Like, I've got this adjustable, 
I call it an adjustable art practice,

613
00:38:48,159 --> 00:38:51,395
because, like, I have to accommodate myself.

614
00:38:51,395 --> 00:38:54,932
I always have to think about...

615
00:38:54,932 --> 00:38:57,101
I like doing things, I like being busy.

616
00:38:57,101 --> 00:39:00,905
But it's hard because, like, especially with the fibro, I get tired.

617
00:39:00,905 --> 00:39:02,606
I get really, really tired.

618
00:39:02,606 --> 00:39:08,512
And sometimes I'm up for 
playing flute, sometimes I'm not.

619
00:39:08,512 --> 00:39:13,684
Like, I might be in too much pain to... 
it's hard because sometimes your hands

620
00:39:13,684 --> 00:39:18,089
get in pain and you're like, yeah, I can't do really precise stuff.

621
00:39:18,089 --> 00:39:23,094
Or like, you know, illustrating can be hard because, like, 

622
00:39:23,094 --> 00:39:26,931
just even the thinking and the planning can be difficult.

623
00:39:26,931 --> 00:39:32,103
So, like, it depends how I'm feeling for what I'm doing.

624
00:39:32,103 --> 00:39:36,140
And it's also the ADHD, which makes it hard because, like, 

625
00:39:36,140 --> 00:39:39,977
it's easy, it's very easy to want to do a lot 
of projects and balance between them.

626
00:39:39,977 --> 00:39:44,715
But it's really hard when you're like, I want to be doing this, but I can't.

627
00:39:44,849 --> 00:39:47,184
So it's like, but I want to be being creative.

628
00:39:47,284 --> 00:39:52,389
So, like, sometimes, like, on my worst days, 
often you'll just see me crocheting.

629
00:39:52,389 --> 00:39:54,525
Like, I crochet a lot.

630
00:39:55,393 --> 00:39:57,995
I make a lot of blankets.

631
00:39:57,995 --> 00:40:00,965
I can't follow a pattern, actually, with crocheting.

632
00:40:00,965 --> 00:40:02,566
I will fully admit that.

633
00:40:02,566 --> 00:40:04,535
I can. It's not that I can't.

634
00:40:04,535 --> 00:40:06,604
It's I choose not to.

635
00:40:06,904 --> 00:40:10,641
Because like my spouse had told me, Jess, 
some people follow a pattern because

636
00:40:10,641 --> 00:40:15,279
they're testing their skills and they like to follow 
the pattern, and it's very fun for them.

637
00:40:15,279 --> 00:40:17,414
But if it's not fun for you, don't do it.

638
00:40:17,414 --> 00:40:19,517
And I thought, that's great. That's good advice.

639
00:40:19,517 --> 00:40:21,318
And I love that.

640
00:40:21,318 --> 00:40:22,920
I feel less guilty now.

641
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:27,091
So I make patterns on my own.

642
00:40:27,091 --> 00:40:28,526
I should write them down.

643
00:40:28,559 --> 00:40:31,262
So that when I pick up my projects, I don't have to -

644
00:40:31,262 --> 00:40:35,199
I sometimes have to take my projects to 
my mom and be like, can you read this?

645
00:40:35,199 --> 00:40:39,036
My mom also crochets and knits and she can look at a piece 

646
00:40:39,036 --> 00:40:41,405
and, like, kind of read the crocheting.

647
00:40:41,405 --> 00:40:43,674
And I'm just like, that's wild.

648
00:40:43,674 --> 00:40:45,643
I can kind of do that, but not very well.

649
00:40:45,643 --> 00:40:46,911
Um, but my mom can.

650
00:40:46,911 --> 00:40:48,746
That's also another language, right?

651
00:40:48,746 --> 00:40:50,281
It is. It is. Oh gosh.

652
00:40:50,281 --> 00:40:53,217
When you see the patterns, um, it's, it's its own language as well.

653
00:40:53,217 --> 00:40:56,854
And there's, uh, some really fun eccentricities with that.

654
00:40:56,854 --> 00:40:59,390
Um, my mom knits and, and crochets.

655
00:40:59,390 --> 00:41:03,294
I can only crochet. I, uh, I tried to knit.

656
00:41:04,161 --> 00:41:08,432
And, uh, like I told my mom, my mom was like, 
as I was knitting, she's like,

657
00:41:08,432 --> 00:41:10,334
it just keeps getting tighter and tighter.

658
00:41:10,334 --> 00:41:12,069
I'm like, that's because I'm stressed.

659
00:41:12,069 --> 00:41:14,705
And she's like, if it makes you stressed, don't do it.

660
00:41:14,705 --> 00:41:17,575
And I'm like, that's a good advice.

661
00:41:17,575 --> 00:41:21,745
Um, um, and it's okay to not do one or the other.

662
00:41:21,779 --> 00:41:25,449
Like, um, I know a lot of people go back and forth, but I find, uh,

663
00:41:25,449 --> 00:41:27,117
crochet works really well for me.

664
00:41:27,117 --> 00:41:28,586
Cause like, it's just, it's so loopy.

665
00:41:28,586 --> 00:41:30,387
Everything connects really well,

666
00:41:30,387 --> 00:41:32,056
which is nice.

667
00:41:32,056 --> 00:41:35,893
So yeah, when I'm not well, I often crochet 
and I make my own patterns.

668
00:41:35,893 --> 00:41:38,262
I'm making a bag right now.

669
00:41:38,262 --> 00:41:41,999
Cause I was thinking about the beach, 
so I made a little beach bag out of cotton.

670
00:41:41,999 --> 00:41:47,004
And I often make blankets, but I try 
to not make blankets in the summer,

671
00:41:47,037 --> 00:41:52,776
because my - I'm on medication that makes it hard to

672
00:41:52,776 --> 00:41:55,412
temperature control, if that makes sense.

673
00:41:55,412 --> 00:41:58,849
Like I find I get hot really easy, but I don't realize it.

674
00:41:58,883 --> 00:42:00,417
And then I, and then I'll feel sick.

675
00:42:00,417 --> 00:42:03,921
So I'll be like covered in this like really lovely blanket that I'm crocheting.

676
00:42:03,954 --> 00:42:05,456
And then I'll be like, I don't feel good.

677
00:42:05,456 --> 00:42:07,925
And it's like, oh yeah, cause I'm too hot.

678
00:42:08,592 --> 00:42:12,530
That's the hazard of crocheting in 
the summer if you're doing blankets.

679
00:42:12,596 --> 00:42:14,565
So I try to keep it small and yeah.

680
00:42:14,698 --> 00:42:20,304
So on other days, like this past week I was painting 

681
00:42:20,304 --> 00:42:22,673
and I haven't painted in a long time.

682
00:42:22,673 --> 00:42:27,578
So I did three paintings actually, um, which is really big.

683
00:42:27,578 --> 00:42:30,281
Cause usually I do about a painting every six months.

684
00:42:30,281 --> 00:42:32,683
So, um, so that was pretty big.

685
00:42:32,716 --> 00:42:34,218
I did abstract painting.

686
00:42:34,218 --> 00:42:39,657
I did a painting of a monarch as a practice 
painting and I made myself a sign.

687
00:42:39,657 --> 00:42:42,293
So I was pretty excited I'd made my own sign.

688
00:42:42,593 --> 00:42:45,296
What is your sign, what does it say?

689
00:42:45,396 --> 00:42:47,932
It says my name. It just says Jessica Kenney.

690
00:42:47,932 --> 00:42:51,168
And it has like a monarch wing on one side.

691
00:42:51,168 --> 00:42:54,371
And I did like a gradient of...

692
00:42:54,371 --> 00:42:58,542
I tried to really facilitate the sense of motion,

693
00:42:58,542 --> 00:43:01,278
through brushstrokes.

694
00:43:01,278 --> 00:43:06,583
So what I wanted to do was I took yellow and orange 

695
00:43:06,583 --> 00:43:09,019
and I did like kind of a gradation.

696
00:43:09,019 --> 00:43:10,854
It looks a little bit like fire.

697
00:43:10,955 --> 00:43:17,695
I put a little bit of glitter paint in there, on the yellow 
paint to really make it kind of stand out.

698
00:43:17,695 --> 00:43:22,666
And in the bottom right-hand corner, 
I painted like a monarch wing.

699
00:43:22,666 --> 00:43:26,470
And then I wrote my name in black letters 

700
00:43:26,470 --> 00:43:31,475
and my last name kind of went along 
the curve of the monarch wing.

701
00:43:31,475 --> 00:43:32,943
Nice.

702
00:43:32,943 --> 00:43:40,584
You know, I'm thinking with all these 
artistic skills that you have,

703
00:43:40,584 --> 00:43:46,323
do you sometimes like sit and think of all that, 

704
00:43:46,323 --> 00:43:48,325
all that you do?

705
00:43:48,325 --> 00:43:54,531
And for me, it would be related to what it means for you

706
00:43:54,531 --> 00:43:58,335
to work in disability arts.

707
00:43:58,335 --> 00:44:08,012
Yeah, I do often like, I've found it hard to...

708
00:44:08,846 --> 00:44:15,452
When I first started getting into the 
art scene and applying for things,

709
00:44:15,452 --> 00:44:20,724
it's not that I learned hard lessons because, like, people were 
nice about things. They weren't like mean or anything, 

710
00:44:20,724 --> 00:44:24,962
but I learned some lessons that

711
00:44:25,562 --> 00:44:27,464
I think differently.

712
00:44:27,464 --> 00:44:35,039
And so for me, what connects, 
I'm like, oh yeah, I sent these five pieces

713
00:44:35,039 --> 00:44:38,842
and they're like, okay, Jess, why is there a textile piece, a painting, 

714
00:44:38,842 --> 00:44:42,913
an illustration and a sculpture?

715
00:44:42,913 --> 00:44:46,350
It's like, cause they're all the same colour.

716
00:44:46,917 --> 00:44:50,921
So for me, this is why they all related.

717
00:44:50,921 --> 00:44:54,792
They were all the same color, but it's like, it's a lot of times.

718
00:44:55,225 --> 00:45:02,166
So I had to try to work more in series 
because I don't think that way.

719
00:45:02,199 --> 00:45:09,473
I don't think about like, okay, so for me, 
I was, it was hard because I...

720
00:45:09,473 --> 00:45:11,642
the way I connect things is very different.

721
00:45:11,642 --> 00:45:14,845
So I kind of had to take a step back and be like, okay, how does, 

722
00:45:14,845 --> 00:45:17,181
how does everyone think?

723
00:45:17,181 --> 00:45:20,317
Because if I'm thinking this way and it's not the same, 

724
00:45:20,317 --> 00:45:22,719
how does everyone else think about these things?

725
00:45:22,753 --> 00:45:25,756
And how do I show, how do I support my proposal with my work 

726
00:45:25,756 --> 00:45:28,959
and how do I keep the thread?

727
00:45:28,959 --> 00:45:31,128
You know what I mean?

728
00:45:31,595 --> 00:45:38,502
So, I found that a difficult efforts to try to, 

729
00:45:40,003 --> 00:45:42,473
to try to

730
00:45:42,940 --> 00:45:45,476
keep making those connections, but also 

731
00:45:45,476 --> 00:45:48,045
realize that other people didn't connect the same way.

732
00:45:48,045 --> 00:45:49,446
And that's okay.

733
00:45:49,446 --> 00:45:52,916
I just need to kind of learn how other people connect.

734
00:45:53,117 --> 00:45:56,854
And when I do my applications, I try to put that type of thinking cap on and be

735
00:45:56,854 --> 00:46:01,225
like, well, how would arts adjudicator 

736
00:46:01,225 --> 00:46:05,362
be looking at this instead of how does Jess connect this?

737
00:46:05,362 --> 00:46:07,064
It's good to be unique, right?

738
00:46:07,131 --> 00:46:14,438
It's good to be, to have this, this little 
thing that nobody else has or this...

739
00:46:14,438 --> 00:46:19,009
In French you will say "fil conducteur," like this thread.

740
00:46:19,009 --> 00:46:22,713
You know, Picasso, he did a series of blues. That's right.

741
00:46:22,713 --> 00:46:26,583
I mean, there is nothing wrong about the fact to have 

742
00:46:26,583 --> 00:46:29,553
a colour that connects all that.

743
00:46:29,553 --> 00:46:35,425
But one of the things that has to be learned in

744
00:46:35,425 --> 00:46:38,662
the writing of applications or things like that is

745
00:46:38,662 --> 00:46:43,500
how to make it sound special enough so that it will catch the eye 

746
00:46:43,500 --> 00:46:47,404
of the person who's reading the file.

747
00:46:47,404 --> 00:46:48,839
And that's an art, right?

748
00:46:48,839 --> 00:46:52,509
That's... again, we were talking about different languages.

749
00:46:52,509 --> 00:46:57,948
This is another language and that's something we need to learn when we are applying to that, right?

750
00:46:57,948 --> 00:47:02,619
That's true, and I've learned so much and it's - 

751
00:47:02,619 --> 00:47:04,855
it's definitely a different experience.

752
00:47:04,855 --> 00:47:10,694
And, you know, if I think when people are 
trying to get into learning that stuff, 

753
00:47:10,694 --> 00:47:14,264
the best thing you can do is actually 
volunteer to sit on a jury

754
00:47:14,264 --> 00:47:20,070
because it lets you be part of your 
art community and it lets you

755
00:47:20,070 --> 00:47:22,773
kind of see the process behind the scenes.

756
00:47:22,773 --> 00:47:32,316
I know, what's been hard for me too about, kind of

757
00:47:32,316 --> 00:47:36,620
navigating these spaces is figuring out like 
what's successful to me and what's not.

758
00:47:36,620 --> 00:47:41,792
Like I, I don't get to participate in 
as many residence opportunities

759
00:47:41,792 --> 00:47:46,563
because a lot of them are outside 
and I don't do well with the heat.

760
00:47:46,563 --> 00:47:54,304
And I... so I just, I don't apply to them because it's just like, I

761
00:47:54,404 --> 00:47:56,773
I'm on medication that makes me really temperature sensitive.

762
00:47:56,773 --> 00:47:59,476
So I unfortunately have to be inside.

763
00:47:59,476 --> 00:48:04,915
But a lot of times with these residency 
opportunities, they're like, outside.

764
00:48:04,915 --> 00:48:07,618
That's like, it's okay, but...

765
00:48:07,618 --> 00:48:14,791
And it's okay for people who can, but yeah, not everyone 
can be outside and in the public or in the heat.

766
00:48:15,192 --> 00:48:18,695
So it's, I found that difficult.

767
00:48:18,695 --> 00:48:20,564
I understand that. Yeah.

768
00:48:20,731 --> 00:48:24,868
But it's important to recognize your own access needs 

769
00:48:24,868 --> 00:48:29,406
and to have that integrated into your own process, right?

770
00:48:29,573 --> 00:48:35,178
Exactly. Like I mostly right now, I love that 
you're mentioning that because I...

771
00:48:35,178 --> 00:48:43,754
Whenever I do proposals, I actually try really hard to schedule time in for rest

772
00:48:43,754 --> 00:48:46,590
and stuff and make that part of my project 

773
00:48:46,590 --> 00:48:48,992
because like, we don't talk about that enough.

774
00:48:48,992 --> 00:48:53,363
People don't talk about, okay, well, you know, I can do this in two months.

775
00:48:53,397 --> 00:48:57,668
Well, why when someone else can do it a month, it's like, well, you know what?

776
00:48:57,734 --> 00:49:01,104
I know that I have non-usable time, like non-functional time.

777
00:49:01,104 --> 00:49:04,541
There's rest, which is like, you're intentionally resting.

778
00:49:04,541 --> 00:49:08,845
And then there's time that's just not usable.

779
00:49:08,845 --> 00:49:12,716
And that's not rest, it's time where you're 
not feeling good enough to do anything.

780
00:49:12,716 --> 00:49:19,423
And that's, it's not that you're able to really rest during 
that time, so I find there's kind of a difference there

781
00:49:19,423 --> 00:49:23,293
 and making sure that, you know, you're aware of 

782
00:49:23,293 --> 00:49:26,096
like, I mean, we're usually pretty aware of our own needs

783
00:49:26,096 --> 00:49:32,536
and stuff like that, but putting that in your project and

784
00:49:32,536 --> 00:49:36,506
even if you're not necessarily seeing it in your project outline,

785
00:49:36,506 --> 00:49:41,912
but just having it be like, okay, well, I know 
that this is going to take me this long.

786
00:49:41,912 --> 00:49:46,783
So I might say two weeks instead of 
one week, because it's giving myself time

787
00:49:46,783 --> 00:49:52,155
and making sure that I can meet 
my deadlines, but not be sick and, 

788
00:49:52,155 --> 00:49:56,626
or I can meet my deadlines and still 
be sick, but not overwork myself, 

789
00:49:56,626 --> 00:50:00,230
especially with fibro, because, you know, I can flare you up so bad, 

790
00:50:00,230 --> 00:50:05,001
especially if you push really hard and 
the stress can make it worse.

791
00:50:05,535 --> 00:50:09,740
So you can end up in this cycle of just 
being too stressed and getting sick

792
00:50:09,740 --> 00:50:13,944
and then being more stressed because now you can't 
meet your deadlines and then getting sicker.

793
00:50:13,944 --> 00:50:19,583
And it's hard, it's hard to come back from a flare up.

794
00:50:19,583 --> 00:50:23,019
You do, but it takes time.

795
00:50:23,286 --> 00:50:25,188
It does. Yes.

796
00:50:25,288 --> 00:50:26,523
Okay. Yeah. Thank you.

797
00:50:26,523 --> 00:50:28,625
That's all very good topics.

798
00:50:28,625 --> 00:50:31,795
It's really, as you say, it is not discussed enough.

799
00:50:31,795 --> 00:50:35,532
So I'm glad that you are mentioning all that. Thank you so much.

800
00:50:36,833 --> 00:50:41,104
I have a last question for you to end our conversation.

801
00:50:41,104 --> 00:50:47,844
It's about people who in your career 
as an artist have motivated you 

802
00:50:47,844 --> 00:50:51,348
or inspired you, are present in your life.

803
00:50:51,348 --> 00:50:57,087
If you had a few names or one name 
to give, who would it be and why?

804
00:50:57,821 --> 00:51:03,126
Well, I know Ysabel's come up a lot throughout our conversation.

805
00:51:03,126 --> 00:51:08,532
Ysabel Vautour is a Fredericton artist and she really inspires me.

806
00:51:08,532 --> 00:51:12,836
I know she creates community and I think that's so important.

807
00:51:12,836 --> 00:51:16,440
She runs the New Brunswick Disability Art Collective.

808
00:51:16,940 --> 00:51:23,246
And it's a space for disabled artists in New Brunswick to kind of

809
00:51:23,246 --> 00:51:25,215
come together and communicate.

810
00:51:25,215 --> 00:51:26,950
We share art calls in the group.

811
00:51:26,950 --> 00:51:28,718
It's a Facebook group.

812
00:51:29,453 --> 00:51:35,325
So art calls are often shared and 
it's just a nice place for community.

813
00:51:35,325 --> 00:51:41,965
I love Ysabel's painting, because she's colour-blind and I, 

814
00:51:41,965 --> 00:51:48,004
the way that she paints and uses colours is 
so cool because this is part of her story.

815
00:51:48,004 --> 00:51:52,909
I think it's neat to see how she sees differently 

816
00:51:52,909 --> 00:51:57,481
and to see the colours that she sees or doesn't see in her work.

817
00:51:57,547 --> 00:51:59,950
And it's so cool.

818
00:52:00,117 --> 00:52:04,020
Well, you connect through colours, right? So it makes sense.

819
00:52:04,020 --> 00:52:07,057
I do. Colour is a big thing for me.

820
00:52:08,158 --> 00:52:11,862
Another artist I want to mention is Dr. Lea Pearson.

821
00:52:11,862 --> 00:52:17,000
She is from Music Without Pain.

822
00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:20,637
She is changing - 

823
00:52:20,637 --> 00:52:26,443
She does body mapping for flute, which is really cool.

824
00:52:26,443 --> 00:52:31,848
And it's been a different way of thinking.

825
00:52:31,848 --> 00:52:37,153
I had a consultation with them a while ago because I, 

826
00:52:37,153 --> 00:52:41,525
I have fibro and luckily, I don't have a lot of pain when I'm playing.

827
00:52:41,525 --> 00:52:44,194
but I wanted to have that conversation 
with someone and be like, 

828
00:52:44,194 --> 00:52:49,266
how do I stay out of pain when I'm playing 
and what should I be thinking about?

829
00:52:49,699 --> 00:52:56,439
So I think what they're doing is so important because in...

830
00:52:56,439 --> 00:53:03,113
I don't have as much experience in music spaces, but I do 
feel like we don't talk about pain in music as much.

831
00:53:03,113 --> 00:53:09,386
And, you know, we're doing things that can cause 
like repetitive stress injuries or things like that.

832
00:53:09,386 --> 00:53:13,523
Like we're using our hands in ways that are complicated 

833
00:53:13,523 --> 00:53:18,128
and we're using our bodies in ways that, 
you know, we're becoming one with an instrument 

834
00:53:18,128 --> 00:53:20,030
and that's, it's not without risk.

835
00:53:20,030 --> 00:53:26,136
So it's important to be careful and to know 
as much as we can about staying safe.

836
00:53:26,136 --> 00:53:33,143
So they've, I've learned a lot from them, from reading their book and

837
00:53:33,143 --> 00:53:39,683
from the consultation I had and it's been really cool to learn more.

838
00:53:40,517 --> 00:53:43,086
Oh yeah. Okay. That's great.

839
00:53:43,086 --> 00:53:45,522
I have to have a look.

840
00:53:46,323 --> 00:53:47,390
Absolutely.

841
00:53:47,390 --> 00:53:50,794
Okay. Thank you so much for all that 

842
00:53:50,794 --> 00:53:57,300
and all the best for all your future applications 
and your creative process, which is fantastic.

843
00:53:57,300 --> 00:53:59,636
Really continue doing that, right?

844
00:53:59,636 --> 00:54:06,776
It is really important to keep connecting with 
all your skills and put them out there.

845
00:54:07,043 --> 00:54:10,981
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity.

846
00:54:11,114 --> 00:54:14,084
Thank you. And so have a fantastic day,

847
00:54:14,084 --> 00:54:16,920
and maybe see you around with some arts.

848
00:54:17,787 --> 00:54:18,955
Definitely.

849
00:54:19,289 --> 00:54:20,757
Have a good day.

850
00:54:20,757 --> 00:54:21,891
You too.

851
00:54:23,827 --> 00:54:28,965
[Closing theme music]