#threadofconnection

Alex | Valerie

Connected on a film set | September 2014

When and how did you two meet?

Alex: We met on the first film I worked on as a makeup artist.

Valerie: A year and a half ago...I produced a student film and she did make up on it. 

Alex: We had to go do a run for wardrobe and I went with her...

Valerie: And I got a parking ticket! Because you were like, it’s Sunday. You don’t have to pay for parking!

Alex: I offered to pay for half of it. And then I was like, I hope she doesn’t remember... 

(They laugh)

Valerie: I totally remembered! But I was like, you know what, I’m not going to ask Alex to pay.

Alex: Awwww! Thank you. 

Valerie: Oh, yeah. And we live together now. 

Why did you choose Alex for the Thread of Connection project?

Valerie: Because she’s awesome. Not only does she do makeup, she paints and draws. Sometimes she’s like, ok I want to sculpt. She goes out and buys a shit ton of equipment and dumps it all in the living room and just sculpts. Everything is so awesome. 

And right now you’re currently working on sets most of the time?

Alex: Yeah, I work in a coffee shop, but when it happens it happens...And Valerie does photo shoots once a week so we work together a lot. I love living with her because she’s so creative. I’m always telling her, I think I’m your number one fan, is that weird?

Me: Awww!

Alex: I just know that she’s going to do great things and I’m going to be there for her and support her. 

What has this connection brought to your lives?

Valerie: I think Alex is one of the most hard working people that I’ve ever met. Every time I’m feeling lazy or complaining about my situation, I just think about Alex and how hard she works. And I’m like, I can’t do that. I have to pick myself up.

Alex: It’s cool, because she also inspires me to keep on keepin’ on. She’s made it. She’s doing the thing. I want to be doing the thing! It’s so awesome to me that she’s young and doing exactly what she wants. That’s what inspires me...People are blown away by her work and I am too. 

Last question...

Me: Valerie, if you turn on the news tomorrow and there’s a headline that reads, “Photography is Now Illegal”...no one can take anymore photographs, images cannot be captured after midnight tonight...what would be the last and final photo you would take?

Alex: Oh my God. 

Valerie: I would...oh my God...so many places to go, things to see...

Ok. I would fly back home and take a photo of me and my parents.

Alex: That’s cute.

Brynn | Gustavo 

Met Nov 2014, Two artists featured in the same art show. 

How/When did you meet?

Brynn: The night of the opening, we connected. Our work was showing right next to each other. We decided to collaborate. Right from the start it was like, let’s do this.

Gustavo: These past four months have been pretty great. It’s been an emotional roller coaster. 

Brynn: I think when you meet someone you’re supposed to collaborate with, it explodes into this whole new world of possibility.

Art and Inspiration

Gustavo: I’ve always been into distances or space so, when I’m doing designs, what’s important to me is how I feel about the distances between the lines that are crossing and what would be more appealing to the eye. There has to be a rhythm in it…The biggest I’ve ever done was 20 feet by 15 feet. 

Brynn: I love the idea of working huge. The opportunity to have that kind of impact and to breathe gold…and glitter…and vibrancy…and synchronicity…in this huge scale for people to see and look up and open their hearts…to bring that inspiration to people…and when you connect with other people who have that drive and that passion, it’s really, really exciting. 

Connecting Through Collaboration 

Brynn: So much of the time when you meet people and you think, oh that person’s cool…they’re doing cool stuff…you realize that actually, they want to do cool stuff, but there’s so much stuff holding them back. More than anything it’s them holding themselves back. And it’s been amazing to meet someone like Gustavo who’s just like, yeah let’s go. We’ve done a ton of stuff together. There’s no flakiness, there’s no presentation. There’s ‘We can do great stuff together, lets make it happen, go.’ And that’s been a really amazing aspect of the collaboration. Most people are way too afraid to chase their passions with such abandonment…and that guy is not afraid for a second. 

Me: What has come into your life since you met Brynn? What does she bring? 

Gustavo: I think she’s bringing in the spiritual side of me. Honestly, like, I’m not even joking, I do not give a f*** about anything spiritual. I don’t believe in anything spiritual. I don’t believe in a god. I’m completely like, you have to work for what you want. No one’s giving it to you, it’s really up to you. And hanging out with Brynn has made me very relaxed. I used to look relaxed, but I’m always on a run, you know? So, being with her has made me be on that run and still be doing what I want to do, but at the same time be more relaxed with it and not be so stressed out. ...I’ve been finding more of a deeper purpose in life, because we’ve been collaborating so much and we see so much potential in it, we’ve become entities that we, in some ways, not depend on each other, but if we work on it, we could become something great together and be like a family. It’s really great. It’s phenomenal.  

Brynn: (with a huge smile on her face) "That’s so powerful. I just want to cuddle with that for a minute.

After briefly discussing momentary connections/encounters, nicknames, and tattoos, I finished our conversation with the following question:

What’s one thing that you want to do or feel like you have to finish by the end of this year?

Gustavo: Dude, I don’t even know. Once you finish something there’s always the next thing. At this point it’s just work and work that will pay off. 

Brynn: The one thing I want to finish with on a personal level is fear and anxiety and I feel like finding my groove with my work has done so much to alleviate that. And it makes me feel like anxiety is really not living in synchronicity with your heart. The more I do, the more I finish with the anxiety that plagued me for a long time. 

Gustavo: How about yourself? 

Brynn | Gustavo 

Met Nov 2014, Two artists featured in the same art show. 

How/When did you meet? 

Brynn: “The night of the opening, we connected. Our work was showing right next to each other. We decided to collaborate. Right from the start it was like, let’s do this.” 

Gustavo: “These past four months have been pretty great. It’s been an emotional roller coaster.” 

Brynn: “I think when you meet someone you’re supposed to collaborate with, it explodes into this whole new world of possibility.” 

Art and Inspiration 

Gustavo: I’ve always been into distances or space so, when I’m doing designs, what’s important to me is how I feel about the distances between the lines that are crossing and what would be more appealing to the eye. There has to be a rhythm in it…The biggest I’ve ever done was 20 feet by 15 feet. 

Brynn: I love the idea of working huge. The opportunity to have that kind of impact and to breathe gold…and glitter…and vibrancy…and synchronicity…in this huge scale for people to see and look up and open their hearts…to bring that inspiration to people…and when you connect with other people who have that drive and that passion, it’s really, really exciting. 

Connecting Through Collaboration 

Brynn: So much of the time when you meet people and you think, oh that person’s cool…they’re doing cool stuff…you realize that actually, they want to do cool stuff, but there’s so much stuff holding them back. More than anything it’s them holding themselves back. And it’s been amazing to meet someone like Gustavo who’s just like, yeah let’s go. We’ve done a ton of stuff together. There’s no flakiness, there’s no presentation. There’s ‘We can do great stuff together, lets make it happen, go.’ And that’s been a really amazing aspect of the collaboration. Most people are way too afraid to chase their passions with such abandonment…and that guy is not afraid for a second. 

Me: What has come into your life since you met Brynn? What does she bring?

Gustavo: I think she’s bringing in the spiritual side of me. Honestly, like, I’m not even joking, I do not give a f*** about anything spiritual. I don’t believe in anything spiritual. I don’t believe in a god. I’m completely like, you have to work for what you want. No one’s giving it to you, it’s really up to you. And hanging out with Brynn has made me very relaxed. I used to look relaxed, but I’m always on a run, you know? So, being with her has made me be on that run and still be doing what I want to do, but at the same time be more relaxed with it and not be so stressed out. ...I’ve been finding more of a deeper purpose in life, because we’ve been collaborating so much and we see so much potential in it, we’ve become entities that we, in some ways, not depend on each other, but if we work on it, we could become something great together and be like a family. It’s really great. It’s phenomenal.  

Brynn: (with a huge smile on her face) That’s so powerful. I just want to cuddle with that for a minute. 

After briefly discussing momentary connections/encounters, nicknames, and tattoos, I finished our conversation with the following question: 

What’s one thing that you want to do or feel like you have to finish by the end of this year? 

Gustavo: Dude, I don’t even know. Once you finish something there’s always the next thing. At this point it’s just work and work that will pay off. 

Brynn: The one thing I want to finish with on a personal level is fear and anxiety and I feel like finding my groove with my work has done so much to alleviate that. And it makes me feel like anxiety is really not living in synchronicity with your heart. The more I do, the more I finish with the anxiety that plagued me for a long time. 

Gustavo: How about yourself?