“Embrace Your Full Multi-Passionate Self: An Interview with Velvet Haze”

We live in a culture that loves to put neat little labels on creators.

Society wants the painter to paint, the writer to write, and everyone to stay comfortably into their designated lane.

But what happens when an artist refuses to be boxed in?

And what happens when creativity isn't just a single skill, but a vast, interconnected ecosystem?

Hello, friends.

This is Timothy Keemo Bryan, your head instigator for Create Art Podcast, where I bring my over 30 years of experience in the arts and education world to help you tame your inner critic and create more than you consume.

Today, we are diving deep into that exact question of what happens when creativity isn't just a single skill, but a vast, interconnected ecosystem.

Now, my guest today is the boundary pushing multidiscipline artist known as Velvet Hayes.

Velvet's work defies easy categories, moving seamlessly across mediums.

And in this conversation, we explore what it's really like to navigate multiple creative worlds, the invisible threads that connect different disciplines, and how to protect your authentic voice when you refuse to play by the rules of specialization.

Now, whether you're a multi passionate creator trying to balance your own projects, or an artist looking for a fresh new spark, this conversation is going to challenge how you look at your craft.

So let's jump in with my conversation with with Velvet Haze.

All right, everybody, thank you for joining me here on Create Art Podcast.

I have a wonderful guest here for you today and we're gonna have a wonderful conversation.

I can tell because before we hit record, we had a great time and we've been laughing a lot.

So you'll probably hear some laughs today.

And I'm all about laughing.

Laughing is great for creativity.

And you can already hear my guests starting with laughing, so that's good signs.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

But I have with me Velvet Haze, and she reached out to me, she actually emailed me.

So, folks, exactly.

If you reach out to me, you end up on the show.

So, you know, we're all good like that.

So, Velvet, how is it?

How's it going where you're at right now?

Things are going awesome.

I feel like it's one of those.

I feel like everything in art just kind of has those up and downs, right?

Those like peaks and valleys, as does the world.

But I'm really, really excited.

I just finished a project I've been working on for the past year that I recently put up on my website.

So I'm stoked to have that out.

I'm stoked to share that with people.

And it's quite a high that I'm writing I feel like after you finish one of those projects that you're like, what do I do with this?

Then you're like, oh, I got this.

And then you're like, what do I do with this?

The pause and go.

Once it's done and you've, like, accomplished that, it's just like, it feels good to get off your shoulders and to also just be able to present it.

So I. I'm feeling pretty fly with everything kind of going on right now.

I'm exc.

It.

Awesome.

Good deal.

And folks, I've been to Velvet's website, okay?

So I am of a certain age, but this website, it's not just, oh, this is my bio.

This is do.

This is do.

You can play games on Velvet's website.

So many.

There will be more.

There's more games.

Oh, my God.

Okay, they're on the way.

They're in the works.

I am all over that Mario Kart because it's on my phone, it's on my computer.

I am a Mario Kart master.

So I. I'm gonna be there.

I'll have the high score every time.

It is.

It really is.

So her website is wonderful.

It's a wonderful website to take a look at.

You're a multi discipline.

I was going to say disciplinarian, multi discipline artist.

And something we talk about a little bit here on the show is that inner critic that a lot of people have.

Not everybody has it, but a lot of people do.

And I'm looking at all your stuff here, and I'm just really interested in how do you tame that inner critic from stopping you from creating your art if you have an inner critic?

Because you might not have.

You know, I think artists in general, I feel, have just that lingering sensitivity to whatever degree anybody wants to accept that.

I feel like it can be taken in so many different ways.

But as artists, there's, like, almost a responsibility to share anything, like, with your feeling.

And I heard somebody talk about that.

I don't remember who it was, but I took that very literally.

And I was like, if we are sensitive beings, that's already known.

Like, there's.

We have our.

This responsibility to share what we're doing.

My feelings shouldn't really get in the way.

And the thing is, is, like, there's depending on how you use it, all of that can fuel you in such a beautiful direction.

Like, using all of that, like, pent up, like, angst that you have, like, oh, my God, don't do that, don't do that, don't do that.

Or like, you look back at, like, what you posted a year ago, and then you're like, oh, my God, I literally cannot believe that I decided to put that on the Internet, which I've been there.

I.

The first year I was ever posting any art or what for, I.

My social trail was like, I was petrified.

I was like, I can't believe that I'm even seeing myself even just staring.

None of them were edited, whatever.

But I knew that there was this hump that I had to get over for it to be normal.

And that was like the gateway for me to start sharing any of my art or even honestly, truly being able to create anything consistently.

Like, there's this.

Your mind is so powerful and it feeds you whatever, but you also have this control over how you react to what your mind is telling you, whether or not you like it.

Like, minds are just crazy and insane and they will tell you so many things.

And just figuring out that way to move through it and find that normality and being uncomfortable and also that critics going to exist whether or not you're there.

And also when I look back at the things that I was doing that I'm like, oh, my God, I can't believe I did that.

People were still cheering me on, whether or not they meant it seriously.

It still gave me the confidence to keep doing it.

And it's like, no matter what you do, people are going to support you in whatever way if you find that person.

Like, people will find you too, if you put yourself out there.

And it's just.

It's being comfortable in the unknown and also knowing you're going to be uncomfortable doing it at whatever level you're doing it.

So it's like you kind of.

I mean, it's a little pull yourself up by the bootstraps, but you just deal with it and then it figures itself out and you find little ways to just continue moving with it rather than against it.

And it just tends to.

It's there, but it also tends to push you in directions you didn't know you would be pushed before.

I like your inner critic.

I absolutely like your inner critic.

I think it's doing you wonders.

You had posted a painting, I think a painting, sculpture kind of thing.

It had two eyes, like one run on top of the other.

And then it had some more stuff going.

And I wish I was doing this in video because I'm doing all these hand movements and, you know, it's horrible,.

But I know exactly what you're talking about.

You know that piece.

Okay, it's on my website.

Shout out to my website again.

Let's get over to your website.

Everybody.

Just, you know, pause the podcast.

Go to the website.

You can come, but come back and listen to the rest.

Absolutely.

Make sure.

Please come back, please.

Telepathy.

You will know exactly how you felt.

Exactly.

Absolutely.

Or, you know what?

You can email some people, too.

Email works just fine.

Let us know.

True.

But I saw that.

I saw that piece, and I was just.

It really spoke to me.

And I don't know, I don't have the words for it yet because I just saw it yesterday, and I'm still.

It's still going on in my mind, and I'm like, why do I like that so much?

And I think it has.

I started taking tai chi classes, and we're.

We're learning how to, you know, do the movements and all that stuff.

And one of the guys, the.

One of the instructors was like, think of three balls, you know, one for your belly, one for your chest, and one for your head.

And keep that all nice and straight in a line.

And when I saw that piece, I thought about what my tai chi instructor was saying, and I was like, so I think that's why I like it so much, because it's not perfectly symmetrical from the angle that I saw it.

But he was just like, yeah, it's not.

Okay, good.

No, it's not.

Not at all.

But that was just a wonderful piece.

And I was like, oh, man, I can't wait to talk to her, because I want to learn more about her and her art and all that kind of good stuff and to keep everybody on their toes here, because if you've gone to Velvet's website and come back right now, you also have a magazine coming out.

Can you talk a little bit about this magazine that's coming out?

I am so excited about this magazine.

It is in the works.

It has just begun.

I am gathering a group of artists to share their work.

It's based off of philosophy and just personal ideologies and just what makes an artist want to make art?

Is it that, like, inner dwelling?

Is it that mindset?

Is it just like, you've created this routine of making something as a product?

Like, art can be in so many different, I guess, categories.

And it's just.

It's interesting to me to find all of these people who have, like, the outside world kind of identifies as, like, eccentric and different.

And, you know, it's like, what really is in our minds, like, truly, like, what is the nitty gritty like?

I don't want the superficial.

I want the ugly.

Because the ugly is where everything lives.

And I am.

I am stoked to start getting my group of artists to start sharing their stories a bit more and, like, the process of, like, how they actually started getting into art and what fuels them on a daily basis.

So my magazine is going to be the nitty gritty of the things that, frankly, people don't want to talk about.

It's going to be beautiful, aesthetically ugly from people's.

You know, everybody has these different mindsets, and it's just going to be great to deconstruct and to get a little bit more real in this world that is becoming.

You know, there's a lot going on, a lot in the chaos, and that there needs to be a bit of real.

And I'm excited to have that pool that I've made of realness.

Nice.

And we're going to put quote marks around ugly because, you know.

Thank you.

You know, I'm just going to.

But that's okay.

But, you know, they've heard me enough.

They know I do quote marks all over the place.

So now, so going to your website, going, you know, on your Instagram account, you know, I'm seeing these paintings, but then I'm also hearing music.

And, you know, you do multi.

You do every.

You're doing everything.

Oh, my God, you're doing the video and all this stuff with it.

When you're going through these different mediums, do you have a time where your brain kind of shuts off so you can switch gears?

Or is it more.

You just kind of flow with it, you know, do you work on one thing, you know, like the video aspect, then the music aspect, and then the painting aspect?

Or how does that work?

How do you switch between all of those?

So easy, it seems to me, easy.

But I'm not there with you watching you do it either.

So.

It's.

My mind is chaos, and I bounce from one thing to the next.

There is.

There's.

As long as I'm working on something, I am happy.

And I have found that if I am sticking to one category of anything, I tend to get bored or I get burnt out or I just don't come back to it.

Like, there needs to be this, like, flow of just creativeness coming out of me, and I never know where it can go.

But I have found through having multiple hobbies, multiple disciplinaries, I am more able to circle back and start creating, like, more and more.

And what I've loved about it is with the Videography that I've had Keyshawn Campbell help me out with, who just had a great song come out called Desires.

That's, it's fantastic and I hope everybody hears it.

Help me with some of the videography.

And then also, like I'm creating this whole world of just this idea that I've had in my head and it's bouncing back and forth has helped me actually create it a lot more in a free state rather than just sticking to one thing.

So it never is fluid.

Some days I am only making music for weeks, or some days I am only painting for weeks, or sometimes some days and some weeks it's the same thing in my head.

But you know, it all happens in the flow that it does.

And as long as I am doing something, I stay in that flow and I stay happy and creative and fun and free.

I love it.

Absolutely.

That's the way to be.

Because I know exactly what you're saying there.

Because I'm a poet, I'm a musician, I paint like a 4 year old on crack, which is fine.

I'm good with that.

You know, I'll put you in my magazine, we'll talk about it.

I want the four year old on crack.

Okay, the four year old on crack.

Gotcha.

Not a problem.

Make that happen.

But you know, and I do these things and my wife and other people around me, they're like, tim, you know, can you just focus on one thing?

And it's like, no, because right now I'm interested in writing poetry and then my four year old crack addict kid is gonna want to do some painting.

And then of course again, nobod, I can see this because we're not doing video.

But then right behind me I have my whole, you know, jazz record collection.

And you know, it's just when you say chaos again, I put in quotes around that.

It may seem like chaos from the outside, but is there a thread for you internally that goes, okay, this is what I have the energy for here.

And then, you know, I'm going to do music and then my energy is leading to videography, then painting and then whatnot.

Is that kind of how it works for you, I wonder?

Yeah, there always is like some kind of connection.

And I found, I found a lot of inspiration through like the specific disciplinary I'm working with.

Right.

So it's like if I am making music, I think very visually, so I have this vivid picture in my head of whatever I want to do or whatever feeling I'm trying to portray, or whatever, whatever it is Whatever the situation, whatever the thought.

So to me, like, I have found a lot of inspiration.

What I've wanted to paint or what I've wanted to create through, like, making music.

And music is so influential, right?

And it, like, brings up so much.

Even as you're making it, like, you start hearing something, it brings up so much.

And then I can be having these moments of painting, and then I'm like, oh, wait, I have this burst of whatever to go do this.

And then, like, I can be listening to this as I'm doing this.

And the paintings and the music, they go together and just kind of create like this beautiful bubble.

So from the outside, like, it is a little.

It's a lot less chaotic in actuality, once I get to that end point.

Right.

But it's like as.

As you're creating and putting it all together, it's just like weaving and crocheting and knitting and just doing everything at the same time and just know where you're going.

But do you really.

Sometimes the endpoint creates itself, like, once you keep making it, and then you're like, oh, this is going in a different way.

And it's.

There always is some kind of thread, like you said.

And I think that that was actually a very, like a very wise and profound comment too, because I've never thought about it in that way.

And I'm sure you probably have experience with that too.

Just a little bit.

On occasion, I'll say something smart and, you know, just.

We just run with that.

You audience is used to that.

They're just like Tim saying something smart.

Let's just skip ahead 30 seconds.

Well, I actually ran.

Well, not ran into, but I attended a Saul Williams concert.

And I had one of his books with me, said the Shotgun to the Head.

And you know, you're standing in line to get him to sign it.

And I was the absolute last person in line.

I was like, he's not gonna sign it.

He's not gonna say anything to me.

And sure enough, I'm standing up there with Saul Williams, you know, the.

He's a poet, musician, artist, activist.

I'm actually reading his latest book right now, and he writes in there, hey, Tim, enjoy the journey.

So, and I was like, oh, and that since that point that I've been, you know, that.

That thread that I was talking about, I'm just enjoying where that thread is leading me.

I don't know what the end point is, because if you were to talk to me 20 years ago and said, tim, you're going to have twin girls, you're going to be married, you're going to have a house, you're going to work for the federal government.

I would have said, I want to know what you're smoking, because I would like to have some of that, please.

But I think, you know, that's, for me, that's what the thread is.

So, no, for sure, but for a lot of artists, when we're switching disciplines, we kind of get a little bit of creative fatigue.

So let's say you're, you know, doing a piece of music and then something calls to you and you're like, oh, I want to do this.

Do this painting here, or I want to do this video, or I want to do some writing and stuff like that.

When that.

When you switch to the next thing, is that creative fatigue or burnout that you're trying to avoid, or is it just, you know, following that flow state?

I am definitely one of those people who has to work with my creative fatigue.

I tend to.

I call myself a burst worker.

Quite often.

I'm like, I am go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

And then my mind is blank and I'm like, what do I do with this?

And it's been one of those things where really I'm like that across the table.

I'm like that with work.

I am like that just with, you know, myself and, like, my, like, really trying to think of new projects.

Like, I am.

I can go, go, go.

And then there's nothing.

So trying to figure out ways to work with that, I think is something that a lot of artists struggle with and have to figure out, like, certain, like, routines or ways to kind of, like, separate themselves from that strong feeling of, like, wanting to just stop and take a break.

Because it really is one of those things, like, when you stop and take that break, it's hard to get back, going into that float.

So what I've found for myself is like, those times when I'm like, there's nothing in my mind.

I don't know what to do.

I don't know what project to start.

I don't know which one to grab on.

Even though I have.

That are unfinished, I'm like, I have no idea where to go with this.

That's typically when I start doing more of, like, the visuals or, like, the behind the scenes.

And I have.

I've worked on my website a little bit more, or I started taking up videography to make those ideas come to Life and build a story around it.

Like creating this whole world has essentially come from just fighting against the burnout and finding ways to even work with the burnout.

Because it's like if that idea isn't there, the idea will come.

I just don't know when.

So I should keep moving as I'm doing it and do so something else to keep this going.

And it's not something that is even always easy, you know, like that burnout.

It's like sometimes you really just don't know what you're doing and you still have to work through it.

And what you make is absolute crap.

And I've looked at some of the things that I've done before and I'm like, first of all, I can't believe I'm listening to this.

And I've had.

It was good from the start.

And I can't believe that my whatever is looking like this or it's like, what idea did that even come from?

It is my 4 year old on crack sometimes.

And I'm like, you know, sometimes I just don't know what happened.

And.

But the great part about that too is when you keep moving and you keep making it, even if you don't like it.

I have had these moments where I've gone back to that project and either have had a different opinion about it, I felt a lot more neutral about it, it's inspired a new project, or that project in itself has become something a lot bigger.

So it's like really just, you got to keep going.

And that's what I found to work for me.

Some people find that reprieve to be very helpful for them.

But for me, just doing it, no matter what, is what's kept me going and how I've built what I have.

Excellent.

Excellent.

I know we have a listener out there.

He's a good friend of mine.

His name is Derwin and he's always asking me, tim, where do you get this energy to do all these things?

You know, you're a unique individual.

And Derwin, this is for you.

I'm not the only one.

Like this.

Okay, we got velvet right here.

She's just like this.

So there we go.

You're not alone.

Finally, somebody.

Yes.

It's not just you, I promise.

Okay, good deal.

I thought it was a me thing.

It's not a meal.

Unless you want to be unique.

Then I take it all back.

You can have it.

No, no, no.

You're doing good work with it.

I mean, I'm just like, oh my God, this is.

This Is.

I get.

It's.

I had another friend a long time ago, and we would sit and listen to jazz music, and we would go into Chicago and go to the poetry scenes and whatnot.

And there's this poet that says, let's stop pretending we understand jazz.

And I was like, I get it.

I get jazz.

You know, there's some jazz.

I get some jazz.

I don't get, but I do get jazz.

I understand.

Makes sense to me.

So somebody that gets it.

Yes.

All right.

It's that kind of music that you need to pay attention to.

It's not background music.

It's.

Oh, they're doing this, they're doing that.

This is where we're going.

Yeah.

And I want to keep on going that way.

That's a great place to go to.

Let's go over there.

I think for me, for, like, metal and heavy music.

Heavy metal music and stuff like that, hardcore and all that.

I used to be a tuba player in high school orchestra, and I was listening to.

I don't even know what it was, but I was like, oh, that guy's just playing arpeggios, you know, And I'm like, wait a minute.

He's doing these arpeggios in this order.

And this is a, you know, classic music kind of thing.

And then I read a magazine article on them, and he's like, oh, yeah, no, you know, I studied classical music.

I listen to it all the time.

And I'm like, oh, okay, now I got this.

Now I got this.

Sometimes it takes a while to get through my skull, but that's okay.

You got there.

I got.

That's why I have tattoos of skulls all over me.

So, you know, it's going to get through one of the skulls somewhere.

Oh, yeah, one of them.

You know, it's bound to happen.

Yeah.

Yeah, it should.

Now, with, you know, weighing these different disciplines that you're into, and I'm sure you've heard of the old cliche, jack of all trades, master of none.

Is.

Is there a danger about being a generalist in all of these, or do you feel that you go deep enough into these different art forms that it satisfies your soul?

I think that goes back to the inner.

Inner critic conversation a little bit.

And I think that's a big question.

You know, I think, like, being a generalist is fun.

I think you can learn a lot of things.

I think that I can easily be interested in a lot of things.

So I could take on, honestly, most things that I would come about.

I could find a way to be interested in it.

And I think that there's also like a very strong power in mastering something and having that one thing that you are good at.

For me, I am a perfectionist.

I like, I try my best and I like, it doesn't matter if I'm good at it right away.

It's so frustrating and.

But once you get past the frustrating part and you learn a little bit more, it's so much easier to keep going and to keep going and to keep going.

And I would not call myself a perfectionist in anything that I actually do.

But mentally I. I am a try hard.

I want to be as good as I can be at everything that I do and everything that I can create.

So I think that in being a generalist has kind of helped me a little bit.

Yeah.

I also think that, like, it takes me a long time to complete something because I want to make it so good, which is also I think why bouncing around and keeping things going is easier for me rather than sticking with one thing, because I can just work and work and work and I overthink it.

And bouncing around kind keeps all of that going.

And then I have this like, beautiful world that I'm like, really happy with.

And I think it's kind of a mix of both.

I very much want to be a master at something and will try as hard as I can until I get there.

I will not stop.

I can't.

I just can't.

It won't.

It won't sit with me knowing that I could be better at something than I am right now.

It's the competitive spirit in me, I guess you could say.

But I also, I think having that curiosity of being a generalist is kind of what supports that and fuels that a little bit more.

Because I. I think without my curiosity, I probably wouldn't be anybody that I'm personally like.

I wouldn't want to be.

Like, I'm very happy with who I am and what I've done and what I've created.

And I think a big support in any of that has been my curiosity and having so many interests in really everything.

That is awesome.

That is.

I.

Man, the more I talk to you, I'm just like, oh, I gotta stop saying that's awesome, because then people are gonna go, well, what's awesome?

I mean, is this part awesome?

Is that part?

It's all awesome.

It's just all awesome.

Oh, my God.

Do you relate with it?

I do.

I do, yeah.

Because I think that for me, where you spend a lot of Time with something, or you may spend a lot of time with something.

I do the opposite.

I go the opposite way of it.

I'm like, I have the idea.

I need to get it out super quick because there's another idea right behind it and then there's another one behind that one.

And, you know, I'd like to keep it a little bit orderly with.

Let's do one idea.

You know, let.

Let's do.

You got a conveyor belt?

Yeah, There it is.

There it is.

Henry Ford would be proud.

He would be.

He owes me 20 bucks, but he'd be proud.

You should call him about that.

I am going to call him about that.

As soon as I get done with this, I'm calling him up.

We're having a long conversation.

Absolutely.

Henry Ford.

He'll be on next episode of Creator.

He gave me the 20 bucks.

I got the 20 bucks from Ford.

I'm good.

You tried to give me a Model T and I was like, does it come in anything but black?

No.

No.

I'm gonna call up Velvet and I'm gonna have her paint it and then it won't be black.

See, there we go.

That would be a great collab.

Henry Ford, Velvet Hayes.

You can have the car.

I can drive around Virginia and that people will be like, that's a cool looking car.

Absolutely.

It would be a great way to get your podcast to be known in multiple states, all over the place by everybody there.

I'm doing it.

Yeah.

And see, I thought if I could get the vanity plate that says podcast on it, that that would, you know, do it.

But I like, that's a better idea.

That's all.

Because Henry ford owes me 20 bucks.

Exactly.

See, that's the thread we talked about earlier.

There's always a thread.

And we don't care where the destination is.

We're just going to enjoy the thread.

You had talked a little bit about, you know, when we're.

When you're completing something, when you're working on a piece and you know it's unfinished, you put it away for a minute, you go do something else, you come back, you work on a little bit more.

Go do something else.

And then you come back.

When do you know it's absolutely finished, it's, you know, ready to be aired out in public.

As annoying as this is, you just know.

And for me, while I was creating the piece that I have out on my website right now that I've worked on for the past year, I started in a very unknown place.

Like, I was.

I had like A few life changes at the same time.

And I was kind of in that, like, weird in between where you're waiting for something to happen.

So I was creating this piece, and I didn't know where I was going with it.

It was very much just to get my energy out.

I let go of all of my vices, and I was like, I need something to do.

And this is what came out of it, right?

And I kept working on it and working on it and building it, and it kept changing.

And if I were to show you the picture of what it looked like when I started versus now, it is nothing of what it became.

It became completely different than it started.

And what I found while I was making it is once I found, I kept building it and I found a little bit of direction.

I was like, okay, this.

This part right here feels weird.

Or the energy over here feels weird.

Or this spot right here, like, it needs to be a little bit more balanced.

And, like, I feel like I can feel the weight is off in different ways or like it's just missing something.

When I finally completed it, I had just put the flowers on.

There's little flower details all over the painting.

And I looked back and I was like, oh, yeah, no, it's.

It feels balanced.

I.

It's done.

That's what it needed.

And it's just.

It really is just a feeling that you just kind of, you know.

You just know when you know, because.

You just know when you know live.

You lived with it for so long.

And is it a thing.

Is it a thing that you are happy with it?

Whether the audience, whether the patrons, whatever.

Because we'll talk about them in a second.

But so it's.

When you're happy with it, then it's like, okay, fly, be free.

Yeah, truly.

And I have found to, I mean, I guess circle back to the inner critic a little bit.

Like, I found that when I am creating something and I'm thinking about how it's going to be perceived, I do tend to stop because I start overthinking, and I start working on that one little bit over and over and over again until it's done exactly the way that I want, and it doesn't.

And it just feels like I'm adding stress to it, and it never ends up the way that I want it to when I keep thinking about how it's going to be perceived.

So what I learned was really just, I don't like sharing what I'm doing with anybody until I am actually complete with the project itself.

So if I'm working on something.

It has to hit a certain point to where I'm like, I know where I'm going with it.

I like what I'm doing before I really can invite anybody to see it.

Because as soon as I have that persuasion, I'm like, I need a break from it for a while.

Otherwise, I just kind of.

I think about it too hard.

So I learned to have that, I guess, boundary of just being incognito.

Nobody knows what I'm doing until people know what I'm doing.

And there's like, there's a piece in that too.

It's like, nobody knows I'm doing this.

And it makes it just a little bit more fun.

If you like Superhero in the Dark.

I'm like, nobody knows what I'm making yet, but they will.

Everyone will.

So I can just imagine you now with the little mustache, with the curly mustache.

I'm just like, nobody knows.

No, literally.

Literally.

I think I have a character on my website that looks like that named Jinx LaRue.

I'm going back to the website.

Yeah.

Driving game.

It's the driving game.

It's the driving game.

Okay, got it.

Jinx LaRue.

I am all over that one.

Let me make a note on that.

Yes, he does write notes while he does podcast interviews.

As you should.

You're doing great.

Why not multitasker?

We talked about that.

You know, multitaskers.

We're the best.

We're the best.

Depending on who you ask,.

We're the best.

Whatever anyone else says, we're the best.

Come on.

We are.

We are.

Joe Rogan's got nothing on me.

I mean, he's got a bald head.

I got a bald head.

Come on.

You know, there is no difference.

There is none.

Absolutely none.

You have a bigger jazz collection than him.

I think so.

Does he even know what jazz is?

I don't think so.

He might think, oh, yeah, the Utah Jazz basketball team.

Right, exactly.

So something that.

Yeah, ended that with.

Which I want to dive into just a little bit here.

Is that audience perception?

I know.

I've experienced it where, you know, I'll do a poetry piece or spoken word piece, and somebody will walk up to me and go, oh, you know, this is what it said to me.

And I'm like, really?

That's brand new.

Cool.

I'm gonna write that down and I might use it in the next piece.

But with, you know, with your audience and how they perceive it, are you finding that their seeing everything that you're trying to put out there?

Or feeling everything that you're trying to put out there, or are you leaving them with little, you know, little eggs, little Easter eggs for them to find?

I think that's a great question.

I do those on occasion, very rarely.

Usually two per interview.

I think it's one of those things where you have a lot of people looking at what you're doing.

You have this, like, responsibility to do your art.

You also have this self responsibility to protect your vision and how you're making the art.

And art is one of those things that is so vulnerable to specifically the creator, because it's open to interpretation by anybody.

And that open to interpretation is, quite frankly, what makes a lot of things relatable.

And I think with art and with artists having that ability to take in people's perceptions in a very different way than you've even thought about it yourself, like your art should be a mirror for other people.

That is how it, frankly, it becomes a bit polarizing.

Like people.

If you can get people to argue over what something means, I think you've done a great job.

I truly do.

Because if you can strike that chord where people are actually willing to fight and argue over what something is, what something means, or even whether or not it is good or bad, you've polarized its status.

And you've created this work that has created so much emotion in somebody, no matter how it is perceived.

I've created so many things at will.

Like, quite frankly, means something to me that doesn't mean anything that I've even thought of to anybody else.

And, you know, if I have this direction that I'm trying to make everybody pinpoint, and I want everybody to know exactly what this means, I think I'm always going to be disappointed.

And it kind of circles back to the inner critic as well.

It's like, if I'm always going to be disappointed, how am I going to work with that?

And how am I going to keep creating work honestly?

And not in a way where I'm trying to persuade the viewer and how it's seen.

And art has been around in very influential times in history when things were going, quite frankly, terribly.

And people have used art as an escape.

And it should be one of those things where people put their own perceptions on it so that they have an escape as well, Whether it's through it being consumed or if it's used as inspiration.

That's how I feel about it.

So my last question for you here is, how do you create more than you consume?

Because that's kind of one of Our themes here at Creator Podcast create more than you consume.

So when you hear somebody say that, like me, because, you know, I kind of invented that tagline, what does that speak to you?

I think it's a great question.

I am.

I'm 26, so I'm a part of that generation that has.

Has grown up with social media.

And essentially, just like, I think everything has turned into an ad, right?

So it's like, I think consumerism is just kind of like, it's getting pushed to us no matter what we do.

And something for me that I've noticed, like, I get.

I. I do.

Like, I get sucked into the scrolling.

I get sucked into the social media.

And I'm like, one thing for me is, like, I'll get started looking at other people's art online, and it'll just continue.

And I'm looking at all of this, and I'm like, oh, my God, I really want to work on this piece.

Like, I really want to go work one thing.

Like, it's giving me a lot of the motivation and a lot of the inspiration, right?

And I've had to find a way to balance that, to be able to actually, like, I've evened it out.

I've gotten to a point where I've evened it out.

Like, I have those moments where I am, like, I. I am stuck in that.

Like, I want to find something to inspire me, and I've done.

I'm working on something.

I'm doing all of this.

And I was so proud that I have gotten more consistent at the doing than I have the looking.

It's a huge accomplishment for me, frankly.

And the one thing that has really helped with that, frankly, is the fact that I've had to idealize internal inspiration rather than trying to find anything to inspire me from the outside.

It is the biggest thing that has helped me, and it's also the hardest thing to do.

Like, like, we kind of talked about at the very beginning of this with, like, artists being naturally sensitive people.

No matter how that wants to be put or understood or heard, there is that inn.

There's, like, an inner feeling that you really, like, you have to be in touch with and you have to work with for these things to be able to create freely and have that inspiration and, like, make your thoughts a reality.

And it's honestly being in touch with, like, how I'm feeling.

And, like, working with, like, growing my empathy and emotional understanding for myself and other people, like, specifically other people, too, has helped me with this so much.

It has created a Point for me where I can just.

I can make something with the inspiration that I've had internally rather than trying to find something from the outside.

And I think, honestly, that's it.

It's hard.

You're doing a great job.

I mean, folks, go to the website.

For the love of God, go to the website.

It.

Just go.

Go to the website.

Why aren't you there already?

Yeah.

Are we allowed to believe?

I do it all the time.

Yeah.

This is peer pressure.

Listen to it.

Go, Go.

All the cool kids.

Okay?

Just every single one, you know, two cool kids right here.

So we've already gone.

Well, I mean, you designed it and I went to it, and I'm just, you know, bored by it.

So, you know, I hang out on it sometimes.

There you go.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Well, Velvet, it has been a lot of fun talking with you here tonight.

I want to thank you so much.

It's been so.

No, thank you.

Come on.

You're the.

That painting.

Seriously, you know that.

That.

The.

With the eyes.

I'm saying it's like chakras or Tai chi or something along those lines.

For me, that's what it is.

If that's not what it is, that's cool.

I'll write a dissertation on it.

I will submit it to you.

You can, you know.

Absolutely.

You know, the whole thesis.

You know, I've written thesis before, so expect 87 pages.

Give me a week.

Okay.

Excellent.

I'm looking forward to.

But again, thank you so much.

You have the magazine coming out and is there anything else coming out for you that you want everybody to know about?

It's nothing I can't talk about yet.

Okay.

We'll figure it out, future.

You'll know about it at some point.

I'm incognito right now.

Okay.

Okay.

You're in your.

You know, you're making your art right now, so we're not going to see you for a minute.

It.

But once we do, we're gonna be, like, amazing.

Fantastic.

Let's go with that.

I'm plotting.

I am plotting and scheming as we speak.

She's taking that little mustache, that little.

That little curly mustache, curling it so hard.

I'm just telling you guys, it's.

It's a little bit scary, but it's gonna be cool.

Yeah.

I got you,.

Jinx Larue.

I'm all over that one.

I'm playing that one tonight.

Thank God.

Again, thank you so much.

And we look forward to hearing more from you in the future here.

So thanks for.

Thanks for coming on.

Thank you for having me.

You got it.

So that was my conversation with the incredible Velvet Haze.

And what a fantastic reminder that our creative tools don't have to compete against each other.

They can build on one another.

If you've ever felt pressure to pick up just one lane or struggled with the fear of not fitting neatly into a single box, I hope this episode gave you permission to embrace your full multi passionate self.

Make sure to go check out Velvet's work over on her website inthehays.com and give her follow on Instagram @vellet44hayes to see all her latest projects in action.

Now if this conversation resonated with you, take a second to share it with another, you know, person, other artist who needs to hear it it or leave a review wherever you're listening.

It helps this show and you know, it makes my ego feel a little bit good.

So we could all use that.

So thank you again for tuning in.

You can reach out to me to get on the show like Velvet did.

Timothyartpodcast.com now go out there.

Tame that inner critic.

Create more than you consume.

Make some art for somebody you love yourself.

I'll talk to you next time.