#030: From Moss Shoes to Unicycles: Surtzy's Fearless Journey

What does it mean to live a life driven by boundless curiosity? Surtzy takes us on an extraordinary journey through her creative existence, where each day brings a new project and every experience becomes potential artistic fuel.

From crafting avant-garde moss shoes for sustainable fashion shows to performing as an aerialist, Surtzy embodies the spirit of fearless exploration. Her story begins at just four years old, when her parents normalized creativity as "just part of life," even encouraging her to repurpose trash as canvas when conventional materials were too expensive. This shaped her approach to creativity as accessible and essential rather than precious or elite.

After studying anthropology and sociology, Surtzy applied this knowledge to her passion: connecting people through art. "Nobody can do anything at all without community," she explains, challenging the myth of the solitary creative genius. Her diagnosis with Graves' disease at 19 crystallized her understanding that time is limited—fueling her drive to document her creative process and share it with others.

What truly distinguishes Surtzy is her commitment to daily collaboration. Whether rehearsing with her a cappella group, doing film readings, or co-creating large-scale community projects, she constantly seeks connection through creativity. Yet she balances this with intentional stillness, taking "meditation days" to let inspiration flow naturally instead of forcing it.

For creatives struggling with pressure and expectations, Surtzy’s wisdom is liberating. She abandoned the factory-model of art-making when her brand grew, choosing instead to create only when genuinely inspired—resulting in work that feels authentic, not resentful. Her advice for finding your creative community? Go where like-minded people gather: galleries, museums, libraries, and universities.

Listen in and discover how embracing curiosity, community, and the courage to try new things can transform your creative practice and perspective.

Surtzy's Profile
Surtzy's Website

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Transcript

Meeting Sertsy: Curious and Community-Minded

Speaker 1 0:34

to me. I think nobody can do anything at all without community, like we wouldn't be able to speak or or find pieces to inspire us or anything that um for me that's really well said.

Speaker 2 0:49

I love the way. I never thought of it quite like that. But you're right. You know we are interdependent.

Speaker 1 0:57

Yeah, Everything that's ever inspired me was made by somebody or made by groups of people and like built from ancestors of like things that they've made, or I don't know how to explain that. But everything's like projects and then I see that and then it helps me do things. It's just like a never ending cycle.

Speaker 2 1:17

Do you do a fair amount of collaboration creating with others?

Speaker 1 1:21

A lot. I try and do one a day. Like one project a day.

Speaker 2 1:26

Tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 1 1:29

Today I'm doing a no yeah. So today I have a film rehearsal and that's a bunch of people involved and we're all just like reading scripts. And then I'm also doing this rehearsal with this group called the Texas Harmonies. We just sing songs. I think Poker Face is on the list for tonight. It's acapella, so it's really fun Nice.

Speaker 3 2:02

Hey and welcome to another episode of For the Love of Creatives podcast. Another episode of For the Love of Creatives podcast. I am your Connections and Community Guy host Dwight, joined by our other Connections and Community Guy host, maddox, and today our featured guest is the one and only Sertsy. Hello, sertsy.

Speaker 1 2:22

Hi, how are you doing?

Speaker 3 2:24

Wonderful. We're so thrilled that you could be here today. I am so excited because I know that you have lived an incredible life of things that you have done. Tell our audience a little bit about who you are and what you're about.

Speaker 1 2:58

I'm just a very, very curious person. Ever since I was little, I've wanted to learn how to do everything, which is not really possible. Obviously, we're limited by our bodies and our skill sets and location and stuff like that, but everything that I was able to do I wanted to try it. But my main goal, like in general, is networking people and like helping people get up. So a little bit of background that I don't know if you know about. I did my my degrees in anthropology and sociology, so that helped me figure out how to connect people a little bit more. Like it taught me a lot about code switching and just like the Venn diagram of relationships and intimacy and communication in ways that people can absorb information better. So that helps me a lot with the networking and the arts. And yeah, it's just, it's been a whiplash experience, but very, very fun.

Speaker 2 3:49

You're speaking our language, because we're all about connecting people. It's like it's the blood that runs through our veins.

Speaker 1 3:56

It's so there's. It's an indescribable feeling to be able to see people connect and then make things from it.

Speaker 3 4:03

Yeah, well, this is, this is definitely the, the juice that that makes life worth the squeeze. I'm so excited because I've gotten a chance to find a lot of things about you before we actually met, and it's everywhere I turned. It was just another moment of what you is. You started, you actually engaged in creative pursuits at the tender age of four years old.

Speaker 1 4:37

Yeah, my parents are also very into creating, but I think they kind of like inspired me, because for a long time I I just think creating is like a thing you have to be open to, like a thing you have to like be willing to give the energy to, and they they kind of made it seem like it was just like a part of life. But as I got older I was like, whoa, I can do more of this and help people. But but four years old it was, yeah, it was, it was a lot.

Speaker 1 5:10

I think they gave you a really really big gift, you know just leading you to believe that it was just a part of life, because it is. But it's just, it's funny to think about as an adult because I remember when my dad they were separated so it was different types of creativity, but he would have us go through the trash can and look at things that we could use as canvas, because canvas was really expensive at the time for us. But it's just, it's funny looking back at that, like the priorities, like just being open to looking through the trash. I've never talked about that before, but Well, that's, that sounds amazing.

Speaker 2 5:46

I think that's fascinating, because you never know what you're going to find. I mean all my life I've heard one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Speaker 1 5:55

Yeah, it's just like a humble entry to it.

Speaker 3 6:15

I think it's amazing how you put together some pretty eclectic and, I'd say, I don't know whimsical experiences that were part of your formative years and you managed to nail down something that is, you know by a lot of measures, very solid, stable, predictable. I mean, you're credentialed, you went, you, you went to school and you, you got your, your background in anthropology and sociology, so you're, you're firmly planted in what everyone thinks is, oh, you know, definitely, um, someone that's um safe and no one that we need to worry about. Um, but little little might they know if they just peel beyond the surface. Oh, my gosh, there's an explosion of different creative directions that you go, and there's there's very little that you're afraid to do.

Speaker 1 7:02

Yeah, do you want to see some shoes that I made for a fashion show? Oh, we would love to here and stuff, because nobody would. I don't think this is very common. It's a moss shoe oh my goodness sustainability show I love it but um, you just reminded me of that because I think most people would be like don't do that, there's also a purse with it oh, wow oh wow.

Speaker 1 7:26

I'm just so obsessed with nature right now. I'm just like grasping for it because everything's so like, especially in America. Everything feels very like, boxy and very far removed. Yes, but a lot of the designs that I make are very like. They're very like out of the box when it comes to, like, staying in the safe zone. You reminded me of that with what you just said.

Speaker 3 7:53

Well, you know, I find it quite refreshing because my own background is one of being very tethered to the things that were predictable and safe, and it wasn't until I got to experience some loss around the pandemic that I got in touch with a lot of the things that were, from what I can tell about you, just part of what it was to exist. To just go and figure out where it was that your, your creative spirit, wanted to go, and, and to just go and try things out.

Speaker 1 8:33

Am I able to ask you about what might've encouraged your, your pivot, during the pandemic?

Speaker 3 8:40

Absolutely and understand that.

Speaker 3 8:44

I know that everyone was was dealing with being locked down during that time and I was with a partner of 20 years who had a severe medical condition, a terminal medical condition advanced liver disease medical care during the time when hospitals were surging and we'd we'd go into hospitals and have to deal with warlike conditions, uh, just to get what's well, what's ordinarily in some pretty intense care.

Early Creative Beginnings and Education

Speaker 3 9:22

And it was made even worse while it was stressed and I uh, my whole life uh, centered around being a caregiver at that at that point. And, um, once the once the lockdowns were lifted, we still had to deal with the disease and, uh, there was a point and I guess it was March of 22, where there was a hospitalization that he didn't return from and, despite doing all the things that were made to prepare for the inevitable when he died, I was wrecked and I went through a pretty dark period and I also went through a lot of exploration to figure out just who I was and what I was really about and got to really meet myself for the first time and it's been it's, it's been an amazing experience and an amazing rebirth, if you will rebirth, if you will.

Speaker 1 10:35

Yeah, I'm glad you were able to take it and turn it into something like I call it toroidal cycle, but I don't know of a better word Like when you like cycle it through, like to help regenerate.

Speaker 2 10:46

I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Speaker 2 10:48

It was what brought us together because at the same time he was going through that, I was single at the time and locked in my house by myself. For two years I spent a lot of time on Zoom, just to survive, just to have some connection with the outside world, which I'm grateful that I had. But I think when we started to emerge for different reasons but I started saying, before the pandemic even lifted, when this is all said and done and I can go back out into the streets without this mask, I'm going to do whatever it takes to create an epic social life for myself. I want my home to be a social hub and not drunken parties by any means, but real connection, real social time where you're spending time with people that you know, like and trust and want to have deeper meaning in your, your connection with and our. Somehow our desires and our dreams aligned and the universe brought us together.

Speaker 1 12:02

That's so wonderful. I'm glad that you're able to find each other, because it feels nice to be able to like find people that are on the same path and able to help each other back and forth. The Internet's an amazing place.

Speaker 3 12:17

We are very aligned particularly on this the bringing of people together and creating community, and we're very aligned together and creating community and we're very aligned Well, and it's amazing, I'm sorry, it's amazing how circumstances just work out with things. You know, I feel like we eventually just make it to where we're supposed to be and I think that kind of leads into how it is that you managed to find your place in Dallas. Like I know that you had troubled times with hashtag van life.

Speaker 1 12:56

Yeah Well, I didn't really want to end up in Dallas but in Kentucky. Every time I would Google, so OK. So before the pandemic I did try the nine to to five, but then the pandemic made it. So I was like I don't want to rely on that. I feel like if I do the nine to five it's going to take my whole life away and then maybe I won't even have benefits by the time it's time for retirement. It just didn't make sense to me and I was like I'd rather just live now.

Speaker 1 13:23

So then I um, a lot of people moved to to Texas from Kentucky or a lot of people all across the US are moving to Texas because of the job opportunities. So I was like, let me try one of those. And I got in an RV and I ended up in Corpus Christi and I met my boyfriend. He was a skydiving pilot and I was a skydiver, so yeah, it just worked out, and his family's here. So this is not exactly at the beach, but it's pretty close to the beach. So that's why I'm staying for a little bit and I like the people. The people are. There's just all types of groups Like, if you want to go listen to reggae music. You can listen to reggae. If you want to go like Venezuelan food, which is where my family's from then I can go do that. None of that was an opportunity in Kentucky.

Speaker 2 14:12

We do have a lot. Dallas offers a lot in the way of culture and art and music and dining and shopping and you name it Fashion. It offers a lot. You can walk out your door and just about you know walk oftentimes to. It's not a walking city but if you're, especially if you're, in the inner city, there's a lot that's really close it's.

Speaker 1 14:41

That's new to me. I've never really been around a metropolis. I've heard about them and I saw them on tv. But, um, in kentucky, especially lexington, it was like one street there was maybe like 15 buildings, not even that tall, and everybody dressed the same and everybody ate sandwiches and salads. So it's just, and I couldn't even really speak spanish because it was offensive, so I just got used to it and now that I'm here, I'm like whoa, there's so much stuff, so many people.

Speaker 3 15:10

Well, and I think the beautiful thing about the way things are set up here, like there is a world where you could conceivably walk inside an existence. That was exactly what you described in Lexington. In lexington, um, but you can just choose to to walk over a street and, um, or you know, just pick a point on the map and you've. You've got all sorts of choices. If you want to go and see what's happening with, uh, deep bellum, or, um, lower greenville, uh, if you're into, you know, going to nightclubs and bars and that kind of thing, there's that for you.

Finding Dallas and Cultural Diversity

Speaker 3 15:53

And if you want things that are maybe very focused on arts and design, you know we've got all kinds of things with the design district and with the, with the, the beautiful, well, everything that they have going on in the, in the arts district, you know, especially around the spring, I mean, my goodness, there's you, you can just go walk in any direction. Once you go to where the M line terminates and you, you know, you're just bombarded with all kinds of things on offer for you to do. It's crazy. So let's see, I'd like to dive a little bit deeper.

Speaker 1 16:41

I love the opportunity and the choices.

Speaker 2 16:45

Oh yes, lots of opportunity and choices. Yes.

Speaker 1 16:49

I think there's a lag. Sorry.

Speaker 2 16:52

I think there is a little bit of a lag.

Speaker 1 16:53

I'd like to dive in a little bit.

Speaker 2 16:55

Yeah, I would like to ask, on an internal level, what would you say? Maybe it's life experiences or struggles or pain that you've been through, and maybe not. Maybe it's something else, but what would you say is the driving factor behind what you create? Where does that come from within you?

Speaker 1 17:27

So I have Graves' disease and I discovered it when I was like 19 and I think that, um, I've always kind of wanted to do things. I've always been kind of a dreamer, but I always some. I think most people think they have time forever, but um, that that Graves disease made me realize that I could probably not have that much time, and a lifetime isn't very long if you think about it, even if you do live to like the max. So I just I feel like it's like those things combined with the fact that I want to document a lot, like I think everyone needs to. If they have things to give, they have to give it out so that other people can grab onto what you have and then make things from that.

Speaker 1 18:08

So I'm just like constantly like I need a. I need to make it for not just for myself, but because of the time and because other people probably need to see it. I don't know if that makes sense. It's like good, it's a lot of things it makes perfect sense it makes perfect sense and maybe if we add a little texture.

Speaker 3 18:31

I know that you've done some things like avant-garde modeling. What is that even like?

Speaker 1 18:38

So the shoes that I just showed you that's for a show, that's it's an avant-garde show, and so avant-garde is basically the way I like to describe it is something that you wouldn't wear every day because it might break and it'd also be very uncomfortable to sit in, and you can't even really get into cars with it because it's just so delicate usually, and it's also strange, some people would look at it. That part's not so bad, but it's basically strange, strange fashion.

Speaker 2 19:06

I see a lot of that floating across social media, things that I couldn't imagine ever wearing in public. It makes for a spectacular view as they're running down you know walking up and down the runway. But you're right, there's nothing practical about it.

Speaker 1 19:24

Yeah, it might even be dangerous, like tripping over certain things and stuff like that, but I think the goal is to be able to use it once and then take a picture, and then I think the redundancy of it is what makes it more of an art piece like a one-of-one piece yeah, I never thought of it like that yeah, it's like the more ridiculous the better, almost.

Speaker 2 19:47

Yeah, I get it and I've certainly seen that, but you just kind of put like a spin on it where I, for the first time, kind of understand it. You know, I've kind of thought I've always been into fashion my whole life and I'm like thinking, what are they doing?

Speaker 1 20:04

You know, this doesn't have anything to do with what you would, people would buy and actually wear on the street, but that's not what it's about I feel like it also combines elitism in it for a little bit, or I don't know how to explain it because, um, you have to have a certain amount of money to be able to spend on materials that you will never be able to use again or that you can't even use at all, just like hanging it up and put it as a display. So it kind of like feels like classist in a bit, but that's a whole other discussion. But I can make it and I get it from like, very, very cheap materials, so I'm able to, thankfully, do it.

Speaker 3 20:41

That's interesting, paying for it, and stuff like off the runway.

Speaker 1 20:44

I don't know, that'd be hard.

Speaker 3 20:49

That's really cool and makes us kind of appreciate Well, and it definitely makes you think.

Speaker 1 20:58

I mean, the pieces that you showed this morning were about sustainability, you know kind of it's like it's contradictory because it has plastic and then I'm not even sure what the fake moss is. I did upcycle the shoes like that the base shoes but it's it's just like a lot of layers to it. I wish it was fully sustainable, but we're still using plastic.

Speaker 2 21:26

It's hard to say that I think that I will now really have a different level of appreciation for those videos as I see them. Or, you know, we've gotten involved in an organization that is about fashion, so we will be attending some things like what you're describing, and I think I'm going to. Just what you've shared has given me the ability to have an appreciation that I wouldn't have had, so I hope that there are listeners out there that maybe have gained something from what you shared as much as I have. Thank you for that. That was a gift. You know I'll be able to see it differently now.

Speaker 1 22:06

Yeah, do you like paintings?

Speaker 2 22:08

I do. I've painted a little bit. In fact, that colorful one back behind me here is one of mine. The thing about it is I like it, but I don't like doing it by myself.

Speaker 1 22:27

Oh, we should host a workshop one of these days. But I was going to say that it's kind of like paintings, like you can't always exactly use your paintings. I mean, they're decorations. I have some paintings in here I don't know if you can see them, some things like that but you can't exactly use them. But it's still kind of like it's gotten to the point where I think people are making things not just to use them.

Speaker 2 22:54

They're making them just to make them.

Speaker 1 22:56

And to practice skills. I think too.

Graves' Disease and Creative Motivation

Speaker 2 22:59

And I certainly did my share of that. In fact, there was a point recently, six months ago, where I cleaned the garage out and I had, like, I like to paint big canvases, but most of my canvases were practice canvases, so they they didn't look like finished art, or they didn't to me, you know, and I I donated all of them to a local thrift store, which I doubt anybody actually bought them, and hung them on the wall. They probably bought the canvas on the cheap and then just re-upcycled it, as you said, painted over. Whatever I did, I knew when I started it it wasn't art. I knew it was just me practicing technique and playing with color. But my heart's happiest when I'm painting next to someone else. When I started painting I took a class and every week I was in class where I was painting with other students and I got so indoctrinated in the painting with others that when I ended the class and thought, oh, I'll paint, I didn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy painting by myself.

Speaker 1 24:10

Yeah, it's a lot more fun with people.

Speaker 2 24:13

It's an energetic thing for me. I have one piece, but the favorite piece that I painted hangs down in our dining room and I hosted a big painting party where there were probably I don't know 15 or 20 people and we had canvases stuck all over the walls of this big, huge studio and people were sipping on wine and laughing and talking, having a good time and painting. And the energy in the room enabled me to paint my best piece ever and I did it in 45 minutes flat and I knew it was done. I was like I'm done and it was just. It all came from. It didn't look like anything else I'd ever painted and it all came from just the energy that was flowing in the room. It was an amazing experience and I'll never forget it.

Speaker 1 25:16

Oh, and it's a testament to how anything worth doing, worth having, is just enhanced whenever we're able to share it. Yeah, it's. I have this, this quote, that I tell my boyfriend all the time that it's like did I even go for a walk at the park if I didn't take a picture of it and show my friends or my mom or something? It's not. I mean, it's still nice, but it's not as nice.

Speaker 2 25:34

Yes, I love it. Yeah, there are some things that cameras just can't capture. Yeah, the things that our eyes see, that the camera lens just doesn't have the ability to, to see and capture, that's always fascinating to me.

Speaker 3 25:49

Well and I know that there's something that comes from just being there the experience of an event is going to be far different from any way that can be recorded or relayed. We, we, we just get so much more by just being in the moment.

Speaker 2 26:13

Cersei, do you, do you have any creativity? That is, that is not making things like like you know. For instance, you know my creativity comes in the form of ideas. You know we host events and we connect people, we publish this podcast and I guess you could say we're making something with the podcast, but we're not making something that is like a tangible piece of art that you would display. I write a lot and that's how my creativity shows up, but honestly, you know, I always laughingly say creativity comes into every piece of my life. You know, I got really, really creative at one point in my life to figure out how to fold the chip bag down in a manner that it would keep the chips fresh.

Speaker 1 27:09

That's really cool. That's like an invention.

Speaker 2 27:12

I love that, but I'm, you know, I see the things that you create. But Dwight also said at one point that you worked, you were an aerialist, and I don't know much about that and it's certainly a form of creativity, so, but I'd love to know that or anything else that you do that's been creative. That hasn't been about making something, because we don't talk about that that much.

Speaker 1 27:38

So I want to before I answer, where can I read some of your stuff?

Speaker 2 27:44

We have a sub stack page and we haven't had it for very long, so there's only a handful of articles in there, but I would I would love to share that with you.

Speaker 1 27:56

Yeah, I would love to see some. I was going to read today, since it's all rainy, but. But, creativity wise. I used to host events with my father in Lexington. We used to have wine and dine parties and then also we would paint and talent shows and we would invite everyone and everybody would bring their instruments and we just organized events like that. And when I started traveling that had to stop, because you have to stay in one place if you're doing events, because you kind of have to be like a hub for people. But I sing, I dance poetry, a lot of writing for academia, because I just have to, I have to contribute. I spend a lot of time absorbing academic papers so I feel like I have to give back. But then aerialing or aerialisting is kind of a flow, so I categorize that as dance, but it is. It does take some category or some some creativity.

Speaker 2 28:53

And and are you? When you say you think of it like dance? Are you on a tight wire?

Speaker 1 28:59

No, it's like a, it's a hoop.

Speaker 3 29:02

Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 29:03

There's also a flying pole. I didn't really do that one that much because it hurts, but the hoop is my favorite. And then there's silks, but I've only done that a few times. It's really pretty, but it gives you carpet burn, which I don't know if it's worth it for me.

Speaker 2 29:20

Yeah. So I mean you did say as a child you just wanted to do it all. And it sounds like you are out there doing it all and I love that. What would you say is out of everything creative that you've ever done? What is the thing that has lit your fire the most?

Speaker 1 29:41

Um, that's really hard to pick, because for me it's not the most, it's more like what do I feel like doing today?

Speaker 2 29:49

I love that.

Speaker 3 29:50

My gosh, you two are peas in a pod. It's just hard to say that.

Speaker 1 29:58

Maybe it's like listening to music. Do you want to listen to the same song all the time, or same genre all the time, or do you want to listen to a different genre today?

Avant-Garde Fashion and Sustainability

Speaker 2 30:08

I have more playlists than you can shake a stick at. You know, I set aside a period of my life here about three or four years ago where I decided that every day I was going to wake up and I wasn't going to have any plan. There was going to be no plan, no schedule, and every day I would wake up and I would just from moment to moment ask myself what I want to do now, and I would only do things that I felt like doing.

Speaker 1 30:37

That's very mindful.

Speaker 2 30:39

I did it for several months and it was just life changing. It was the most. At first I thought I'm going to hate this. I had kind of a health thing that came up and the doctor said I want you to clear your schedule. I don't want that. I want you to rest now that you can't do anything. And I thought, oh, I'm going to hate this Cause I'm a doer, you know. But it turned out very, very different than what I thought. I didn't hate it, it was it was, it was, it was.

Speaker 2 31:08

Perhaps excuse me.

Speaker 1 31:12

Did you learn to relax?

Speaker 2 31:14

I did. I learned to relax, but I also I'm always a person that always had a plan. You know, it was like there was always a schedule. I was a career hairdresser for 40 years, so I'd wake up every day and my whole day was planned out for me already. They were all scheduled one right after the other, and so I'd never been in a situation where I could just, from moment to moment, think what do I feel like doing right now, and then not having to do anything, just saying, well, I feel like not doing anything and just sitting and doing nothing. It was perhaps one of the biggest gifts I've given to myself. I would recommend it to anyone.

Speaker 2 31:55

It might be a little weird and easy at first, but I could talk for hours about what unfolded and what I learned about myself and how amazing it was to just give that to myself.

Speaker 1 32:14

Yeah, I think that's something everyone should practice. I've tried it a few times, but I don't know. I feel like I would just go to sleep Like that was my option, not every day.

Speaker 2 32:24

And that's okay too, you know, just to let it be whatever it is that is that's scary.

Speaker 1 32:34

What if I just watch tv all the time?

Speaker 2 32:36

I need the appointment well, it might serve you, though you never know. And the reason I say that is because I thought, oh my god, I'm gonna hate this. And so I did it. And but the the more space I created, where I didn't force myself to do stuff, where I just was just being, I began to feel something well up inside of me and I wasn't real sure what was going on. And then at one point I realized I was just feeling like a level of inspiration that I had never experienced and I don't think. And out of that, you know, there was all this inspiration. And then it began to, because, you know, the whole be, do, have. The world is more about do have and then be, and in just that beingness, the doing flowed from it. Naturally, I didn't have to force it, I just was suddenly very inspired to do all kinds of things at a level of inspiration that I'd never experienced, and I don't know whether it would be that way for anybody else or not.

Speaker 1 33:56

I think that they do say you have to be in a state of flow to be able to create. So maybe it relaxes your mind or it takes off the blinders or something.

Speaker 2 34:07

It takes off all the pressure. So much of our world and we talk to creatives every day. There's this pressure to make, to create, to paint, to sculpt and I've come to realize in my life that you cannot. Creativity comes from source. That's my personal belief. It comes through me and I can't force it to come through me. I have to open myself and allow it to come through me. And when I really got clear on that and stopped trying to force anything, now it flows so effortlessly. I don't ever have a block, Ever.

Speaker 1 34:49

That's amazing. I was just thinking about that this morning. Whenever I was driving. I was thinking about how it got to the point or my brand got so big that it got to the point where I could have become a factory. But I ended up going the other route and just saying I'm not going to be forced to paint all these paintings because people are asking me to. I'm just going to do it whenever I want to and then make it, I think, better than as if it were a factory. So I think it's noticeable, Like when you, when you start being forced as a creative, I think you can you start to get like noticeably resentful and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 35:21

Yes and and to what you create, because we have these conversations a lot about. Do I create something that I know will sell, or do I create what I just feel like creating, and and with no regard to whether it may sell or not, and that's a tough equation for most artists.

Speaker 1 35:39

I think it's a fork in the road that everyone has to decide where they. I mean. I guess you could go back and forth if you eventually want to go back that route, but I think people decide.

Speaker 2 35:48

Well, and it's not an either, or it can be an and yeah.

Speaker 3 35:53

There's definitely a place for being able to appreciate that you have to do something. Where you're getting in the reps, you know you're you're not going to wake up and suddenly be an amazing artist one day. You're, you're going to have to get there because you've done the, the fundamentals, to try to build a skill to, or to build the muscle to, to have the practice, to develop your own style, to learn about it and To make the mistakes Exactly and and have the complete epic failures.

Speaker 1 36:30

Yeah.

Speaker 3 36:33

And that's well. And the failures are where you might learn the most.

Speaker 1 36:39

Yeah, I think they're all inevitable.

Learning to Flow and Release Pressure

Speaker 2 36:42

Sertzi, what's a project that you're really excited about right now?

Speaker 1 36:49

So you mentioned the big canvas. I've never, ever painted a big canvas, so I've been thinking about it, but I don't have a place for it. But that's. I've been looking forward to it in my mind. Like as soon as I get like maybe a little workshop room or something. I'm going to start doing that, and I also got a unicycle, so like those are like things that I've been thinking about.

Speaker 2 37:12

Have you? Have you gotten on it and been able to balance yet?

Speaker 1 37:15

No, no, that takes a while, but I, I use a little rail on the side and I, I like act like I'm going to do it. I think that's like a good practice.

Speaker 2 37:25

I can't even imagine how one would learn to do that I mean.

Speaker 3 37:29

I've ridden a bicycle all my life but one wheel.

Speaker 1 37:34

Right, it's so silly and it makes everyone laugh, so I can't wait to actually just get on there.

Speaker 2 37:40

It's a pretty. It's a pretty amazing skill. We saw a unicyclist, uh, this past winter at a festival at Fair Park and, oh my God, she was amazing. She could do anything on that unicycle and it was one with a really, really tall pole, so she was about 12 feet up in the air with a little wheel on the bottom and she was juggling and people were throwing things at her and she was catching them on top of her head. I can't even. It was a phenomenal display.

Speaker 1 38:20

I can't believe people can do that. That's so like so many years and skills combined there.

Speaker 2 38:28

I have to wonder if she started training as a small child because it was like a part of her body. The unicycle was literally like part of her body. She had complete control over it, like she would any other appendage it was crazy. That's incredible.

Speaker 1 38:50

Yeah, I don't have any other projects that I can think of right now, but I do have a calendar that I like. Whenever I do run out of projects, I go through and I'm like what's the next thing?

Speaker 2 39:01

I love that well, sorry sometimes it's time to just take a break in between projects, you know, and wait for that creativity to show up.

Speaker 1 39:15

Yeah.

Speaker 2 39:16

So, when the time comes to leave Dallas, do you have any thoughts about where you'll go?

Speaker 1 39:21

I've been scoping new places. We just got back from Tokyo and I don't think Tokyo is exactly the size that I'd like, but someplace where, where it's healthy, I really want to. I don't even think the U?

Speaker 1 39:36

S is for me anymore, but someplace that, like I, can breathe good air and drink good water, yeah, yeah, that's a tall order yeah, it's, it's been hard because it's it's hard to know if it's like the grass is greener on the other side, if it looks like that. But um, we've been exploring to see oh, and that's very cool.

Speaker 3 39:57

Yeah, I. I always like to keep in mind, whenever people talk about looking for greener pastures, that wherever you go there, you are.

Speaker 1 40:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2 40:09

Yeah, yeah, we take ourselves with us. You know, you got to really look at your motivations for moving. Some of us are running towards something, some of us are running away from something, and oftentimes what we're running away from is ourselves and we don't realize it, Since we take ourselves everywhere we go. That's why, no matter where you go, there you are.

Speaker 1 40:30

Yeah, that's a really good quote, but sometimes I feel like I'm running away, like if I I feel like the things that I don't like. Like, for example, it's like the chemical in the food I feel like I should be advocating for like better foods in the place that I am, versus like chasing another place. Sometimes it just feels like an uphill battle or like against the tide.

Speaker 3 40:52

Well, you know, I would argue that that's that's by design. It's made to feel that way when you really have far more power than than you might think, and it's just a matter of applying that creativity yeah, I did a comparison of a doritos bag in the us versus a doritos bag in tokyo and I think that helped a lot of people.

Speaker 1 41:19

I think a lot of people didn't even notice that they could get by with like regular chips without red 40 or like all the other preservatives, right, that's a whole other conversation, yeah.

Speaker 2 41:32

We have all kinds of chemicals in our food that doesn't really belong there. It's kind of amazing.

Speaker 1 41:38

It's just it feels random, like bread doesn't have to be so complex, it could just be like yeast and a few other things.

Speaker 2 41:45

Exactly, yeah, I in the last few years I've gotten to where I really read labels and try to like buy as simple things as I can that have as few words that I can't pronounce as possible.

Speaker 1 41:58

Yeah.

Speaker 3 42:00

Yeah, well, I know that family is something that's a really big driver for you, and not just a family of origin, but your family of choice. You mentioned your boyfriend as as being someone that's important to you. How, how have you, how have you drawn the connections to build your, your chosen family that supports you here and in all the places that you go?

Speaker 1 42:36

I think I find them based on like things that, like I've always had this policy, since I've always moved a lot, like most of my life, um, I always go to places where the people that um when I that I'd identify with might be like galleries or libraries or museums or universities, and that's that's how I go and find, like my potential family and I, I, just I, I adopt a lot of people as my family, like it's pretty easy for me to do.

Speaker 3 43:06

Oh, that's beautiful.

Community's Role in Creativity

Speaker 2 43:14

Those are words of wisdom and pretty simple, and yet so little of our population really understands that. I mean, you just laid out something that is so simple and doable by absolutely anybody. Just go where people are that are doing things that you're interested in.

Speaker 1 43:26

Yeah, I think a lot of people try and grab people that are in their sphere and make them do things that that they want them to do, but I think that's a lot harder way harder. Yeah.

Speaker 3 43:37

Yeah, yeah. We just got to let people do what they're going to do. They're going to be who they are.

Speaker 1 43:44

Yeah, Like my mom got into crocheting and none of our friends crochet. But so I was like you should go to a workshop so you can run into people that that also crochet and they already like it.

Speaker 2 43:55

It's not easy, yes, yes, so Sertsi, how does community play a role in your creativity?

Speaker 1 44:10

Oh, I don't know how community would not play a role in your creativity. Oh, I don't know how community would would not play a role in anything. How. I don't know how that would be possible, because to me, I think nobody can do anything at all without community, like we wouldn't be able to speak, or or find pieces to inspire us or anything, or find pieces to inspire us, or anything.

Speaker 2 44:29

Wow, that's really well said. I love the way I never thought of it quite like that. But you're right. You know we are interdependent.

Speaker 1 44:38

Yeah, everything that's ever inspired me was made by somebody or made by groups of people and like built from ancestors of like things that they've made, or I don't know how to explain that. But everything's like projects and then I see that and then it helps me do things.

Speaker 2 44:55

It's just like a never-ending cycle do you do a fair amount of collaboration creating with others?

Speaker 1 45:02

a lot. I try and do one a day. Like one project a day.

Speaker 2 45:07

Tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 1 45:10

Today I'm doing a. So today I have a film rehearsal and that's a bunch of people involved and we're all just like reading scripts. And then I'm also doing this rehearsal with this group called the Texas Harmonies. We just sing songs, so like I think Poker Face is on the list for tonight that, um, it's acapella, so that's really fun, nice. And then I'm doing the podcast with y'all, so I think I think this counts yeah, definitely collaboration yeah, just stuff like that wow, that's.

Speaker 2 45:45

That's really inspiring. I collaborate at least once a day. Is that what I heard you say?

Speaker 1 45:51

I try. Yeah, I do take days where I don't do anything and I take them as meditation days. I do it by force, but I think it helps.

Speaker 2 46:02

Well, there's a form of collaboration there, too, as well. You're collaborating with source and you're collaborating with self.

Speaker 1 46:10

Yeah, I'm still brainstorming, though, because it's hard to fight the brainstorms when you're meditating.

Speaker 2 46:18

Oh, you know, I stopped trying. I just let it be what it is. If it's a time when I'm supposed to get good ideas for creation, I just allow it to be, and if it's time when I really need to be still and quiet, I'll just allow it to be. I stopped trying to make it be anything.

Speaker 1 46:36

I'm going to work on that.

Speaker 2 46:39

What it wants to be. I let it just be what it wants to be.

Speaker 1 46:43

That seems hard to do for me.

Speaker 2 46:47

It is. I'm right there with you. It's not easy.

Speaker 3 46:50

It is until it isn't right.

Speaker 2 46:53

Yep exactly.

Speaker 1 46:57

Mr.

Speaker 2 46:57

Dwight, do you have some rapid fire questions for Sartsy?

Speaker 3 47:02

Yes, we do. We like to close with some rapid fire questions. Are you ready with some rapid fire questions? Are you? Are you ready with some rapid fire answers? I think so all right, so we'll hit you with three of them today.

Daily Collaboration and Rapid-Fire Questions

Speaker 1 47:14

First one is best piece of advice another creative has given you um, it's so cliche, but I guess they just do it, just get started. Okay, everyone says that. So it's not like I can't credit that to one specific person, but, um, they're always just like, just just get started and like fix the problems as you go or fix the, the confusion as you go and stuff. Oh, that, that's great we.

Speaker 3 47:44

We've heard it on here before, but it it bears repeating. Yeah, that's ego and stuff. Oh, that, that's great. We. We've heard it on here before, but it it bears repeating.

Speaker 1 47:49

Yeah, that's why cliches are cliches for a reason.

Speaker 2 47:52

That's right. Yes, they are just like stereotypes.

Speaker 3 47:59

Next one what's the most challenging creative skill you're still trying to master?

Speaker 1 48:06

Probably the one we just talked about, the whole relaxing and being in a sense of flow and just not forcing it. That one, I think, is hard. It's like a concert, it's a paradox, because it's like how do you do both things? I think a walking beam or a balance beam.

Speaker 3 48:26

Yeah, yes. So the last rapid fire question what is your dream collaboration partner? Who is your dream collaboration partner, be they alive or dead?

Speaker 1 48:40

um, I don't have anybody in mind specifically, because I just I feel like it's the whole doing too many things thing, because I have. I have idols for inspiration, people from each thing, like fashion, singing, painting, so it'd be hard to pick one. But I think like a really big project, like with involving like hundreds of hundreds of people, would be a dream come true, just like like big, big cities coming together to do stuff together. I think that would be wonderful.

Speaker 2 49:10

I bet you could pull that off yeah.

Speaker 1 49:13

Maybe eventually I feel like it takes a lot of. Maybe you guys could help me, because you guys do events. For me the organizing the, the big groups of people together. Part is hard.

Speaker 2 49:26

Yep, that's, that's what we do, and and it is challenging, you're right, it is challenging, but it is what we do. So you never know, could be a, could be a possible collab right here.

Speaker 1 49:36

Yeah, that'd be wonderful. Let's brainstorm on it.

Speaker 3 49:39

Yeah, we definitely will. Well, this has been a fabulous, fascinating conversation. I'm so glad that we sat down to do this.

Speaker 1 49:50

Thank you so much. I feel like I learned a lot about myself and it was really nice to meet y'all.

Speaker 2 49:55

Oh, I love that, that you feel like you learned a lot about yourself. I think there is something magical and I say this a lot when we I mean we all have a story inside of us. We all have lots of stories inside of us and we get little opportunities to tell little snippets here and there, but how often do we get to really tell like a big part of the story? And I think there's something magical that happens when you say it out loud where other people actually hear it. Kind of like that thing about would the tree falling tree make a noise if there were nobody in the forest to hear it? Somebody needs actually hear it. Kind of like that thing about would the tree falling tree make a noise if there were nobody in the forest to hear it? Somebody needs to hear it and you know people will hear it now because it's going to go out on the airways for the whole world.

Speaker 1 50:38

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Speaker 2 50:42

Thank you so much for spending an hour with us Sertsi. This was amazing.