WNW MEMBER DIANE LINDQUIST GUIDES GURL MUSEUM DAYS

WNW MEMBER DIANE LINDQUIST GUIDES GURL MUSEUM DAYS

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As the temperature and humidity rise in the coming months, you'll be desperately searching for air-conditioned escapes with cool marble flooring. You should be thinking museums. And if you're a "gurl" in LA, you can hit up the best museums and galleries with your own "gurl" gang. WNW Member Diane Lindquist is the founder of Gurl Museum Day, which includes both organized field trips to the latest exhibitions and installations, and a branded magazine that celebrates female artists, their journeys, and girl-focused exhibits.

In our interview below, Diane offers generous insights and openness into her creative background, in part shaped by the loss of vision in her right eye at a young age due to retinoblastoma. "In the years after surgery and treatment, I had many tests to make sure the cancer had not returned. The tests would be made up of shapes, color palettes, and other cognitive exercises. It was during this time that I began to develop my creative background."

She also shares the impetus behind GMD and its growing headcount. "My gurl friends would tease me about the galleries and museums I would visit. So I invited them to go with me. The next museum we went to they invited their friends and, soon enough, I asked everyone to document their experience on Instagram using the hashtag #gurlmuseumday. After a few more museums, other girls began to ask for information about how to be included. During one night of spontaneity–and lack of sleep–I developed the branding and website and GMD was born. I later discovered that only 5% of female artists had their work shown in reputable galleries and museums. That set in motion a series of events that deepened my mission to increase those numbers."

If you're in Los Angeles, you can learn more about GMD here and below. And New York, stay tuned for when GMD officially becomes bicoastal.

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Tell us a little bit about your creative background. Who is Diane Lindquist and how did she get here?

The story of Diane Lindquist starts in the city of stars, Los Angeles, a city where there are many shiny bright lights, but for me those lights were a bit blurry at first. At a young age, I started to lose vision in my right eye. It started out very minor and it quickly worsened. I can remember feeling so confused by what I was seeing that I would bump straight into walls. It turned out I had retinoblastoma (a form of cancer) in my right eye. My parents were immigrants, working-class, and this was something beyond their understanding and reach. If it wasn't for my mother's love and determination I might not be here to tell this story. With her help, I fought and survived cancer, but it took my right eye. I spent countless nights in the hospital, making friends with other kids with cancer (many of whom lost their battle) and developing a sixth sense — what I call my "killer fine eye.” 

In the years after surgery and treatment, I had many tests to make sure the cancer had not returned. The tests would be made up of shapes, color palettes, and other cognitive exercises. It was during this time that I began to develop my creative background. I had to wear eye patches, which weren't a friendly look for other children. I would dwell in the sounds, colors, and type around me because I lacked the vision I felt I needed and missed. I tried so hard to capture as much in my memory. Over the years, I always felt a creative spark within me. Coming from a humble background, I still felt a need to be practical. 

At the age of 16, I started working. I had excelled in strategy and liberal arts in high school, so it was natural to pursue them in college. I put myself through higher education by working nights and I also set up a backup plan. While design is my passion, I decided to hedge by earning a BS in Marketing and a minor in Graphic Design. The world needs designers, but I felt like marketing was a skill I could always support myself with. Afterward, I worked my way from a junior to senior designer. I taught myself web design, later UX/UI design (with some established education) and so on. While I have come a long way, I will always be learning. I think one has to be constantly learning to be successful. 

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How would you describe your creative style? Do you recognize a signature style that links all of your projects, or do you try to excuse yourself and approach each project as its own entity?

It took me a while to figure this out. My creative style is a combination of clean, stand-out designs with a fresh, bold, modern, and minimal aesthetic. I use lively colors, a synthesis of my Mexican-American heritage and love of Swedish minimal design. My creative style is completely different for projects I work on. I really try to keep a piece of my style within each project while I create designs that are based on what the client's or users needs are.

What was the impetus behind GURL Museum Day? What’s the project all about?

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GURL Museum Day (GMD) stems from my childhood. I didn't have many opportunities for recreation, but at school, we had field trips. The first museum I visited with my teachers was The Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles. I was about eight years old. For those who have never been, it's very impactful. I felt shocked and learned so much during my visit. The exhibition was fully interactive (with videos and other interactive installations). It evoked so much emotion in me. The empathy I felt struck those feelings I had from children teasing me for wearing an eye patch or even the rejection of my father's approval (since I was not 'normal' to him). I remember tearing up, touched deeply by their struggle. It also opened in me the desire to learn more about others through the conduit of the museum experience. Thus my love for museums and galleries carried me through my teenage years. When I could, I would use holidays to visit them. I learned about creating and exhibiting work. Some prints I made were shown at an LA River Gallery and, to my surprise, they were featured in The LA Times. I sold out half of my digital prints, which was a new thing for me. This also led me to volunteer in the expansion of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, where I was seeing art reshape the inner city. My gurl friends would tease me about the galleries and museums I would visit. So I invited them to go with me. The next museum we went to, they invited their friends and, soon enough, I asked everyone to document their experience on Instagram using the hashtag #gurlmuseumday. After a few more museums, other girls began to ask for information about how to be included. During one night of spontaneity–and lack of sleep–I developed the branding and website and GMD was born. I later discovered that only 5% of female artists had their work shown in reputable galleries and museums. That set in motion a series of events that deepened my mission to increase those numbers.

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Can you give our readers and potential GMD attendees an idea of what a Gurl Museum Day looks like?  

We have GMD Tours monthly, currently in Los Angeles (coming soon to New York). The day begins with meeting at a selected spot (usually in front of the museum). Gurls start arriving and we allocate thirty minutes of meet 'n greet. There we make a collective circle and I introduce myself, welcome them to GMD, and pass out name tags for gurls to write down their Instagram handle (towards the end I like to collect them in a printed promo piece to make sure I tag the girls in the photos I take). Then I ask two to three questions: (1) What are you passionate about? (2) Your most recent obsession or (3) Your favorite artist or type of art? This really gets all the gurls to open up and loosen up. Then we enter the gallery or museum. Sometimes we have a docent, sometimes we do a self-guided tour. It's fun to see all the gurls talk to each other and bond over art. The last thirty minutes we usually say where we are going next, say our goodbyes, and hit up the gift store (of course)!

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Of the museums and galleries you and your gurls have visited thus far, which ones do you recommend most highly? Which exhibits sparked the best discussions afterward?

The Broad is the brand spankin’ new museum of Los Angeles. It’s been all the rage and it doesn’t disappoint. My favorite gallery in LA is Ace Gallery. Most people don’t know about it but it’s amazing space. The beginning of the year we went to the Annenberg Space for Photography’s Skylight Studio for #GIRLGAZE. That generated a lot of conversation and interest because it was a range of photography in the perspective of females views. We talked about how powerful and important it was to feel represented within each photograph. 

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Was a magazine always an integral part of this project or did it come about later on?

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It’s wasn’t at first. However, after sharing this with so many girls, it clearly became the most needed part and I was happy to find collaborators that wanted to assist in the development. I partnered with Erin Remington. She’s an art curator and blogger at AFINEREYE. She helps with the interviews and the rest of the development of GMD. The magazine is strictly focused on sharing stories of gurl artists. Supporting their journeys or reviewing exhibitions that are related to girls. 

In what ways has this creative undertaking surprised you and challenged you?

I had done other projects, but they were planned out and systematic. This developed organically and every step has been a discovery both creatively and strategically.  

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Will you be planning a good number of air-conditioned museum trips this summer to escape the L.A. heat?

Oh yes! Summer in LA is the best. Everyone wants to go out and it’s the best time to visit galleries and museums. We have a whole year planned out. We are heading to visit Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, MOCA, MOLAA, Blum & Poe, & CAAM, to name a few. We are also planning to expand to New York by the beginning of summer.

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Who/what are your biggest creative influences?

As far as designer legends and greats, I admire and respect: Susan Kare, Aaron Draplin, WNW Member John Maeda, Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Jessica Walsh and Stefan Sagmeister. There are also many designers out there that are equally amazing and talented like Mig Reyes, Janet Longhurst, and Tobias van Schneider. I also find inspiration other ways from companies, products or agencies like HUGE and am heavily into art and culture. I have a whole list of female artists. At the top is Barbara Kunger, Maria Lassing and so on.

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What’s next for you? What are you working on now?

I have another project called Compassionate Landspace. This is a collection of visuals—posters and social cards—created and donated by designers that encourage empathy in the name of fairness, equality, and progress. Our goal, as a collaborative effort, is to allow a different type of visual messaging in our current landscape with compassionate visuals to be used by marginalized communities, organizations, protestors and the general public who aim to share the same message. I am working on another collaboration project and just hoping to expand GMD in different exciting avenues. 

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What do you do when Not Working?

Galleries and Museums… no really! I still go to so many opening receptions (aside from the ones we do with GMD). I am highly addicted to coffee, but as I like to say, “Coffee is addicted to me!" I enjoy visiting and collecting coffee shop experiences. I am also a mentor and love those relationships dearly. We can only shape our industry if we share our knowledge. 

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Who are some WNW Members whose work you admire and why?

Lately, I admire gurls who are in a cross-disciplinary sector between a designer and artist such as Tuesday Bassen and Gabriella Sanchez. 

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for sharing my story!  

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And You Thought You Were A Star Wars Fan

And You Thought You Were
A Star Wars Fan

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WNW Member #9338 Leandro Santini, a London-based director, has just completed an awesome series of short documentaries on Star Wars super fans. The 6 episodes of the series, titled Star Wars Changed My Life, portray a Droid Maker, a Lightsaber Master, a SW toy collector, a Jedi (a council member of the Jedi church), a SW tattoo artist, and a merchant. Each one is both humorous and heartfelt, and gives a voice to individuals that proudly own their fandom. This post is dedicated to those of you skipping the 4th Annual WNW Holiday Party and scalping a $200 ticket to Star Wars tonight.

#MayTheFourthBeWithYou

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WHY I KEEP MOVING

WHY I KEEP MOVING

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After over four months in Thailand, WNW Member #5670 Steven Skoczen has moved on to Mexico, the next stop on his country-hopping adventure. His last piece was about making the life that fits you, and redefining how to see success. Now Steven brings us deeper into his world of constantly being on the road, and how moving impacts you emotionally, physically, and creatively. 

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When people hear I’m constantly on the road, switching cities every month, changing cultures, learning new languages, constantly trying to comprehend how even basic things like crossing the street or getting on the bus are done, they often say the same thing: “That must be exhausting.”

The truth is, it’s not. In fact, personally - and especially creatively, keep moving has been the best decision I’ve ever made. It recharges me in fundamental, powerful ways.

As creatives, none of our work lives in a vacuum. If you’re a writer, think of how reading another writer’s work echoes out in yours the weeks after. As a photographer or designer, how your visual style is impacted by the work you see on a regular basis.

Now imagine that every single piece of stimulus in your life is changed, all of it entirely new. Imagine that you’re suddenly living in a world where people have found entirely new solutions to problems you thought were solved. A world where the standards for what’s appropriate in public are radically different, where the balance of what you share and what you hide are shifted.

And imagine that none of that is explained to you - you have to figure it out, day after day, mistake after mistake. That’s the world I get to live in. The effects are profound.

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It’s so much easier to take creative risks, and make creative mistakes.

Would I have ever published an open-hearted piece about depression or the deep philosophical insights you can get from traveller’s diarrhea when I was living in the states? No way. It might impact my klout score or my brand or any of the bullshit I’ve made up in my head as a rationalization for not putting genuine work out there.

But when you’re out in the world, failing at communicating, buying groceries, and even basic navigation, failure just becomes a normal part of what you do. It ceases to be scary, and you don’t need try-harder mottos to help you put things out there. You just live with your work how you live with your life. You know some of it will be an abject failure, and you learn how to recover and still get to where you want to go.

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You get access to entirely new ways of seeing the world.

All of our work is rooted in the world in which we live. So when how-the-world-works shifts, the effect on our work is tectonic. Imagine the sort of work you’d create in a world where you never said sorry, or one where you never said best. How would things shift if instead of meat or bread, vegetables were the foundations of food? How would your work change in a world where child sex trafficking was something you had to look in the eye, understanding first-hand what it says about all of us.

There are huge overlays on the cultures we live in that are only visible when we’re able to step out of them into something genuinely different. The effect of Christianity in the United States is powerful and forms the bedrock of every natural-born American’s world view, even if they’re not Christian. Spend a few months in a country that, for all of its recorded history, has been Buddhist, and those differences become obvious and palpable. They open up a new way of seeing, of expressing, and of course, of creating.

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You have a built-in deadline.

One of the most lovely bonuses is that once you’ve settled in and started making, you immediately feel the clock start ticking. I’m in Mexico now, but I won’t be forever. How much can I soak in here? How fully can I express the things I find?

There’s a real power to a deadline, even a gentle one, that prompts you to keep creating, keep making today and every day - because soon, this muse will be gone.

It’s like one of those short-term flings. It’s wonderful, and you want to squeeze every second in before it’s gone. Which reminds me - it’s time to close this laptop and head off. There’s more to Chiapas to experience, and more to write.

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Steven Skoczen is currently living in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, and writes over at Ink and Feet. He writes a hand-crafted letter every week that a lot of people really love.

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WATCHING NOT WATCHING: MAD MEN

WATCHING NOT WATCHING: MAD MEN

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To celebrate the final season of the cultural phenomenon that is Mad Men, we spoke to WNW Member #1218 David Saracino, a huge fan who has illustrated all of our favorite stylish characters. David fondly looks back on Mad Men with us: "Honestly, because of how well the show is made and written, they could all be greedy, womanizing alcoholics and I'd still watch it---oh wait." We also asked David to release his inner soothsayer and offer bold predictions for how the era will end: "I don't want to read too much into the ghosts Don's been seeing, but..."

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How'd you get started as an illustrator? And how have you seen your work change over the years?

I've drawn all my life, so when college rolled around I majored in illustration, and landed my first paid editorial gig junior year. Ever since then I've worked with editorial and advertising clients on both coasts doing a variety of work, ranging from conceptual illustration to product development. My work has changed (and continues to change) quite a bit over the years. I started-off working strictly traditionally, watercolor and colored pencil / ink, but as I started getting more and more work, learning to work digitally proved much less time-consuming. Initially I was scanning in my final drawings, color-correcting them, editing them, then finally coloring them, which also became a pretty big time-suck. I eventually invested in a 21" Wacom Cintiq, so now I work digitally start-to-finish. It's been the saving grace to working with tight deadlines and round after round of last minute edits.

Do you tune in and watch Mad Men weekly or do you binge all at once? And other shows?

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I do watch it live! Before I had access to cable tv at my apartment, it was so important that I watch it live that I used to watch it at a bar with cable. To be perfectly honest, I don't totally hate commercials. I've enjoyed commercials ever since I was young, always loving the funny ones, clever ones, etc. It's also pretty fitting to watch the commercials during a show about advertising, right? Also, I kind of love the annoyance of having to wait another week to see what happens next---I feel it really adds to my watching experience. To be fair though, when a new season of a show I like is uploaded all at once onto Netflix or wherever, I'm definitely guilty of binge-watching the hell out of it. Guess it depends on the show.

What is it about Mad Men that draws you in?

Definitely the time period and production value. I'm a huge fan of midcentury design, and the show's attention to detail is outstanding. I know a few people who had a hard time getting into the show and gave up on it because none of the characters were "likeable" enough. Honestly, because of how well the show is made and written, they could all be greedy, womanizing alcoholics and I'd still watch it---oh wait. 

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Upon seeing Roger's 'stache, did you immediately declare, "I have to draw that"?

Absolutely. I drew Roger and a few others last year, but I wanted another shot at him. I feel like I'm editing and redo-ing a lot of my work recently---not sure why---but his new 'stache definitely gave me an excuse to give him another go with the 'ol tablet. John Slattery's likeness is surprisingly difficult to capture, so adding a mustache to an already difficult-to-recognize portrait made me keep second-guessing his features. I'm pretty content with how he turned out, but who knows what will happen when I look back on it in a week.

What's your take on the start of the final season?

Looks like it's back to business as usual for Don and Roger, not that I'm surprised. I'm glad we're seeing Ken's story focused on a bit too. Not to mention the start to a possible/probable love interest for Peggy. Was a little surprised from the complete absence of Meghan, but I'm guessing we're going to see a little more of her. All in all, I'm pretty interested to see how they're going to fit in everything they need to wrap up in 7 episodes.

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Bold predictions for how the era will end?

I don't want to read too much into the ghosts Don's been seeing, but my girlfriend and I agree that we think Don's going to kick the bucket by the end of the season; especially when he witnessed that song and dance number by Robert Morse in the mid-season finale last year. I'm not sure what's going to happen to the firm, it could either be sold off and completely absorbed by McCann, or have lead creative be taken over by Peggy; she's definitely proven herself to Don. 

Do you think a new show about advertising will quickly fill the well-shined black Oxfords of Mad Men?

I really hope that there isn't an insurgence of shows that take on advertising. They definitely won't stock up well, especially if they don't devote the time and effort to crafting such a production. The actors deliver such incredible performances, all in a very cinematic environment, and I doubt that can be outdone for now.

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Is Mad Men, and television in general, a source of creative inspiration or escape for you?

Most definitely, on both accounts. I'm very right-brained, and really get lost or caught up in cinematic experiences. I've historically gotten heavily invested into dramas, whether they be film or on tv, since they're inherent to beautiful cinematography. They definitely provide me a source of creative inspiration, as I almost always need to draw the main characters of a show or film immediately after watching it. As to them being an escape, I love getting caught-up in a good story and I tend to tune everything else out while I'm watching something I'm really into. I've been really excited about how much better tv has gotten over the last 5 or 10 years; it really seems like I get to watch a mini-movie in every episode.

What other shows or films do you recommend to the WNW community?

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I was recently recommended by a friend to watch The Jinx on HBO, and I was not disappointed. I'm also a big fan of documentaries and whodunnits, so this was a shoe-in. I really enjoyed Tina Fey's latest straight-to-Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (illustration featured in The New Yorker), and I've just recently caught up with all of Louie on FX. I was floored by True Detective S01, and after the teaser trailer for S02 I lost my shit. In terms of recent films I enjoyed, I think the Oscars hosted a bunch of really outstanding films this year. Birdman was incredible, and was shocked it got subbed for Best Picture, and I really enjoyed Nolan's latest Interstellar; although I think that's one that you really had to see as large and as loud as possible in 70mm in Imax.  

 

Anything else you'd like to add?

Nothing else really, other than thanks so much for taking the time to ask me about my work and interests, as well as featuring me on Watching Not Watching! I hope you enjoy my work, and keep in touch to see who I've been drawing.

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