This blog-only series focuses on
some very talented people I know, support, and admire. It's my goal to
share and expose their art --- be it writing, photography, visual art,
music, lifestyle choices, etc. By questioning them about their creative and passionate lives, I hope to inspire my readers and to learn something new myself. Living a life full of creativity and
meaning --- and doing what you want regardless of societal expectation --- has
always been my modus operandi, and the same is true (if not more so)
for those I am spotlighting. I hope you read what they have to say, and support them as well.
Skater Bob: a music-lover and relentless skateboarder who's been gliding across NYC pavement for about two decades. He pens true tales in countless personal journals and zines, and was even featured in The New York Times (as pictured).
John Michael Swartz: a technology-oriented artist who has taken part in a myriad of multimedia projects. He plays the cello; records, produces, and engineers albums; and takes landscape photographs and portraits using his collection of vintage cameras (pictured here with one of his pictures).
Shayne Eastin: a singer who loves cats, Mickey Mouse, and throwing herself across the stage. She fronts an explosive LA-based punk band called Spider Problem, as well as other musical outfits, and has also been an actress.
Anastasia Werner Guadron: a poet who prefers typewriters and even knows how to fix them. She maintains a veggie website called "The Gourmet Vegetarian" and believes that poetry is closely related to tattoos, of which she has several.
Meghan Farrell: a jewelry designer inspired by psychology and neurology whose personal line, MF, has been featured in magazines and sold in NYC, LA, and overseas. She has acted in plays and indie films, DJ'ed in the East Village, and continues to express herself via a blog called "Evidence of Existence."
Scott Alexander Hess: a published novelist whose first two books explore gay culture in NYC as well as hardcore sex addiction. He has penned screenplays, performed one-man shows, and recently completed a coming-of-age novel about a young jockey in the Prohibition era.
Chris Gilroy: an audio engineer, electronic musician, hacker, tinkerer, and builder who loves to get his hands on new gadgets. He founded NYC's In/Out Festival, which is an electronic arts fest where musicians and artists come together, and is also involved in activism.
Elizabeth Gordon-Tennant: a visual artist who's been moving up through the fashion design world for the past ten years. She combines her long-term love of art and fashion with a newer love of
photography (Blackberry style), and even had a solo exhibition.
Shawn Fernando: a musician who plays keys for The Stevedores and acts as the singer/songwriter/keyboardist of his new band, Union Shop. He also started Square Patrol: a donation-based designated driver service and non-profit in Austin, Texas.
Stephanie Violet Clark: a wife, mother, and four-time cancer survivor who beat the odds and never lost hope, even after many surgeries. She is passionate about all things crafty, cooking organic food, and documenting her life --- the good with the bad --- on her successful website, "The Quiet Life of Violet."
Charlotte Gudmundsson: a visual artist who earned her degree in illustration. She has lived all over the world and incorporates her vivid imagination and inspirations into her work, whether it be painting a mural, designing a wine label, or simply drawing to her favorite music.
