DXTROSE

As a multi-disciplinary 2D mixed-media artist and illustrator, my creative process varies greatly, but typically begins with a rough ballpoint pen sketch on a sheet of paper or in a sketchbook. How I decide to approach a piece really just comes down to the look I'm going for in my mind, where my hands take me and how I'm feeling that day.

From there, I decide if I want the piece to be traditionally created or if I want to mix it with contemporary digital art and painting. When I decide to finalize a piece traditionally, it usually ends up as a detailed ink illustration or painting. If I decide to paint or illustrate the image digitally though, I'll take a scan of the original sketch on my phone, transfer it to my iPad and digitally paint or illustrate it in Procreate.

I never would've imagined myself saying this the first half of my life so far, but when it comes to recharging yourself and your creative practice, I'm a huge advocate for getting out there and living life. Most of the time, from what I've experienced, a lack of motivation to create or imagination on what to create comes from stagnation.

The only way I've built up my visual library to know how to draw so many things is by living life and collecting memories and visual material to pull from. Nothing gives me more inspiration on what to draw, or motivation to get back home and start drawing, like getting out into nature or the world and living life and seeing what is out there. I took a huge hike and camping trip in Kentucky over a year ago that still energizes me whenever I think about it and reminds me what I'm capable of. Outside of sleeping, eating, and basic self care, I can't think of anything else that recharges my creative process more than living life and reconnecting with my body and breath.

When I graduated high school, the school nurse (practically my adoptive grandmother at that point in my life) gifted me a silver metal bracelet. On the inside of the bracelet were two arrows, with engraved text saying "keep fucking going." While she gifted this to me to remind me to persist despite the disadvantages I've had, it also resonated with a belief that I've used to motivate me throughout my life. That is, "just see how far you can go."

1. Learn to love the process. If you’re into being an artist for the long haul, you’re going to eventually need to learn how to love the process. If you don’t love what you do, why are you doing it? If it’s not something you love, you’re doing it for the wrong reason and you’re going to eventually burn out. Ninety percent of your work is going to be the process. That could be the creative process or the process you take to improve to get to a level where you’re happy with your work, but it’s going to account for the majority of what you do, so learn to love it. Don’t work for just the end goal because there’s no guarantee it’ll turn out how you envisioned or how you wanted it to, so be patient and appreciate the journey to get there.
2. Embrace sucking. You don’t need to have it all figured out.
   If you are a beginner, remember that and embrace it. You’re allowed to suck, you’re allowed to not like your art, you’re allowed to want to improve, don’t put any extra stress on yourself because of where you’re at. As a beginner, you have the least amount of expectations for your work than anyone you’re comparing yourself to, and way less experience. Think back to when you first tried drawing something as a child, you didn’t care what it looked like, you just wanted to draw. Just like as a child, when you’re a beginner, your interests, goals, and who you are isn’t something set in stone, it’s constantly changing and evolving, just like your art. Embrace the spontaneity and the freedom you have in being a beginner.

I'm one of the 0.2% displaced indigenous Native American population in/from Ohio. While the only tribe that the state government recognizes is the band of the Shawnee, Central Ohio and specifically CBUS is on the ancestral and contemporary territory of the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Delaware, Miami, Peoria, Seneca, Wyandotte, Ojibwe and Cherokee people. My indigenous Native American and Mexican racial and cultural identities are huge inspirations for the work that I do and create. Some of my best childhood memories are of the times I'd spend at NAICCO, the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio with my grandparents, and when we'd go camping to powwows where I would compete as a fancy shawl dancer. I come from a long lineage of storytellers and creators, with my grandmother Wolf Woman having been a traditional Native American beadworker who sold some of her own work at powwows, similar to how I sell mine at festivals and markets today. Living under the indigenous worldview of seven generations, the idea that every choice we make should take into account the people seven generations from now, I continue to live on and do the work that I do not just for my ancestors, but for my future descendants.