Hello Again with Artist & Designer Gabi Zuniga

This episode features artist and graphic designer Gabi Zuniga, owner of the multi-disciplinary creative studio known as Studio Gab. Gabi is a freelance graphic designer and a resident artist at the Magnolia Art Xchange in Ocala, Florida. We discuss her creative processes, her penchant for creating art about Black joy, creating in overtly conservative areas, and her upcoming debut art show entitled Hello Again. 

Gabi's Newsletter: https://thestudiogab.substack.com/
Gabi's Website: https://www.thestudiogab.com/
Gabi's IG: https://www.instagram.com/thestudiogab/
Learn more about AAGD (African American Graphic Designers): https://aagd.co/

Transcript

Raya: 0:04

Hey y'all, we're back. I'm so excited to be back. I hope you guys are doing well. What's up with y'all? How y'all been? We're in a new year and I'm really excited to debut some new episodes of Sheer Creativity. We got some new folks coming to the pod to talk all things creativity, but first of all, if you're new here, I'm glad that you made it over to our little corner of the internet. I am your host, Larea Rochelle. I'm a poet and I'm a writer who loves talking about the creative process and hearing other people's stories. This podcast is a really laid back space, a nice chill corner of the world to foster creativity, get your juices flowing, if you will, and to get excited about upcoming projects, whether that's your projects you have coming up or someone else's that you hear from on the pod. I also share my own poetry and things that I'm learning along my own journey as well. So think of this place as a source of inspiration, a source of motivation for you all to keep creating, or to try different things, learn new things, hear from other people's stories, to be able to collect all the knowledge that you can, all the wisdom that you can. Let's get to this guest that I have on today. Now I'm releasing this episode a little bit earlier than I expected to. Because this guest actually has an art show, her very first debut art show happening on February 3rd. So I definitely wanted to get this out before the show comes up so you guys get a chance to see it. All my Florida people. If you want to go out and see this art show, it's going to be wonderful, but let's give a very warm welcome to my new friend, Gabi Zuniga, Gabi is the owner of Studio Gab, which is an Afro Latina led creative studio focusing on colorful, quirky graphic design and illustration for clients. I've hired Gabby myself, and she's freaking excellent and extremely thorough to deliver exactly what you want. I'm so happy with my design. So thank you, Gabi. She's a resident artist at the Magnolia Art Exchange in Ocala, Florida. And she loves work centered on black joy, which I also do as well. So let's welcome her to the pod. Let's get into the conversation. Well, welcome to the pod, Gabby. Well, tell us more about you. How long have you been running the Studio Gab business?

Gabi: 2:59

Ooh. So the Studio Gab actually started it, uh, in January. It's almost been a year technically of Studio Gab itself. I have been freelancing, like seriously freelancing for the past three years. So since 2020 and back then I was like, Gabi Zuniga sole proprietor and then this year I became Studio Gab LLC. yeah, and I, I, I did that whole, this whole rebrand, uh, literally a year ago. So that way it would encompass all of the like fine art that I do and the illustration that I do and the graphic design that I do.

Raya: 3:35

Yeah. So usually when I start these off, I like to go all the way back to when you were younger and when your creative side began to take root. So take us back to young Gabi, and how did people describe you when you were younger? Were you always creative or was it something that developed over time?

Gabi: 3:54

That's a really good question. I, I've been, you know, holding a crayon, drawing little stories as long young as I could remember. Um, I know my dad could draw and my mom was always really encouraging of, of me being creative and drawing and everything. And I was that little kid in kindergarten where the art teacher would grab my work and hold it up and like, okay, hold it up dad, show it off to the class. Um, so I was definitely creative. Um, and then I remember around like third grade, there was that question of like, what are you going to be when you grow up? And grown adults have a hard time answering that question. So it's, it's. I get why people ask it, but anyway, that was around the time when I started doubting if I could make a living as an artist, which, looking back, is a little traumatic for a third grader. It's so true. You know, it's kind of like an existential crisis in third grade, but you know. Yes, absolutely. but I was always told that I'm, um, I'm super creative.

Raya: 4:56

Oh, I love that. Was your father an illustrator? Or was that a career path where he just did it on the side? He just did it as like a little hobby. Um, he never really pursued it. Like, you know, we don't come from like super generational wealth. I think he just focused on like pursuing other things. Um, and then my mom, my, both my parents are the children of immigrants. First generation immigrants. I'm technically like third generation. Um, so for my mom, she wanted to go into art, but you know, it was emphasis on like a stable job and everything and so when the time I got to college and I was begging to go to art school, my mom, my sweet, beloved mom was like, yeah, I'll support you and everything and yeah, it was, it was very sweet. I'm very, very, very blessed that she supported me then and she still supports me now. That's beautiful. Yeah, I find that that's such a common trope that we believe that creative lives and creative careers mean that you're going to be broke or means that it's not stable income. And I'm glad that it's shifted over the past few years that you can have a kind of a stable creative career. It may take time to get there, but yeah.

Gabi: 6:15

Yeah, because that's that's kind of what's happening with me. Like I, I graduated with a degree in illustration and then I had a hard time finding work partially because I wasn't putting it out there. I didn't have any confidence in my work back then and I met a few people here and there. I did one or two projects over like The first two years that I graduated and then on year three after I graduated was COVID and I was working as a cashier at a very conservative leaning store, grocery chain.

Raya: 6:46

Oh, there's like conservative leaning grocery chains?

Gabi: 6:50

There are, yes. Oh gosh. Also from Florida, you probably know what I'm talking about, but, um, uh, for y'all listening, but, uh, yeah, they, they didn't really believe that it was a thing to like be protected of and my my family was like, okay, just just quit and we'll help you figure out the next steps And that's when I just threw myself into putting my work out there posting my work. I started a new series celebrating Black curly hair and black women with curly hair and a different hair texture is kinky coily. I I got a graphic design internship and That kind of changed things For me, opening those doors, the door into graphic design.

Raya: 7:33

What led you to choose Ringling College of Art and Design? Did I say that right?

Gabi: 7:40

Some people in Florida call it like the clown school, which is so funny. Um, but yeah, it was in my high school, it was known as like the super, this like big, you know, fancy private art college. And a lot of international students go there, which was the case. Yeah, I remember my teacher when I told her I got, I got in, she was super excited and it really opened my eyes to the possibilities of art, like there's so much opportunity out there. I didn't really know what illustration was before I went to school all I knew about was like fine art and making art for yourself and solving fine artists solving your own problems using art and illustration is solving somebody else's problems using. So I just spent those four years learning how to just focus on the client's problem and focus on communicating visually.

Raya: 8:33

So would you say that the main difference between going to an art school versus to like being an art major at an all encompassing school is the focus on creative work and working with clients and things like that?

Gabi: 8:48

I think so. I, I've talked to a few friends that went to, yeah, like a overall general school that had an art program in it versus like the art school, everybody's some sort of artist, um, I did think there was a bit more of a focus on serving the client. There's a bit more of a focus on, okay, like what, what path within illustration are you going to go into? Because illustration is huge. It's a huge industry. You can be in like many different jobs. That being said, pretty much everybody I talk to who's graduated and is like working. They all, we all have the same criticism. I have a criticism that even my school, which was very specialized. It still didn't do enough to prepare us for the business side of. Working as a designer, working as an illustrator, working as an artist. A part of it is the fact that it changes so frequently. Like the, a lot of the teachers that I had, they were, they were trying to get their foot in the door 20, 30 years ago. And it was great that they really wanted to hammer into us certain things to do. But those things were, were most effective 20, 30 years ago. Like having a printed portfolio. I've used, I've used my printed portfolio twice. And I graduated five years ago. Um, like, it's like, really think about how you, when you package it out and you send it to people. Maybe you have a really nice like, 3D cut print on the top of the first page. It's like some really cool design. Think about how you're going to package this thing. Send it off to an art director in New York so you can mail it to them. There's literally agencies of illustration art reps that say, we do not accept physical print for volumes anymore. Just send us your link to your, um, your site. You see what I'm saying? So like, that's my criticism of art school. While I am extremely grateful that I got to go, there's things that could be improved. Yeah,

Raya: 10:43

and it's hard because technological advancements, especially like this recently, it's shifting very rapidly, every day your social media looks different. So it's like, it's hard to keep up with it.

Gabi: 10:56

It is very hard. Yeah, I'll give them that. It is extremely hard, even like, I'm a part of a network of Black, um, Designers and creatives and all that AGD if you haven't checked us out agd. co. I'm one of the core members Um, we have like tons and tons of chats on it's it's an online network tons and tons of chats about AI What does that mean? What is that freelancers? What does it mean for a creative agency owners? What does it mean? Like all those layoffs in the tech world. There's tons of people laid off. I had two friends that worked for the production company behind Coco Melon and Oh They both had similar jobs and one got laid off and a bunch of people that they know got laid off from that company. So it's like, you can see the impact of changing technological advancements like today.

Raya: 11:47

Yeah, I've been wanting to have a conversation with a designer about AI and what that means to the art world and getting paid for your art and making sure that Nobody takes your art. Maybe that's a conversation we can have.

Gabi: 12:01

We could have a whole another hour based on that. Like, yeah, it's wild.

Raya: 12:07

I read your Substack posts about your regrets that you had going into art school and how you had to find the confidence in the type of art that you wanted to create. So if you could describe your particular artistry in one word, what would your word be?

Gabi: 12:27

Oh damn, that's a really good question. Um, i, if it was one word, I'd probably describe it as lush. Because I liked a lot of really like, uh, Either, like, the theme is about, black rest or black joy or black peace, about shedding, having to mask or perform in a certain way, like we usually have to do in order to live and work in a capitalist, great, white, patriarchal society. You know, part of it is that I love to draw florals. I love to draw. I love to play with hair textures and playing with hair shapes and stuff like that, so it's lush in that sense. It's lush in the sense that I draw a lot of nature, lush in the sense that I draw a lot of food, and I like to play with the saturation and make it really, like, appetizing and make you think about the sight, smell, sound, what you hear when you see this food. Um, I would say lush, and a lot of the work that I do for myself is, I said, I kind of said it already, black celebrating, black joy, black rest. Black peace, peaceful existence of usually it's black women, but I also sometimes draw black, black men as well. Um, yeah, that's how I describe my work.

Raya: 13:43

Yeah, I love that. One of my favorite, I guess, illustrations of yours that I've seen is the statue and she has the curly hair because she looks very serene. But it's also, you don't see a lot of Black women's statues. Mm hmm. Exactly. And especially with our hair texture. Mm hmm. So, I loved seeing that. I like the word lush. It sounds so fancy.

Gabi: 14:14

I like it. Thank you. Yeah, it's, I think when you think of something lush, you think of something that's taking up space in like a joyous kind of way, in like a. Uh, how do I, how do I say it? Almost like something that is existing almost for the sake of existence. Right? Something that's existing to take up space and to, to, to be enjoyed or to be admired, to be looked at, not in like a objectifying way, but in a way that's just kind of enjoying his own existence. That's something I definitely want to see more in media that depicts black people and especially black women.

Raya: 14:54

Yes, I love that. So when you, when you begin to think about what you want to create, are there any practices or things that you engage in or implement in order to get into that mindset of creating?

Gabi: 15:10

Ooh, that's a really good one. I'm really, I've learned a lot about myself these past couple weeks because I, I realize that sometimes when I have a hard, uh, speaking of getting into that, doing those rituals and doing those things, I realize that I need to take time to kind of lay down any like huge burdens or things that are bothering me. I need to get out of like survival mode. I need to get out of like, I'm tense, I'm I'm grinding my teeth, I'm anxious about something. I kind of have to soothe myself or regulate my nervous system in a way that allows me to get creative because if I try to create while In like survival mode while i'm on edge while i'm anxious about different things, especially if i'm anxious about like money or Cash flow then I can't create so one of the biggest things I do is I pray I I mean I am a christian. Um, I I pray for Creativity. I pray for God to work through me. I pray for God to, there's some verses about him taking away your burdens, cast your cares on him because he cares for you. I'm really good at like butchering Bible verses, but I get like the gist of it.

Raya: 16:30

That's me too. And I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna put my cares on his shoulders and care. Oaks on

Gabi: 16:39

things. Yeah, like, oh, and then I also read the Amplified, what is it, Amplified Living Translate? The one that tells like Oh, yeah. Like speech, I usually, uh, read that one too, so that also comes out a lot. Anyway, um It's okay, you got the gist. So, yeah, I got the gist, but I, I did that a lot, like, this past week of being anxious about, like, money flow, since I'm a freelancer and everything. That was also led me to choose to pursue Full time job, but like I realized that I couldn't create if I was just focused on that so I had to I had to pray I had to I have to clean my desk at least if not my whole office clutter gives me more anxiety. Um, and then I have to just Look at where my creative tank is. And if it's low, if I have like no ideas coming in, then I have to give myself permission to take 10 minutes or an hour or whatever, and just do doodle, write out some words, um, look at my Pinterest boards. I have tons of, uh, I hoard creative inspiration and just let myself explore and then create from there.

Raya: 17:49

One thing that I found I'm the same way in that if my space is cluttered, then I can't be creative and if my mind is cluttered, I'm like, I'm not writing today. And one thing that I've been doing is just sitting outside and doing nothing because you never, you never really realize how, how often you are moving and doing something. Like I was reading some article and they were talking about. Do you ever just eat your food and not look at a TV and just be focused on this one thing? And I was like, you know, never do I ever just enjoy being in a moment, just doing one thing, right? I was like, I don't remember the last time I just ate without having anything in the background without feeling like I had to have something to stimulate my mind other than just eating. So going outside and just sitting down and just looking at things actually does help my creativity. These different practices do help add to your creative thing.

Gabi: 19:00

For sure. And it's funny that you mentioned going outside and doing nothing because I, when I started that little creative curly hair series, it started as. Celebrating black curly hair, kinky hair, coily hair. It was kind of born from the, um, I don't know if you remember the natural hair revolution in 2010s, everybody was sharing how to big, are you doing the big job or you're having a tiny, a teeny mini Afro or you got, you know, and it wasn't kind of a leftover of that, of like celebrating that hair. And then it turned into celebrating all sorts of hair textures, wigs, weaves. And then now the series has morphed into a black joy, black rest, black peace. And a lot of the times when I'm depicting black women at rest, joy, peace, I'm doing it in these like made up naturey landscapes. So like I did one where there was this black girl just kind of like chilling in a field, But her hair is like this like Aro puffs that are white and then comes the clouds for the rest of the landscape. Oh, that's

Raya: 20:04

cool that

Gabi: 20:05

you mentioned being outside and being a part of nature. Because I keep going back to, I keep finding myself going back toward putting black girls in nature or next to nature. What's flowers? Yeah. Because I feel

Raya: 20:18

like we aren't really allowed that space to just enjoy and bask in something Mm-Hmm. Like we are always. Working, always grinding, as people say on the interwebs. Um, and always the depiction of being the strong Black woman. And we're never allowed to just sit and be, just exist, like you were saying earlier. So I really, I, I encourage all my creatives to just go outside and just, just be in a moment.

Gabi: 20:53

I love that. I really want it. Like, I feel like it's such a generational thing. Like I, I am able to have moments I'm able to pursue freelancing. I'm able to have moments to myself because of I'm standing on the shoulders of the women before me and the family and the ancestors and the predecessors before me that worked so hard. So that way we could have better opportunities and then. Sometimes if I focus on it too much, I get like guilty and I'm like, I have to keep working. You know what I mean? It's wild. It's vicious. It's wild, vicious cycle if you don't break it.

Raya: 21:27

Yes, I agree. We always feel like we have to be doing something. Agreed. I wonder if you have different practices depending on if you're working with clients or if you're designing for yourself, does, does that look like two different processes? Oh, that's a

Gabi: 21:47

good question. And this year I started making more work for myself because I joined an artist residency. So that's all work for me. And the past three years, I've been so focused on getting clients, perfecting my client processes, perfecting my project management, perfecting my client relationship management, protecting, uh, perfecting how I communicate with clients. I've been so focused on that, that I did not make any time or Room for artwork for myself. That's why I did this year. I expected to just sit down at my desk like I do for client work and Get into creation mode and just create like a look at my objective. I look at my goal. I look at my target audience I'm just gonna create it did not happen. That way is completely different it I Struggled but probably like the first half of this. Yeah, actually I joined in like March I struggled for the good first few months And I, I had the hardest time working for myself. I had to like pray, I just had to, I, I would be like anxious walking up to a canvas to paint for myself. And I would doubt all of my creative decisions and I would doubt, Oh, you know, these people aren't going to like it. This target audience isn't going to like it. And I, I would just overthink everything. I would overthink every brushstroke. And then finally, the more I did it, I would start making creative decisions. Based on what I liked, and I would like one brush up that I liked, and then I would start to draw things that I liked, and then I would start to finish, I finally finished a painting that I, it was just for me, I liked it, it expressed what I wanted to express, I didn't overthink it so much, and then I did the second painting, and I did a third painting, and finally after learning how to take that pressure off, I developed a ritual of just, here's an idea I have, here's the reference pictures I need to create it, I sketch the painting. I paint the painting. I'm done with the painting. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I It's nothing super official that I do. I just I guess the ritual is that I, I trust that if I like it and I find a value in it, it is therefore valuable to make and I should just go and make it. So I guess that's my ritual. I

Raya: 24:05

like that. Do you feel like it's a, there's like this talk about how when you monetize your creativity, that's when it starts becoming a burden in a way. So, do you feel like that had something to do with it or was it just you rediscovering what your artistry truly was?

Gabi: 24:30

I think it's both. I think because I spent so much brainpower the past three years on how do I wield my creativity for my clients in order to make income, I think a part of it is I, I monetized my creativity so that it was a tool to be used and not a thing to be nurtured and loved. Stuff. And a part of it was rediscovering what that, what my creativity was in the, what my artistry was in the first place. But I do think it, when you monetize something, it does kind of become a burden. It becomes another job. You know what I mean? And that's kind of the whole reason why I'm, I'm pursuing a full time design role. So that way I can just say, okay, work is done. 5 PM work is done or 6 PM, whatever it is. Work is done. Now I can focus on the fun stuff. I could just. So I'm going to just let go of that burden and focus on, uh, my fun, creative stuff. Because right now, as I'm freelancing, my, uh, every creative thing I make can be monetized. It can be sold. This is a painting that can be sold. And that's, I think one of the biggest things I had to reckon with when I started a few months ago was just because this thing can be sold does not mean that I, I need to focus on the target audience when I'm making this. This is something I'm making for me because I'm so used to focusing on the target audience for my day job.

Raya: 25:53

I Like what you're saying because it feels very countercultural because everybody on the internet hates a full time job, like I'm, it's so mind blowing to me because everybody's like you should be working for yourself, you should be doing this, you should be working from home and all those other things, but there's something about being able to check out and just clock out and be like, Hey, now this time is for me. And having that. Distinction that I really value. Um, but I feel like everybody on the internet is supposedly making six figures and doing all these things.

Gabi: 26:35

Can't look like the Instagram coaches and like the people are saying, Oh, I made six figures from this thing. Like, was it from this thing or was it because you learned how to do it? And now you're telling other people that they could do it the way that you did it. And so now you're making money from people who are buying your corpse, right? Like. Like, it, it, the, the, some people will say like, oh, you can make six figures from this. Some people say it about graphic design. And you don't come out the gate, unless you have been working, unless you are working in a way that has enabled you to build a huge network of people that trust you and rely and then are willing to rely on you for work. You are not going to come out the gate of a graphic design side hustle making six figures.

Raya: 27:17

Yeah. It's just nothing is realistic anymore. It's not. But I, I love that and you've been able to build relationships with clients and i. e. me as well. Um, and like. Lead a comfortable lifestyle for yourself and make that your business. And it doesn't have to be this stressful six figure nonsense that everybody's kind of spewing right now. Would you agree with that? I kind of just made an assumption. It's,

Gabi: 27:54

um, I mean, I won't lie. It's not completely comfortable. I do live the way that I'm able to do this is because I love this. My mom and my family. So I'm not, I don't make enough to like be completely on my own and everything. And there are some stressful moments where, you know, during the slow months, it gets pretty stressful. I will not lie. It is, it is not easy. And sometimes I've had to ask for help from family too. Um, And just to be totally like transparent. Um, but then that's the other reason why I wanted to get a full time job. So I don't have to worry about that. But I have been able to, let me not discount the business that I've created because I've managed to build a network. I don't come from, you know, a family that's super connected. So I'm building my own network and I've been able to do that. I've been able to convince strangers on the internet to pay me money, to make them work for their own businesses, which I think is pretty big.

Raya: 28:48

And I feel like a lot of creatives can relate to that. I am sitting in my mother's house right now. I mean, the cost of living crisis is insane. So it's not, it's not shameful as a creative to be living at home and working on your network and finding those clients. Really, even if it's not a big amount of clients, having people who trust you and speak highly of your work, that is an admirable thing that should be celebrated. Thank you,

Gabi: 29:29

Of course. I think we don't, we don't, sometimes like I've, I've talked to some older designers, and Actually, I recently talked with some older black designers where they, they had some gems, they had some pearls of wisdom, but I think it was very much a generational thing where they would say like, Oh, you know, it's the generation today doesn't want to work. But I'm like, okay, things that we're going through are completely different from the things that y'all are going through. Like the, you can sit here and tell me how I should break into the industry. But the way that you broke into the industry is different from the way that I'm going to break into the industry. It's completely like, it's, Let's like have a little grace here. Yes,

Raya: 30:06

like we we graduated in a whole pandemic. Yeah, I the world felt like it was ending and we're just now getting our step back. But while we're talking about the the freelance side of it. what has your freelance journey been like, and what were some of those obstacles that you faced when you started? At

Gabi: 30:29

the beginning, the biggest obstacle was confidence. So at the beginning, let me back up to the internship. I got the graphic design internship. It was a remote internship. Um, because of COVID, but I I thought of it was confidence. And I remember coming to like my first client meeting. That was the first time I had like a client that I had actually talk to on a Zoom meeting. And I was so, I had such bad imposter syndrome that I came in there acting like I'm gonna use all the biggest words that I know in the graphic design dictionary and I'm gonna really impress'em with my knowledge. And after a couple of meetings I realized like I had this, I noticed the client's react like reaction to their face kind of grimaced. And I realized it was because. They, they were repeating something because they thought that I didn't understand their target audience. They thought that we weren't on the same page. And the most important thing, I realized in that moment, the most important thing is to not to impress the client. The client's already on the call for you. They're already impressed. If they're, they've already booked and everything, the most important thing is that you communicate with the client. You all are on the same page. It doesn't matter what the client's design knowledge is, as long as if they don't have it, you educate them. If they do have it, then you work together. Right. So that was the biggest, the biggest, uh, obstacles were learning how to communicate with clients, learning how to communicate with different types of clients because everybody has a different communication style, learning that sometimes designers are also investigators. Sometimes you, you know, if a, if a project crashes and burns, or if you have 7 billion revisions that you have to do. Did you ask enough questions at the beginning of the project to understand what the client really needed and where you could have guided them a bit better? Um, so communication is the biggest thing. Um, time management wasn't so bad at the beginning. Um, but after the internship, then I became, Full-fledged freelancer. And I had to learn how to, like, I don't have a creative director giving me advice. It's just me. And I have to, I found mentors that would give me advice, but I was in the, the hot seat, I was the captain of the ship. You know, when a client comes in, what is the workflow? Well, what is the first step? What is the second step? Whoa, where is the communication gonna live? I tried email at first. Email is not, it's not, I don't know how to write it in the project management system. Um, and then I learned different project management systems. I learned, uh, accounting. bookkeep for myself. Um, which was a little stressful because I'm, I'm an artist. I'm not a mathematician. Oh,

Raya: 33:12

neither am I.

Gabi: 33:15

Um, I learned where to get like tax help for free. Like A, for y'all who don't know, AARP has volunteers every year that are willing to do your taxes for free. That's great. Um, if you feel like a big, like, business, then get an accountant, get a bookkeeper. That's separate. But if you're a smaller business, and you're, like, I, I had a tax situation where I was uh, self employed, and yeah, and like, they were able to help me, they gave me advice and everything, and that was very, very helpful. Um, so yeah, so the biggest things were communication, project management, client management, and accounting.

Raya: 33:53

A lot of people don't know about the, The free resources available to them, especially as a creative, like you got to take advantage of those things. I would also say, like, go to your local library. Yes, because I mean the tax people are also like at the library that I go to they do taxes for you there, but also like they're putting a podcast studio in there. Um, yeah, like their libraries. I can't advocate for the libraries more, but definitely utilize all the free resources given to you. That was just a side note to your freelancing journey. So let me understand some of the time frame here, so you graduated, then you did your internship, did you get clients right out of the internship or was that something that you found over time?

Gabi: 34:51

Actually, I graduated in 2017 and then I finally got that internship in 2020, so there's three years. Oh, okay. I have to stop, I put a lot of pressure on myself, which I've talked with my therapist about a lot, but. During those three years, I was just like so defeated about my art and everything I didn't like, if I had those three years back, I would have some, I could write another sub stack about those regrets, but I can't focus on them because I'm going to, that doesn't defeat the purpose. You get it, you get it. Um, but anyway, so like those three years, I really didn't do anything with my art. And then in 2020, I got the internship and then in 2021. Yeah, that following spring. I had to leave because I, I hate putting down a black owned vet owned business, but that business stopped paying everybody except like the owner, I'm pretty sure. And he just, it was a very small agency and he was just kind of like, we were all like, okay, when are we getting paid? And he was like, Oh, I don't know. It's because of payroll. It's because of my, my accounting system. It's not, it's not working. So, so I left that situation and then, uh, one of the girls that I worked with, uh, her family friend was working on a book, she needed a book cover, and she needed some, uh, a logo, logo suite. So I did that, that was my first, like, freelance, freelance project after the internship. And then I networked with another designer who was from the North Florida area. I'm from Central Florida. And I was like, Hey, like, you know, let's hop on a call. And we just talked about going to school and being a working artist and everything. And she, like from that one call, Uh, later on, I got an email from a client that she was too busy to take on and she put me on a list of vendors that if she's too busy, she'll refer them to me. I'm one of the people that she'll refer them to. So I got my second client. And then from there, it just kind of snowballed and I kept putting my work on Instagram, putting my work on socials and people would just be like, Hey, I see you're working and I'd love to connect with you. So I also found AAGD, African American Black Signers, AAGD. co. And I met my, my first mentor, Terrence Mully. He's has like 20 years of experience more in the marketing industry, and he's a designer. And he just took me under his wing. He, uh, we got on a zoom call and he was like, what do you need help with? And to this day, he still gives me advice on, on anything I need help with. One time I had like a printing emergency for one client. And I messaged him and I was like, printing emergency, how do you help? He just hopped right on Zoom and showed me what to do and everything. And it was that community has been invaluable. I've gotten work from the agency part of the, there's an agency within the community as well. I've gotten work from there. I'm still doing work for them. Um, I've met like two other mentors who each one of them is kind of like in a different part of their career. I've made, uh, Black friends across the country who are in design from that. It is a really invaluable, uh, community of creatives in a very white dominated field. So if you're a black designer, I absolutely recommend.

Raya: 38:14

So one of the pillars of your business is that you are black and Latina, and I love that. Do you find that since you live in a rural area, how has that impacted your art career in general?

Gabi: 38:32

I definitely think it's, it's had an impact. Um, it's It's good in a way because it's forced me to be more outgoing and to reach out to more people and to network more. I have to kind of, I, I feel like I have to work harder to network because it's not like I can go down to like a gallery down the street that's interested in my kind of art. It's, it's not, um, and there's not that many people that look like me in this area. Um, so I've definitely taken advantage of some remote opportunities. I've reached out on Instagram to people who live like two hours away from me. I try as much as I can to get out to Tampa and St. Pete and Orlando and Gainesville. And because those people don't live near me, there isn't a big community of black, young black female artists, nearby. And also, the fact that there aren't a lot of, there aren't a ton of successful full time designers in my town, specifically. Like, there's not much of a graphic design industry here. There's not much of a commercial art industry. So because of that, I, I have to travel outside in order to find that. I have to travel outside to find that target audience for like my fine art that I make. I have to work remotely to get design work. Um, I actually, there is a town right next to mine in Ocala, and it's a little bit more, it's a little bit busier. It's not like a big town, but it is busier than the one I'm in right now. And, it's When I grew up, there wasn't an art scene there, and now, ten years later, I came back, I'm living in, I'm living outside of it now again, and there's an art community, all of a sudden, there's, people just got together and, and, and put money into this art community, there's galleries, there's, Um, there's a little, a tiny bit of diversity, so it's, it's better, but I joined an artist residency there in order to force myself to get out there and meet people and make connections. And I'm making connections now and I, um, I, I have my solo show in February through that artist, um, meeting people and. The people in the, the community are very, very welcoming and supportive. And a lot of the people that I've met in the community are, when I tell them like, Hey, I make, I make black joy celebration artwork. And I'm like, cool. We need more of that here because there's a lot of black artists in that. It's a majority of the artists that I meet are white. And I've, I've, um, so I'm building a network there. And because there isn't that much of a network right where I'm living, it's. It's forcing me to be a little bit more extroverted and find different and get creative about networking with people.

Raya: 41:09

Yeah. And I find that kind of like the saying, if you build it, they will come. Um, like in my city, I live in Williamsburg, Virginia. Um, yeah, it's, I

Gabi: 41:26

recognize and I empathize with that face. Yes. Like, uh,

Raya: 41:31

I mean, if we're going to be frank, it's the birthplace of American racism, for real. Um, but nobody's really started an art scene out here. And one of my friends has started a poetry nonprofit that teaches performance poetry to adults and the youth out here. And we just recently discovered, like, Black people be out here and they be writing. Like, where have you guys been? Um, and it's Is really cool. So I, I think that once people get together and make these spaces that it might be more diverse than we think it is. And even if it's not, people will come from far and wide to see what it is you're up to.

Gabi: 42:22

That is true. You know what's funny is I say that my, my area. I don't, there, there, there's little bits and pieces of Like, when I'm saying my area, I mean, like, my immediate town, um, there's little bits and signs and pieces of, they're trying to, like, revitalize downtown. They've added, like, art, art murals a few years ago. There's gonna be a Starbucks in our county, finally. Um. Oh, you guys don't even have a Starbucks? We don't even have a Starbucks. We don't have a Starbucks. Oh, wow. Uh, we're about to get our first Hobby Lobby. Oh. We're about to get our, we're about to get our first Target, I think, next year, probably. Um, we got a Panera Bread when I was in college, so that was surprising.

Raya: 43:03

Yeah, moving on up, you have to

Gabi: 43:06

drive to Ocala, which is about 40 minutes away. That's where my studio is. You have to drive there to go to the stutter box or the target or the, I think the IHOP is in the edge of the county. We do have an IHOP. Oh, okay. It's like, it's like 30 minutes away. But, but yeah, so that's, that's my area. But yeah, I agree. If you build it, they will come because Uh, about an hour south of me is Brooksville, and Brooksville has a similar makeup to where I live, and they have, like, this group of, honestly, like, progressive young people and some progressive older people that work really hard to have an active art scene, like, they have the, like, an art mural thing, they have, like, art festivals and art markets and art murals and different types of work and glass Uh, people who work with glass, people who work with, um, illustration, people who work with art. And I'm like, oh, this could happen where I live too. I just don't, it's not gonna, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. I don't think there's enough people to make it happen. And it's also this interesting thing of like, I complain about it, but I'm also, I also know that I am not going to take that on because I don't feel, I don't want to, if I'm being completely honest. And I don't feel like safe enough, if that makes sense. To do that in my area.

Raya: 44:29

Yeah, that does make sense. And plus, I feel like you have to have a burden for those types of things. Like, if you're gonna start something, especially that's progressive in a conservative place, you do kind of have to have that gumption and a type of You can't be afraid.

Gabi: 44:52

No, for sure. Like, I don't know if I would call them like, outwardly pro well, they're not like, they don't call themselves progressive, but they will stand up for like, they held like a a protest for certain things and they held like a talk for certain things that were obviously more progressive leaning and it's, I don't I don't see that happening here, even if we did have more of an active art scene, it would be, it would look different, even if it was here. Yeah,

Raya: 45:19

And since we're talking about black joy and diversity and things of that nature, and just where you live, what are some of your favorite environments to create in? Like, what is it about your studio that makes you feel comfortable and engaged in what you're working in? So I guess in a way I have two

Gabi: 45:43

studios because I have the one in Ocala and I have the one right here at home where I do most of my client work. Um, but especially the one at home, I feel, I just, I live here with my family. I can like walk outside and get a drink of water. I can walk outside and go bother my, my aunt who lives, you know, across the landing and she's working from home and stuff. And it's, it's where I can relax. I can be myself. I can, I can pray. I can put on TV I can put on like worship stuff if I'm really anxious. Um, I feel like I can be like my complete self. And then in the studio, I, it's like, it's a little different because I, there's five other artists studios there. And all of those artists are people that I've gotten to know. And they're people that are really sweet and encouraging and kind and, uh, the board of the, of the studio, it's a little art incubator, they call it. Um, I didn't know what that was until they told me Uh, they, um, it's, the, the, the board, the people that I talk to on the board are very, like, encouraging and welcoming, and, um, the two of the members, they're new board members, and they're the ones helping me organize the, the solo show in February, because it's my first solo show ever, and, When I said like, Hey, these are some things like these are some supplies that I need. Okay, cool. We'll, we'll, um, we'll pitch in and we have this and we'll find people who have this and we'll look for this for you and we'll help you get everything all set up. And it was very, it felt, it made me feel comfortable enough to come into my art here and display my art and put it up and They, they, they also help with like, Oh, well, I know this person who's connected with this person who's connected with like the Ocala Magazine and we'd love to put your work in here and they're doing a spotlight on artists. Why don't you go and go talk to this person and go talk to, you know what I mean? Like, it's, They're, they are saying my name. Who's going to say your name in a room full of opportunity? You know what I mean? So, it's, that does make me feel more comfortable putting my artwork up, talking about Black joy, and, and making art in that environment. I love creative

Raya: 47:58

communities. Me too. They encourage it. They give you, it just makes you feel so nice. It's so nice. It's so empowering.

Gabi: 48:08

It is. And after, like, spending so much time, like, I, I have to force myself to get out of the house, especially because I work for myself at home. Um, so, like, leaving the house and going over there and being in this supportive community is so

Raya: 48:24

validating. Yeah, I get exactly what you mean. But now let's talk about this solo art show. I'm very excited to talk about this So what's the vision and what are you hoping to accomplish?

Gabi: 48:39

Ooh, that's a good question. So the vision for this one, I made it really easy for myself. I, I'm calling it Hello again. It's, uh, me saying hello again to making art for myself.'cause last time I, I really focused on making art was before I started the graphic design internship. And when I started the. Black girl hair series like that. Um, I don't know if you've seen the piece. It's pink and it has like blue and orange Black girls. Yes, that was my first That was my first piece in the series in 2020. So that's the one that started it all. Um, so I'm, I making this new body of work. I'm still working on it to be honest with you, um, but I'm making this new body of work, black joy art. I told, we mentioned that before peace, rest, he's kind of dreamy nature, landscapes, lots of florals. Um, and then so I'm making these flower art installation pieces to decorate the, the lobby of the gallery, the, the, um, the way the gallery is set up is that the lobby is kind of in this almost octagonal shape.

Raya: 49:45

Hmm.

Gabi: 49:45

Okay. So you can put your artwork up on the wall, and then you do like put things on tables on the floor on the. The floor of it, so the walls are really high, so it's gonna be lots of black girl artwork, and then on the tables, I'm going to set up, uh, displays of these little, I used to work with clay a lot, and I'd make these little clay trinkets of like, like, uh, quirky little cat cartoons, and, um, I would make, like, little clay flowers, or I did a lot of, like, clay food. That you can like, if I put a pin on the back of it, it could be a cute little pin on your, on your backpack or your, your shirt or anything like that. So it'll be a mixture of 3D, a mixture of 2D work, and then, uh, almost like a flower, an artwork garden with paper flowers. And I'm gonna make some that are like giant, uh, people's like 5 feet tall flowers. Ooh. Paper. Um, on the outside, I'm planning on having like wood cutouts. So that way it turns into like a little photo op. I think it's a good way to get attention and bring people to the, to the gallery. And then they have this setup where they have another smaller building and they call it the headspace. So you walk out of the lobby and you walk down the, um, it's a, it's an old train station. You walk down the platform and you go into this other, uh, other building and. In the headspace, you can show, like, your thoughts behind art making, what you were thinking when you made certain pieces, your process, what tools do you use. You can kind of make it, like, people are literally walking into your head. So for that one, I'm going to show, I'm making posters of, like, this is where my career started, this is where I'm at right now, this is how I think about art making, this is my usual process. You can scan this. So I'm gonna go ahead and scan this to, um, this QR code to see my website or to follow me on Instagram or sign up for my sub stack. I'm doing a little interactive, uh, bulletin board where, uh, I'm going to go to invite people to introduce themselves. So like I said hello to them and now they can say back to me in the community so they can like say like, Hi, my name is this and this is a fun fact about me. So they'll like tack it up onto the board. And I'm making like a nice poster to say like, thank you to everybody who supported me and like. Dedicate a dedication and all of that and more flowers in their paper flowers. And, uh, one of the board members had an idea for me to hold, like, a flower making workshop in January, the month before the CEO.

Raya: 52:16

So Oh, I love flowers.

Gabi: 52:20

I'll send you a link to the person, the people that taught me online on YouTube how to make them. They're, they're easier than they look. I think a lot of it is just having the right paper shape cut out. Um, but yeah, so I'll have, I'll have help. People from the community can come and say hi to me, because A lot of people don't know me unless they're, uh, they've been inside the gallery and everything, but it'll be a good, like, it'll be a good way to make more connections.

Raya: 52:46

I love every single bit of that. I love flowers. I love black joy. And it's just, it sounds so immersive. I just want to be immersed in the flowers, in the black joy. And it just, it sounds wonderful.

Gabi: 53:05

I'm a little like, I'm a little scared because it's like the biggest thing I've ever done physically with art, but I'm also really excited. And I have a really good community of, of artists and people who want to help me. Make this happen. So I'm really excited. Yeah,

Raya: 53:18

I saw that you were um taking sponsorships. So how can people get involved with that?

Gabi: 53:23

You could email me and ask how to sponsor I do have a sponsorship packet. If you go on my sub stack and Look at the um, the artist residency update at the bottom is a link to the proposal Where they have all the information on how you can sponsor me. There's different sponsorship levels. Everybody who sponsors me will get their name or logo On, uh, signage throughout the exhibition. Um, I do want to shout out my sponsor for my studio itself. She's, uh, helping me with studio costs and it's been a huge help is Angie Lewis State Farm from Ocala, Florida. Thank you, Angie, yeah, I am expecting, I am, uh, accepting sponsorships to help make this paper flower artwork garden experience happen. The opening night is on February 3rd and it'll be up for about two weeks. Okay. Wow. Yeah. So there's time to come and experience it.

Raya: 54:16

Wow. Just thinking about being surrounded by flowers is so beautiful.

Gabi: 54:21

Yeah. I'm, I'm excited too. I'm also excited to be surrounded by flowers.

Raya: 54:26

So we're nearing the end of this podcast and I really think we should have you on again because it's I have more questions, but I will leave you with this question, though, and that is, what keeps you optimistic about your work? What keeps you engaged in it? What makes you keep coming back for more? That's a really good question.

Gabi: 54:53

The biggest thing is, I think, God really keeps me coming back to it. God is the, um, people say God is the, like, the, the creator. Originator of creativity. So I think I is my creativity. God supplies that optimism and that hope. YEah, for sure. But making artwork gives me joy. And when I make artwork with joy in it or with love in it or with peace or rest in it. I find that other people look at it and they feel the same thing. So I can connect with somebody that way. I can spread that, that feeling. And I especially want to spread that feeling for the black community, the brown community, because I mean, we go through a lot and to be able to spread that, that feeling and that joy and that message is I think really important. And I'm so glad that there's so many more black artists that are making artwork that are spreading their message from a black artist to black people nowadays.

Raya: 55:55

Yeah, there's been such a surge. Yeah, that's a good word. That's a really good word. There's been such a renaissance of black joy recently that I've been really enjoying in the creative community. Whether that be through movies, um, writing, artwork, it's, it's been amazing to watch. so much. And as a Black person, it feels very encouraging, because, I mean, with recent events going on, there hasn't been a lot of joy. So to be able to look at a artwork, or read something, or look at something that reminds me of Black joy, it's It's far more impactful than people think.

Gabi: 56:47

Agreed. 1000 percent agreed. Like, even, this is something I struggled with when I started making artwork, but I was like, do people want to see black joy? Because sometimes, like, sometimes in the fine art world, you have a lot of people who make like, stuff that isn't so, it's not joyful. And I think that's valid. That's just as valid as a joyful stuff, because you're expressing it, you're getting it out, and you're, and that, that can open up all these avenues for talk for talking about things and making awareness and change and that's important too, but then I was like, is my work serious enough and it is in its own way because we need that joy as well. We need that joy expressed. We need that representation in a joyful way as well. yeah, I lost track of what

Raya: 57:30

I was saying, but no, I totally follow. there's one of my favorite poets. Her name is Tiana Clark, and she wrote a, she wrote an essay. And this was like after George Floyd, and she was writing about how she doesn't want to write about black suffering anymore. That's a really good way to put it. Yeah. And she was saying, I, I'm in a stage now in my life where I want to write about black peace. I want to write about black joy. I want to write about all the things that black people aren't really allowed the space to dwell in because this is our life that we're looking at.

Gabi: 58:12

Um, yeah, like even when I think about like, I love listening to stuff about I, I, this is my last tangent because they're like,

Raya: 58:19

Oh no, you're good. This is about you.

Gabi: 58:23

Okay, great. Like even like when it comes to history stuff, there's sometimes we're like, Like I, I love learning about history and I love learning the cultural aspects of how this movement affected this movement, this shortage affected this thing, which affected, which caused this culture, which caused this, which caught, like, I love learning all about the cultural side of it and how it affected human beings and feelings and attitudes and all of that stuff. And there are times where there'll be a special on Black people in America specifically, and I have to, like, the way that I have to prepare my mind and emotions For it sometimes, I'm like literally like, okay, today was a very long day. The tank, the tank is empty. I'm not gonna be able to like sit through that. I have to do that. I have to watch that some other day. It's going to be really valuable. It's going to be really good. I saw all the reviews. It's tackling all these different topics. I have to wait for another day because it is so exhausting to be aware and to be aware of the history, to learn about the history, to rehear about the history, to get to know it too. It's a lot. It is. You know what I mean? It's talking about African American history. Like, of course you want to be aware of it, but there was some quote from some student or somebody who was studying at school, and they brought up the fact that it's traumatizing to hear about your own history. Hmm. Like, not everybody knows what it's like to be traumatized by your own history as you're listening to it.

Raya: 59:52

Yeah. That's such a good point. Like there are certain movies and shows that I just, I can't bring myself to watch yet. like when they see us on Netflix, I, I don't know if I can watch that yet. Oh, for sure. I, and I feel like, of course, it, it is so imperative to know the history. But also I'm going to need that, that balance of joy right afterwards and honestly a focus of joy afterwards because the, the bad things are just going to keep piling on. But a practice of joy is so imperative.

Gabi: 1:00:40

So imperative. And one of the things that really brings me joy is reading your sub stack, honestly, just like to hear another creative, because we're existing in this capitalist world and we're, I, I know for me, like, I think even for you to you experience it too, because you're somebody who's trying to promote your podcast and grow it and everything. So we're taking our creativity. I was telling my mentor, like, We chose, we're choosing to take our creativity and hold it against the grindstone that is capitalism, that is this white, patriarchal society. Like, we really have to take care of ourselves. Yes.

Raya: 1:01:14

And especially if you are a creative that is working in activism in some way, that's exhausting. And I think a lot of creativity is going against society as a whole. when you're a creative, you are gaining inspiration from the society. You are, in some ways, repelling against it. And that can be a very exhausting process.

Gabi: 1:01:41

because you're not, not everybody finds that to be like a, a productive thing and the whole thing capitalists, that spend every minute being productive and the act of making space for creating, like I think you're right, it's, it goes against that.

Raya: 1:01:55

Yeah. Even when you think about like how art programs in school are kind of just thrown to the wayside and people are more like, you should be focusing on business, you should be focusing on things like that. And I'm like, hmm.

Gabi: 1:02:09

Did you see that viral TikTok that Kevin O'Leary, Mr. Wonderful from Shark Tank did? I did not. I don't know if you know him. He's like one of the biggest, he's always like that mean bald guy on Shark Tank. Okay. Um, he, it was like, I don't know if it was a skit or what, but it was like, it looked like somebody from another meeting or someone from down the table from him at a meeting. And it's him like at the table, like, you know, it's crazy in school, you hear that like, Oh, you know, if you're studying, you should be studying engineering, engineering, engineering. But now there I'm working 25, 000 because they were both like three different brands at the same time. And they can just charge all that because they're creative. They're, they're original and art is really having a renaissance and like the art world went crazy because it's wonderful. It's like the Simon Cowell of Shark Tank who's super cynical about everything. So it's, it's, I think it's still there. And this is, this is, we can have a whole nother meeting about like AI and the effects on designers and stuff. But I was talking to another mentor and he was like, you know, it's there, but the only, the, the, the key is clients seem to know what they want. And even though Canva exists and Canva makes it very easy to make things, there's still clients that don't know how to utilize it. They don't know the strategy, they don't know the why and the how and the when. You could have, you can make a thousand social media templates, but you don't know when to post them, you don't know why to post them, you don't know the, the who behind you, who you want it to reach. So, they still need people like, creatives like you and me. Yeah,

Raya: 1:03:44

that's like, well, I don't think they're on strike anymore, but the actors and the writers, you still need people to bring the emotion. Oh, I was thinking about Canva. I see people using the same templates all the time. So

Gabi: 1:03:59

they want to select the design style, but it happens all of the time.

Raya: 1:04:04

Yeah, so how original is everybody being? You you need an original person to help you which is why I got you Yeah,

Gabi: 1:04:15

absolutely and it's funny cuz with Canva actually I do want to um, one thing I'm getting into now is social media. I now work with one of the galleries that's in that town in Ocala. And I convinced them to like, let me help with the social media stuff too. So I'm going to be adding that to my, to my portfolio of things that I do. Cause I think it's, it's really fun to tell a story that way. And it's. You need to have like a person that's focused on that alone for you. Even for me, if I could hire somebody that for my social media, I would. And I do like one of the things I do with social media because it's so much work and mental. Yeah. If

Raya: 1:04:53

I could have hired somebody, I would have, but now I left it.

Gabi: 1:04:56

I respect that.

Raya: 1:04:58

But thank you so much for coming on the podcast. And we can talk some more about the social media stuff, but maybe there should be another episode.

Gabi: 1:05:06

I, I would love to be on the podcast. I enjoy talking to you so much. I think I knew from reading your Substack that I would really enjoy talking to you too. I, I love this black female creatives coming together and talking.

Raya: 1:05:22

Hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Please rate the podcast and leave a comment. Let me know what you think. We're officially social media free, baby. And we'll actually talk more about that in the next episode. So tune in. We post biweekly. So tune in in two weeks from now. A good way that you can keep up with us is to follow the show. So you get alerts whenever we drop new episodes. now that we're social media free, If you'd still like to keep up and support a creator, you can subscribe to read my writing on my newsletter that comes out weekly. And I had a really great time talking to Gabi and I hope to see you guys next time.