Embellished Photography with Carissa and Aaron

You And I Make A Thing

In this episode, I've invited my good friend Carissa to take the reins as guest host. She's brought along her friend, Aaron to embark on a fresh creative project, making something that neither of them has made before.

Links mentioned in this episode

Aaron Chen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journomadic/

Carissa Ferdinand’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/3cloudsstudio/

Air and Space Forces Magazine

Minot State University Athletics

Minot Daily News

Carissa's Mad Hatter

Carissa’s Cloud Guy

Oklahoma City Asian district

Textile artist Victoria Villasana

Lao Gan Ma chili sauce

KattGrass Studios

Homestead Center for the Arts

Photos

Carissa's embellished print, photo by Aaron Chen

Aaron's embellished print, photo by Carissa Ferdinand

Transcript

Carissa: Hi everyone, this is Carissa from Three Cloud Studios, formerly Koi the Creatrix, here with Aaron Chen on You and I Make a Thing

Hi, Aaron. How are you?

Aaron: Good, good. How are you, Carissa?

Carissa: Good. Thank you so much for asking.

Aaron is a passionate and accomplished traveler, lifestyle, and commercial content creator. He's known for crafting compelling visual stories that resonate with his audience and best reflect his clients’ values. Some of his work has been featured in publications such as Air and Space Forces Magazine, Minot State University Athletics newsletter, Reveille Music Publishing, and Minot Daily News.

Aaron: That's a good intro!

Carissa: Yeah. Okay. I wanted to keep it brief. Does that sound okay with you?

Aaron: Yeah. That was awesome.

Carissa: Thank you! So Aaron, I know that you have been on this bit of cross country photography experience. What have been some of the most memorable stops that you've made along your journey?

Aaron: Yeah, thanks for asking that. It's interesting because the cross-country journey kind of ended up when I visited you guys. You guys are at the tip of Florida and that was the end of the journey there.

Carissa: Yeah, so you went all the way from North Dakota down to the very end of Florida.

Aaron: Yes. So North Dakota is where my journey started. And so same thing kind of as you, you know, North Dakota is kind of like our artistic, big breakthrough era. And I know we supported each other a lot in North Dakota. So I was very excited to go see you in Florida.

Carissa: Yeah, in my hometown in like my natural setting here.

Aaron: Yeah.

Carissa: And Aaron was kind enough, he has done a couple photo shoots for various products that I have created, t-shirts and the like. He also was kind enough to stop by and take photos of my first art exhibit last year. And so I was incredibly grateful. And of course, the photos come out absolutely amazing every single time.

Aaron: Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Carissa: So any plans moving forward on your adventures?

Aaron: Yeah. I have Hawaii coming up pretty soon, and then after that with Japan, and pretty much my plan is to travel all across Asia, capturing stories of people and culture, and then bring them back to the American audience.

Carissa: Oh, I'm so excited hearing that. And I think that actually ties into one of the projects that I want to talk about here today.

So leading up to this meeting, I've asked you to come with three ideas. I myself have come up with three ideas of projects that we can work on. We come from very different media backgrounds. And so I'm really curious to see where this goes and to see what we can come up with. T

The idea is that we find a project that's a little bit anxiety inducing and maybe one that's feasible to accomplish within a month. So, typically what we do is a bit of a back and forth. You share one, I share one idea here.

Would you like to start or would you like me to?

Aaron: I think you can start. I'm very excited to hear what you come up with. I think you always have amazing ideas and it inspired me to keep spiraling and come up with more ideas.

Carissa: Oh, yay! Okay. So as I mentioned, your upcoming journey throughout Asia reminded me of a project idea that I have here when we first started kind of arranging this meeting. It was right after New Year's.

And so thinking about some of our past conversations, I thought about how important culture has been to the both of us. And I was interested in doing a project about the Lunar New Year, the Chinese New Year, because outside of calling it the Chinese New Year and knowing the animal associated with my year of birth, I really don't know much about the Lunar New Year.

And so I thought it was a great opportunity to learn a bit more and to celebrate something that I know is important to you.

Aaron: Yeah. I really appreciate that. That sounds really cool. Okay.

Carissa: Well, go ahead. What is one of the ideas that you came up with?

Aaron: So pretty much I just wanted to see which direction I wanted to take it in. Like I have kind of the Asian culture direction. Or even like a mental health direction. Or we can do a combination of both.

But I really like one of your works which is the Mad Hatter. I really like that one. So I'm just thinking maybe we can combine the Asian culture and mental health awareness, into something like that.

Either a portrait or a landscape and then add your elements into it, just like the Mad Hatter where it's kind of like a mixed media combined.

Carissa: Okay. I like this idea. So some sort of portrait. And I've never done a portrait kind of thing before. But that way we get an opportunity to combine both of our strengths into a collaborative piece that would be new for the both of us. I like it.

Aaron: And I feel like if we can add Lunar New Year elements into it, that would be really cool too. So maybe we can brainstorm in that direction.

Carissa: All right. Well, let's keep going with the ideas here.

Now I will say this next one is a bit off track from the ideas we've just shared here in that I was thinking of something like a lookbook, some sort of portfolio that was maybe a little bit more interactive. Something that I could hand to a potential customer, somebody interested in stopping by and looking at my art. Something a little bit more interactive than a gallery on my website and you know, probably similar to ones that you've had.

And so I was thinking of something like a zine, a lookbook. And I actually have been dying to make a retro viewer with past work. Do you know what those are?

Aaron: No, I'm gonna look it up.

Carissa: It's really cool. So it's an object where there are like two eye holes. You hold it up and there's a switch on the side where you can flip through a collection of like six or eight images. It's a bit old school and so I really like that element. It brings back like nineties vibes.

I'm obsessed with them and I thought that would be a really cool way to narrow down six or eight images of our work, make it interactive. And just a fun project that I've really been dying to do.

Aaron: Yeah, that's so cool. I actually looked it up. I think I used to have that when I was a little kid.

Carissa: I think I had one too.

Aaron: So on the content the inside of the retro viewer, what would you want them to be? Maybe something that's reminiscent or anything? What do you have in mind?

Carissa: I found a site where you can choose and upload the images that you would want to see when you look through it. And then you can actually design the slide that goes into the retro viewer to represent whatever images are on there.

And so I think that would be something that we could totally nail down, as far as what the collection might look like. When I've thought about this just in terms for myself, I've thought of one slide just being collage, one slide being just, maybe fabric or textile arts that I've made, fiber arts. So Cloud Guy and the tapestries and things like that.

So, I think we would be able to really customize it into whatever applies to us. Individually, something that we can both take away as a demonstration of our skills.

Aaron: Okay, awesome. I like that. Yeah, I like that idea of like a physical gallery that people can interact.

Carissa: Yeah, exactly. Okay. So what was your next one?

Aaron: I talked about a photography one earlier. So maybe this one, I was thinking more of videography. I know that way like we can integrate the mixed media elements into the videography. So it's going to be more of like kind of an animated video thing, if that's it.

And I was thinking about the Asian culture side in Oklahoma City. I know there is this Asian district, which is not too big. I think they're trying to expand but it's a really good hub for the Asian community here. There's a ton of Asian restaurants and things that empower Asian businesses.

So I was thinking the next project might be a video project, a YouTube project. But then in each of the places, let's say exploring the Asian district or something like that. And then each of the places, we would add in your mixed media elements and show an overview drone shot of the district, and we'll output your mixed media in different businesses.

Yeah, I'm not really sure, but that's just an idea.

Carissa: I like the video element because it's something that I have never tried before. And it's something that makes me a little bit nervous because I am so unexperienced with videography and the like, so I do like incorporating an element of that.

And it sounds like this area of town is a space that maybe you haven't ever explored before?

Aaron: Just a little bit. I mainly do some shopping and talk to some people over there. It's just some businesses. The reason I said the Asian district here is because it's accessible.

Carissa: Yeah. Okay.

Aaron: But we can do other video projects too, even if it's like a series of short reels. It doesn't have to be like a long video.

Carissa: All right. So let's see. The next one that I have is kind of based on this one artist. I might have sent you her stuff before. Her name is Victoria Villasana. She is a Mexican textile artist. And she does a fantastic job of using images as her canvas, and then she will sew in different designs or enhancements over each photo. And she creates some really amazing designs.

And this, I thought was like a really great way to maybe incorporate both of our strengths and an area that we are perhaps not as familiar with. My idea here was to stick with this Asian theme, the Lunar New Year theme. The photos might be based on some sort of Asian image, and then we could perhaps even trade photos.

And you could get uncomfortable with some sewing. I could get uncomfortable with some photography and we could see where it goes.

Aaron: I looked up her work before, I think you sent me her info, and I was really inspired by her. That's why I came up with that first idea, that Mad Hatter idea.

Yeah, okay, like a mixture. I think hers is more of sewing and texture, I love that too.

Carissa: Yeah. I think that's totally a way for us to combine your first idea here with the portraits. Because portraits again are something like I've never done. I don't know. You are a bit more familiar with portraiture work.

Aaron: Mm hmm. Yeah, part of the Minot experience is really growing in the portrait world, since it's North Dakota, it's flat, there's not a lot of landscape.

Carissa: Right, yeah, you focus more on the people there. So I think the trick in narrowing it down might actually be to figure out a project that includes elements that neither of us have done before. And it sounds like we're on the same page about including a theme of Asian culture or Lunar New Year. Something to celebrate the culture.

Aaron: Mm hmm. I really like that.

Carissa: Okay. So how do we narrow down? Like, what have you already done before that? Maybe we could take off the table.

Aaron: So, let's see.

Definitely just standard portraits, like business headshots and things like that. I would love to do more cultural portraits, like people in their culture elements and things like that. So I think that's something you'll love to tap into.

Carissa: That would be really cool. Okay. Do any of these ideas stand out to you?

Aaron: Yeah, like what you were saying, kind of combining our skills, right? I'm not sure. How do you feel about adding sewing to like portraitures and things like that?

Carissa: Yeah, it's not something I've ever done before. And I feel pretty confident about having an idea about how to go about it and how to kind of start tackling it.

So I would actually be really excited about finding a way to kind of combine these things into a project.

Aaron: Will you be more leaning towards a portrait mixed project or more of a landscape or street style?

Carissa: That's a good question. So I think when it comes to photography, and I'm thinking of like, I don't know if I've mentioned this. I used to do black and white photography way back in the day in high school. Absolutely loved it. I miss it so much. Currently I no longer have a camera and I'm like very much limited to my phone.

So I think with that in mind, I'm a lot more comfortable leaning into some landscape stuff.

Portraits are very intimidating for me, and so as I'm talking through this, I could go either way. I could lean into the discomfort of doing more portraits, knowing that I don't even know where I would start with that, and feeling a little bit of anxiety there.

Landscapes feel like more of a comfort zone to me. Those feel more flexible and I feel more able to come up with something.

It feels a little bit less intimidating for me, but what I was thinking was perhaps we could do one of each. For example, you could do a portrait and I do the landscape, we could switch, and then you sew a bit over the landscape, I sew a bit over the portrait, or the other way around, and then that way we are doing a little bit of stuff that both of us are uncomfortable with.

Aaron: Okay, yeah, that's exciting. I've never really sewn before, except for a little bit of crocheting, so this will be exciting.

Carissa: Really? I didn't know you crochet!

Aaron: Yeah, back in college, I did a little bit of crocheting.

Carissa: Oh, cool. I definitely have resources that I could share with you about this. I probably have enough things here that I could send you a little goodie bag to get you started as well.

Oh, perfect. Yeah. So it feels like we're kind of moving towards a more solid idea here. What do you think about that as being our project? We each take an image trade and then sew over it.

Aaron: Yeah, that sounds good. So you and I will both take two separate images and then like we'll just take turn working on each other's project and see what we come up with.

Carissa: Yeah, so that way it's collaborative. You know, we get to trade, see each other's work, maybe get inspired there.

And so we'll have two pieces kind of going back and forth, but at the end of this, we would have the two pieces that include photography elements and these sewing mixed media elements from both of us.

Aaron: Yeah, I think that will work. Yeah, and with the travels, I'm just trying to work out the logistics. I think the shipping will be a little bit challenging with the travels, but if we're trying to accomplish within a month, it'll be fine.

Carissa: Okay, that's a good point. When do you leave for adventures here?

Aaron: I leave for Hawaii on the 23rd, and I'll be in Hawaii for a week.

Carissa: 23rd of this month? Oh my goodness, okay, it's so soon!

Aaron: I know. So yeah, we can kind of ship back and forth over the Pacific Ocean.

Carissa: Okay. So Aaron, I'm really excited here for our project. I can't wait to see how this goes and to get started.

Aaron: Yes, me too. I'm so excited to get it started and just like creating something that shows and empowers the Asian culture. And that combines both of our skills. That's awesome.

Carissa: I'm really excited to be working with you on this. We have yet to collaborate on anything together.

Aaron: Yeah. We've talked about it multiple times. So this is, yeah, we're doing it. It's interaction.

Carissa: All right. Well, we will talk soon then.

Thomas: All right, we'll take a quick break. And when we come back, we'll hear how Carissa and Aaron did with their project.

Carissa: All right. So this is Carissa back with Aaron Chen, and we are here to discuss our final projects on the thing that we made together.

So, Aaron, did you want to go ahead and maybe describe what your image that you have there, what your piece looks like?

Aaron: Okay, for sure. So, for this project, we decided to do kind of a Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year theme, and Carissa went ahead to the Asian Mart, took a bunch of pictures of kind of just items that are sentimental, and the one I picked specifically is the chili sauce.

So this is the Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, and spicy chili crisp. This is a staple household item in kind of all the Asian households, specifically Chinese households.

And I don't think there's ever a time in my house personally that I ran out of this. We just eat this with everything we cook, with the rice that we make. And so this is very kind of sentimental, and brings up a lot of memories. Thanks!

Carissa: Oh, I'm so happy to hear that.

Aaron: Yeah, thank you for taking a picture of this. Yeah, I love it. I'm probably going to frame it and put it on my wall or something.

Carissa: Oh, same. And you were gonna say…

Aaron: Okay, so yeah, I decided to get some yarn for this process. But that I can discuss that after you maybe?

Carissa: Sure. All right. So I used one of Aaron's photos here from a Lunar New Year parade in Honolulu, right?

Aaron: Yeah.

Carissa: I asked Aaron to make some edits, but there is a Chinese dragon, being held up by one of the dragon dancers and it is in color. The rest is in black and white.

And I stitched in Happy Lunar New Year. Since this is the year of the dragon, it felt very appropriate.

And so this was the one that I went with, but I do have some others printed here of yours that I really love. I just have not yet decided what to do with them.

Aaron: Okay. Well, appreciate it.

Carissa: Yeah. I love this one of the little girl. So perhaps we will continue this working together.

Aaron: Yes. Yes. So yeah, like we discussed earlier, I really plan on adding more yarn to this. I guess when we first started, I didn't know how hard it is to kind of sew each line in there. And then I failed a couple of times. So I had to kind of reprint it out.

And eventually I decided I'll just take the easy way out and use hot glue. Okay. You told me that was one of the options is when you put hot glue on there. Yeah, you put the yarn on the hot glue.

Carissa: Mm hmm. There is another maker who I follow. I forget her name at the moment, but KattGrass Studios, who does a lot of yarn landscapes using that method. And so, yeah, it's a wonderful method to use.

What issues did you run into there when trying to sew into the photo?

Aaron: Yeah, so I had this preconception with cardboard and then I was putting the image on the cardboard. Okay. So I had this preconception that the needle needs to go through the image and the cardboard at the same time. At first I was like, well, that's going to be really time consuming and, you know, that's going to destroy the image.

Carissa: Oh, okay. I see.

Aaron: And then eventually you told me that you just have to poke through the image, which I did a couple of times. And it left some really big holes.

Carissa: Oh no!

Aaron: Yeah, and then I wanted to be super creative about the lines too. What I realized is with hot glue I can be more creative and have more curves in the lines. Whereas like sewing, it's more of like straight lines that I've noticed. Yeah, I don't really know how to sew curves around something.

Carissa: Okay. Yeah, I think you're right in that that is a limitation when it comes to sewing and embroidery is that you get a series of straight lines and have to make it work. S

So it took you a couple of tries to get this done?

Aaron: Yeah.

So any kind of challenges you ran into, either on the photography side or on the photography side?

Carissa: That is such a great question. I'm glad that you asked.

I think I got a little bit nervous leading up to going to this Asian mart and taking photos. I had never been there before, but it's probably the largest one here in town and part of me kind of wanted to chicken out because I hadn't been there, because I didn't know exactly where it was or what it might be like inside.

But I ended up going and having such a great little exploration of all the little goodies that they had in the store.

And even though it was very nerve wracking for me, I asked somebody if I would be able to take his photo and he declined. But I was very proud of myself for at least asking because it was a scary thing to kind of say, “Hey, could I take your photo, please?”

Aaron: Yes. When you said that to me, I was like, “Wow! I'm so proud of you to ask him.” Because I even get scared asking people for a portrait now.

Carissa: Yeah, I think I would have felt a little bit more confident if I actually had a camera that was not my phone, because then it feels like you carry some weight with you.

You have a little bit more. I don't have the authority to take people's photos or something like that, or at least I feel more confident when I have it with me, rather than just asking you to take someone's photos on my phone.

I think there's a lot more apprehension with it.

Aaron: You know, that's a good point. And what I've noticed kind of throughout the years is that it's also like a double edged sword because you know how distrustful nowadays like media can seem because it's so polarized.

People think that if people think that you're a journalist or you're a photojournalist, you know, they don't really know where you're going to put the picture and things like this.

I've actually had a lot of people reject me of taking a picture of even though I told him I'm just freelancing or this is going to be here here.

It doesn't even have to be online. But just because the distrust of the media nowadays, you know, it's a valid fear.

Carissa: That makes so much sense, because I think that's a bit of what I was picking up to and I had never considered that you would experience that on your end as well, having a camera with you in my head.

I was like a camera would solve everything. And you're clearly saying here that not always. There's kind of this universal distrust of social media now.

Aaron: Or even just media in general, like news media, they think you're news.

Usually I don't walk in with a camera or anything when I first meet someone. Because it is intimidating to have this big thing in your hand.

But now I'm super proud of you for asking for his portrait and for getting these images.

Carissa: Thank you. Thank you. Yes, I used your guidance when it came to how to arrange photos and how to align the composition.

And then I also kind of tapped into this outdated knowledge of when I used to do photography way back in high school from, probably like 15 years ago now.

And so I got a little bit creative and it was actually really nice. I really enjoyed going out and taking photos. I didn't realize how much I missed it.

Aaron: Yeah, your photos are great.

Carissa: Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Aaron: We can tell this clear subject. Yeah.

Carissa: Yeah, I thought of you when I took that one. I was like, here's my subject.

So how did you feel once, you were able to problem-solve and kind of found the solution of using the hot glue gun?

Aaron: So the first thing I felt was freedom. And I was just like, “Whoa!” And it just opened up the doors, you know, that I could do so much more now.

Yeah. And so I started doing curves. I started kind of like doing the little twisty things on the side. I started because the lids were curved in the photo. So I kind of like curved to the lid. And there's some imperfections I'll fix. And I'll put more as well. Yeah. It would just give me a lot more creative freedom. And I mean, problem solved.

But then it comes with like another set of problems, you know, because of the hot glue. Like they leave these lines, like these fishing lines. Yeah. So that was all over the picture.

Carissa: Yeah. Yeah. It always requires like a hand or something to go back through and get rid of all the, I think of them as spider webs, after using hot glue.

Aaron: What about you? Did you have any challenges like that you overcome? How did you feel?

Carissa: I think the main challenge for me, I think, was just kind of getting the photos.

And then when it came to doing some embroidery over the image, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to arrange the lettering, but I had the idea of using tracing paper over a grid.

So that way I could make sure my letters were a little bit more uniform. And then I lift it, put it on the back of the page and was able to poke holes and stitch in a way that allowed me to use the tracing paper as a template without showing on the front.

And so I had to get a little bit creative there with finding that solution, but overall, I think it came up out great. And I'm actually really satisfied with it because it also just gives a teeny bit more support to the back of the image, where I sewed.

I was also nervous about it ruining, like the paper ruining the photo, by tearing or, weakening the photo paper here.

Aaron: Yeah, that makes sense.

Carissa: I think if I were to do it again, I would consider maybe like a card stock going towards your original idea of sewing the cardboard in with it, but using a cardstock to kind of find that happier medium of it being thin enough and flexible enough to poke through without being too difficult and still offering some structure to the image.

Aaron: Yeah. And also kind of by doing this is like a new form of art embroidery. I've never done anything like this. I think I just gained a whole level of appreciation of your art. Like how much detail that it goes into it and much patience you need to have for each line.

Yeah. I think you did a couple of pieces that are huge, like the cloud piece. You know, that must have taken so long.

Carissa: That one was tufted. So that one was tufted and, uses a whole different machine. I tend not to do well with embroidery because I always poke myself and I tend to avoid it for that reason.

So what do you think that you learned or gained from this process that you might use moving forward?

Aaron: I think the biggest thing I learned is patience. You really need to have patience when you're embroidering all these lines. And also have patience to be creative, because I really didn't know what I was going to do after a couple of failed attempts, and I kind of found like a creative freedom to just go with it.

Yeah. So I think the biggest thing I learned is patience.

Carissa: It sounds like when you were able to give yourself the space to make mistakes and order extra copies. And keep trying.

You found like a really brilliant solution that offered you so much creative freedom and I think that's invaluable to have that kind of freedom and flexibility as an artist and as a creative and maybe find ways to incorporate this into some of your photos moving forward.

Aaron: Definitely. I think that's a good advice.

Carissa: I know mistakes can be nerve wracking and I love that you stuck with it. You kept giving it a go.

Aaron: Yeah, yeah, it was definitely scary, especially when I was starting to tear the photo, it's like, “Oh, no! Yeah, I have to go print out another one.”

Carissa: Right.

I know that you are back in the in the continental US from Hawaii. What are your plans for your artwork moving forward?

Aaron: So I'm back in Oklahoma City. And I think my plan for now, for art, is to focus on the Asian district. Yeah, just really kind of empowering the Asian district here. And also just Asian cultures in general.

There's a funny story about that postcard I sent you. I don't know if you still have it, but the koi fish one?

Carissa: Yes. I'm looking at it here.

So Aaron was kind enough to send me a postcard featuring a couple of koi fish from the Classic Art Gallery. This postcard features a number of very colorful koi fish, and on the back is a description here, an autobiography about the artist.

“This is professor Ding Guan Liu, born in Canton, China, currently at the Classic Art Gallery in Honolulu, Hawaii. Currently Dr. Liu serves as the Managing Director and President of the Association of Modern Art in China. He is also a member of the U. S. National Watercolor Society. As a member of the Chinese Research College of Calligraphy and Watercolor, he is certified as a Chinese fine art specialist.”

Aaron: So yeah, this piece, I actually found it from this artist. I was just walking around Chinatown, I was walking into these shops and like, as soon as they see that you can speak Chinese to them, they just open up everything to you, you know?

They’re like, Oh, familiar faces from your language. So they just open up. It's different than the experience I got from the tourist experience.

So literally this artist was like a traditional Chinese brushstroke artist. He does a lot of brushstroke art. And he also branched out to do watercolors and oil paintings.

I think his art was, recognized by the White House. He has photos of Obama and Michelle together. And he's like presenting his art to them.

So super accomplished artist. And yeah, I actually bought a couple other his art pieces.

One of the things he was telling me about his art career, about his painting career. I think the most valuable thing he said to me was, “Make sure you are, contributing to the society with your art. Make sure you are empowering people or contributing in some shape or form.”

So that really got me thinking and then I even told him the idea of I want to use my art to empower the Asian communities, Asian Americans. And then the one thing he said to me was, “Don't criticize. Move people with your art, but don't criticize.”

It makes sense where he's coming from. You know, he's like an older immigrant.

But I just found that really powerful from someone who's, you know, a different art form. He's an artist. Yeah. But he's doing painting. You can give me a lot of good advice.

Carissa: I love that so much. And I definitely see you in your future plans and everything that you've described here, making such strides to represent and include the Asian community. And I love that you have found a place that offers a bit of an art district so that you can do that and really highlight your work and highlight the people near you. Beautiful.

Aaron: Thank you. Thank you.

So what about you? What do you think about your future art? Where do you think it's going to go? What do you have coming up?

Carissa: Oh, thank you. great question. And perhaps one that I was not fully prepared for.

Aaron: Okay. I wasn't prepared for yours too.

Carissa: Ah, okay. Fair enough. Fair enough.

So, currently I am doing more behind the scenes work, continuing with my postcard club, which did receive an edition of a Lunar New Year dragon print, and a Valentine's print and soon a black history month print.

And aside from that, I am looking at other opportunities to become involved in my local community with organizations such as the Homestead Center for the Arts, and then also putting together an application for a program that might help me level up, that I will leave at that and keep my fingers crossed.

Aaron: Wow. I'm so happy you said you’re going to get involved with the community and stuff. Because I felt like when I visited you back, I think it was like November-ish? I think I saw that it is a vibrant community, especially with Miami so close.

Yeah. And I was like, man, Carissa needs to get her things out there. And she'll be just totally involved with this community and grow together. It's like such a bigger art community than mine are.

Carissa: Oh yeah, the community here is huge. And Homestead has been a long running art community, though, one that cannot compare with the flashy lights of Miami.

And so helping it grow and gain some footing and really take off in the ways it wants to is kind of my hope here. So fingers crossed.

Aaron: Okay, I definitely look forward to your next exhibition.

Carissa: Yeah, for sure. I will keep you posted. All right, Aaron. Well thank you so much for participating in my first guest co-host appearance on You and I Make A Thing. I wish you many more creative endeavors.

Aaron: Thank you, you too. And I will finish this project up in the near future. And then I can send it to you.

Carissa: I can't wait. All right. Talk to you soon.

Aaron: Okay, sounds good.