Brooke Luallen: Plant Dyer / Art Teacher / Mega Multi-Tasker / Humanitarian

03/05/22 • 102 min

@smith.and.len
Etsy.com/shop/smithandlen
The scene:
We are at Brooke’s home sitting in her front room surrounded by artistic projects, children’s toy bins, and a Lomi composter that plugs in and turns food, bioplastics, and paper back into soil. This is a picture perfect representation of Brooke in a nutshell - so full of energy, optimism, life, expression, creativity, play, family, learning, teaching, experimenting, and ecosystem responsibility. Join us in our conversation about balancing all the parts of life, self-care, giving back, and a tour to the studio where the magic is happening!
Highlights:
+ Mom, Teacher, Artist, Wife - need we go on?
+ Elementary school art teacher
+ It’s ok to say you don’t want to stay home
+ Living and working in a HOME - to the Nth degree
+ Being passionate about everything
+ “People give me energy”
+ Mental health trips
+ Creativity is identity
+ Smith & Len - a natural dye business
+ Dyes made from plants and food waste
+ Finding your own fire
+ Branded for 3 years, in process for 12
+ Successful selling through instagram
+ Pop-up shops
+ Workshops teaching plant dying
+ Perfectionist
+ Dying naturally is therapy for letting go
+ Determination - a gift and a curse
+ Stubbornness vs. perseverance
+ The creative community of Fresno is awesome
+ Community over competition
+ Encouragement and collaboration
+ One woman band
+ Boundaries create sustainability
+ Post-partum depression
+ Self-worth
+ Being a people person requires non-isolation
+ The only expectations there are are the ones we put on ourselves
+ Finding your tribe
+ Working with non-profits
+ Learning the importance of giving back at a young age
+ Treat people like you want to be treated (the golden rule)
+ Gratitude for opportunities in life
+ Giving others opportunities
+ Missions work at 10 yrs-old
+ Loving learning causes you to love teaching
+ Kindness to others starts with kindness to ourselves
+ Creating something beautiful out of what’s available
+ @rappitup food “waste” into dye-baths
+ Full lifecycle processes
+ Mordants like soy milk or allum cause different color reactions
+ Candle holder collaboration with @edward_albert_design
+ Other collabs: @magnolias_yarden, @sampaynephoto, @laurelbotanicals
+ Next pop-up @root_general
+ Dye garden: Coryopsis, Scabiosa, Chamomile, Cosmos, Calendula
+ Bundle dyeing and steaming, printing with plants and a mallet
+ Fugitive dyes wash out - berries, beets, cabbage, pomegranate
+ Different plants need different water temperatures
+ Wild foraging plants for dyes
+ Animal fibers (silk and wool) take plant dye colors best
A taste:
“I learned at a young age that it’s always important to give back, it’s always important to treat people like you want to be treated. It’s so much in me that I want to be able to provide people with opportunities. I’ve been lucky and very blessed in my life to have the opportunities in my life, that I’ve been allowed and given, and I want others to have the same. So, it’s just been something that I’ve always learned - to take care of other people."
Favorite saying:
“Be kind to yourself, be k

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Love, Sagewolf xoxo

Support the show

Thank you for listening!
Please subscribe to support this project.
Love, Sagewolf xoxo

Previous Episode

Aaron Matthews a.k.a. Bro-Bro: Wood Sign Carver / Chef Boy-R-D / Carni / Favorite Brother From the Same Mother

The scene:
We are in my brother’s kitchen prepping lasagna for family dinner and game night with our mama. Aaron is a damn fine chef. I watch him work while I eat his entire jar of jelly beans - childhood redux. Hah! We just started all hanging as a family again in the last few months - since we all got our priorities straight and made being together #1. We cook together and play either Golf, a card game, or Bones, dominoes. I played Bones with him once and got so destroyed I have forbidden it henceforth ;) These are some of the favorite moments of my entire life. Join us in the heart of my brother's home!
Highlights:
+ Shit has to be used
+ Building your own kitchen
+ A pantry the size of a bedroom
+ Sally O’Malley on SNL
+ CaliSignsations custom signs
+ Getting kicked off Facebook, and TikTok
+ Growing up in a small town
+ Woodworking in high school
+ Tree trimming, coal and gas plants
+ The emotional part of sign carving
+ This guy gets around (the West)
+ Working creative hours
+ Friendship breakups
+ A backyard full of guacamole
+ Self-reliance works
+ Bromances
+ Three Jessicas
+ Being single looks good on you
+ Working 5 months per year
+ Being a carni at the county fair
+ Boundaries and giving
+ Folks, he’s an artiste!
+ Introverts are people readers
+ CA, OR, ID, AZ = fair circuit this year
+ Deep fried Philly cheese steak
+ Shitty people get run off
+ The chili scale educational
+ Don’t convince someone to love you
A taste:
“I don’t think I could do a 9-5 to be honest with you - just be in the same office daily. Or like a car salesman - just walk the same old fuckin’ 3 lots every day of your life. I’m just not that kinda guy. I need to move.”
“I want to just hug everybody. That’s who I am. ‘Hey stranger! Get over here you motherfucker!’ [...] I hug with my heart, it’s not just my arms.”
Favorite saying(s):
“Ain’t nobody got time fa dat!”
“Don’t sweat the petty stuff and don’t pet the sweaty stuff.” (that one's credit to our dad whom he hasn't spoken with in 20 years...)

Support the show

Thank you for listening!
Please subscribe to support this project.
Love, Sagewolf xoxo

Next Episode

Elowyn Dickerson: Illustrator / Digital Artist / Real Life Sweetheart / Actual Fairy-Tale Princess

@elowyn.makes.art
@studiovanness
@artbyelowyn.collection
@elowyn.skates.too
artbyelowyn.com
The scene:
We are in Elowyn’s gorgeous art studio, which is in a historic building called Studio Van Ness in downtown Fresno. She shares it with a tax business. This is a fantastic contrast to her amazing, whimsical illustration style. Her art is so dreamy and so engaging, I feel like I’m in an actual fairy tale with an actual princess. Elowyn is her art. It’s refreshing to see someone creating so true to themselves. Join us in her sun-filled studio as we talk about making it as an artist through Instagram and Tik Tok, creating art for yourself, and mental health honesty.
Highlights:
+ Living the dream, and being proud of it
+ Self-motivated pieces
+ Serving the community with your art and not keeping all the wealth
+ Posting every day to every platform, enjoying social media, and getting off your phone
+ Being tough on yourself
+ Knowing what you want to put out in the world and honing in on your own aesthetic
+ Loving women, whimsy, and magical nymphs
+ Prioritizing art from the heart
+ Illustrator by degree, Fine Artist by choice
+ Illustration is: the artistic interpretation of words. Obvious imagery, not abstraction
+ Commercial work pays the bills
+ An artist since the womb, business artist since 18
+ Selling doesn’t legitimize art
+ “Gatekeeping” is a trending term a.k.a. scarcity mentality
+ Artists are obsessed with being unique and similar styles are a compliment
+ No bad vibes, just create your art
+ Artwork theft is real
+ Struggling with mental health
+ Using art to help others experience more joy
+ “Toxic positivity” = pretending like nothing’s wrong
+ Taking responsibility for being part of the solution
+ Managing “negativity boundaries”
+ Lifelong chronic anxiety without depression
+ Therapy and medication and developing coping skills
+ Thriving in life and not being scared anymore
+ Growing up in Clovis and leaving for private art school in Oakland
+ #arthopfresno is the first Thursday of each month on Fulton St.
+ Pretentious unwelcoming art scenes
+ Choosing your place for your art and family communities
+ Owning a house someday
+ Downtown Fresno has so much character - these are my people
+ The importance of safety and Maslow’s Hierarchy
+ The psychology of homelessness and compassion towards others who are without
+ The system is failing us all which neutralizes the “I’ve got mine” mentality
+ Appreciating others’ differences
+ Using anxiety for motivation: your crutch can be your super power
+ Depressed people are more empathetic
+ Living in a smaller town makes you shine
+ Financial independence
+ Acknowledging codependence
+ Artists are often exploited: knowing your worth
+ Being selfless for others makes no self left - #boundaryqueen
+ Living life day-by-day
+ Working towards being comfortable in your own skin
A taste:
“If someone does a similar style to you, you don’t have to be jealous or angry about it. Be like, ‘that’s sick, that’s nice, I have a kindred spirit out there.’ I’m not talking about straight-up copying but being inspired by each other is what it’s all about.”
Favorite saying:
“It’s ok to be in an uncomfortable place, as long as you’re m