Meet Aija Charles, Self-Taught Muralist

SPEAKER_07 1:45

Welcome back to the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we are thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with the talented Aija Charles, correct?

SPEAKER_03 1:54

Yes. Awesome.

SPEAKER_07 1:55

Aija is a self-taught artist and muralist based in Columbia, South Carolina. With her exceptional artistic skills and an inspiring attitude of gratitude, she brings joy to every canvas and wall, her paint brushes, Grace. Aija's work was captured has captured the attention of celebrities, city leaders, and national organizations, including the NFL, Netflix, and Bob Marley's estate. Despite this widespread recognition, her true strength lies in her love for people and the community. Her murals not only beautify Colombia but also extend to neighboring states, enriching communities across the country. Her artistic series range from portraits of everyday individuals to a diverse array of cultural symbols. Each image is reimagined and reconstructed in her unique style, offering a fresh perspective on familiar themes. During this episode, we will dive into the vibrant world of art with Ajah Charles. How are you doing today, sister?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

I am doing great. Very tired, but that's just what happens when you're an entrepreneur.

Early Influences And DIY Beginnings

SPEAKER_07 3:03

Hey you've been working a lot. Yeah. I know we're gonna get into that part because we've got to ask you about that. Um, so everybody can know where to find art because the type of art you do is very public. Very much. Um, as we always start off each episode, we would like to know a little bit about your background. What was it like growing up and who influenced you?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

So I am a Nola Cola. Like everybody knows I'm from Columbia, but I'm also from Louisiana. Oh. My dad's side's from there, and I'm from here. I grew up mainly in Paxville, South Carolina, Columbia. Um, graduated from Westwood High School, um, but also went to Spring Valley before Westwood opened. Hey. Um growing up, I would say my biggest um person that I always looked up to was Outcast, specifically Andre 3000, um, because I love the fact that he never set boundaries. I always like in like when you see my emails, it says muralist, but also creator, because I don't limit myself to just painting murals. I do a little bit of everything. And he plays a huge role in that because I didn't have much when I was younger. And my mom always told me, like, that shouldn't stop you. Like, use what you have till you gain more. So I would make art out of berries, leaves, um, make sure. Out of everything that I had until I actually was able to afford it. Um, and I honestly didn't get to afford paint until I was like a senior in high school. Because at that time, I was like asking all my teachers, hey, if I do all my work for the week and show up on the test on Fridays, as long as I maintain A's, can I go to other people's class and hustle? So I would sell art to people, I would do drawings for my teachers and stuff and get paid. And that's how I kind of started my career. Um, I was kind of like a friend to all of my teachers. So I would be in the teachers' lounge talking to them about business with everybody else in the cafeteria. Um, so that's why I'm here. I really want to just be that joy that art brought for me at first, but also showing people you can do anything. Because I feel like a lot of talent when they come to like big opportunities, they just leave South Carolina. And most people don't know where we're from here. Thank you. So I like to like do that.

SPEAKER_07 5:24

We appreciate that. We always like the what's it called? A brain drain.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 5:28

Yeah. You literally like everybody that is of not to say that people aren't important wherever they are. Everybody's important, every human soul is important. However, those people that show extreme talent and gifts, they usually do get up and ride down the road to Atlanta, to Charlotte, go to New York. That's what you're told.

SPEAKER_08 5:46

Yeah, you told you got to do that to be successful and to make money and to, you know, be at the top of your game. That's true. But we got a game here too. Right. That's true.

SPEAKER_05 5:56

Yeah, because we're supposed to have been gone. Yeah. We're supposed to have been at the very least Atlanta.

SPEAKER_07 6:01

I know, I know. Seriously. And the thing is, like, if we if we do that, then who's gonna be here to beautify the city, to make it feel better, to fill it with good events, content, and people that are of some kind of reputation that we can change some of this negativity that's going on.

SPEAKER_04 6:15

Exactly.

SPEAKER_07 6:16

We need the good people. Please don't leave. Um Louis Speaking of beautifying the city, do you have any siblings?

SPEAKER_01 6:23

I do. I have um two brothers, two sisters. I'm a middle child.

SPEAKER_07 6:27

Yay, middle children.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

One little brother, one little sister, one big brother, one big sister.

SPEAKER_07 6:33

It's good, but it's good. You get to get it, you're a stabilizing factor.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Definitely, definitely, but it's always confusing because one day you're the big sister, the next day you're the little sister. It's just like I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 6:45

Yeah, what's your position today? It depends on what's necessary. Pretty much, yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

But it's usually big sister. It is what it is.

SPEAKER_07 6:53

I know um I'm gonna stay on track, I'm trying to be good, but um, I do have to ask you, and and you're in saying this, so you didn't have what a normal artist would have growing up, like actual, you know, the the colored pencils with 64 64 color pencil, 128 with sharpener in it, and then all the paint brushes, watercolor, everything. So you have easel, everything to do your work, right? Right. And you were saying you're using berries and dirt and stuff to get it literally getting it out the dirt. Why were you so pulled to it? And what made you think about using these other mediums and forms to create your work? Because most people would just give up.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Well, I've been creative my whole life. Like, if you were to ask my mom, she likes yeah, she would just come up to me and made a doll out of flowers that she found in the yard. Like, I just always I just always did that. Like, if I saw rhinestones on my pants, I'd pull them off and make a collage out of it. And like, I just always have been like that. And then watching Andre 3000 go from jazz to hip-hop to cinema to having his own animations, like doing whatever the heck you want to do. I was like, why limit myself? Yes, I at first I was doing just pencil art is all I could pay for. And then I started doing clay because I dug up clay from under my tree and sold t-sets to kids in in my community. Like I was doing any and everything. What?

SPEAKER_07 8:18

Anything did you research anything? Like, how did you know you could do the just art hustle?

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Just do whatever, trial and error. Yeah, pretty much. So wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 8:26

I think um my brother Skip would agree with you on this, and he he tells people every tells people this all of the time, especially when we do classes on podcasts and or being a creator, he's like, just do it. It doesn't matter if you fail, if it looks good or if it looks bad, right? Just finish something, complete the task, do it, right? Um, and I think, especially from the initial uh interview that we had today, that might be our thread today.

SPEAKER_08 8:50

That might be the we always have a thread when we do these recording days, and we never know what it's gonna be, but everybody always ends up talking about the same thing.

SPEAKER_07 8:57

Y'all don't even know you're doing it. I love it. But uh yeah, completing something, actually finishing a task, getting to the end, um, knowing that it's something that has to be done, and so you just find a way to make it happen.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Right.

Staying In South Carolina With Purpose

SPEAKER_07 9:08

Yeah, that's that's that's amazing. Um, and and then just the next question is basically about that. You're teaching yourself how to do your craft from scratch. Who were your teachers or where did you get any information from outside of yourself?

SPEAKER_01 9:21

I would say it's always about a community. Um, we actually had I I lived in two uh Northeast a lot of my life. So in my neighborhood, we had an old lady named Miss Skinner. She had a big Shout her out, shout her out, shout her out. She's not here, Miss Um Skinner, but she she was like in her 90s in a neighborhood putting block parties together. Okay. She always would be like, You the only person go in my garden because you ain't gonna pick all my fruit. So I would be in there drawing and she would take it and then show everybody, and then she'd buy all my art. And she's like, If you if you really do this, like you can really be something. So I would go to my dad and my mom. They actually were part of um a bowling league that um were was at Reverend, no, what is it? Um right off Tunash, that bowling alley. I know which one you're talking about. Yeah, Rolls. Yes, they were there and they they brought Thanksgiving in all the time. Turkeys. So they were really good. And they will say, All right, so this is what we're gonna do. Because my dad, he actually was a striker. He worked with strikers, so he would sell bone implants and then do the surgeries to put them in you. And he was like, I just I know that too well. Yeah, and she she's just like, one, you're black, two, you're a girl, three, this is an industry not meant for women to thrive in as an artist. Like you think about the big dogs, it's mainly a male of any ethnicity. And he was like, Well, I can teach you how to separate yourself. And one thing that people know me for now is being a fast artist. So he would be like, All right, if you this is what we're gonna do. If you want a dollar, every time somebody sits down, try to draw their portrait before their next turn, and we'll give you a dollar, but it gotta look like them. So every time I would draw them, I had the whole team was full of old heads. They but that don't look like me. I ain't getting no dollars. Like it taught me about like um how you have to separate your heart from the art when you're dealing with clients, yeah. And it also taught me how to be fast and accurate. Like it's you can't have one without the other. So me doing that over and over again, I started racking up so much money, they didn't let me do it no more.

SPEAKER_07 11:38

So my mom she had a hustle.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Yeah, and my mom was like, Well, I got something for you. She would take the flyers that they had left over, they used to keep in the front area, and she would like use the back of these papers, and she would just put all kind of squiggles on it. She's like, Come up with something, some type of art using these lines. And every time I came back with something different, and she would give me money for each piece, and she would just do like little um art shows in the hallways at our house where she would just hang up on my work. She's like, You made these out of little scribbles. Yeah, we're gonna keep doing it so your imagination can work, and that's something I still do to this day. And they were both in medical, so yeah, they don't know where it came from, but they always said like they supported it though. Yeah, they're like my mom used to always say, I don't care if you want to be a janitor, we're gonna make you the best janitor in the world. So I just button.

SPEAKER_07 12:33

You're hitting on a really big button right now. Very, very extremely gigantic button. And especially for our audience who are millennials and younger folk, and even some of our listeners too. Don't play now. Don't play. As I've been saying, we're in our our unk state. So we gotta we gotta look to the youth.

SPEAKER_08 12:57

We gotta advise the youth and try to help them out.

SPEAKER_07 13:00

But that's something good to hear, especially even even for our our quote unquote age range. But knowing that the youth, when you see them, and I know this growing up, how real this is, you can't beat them down and expect for them to be up.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Right.

SPEAKER_07 13:15

You know, it's like a flower, it's out here growing, doing its thing, weather's hitting, it's getting hit by sleet and rain and et cetera, and it's even beaten up. It's waiting for the spring and summer, so it can just let me get some light and some air and breathe, right? And for them to show that support to you is awesome because I mean, we talk a lot of the artists that we talk to and creatives that are successful, they always tell stories about people who are great, right? Yes, great at giving them support. I I want to say it like donor or whatnot, but but you know, back in the day, in the olden days, when you had artists, they would always have a group, usually it'd be a royal family or something like that, that would be a patron. Patron. Right. That's why there's something called Patreon.

SPEAKER_04 13:57

Right.

SPEAKER_07 13:57

But those folks would come and make sure that that person can continue to do their job and give back to community in that way because it's something that is vital for all communities. Culture keeps us from being from being dogs and rats out here. It looks like culture is where it's at. That's it. That's why we stick together. Preach. Exactly. Preach. So that's awesome to hear that. Now, um hardships. This is something that everybody has to talk about. As a creative, we gotta talk about hardships. We just talk about good stuff and you're getting your support growing up and etc. Now, as you're on your way to where you are now, um, obviously everything hasn't been peachy. Um, can you speak to our audience a little bit about some hardships you may have seen?

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Um, I would say when I first started, I placed third-ish for my art business plan. So I got funding um right out of high school. So I was like, all right, what am I gonna do? I was like, well, my dad's side apparently from Louisiana. Let me go there. That's like one of the biggest art cities in the world. So I went down there. I was a cake decorator, a Mardi Gras float painter, and I sold my art on the side. But we not having a name, you get people saying, I'm dust collectors, nobody's gonna buy this. Like you have to hear that. Like people literally looking around and being inside of your art studio and telling you, I don't like this.

SPEAKER_07 15:21

They told you it was a dust collector.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Dust collectors. I'll never forget that day. Old lady too.

Community Mentors And Speed As An Edge

SPEAKER_07 15:26

So that's some like old 1960s like hate right there. She was a dust collector and walked off.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Yeah. Like I don't know how you're gonna sell these. Um, you need to like just trying to put me in a box. I was like, all right, that's Kindle. Let's make this happen. So I ended up placing I ended up going to the Essence Festival and selling out of my work um on the first day. So I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna make a bunch of prints to get me through the next two, and I'm going back home.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Because I made so much money. I was like, I want to show everybody I left behind. Like this is possible. So I left and I was like, from that day forward, even today, like I always say I would always put my Carolina clients first, and anybody else gotta fly me out. And they they do because I'm so quick, I can get stuff done. Yeah, so I always said that because one thing I always said the hardest part about going into a career that you've never seen anybody else doing it is finding help and doing this all on your own, like trying to find something that's close to it, yeah, but not really seeing like what you want being lived out by somebody that's like you said, around your age range. Yeah, that was tough. And I was like, I'll be a difference. So I'm back here. I've been painting a lot of murals for high schools, elementary, and um middle school.

SPEAKER_08 16:51

You did one at my son's school, big old bobcats, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Letting the kids um come in and see it, they got to be a part of it. Some like they actually were able to pull some of the kids out to paint even the bodycat mural, like that's fun. Um, just a way to like give them a chance to talk to me. See, I'm just a person that you're yeah, regular folk, yeah. And they can do it too. So even if they find fun in it, it's just something, a memory they get to hold on to because I like to be the difference, not complain that it's not there. Um go ahead. So that's something I live by.

SPEAKER_08 17:23

Please do, please do. And you know, one of the things I wanted to ask you about is I'm I'm I'm not an artist artist, but I do art. Yep. Right? And one of the things I've started to notice is like every time I go to another canvas size bigger, it's like a whole nother world of complication.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 17:40

How did you make that leap to go into these giant murals?

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Um, that was that was actually kind of an easy process for me. Because um, one, every time we moved, my mom was like, It's your room, do whatever you want. So I used to draw on my walls all the time. Oh, okay. Um also my grandfather was a brick mason, so he used to build houses. He built my grandma's house, like he bought a bunch of land and built all of our family's houses on the land.

SPEAKER_04 18:06

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

And I used to follow them around, and he's like, Azja, you gotta paint. And he was like, You can draw whatever you want underneath, just paint over it after you're done.

SPEAKER_08 18:15

So I already had like different textures, different walls.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Like, how can you do it?

SPEAKER_08 18:20

You already been working on brick, you already knew all of that.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

I actually, when my first ever mural was at my high school, my um principal, Mr. Smith, he was like, We can't let you do it because you ain't 18 yet, but let you design it. And I was so mad. I was like, I know how to do this, just let me do it. Yeah, but that was the first one. So the mural that's in the gym, that's designed by me at Westwood. They just didn't let you paint it. And I was like, I'm using this as a way to get into more projects, so I was able to do even more based off of that too.

SPEAKER_07 18:55

So that's another threat. It looks like you gotta let people do work before they old enough. Oh, yeah. You gotta look, you gotta give the youth the tools. To let them go.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

You gotta the mentorships, all that stuff matters.

SPEAKER_07 19:07

I agree, I agree. Um, I just had to ask this because it's about business. Because when I went to go look at stuff, I always look at see how people run their business. I was you were talking about this a little bit, and I want to um press on this point. So I noticed, and like you said, you got your prints out after you sold out everything at Essence. When I went to your sites and I looked at them, the ability for you to get your art mediums onto different things and move it out at different price rates is amazing.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 19:36

How did you think about it? Was that your idea? Did somebody come along and say, hey, sister, this is what you need to do?

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Um, I think that there was some lady I had met at uh like a festival that I was working on when I was first like starting out. She was like, Stop pocket watching. I was like, why are you telling me to stop pocket watching? Because you're underselling your work. Like, I really, really like this, and you're trying to sell it to me for this amount, and I need this to go up in value over time. She was like, You don't know how much I have. So I always never undersold my originals because I was like, anybody who has a less price point, you can get a print, you can get a little phone case, that's a good point, t-shirt. There's other ways to do it. I thought that was so dope. Anything.

SPEAKER_07 20:23

Yeah, you can get at the work.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

So having the middleman take care of that, all I gotta do is upload images for that. And then if you want an original, you just go straight through me and we can figure that out. It's just like it's the best of both worlds. You can get a bunch of prints. You can get sometimes I'll have events where I have like um exclusive prints where you come and I actually sign it for you. So it's just like I there's just so many options. I don't want to limit myself to all to the detriment of me as far as like the value of my work, but I also feel like it should be to where anyone can access it. That's why I like public murals so much, because you can just walk by it.

SPEAKER_07 21:03

Oh man, that's so nice. I'm not gonna lie, because at first when I went up there, I was like, everything's gonna say 1000.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Right.

SPEAKER_07 21:11

It's gonna be for something the size of a postage stand, right? That's what I thought. And I have no problem with that because I understand that you have to put value into the work that you do. And as you were talking about, we spoke with a guest and they broke it down, the science of it in how how many hours am I spending on it? How much money did I spend on on getting the materials? Okay, I'm gonna go ahead. This goes in this algorithm. This is how much it needs to cost at least this much because I want to pay myself, say,$50 an hour or$200 an hour. Well, they were talking about at least minimum wage, of course. I know, right? I know it was a little different. Yeah, but it makes sense. You gotta start somewhere, right? And I and then we looked at the price of one of these things, and I was I was speaking with my wife about it, and this thing's$800. And I showed her the size of it, and I was like, that's not a problem. We can get a print. And that print will be a different but better cost level for us to be able to access it, but we still can beautify our space with that person's art. And I thought that was dope.

Rejection, Essence Fest Win, And Returning Home

SPEAKER_05 22:08

And I think another thing, and this is what I want to add on. I know voice in the background. Go ahead, voice in the background. All right, I love the fact that when artists create different mediums, it makes art accessible for people who let's say you might be in a household that is not necessarily as art friendly or maybe as canvas-friendly as others. And so being able to have things in different mediums, and I just bring a great example. Like I know a lot of times we interview people that um a lot of artists will come in and then they'll have their pieces maybe on decals, right? That's something that I can easily purchase or take with me, and it'll always be with me. And I can always enjoy the art and the visual because, like I said, it's just another format for me to enjoy it. And I know that's something that I appreciate a lot when you all do that.

SPEAKER_07 22:54

And we can support y'all. Yeah, because we want to support it. Yeah, we do. But um, some of us we got car notes and mortgages. Yeah, children. We're not the investor level right now, and we're getting there, we're getting there, we're gonna be there. You know, we're gonna be living off dividends soon enough. That's what we want, that's what everybody wants. But until we can, we still want to make sure we support. Because we gotta be able to make sure that you all are able to go out in the community and be who you all are. Speaking of which, obviously, we have a great piece of work right over here.

SPEAKER_08 23:21

This is amazing. Thank you. Wow. Yeah, and your your people are always just so full of life. And um I don't know. This one is is almost more realistic than a lot. A lot of them have very surreal things going on and stars and uh you know, I dig it, but this is um your style but different. Tell us a little bit about this one.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

So I am going into a New season where a lot of the pieces that I'll be creating from this point on will reflect either, of course, my emotions, like I've always done, but also like memories, things that created me to be who I am. One of the biggest ones for me, especially with this piece, was it's called Sisters because of me and my sister, my older sister. We're Irish twins, we're only like 10 months apart. Uh-oh. We're getting back to work. You ain't lying. With that, I wanted to showcase like how we always bonded. My sister, she's big into poetry, and she would always read her poems to me while I'm with draw. And like she got me out of being so antisocial because she just come in while I'm sketching, which that is like taboo. You're not supposed to do that with artists.

SPEAKER_03 24:29

It's in personal space.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Yeah, and they're like, that don't look like nothing. And then they could leave for she would leave for an hour and come back, like, oh, that's really nice. Like bones, like you weren't supposed to.

SPEAKER_03 24:41

You're watching my process.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Yeah, but we always would be outside, and that's like my favorite place to be, is just in meadows or running through the fields of Paxville and the corn mazes or whatever. Yo, you might be back there. Yeah, oh country girls.

SPEAKER_06 24:55

Oh, actually, I know. I know. Shout out Claire and the county.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

So I just wanted to showcase like that love that grew into something even bigger as we both got older. She decided to stay more to herself because it's such a vulnerable thing. Yeah, she still creates, but for me, it was just more outward. So yeah.

SPEAKER_07 25:17

Could you speak about the the use of mixed media? Um it's it's on display right here.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

So yes. Um, I like to use mixed media because it plays with your mind. Because some people are like, I saw it. I thought it was just a painting, but you actually added fabric. And the fabric came from old clothes we wore when we were kids. Oh wow. I like it. There's some magic in there. Add layers to um a piece by like using things that also have meaning to the story, not just doing something just to do it. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 25:49

Intention. Look, thread. Yeah, oh yeah. We don't have a lot of threads today. Wow, that's uh and and so with with using mixed mediums and you know, working on art of different scale. What what materials pushed you out of your comfort zone and challenged your creative process?

SPEAKER_01 26:11

I think that the most um difficult would be like I started getting so I do pieces just for fun. Yeah. And I had done one with a lady, it was called Poppin', and it was just a lady who I just made completely out of lollipops. Because a lady had shut down her little candy store, and she was like, I go, this candy, can you do something with it? And I was like, I'm not gonna eat it. So I made a mosaic out of it, and everybody loved it. They was like, Can't you resin that? I want to buy it. Somebody in Washington has it now. And she was like, You need to do this more often. So I put I went in my store. I was like, hey, anybody who wants to see me create something random, just let me know. And I had so many people sending me stuff. So I think the weirdest ones was a lady sending me seashells, and then another lady, she sent me um hair weave. Um, and I did a whole p yeah hair weave? Yeah, I did a whole mosaic out of hair.

SPEAKER_07 27:10

Was it clean?

SPEAKER_01 27:10

Yes, she it was in the pack.

SPEAKER_07 27:12

All right, had to make sure.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

But it was like a bunch of funky colors. She said, We never sell this. Ah, and I was able to make overstock to art. Yeah, love it. People loved it so much, like it made it on the shade room. Uh a hair shop bought it. I was like, I don't have this anymore. What? Yeah, and I think that's like the hardest part because then I learn a new thing that I actually like. Yeah. And then it gets sold a few hours later. That's like giving up a child for me.

SPEAKER_07 27:37

I was about to ask you, what do you what yeah, what happens to you? What's that process of you? You make this thing, you're there. Obviously, it's just like people who create businesses. Your job is to sell the business at the end of the day, right? What makes you go? All right, it's time to get this up. This is the price, they're paying me. I have it. Do you go, gosh darn it? I wish I could just keep it.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Sometimes I'll post poem posting it because I'm just like, it's gonna go.

SPEAKER_07 28:00

So I don't get to live with it. I don't get to live with it.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

So I sometimes I'll literally wait and just hold on to them. All right. Oh I guess I can sell it. That's way different. Because they don't care.

SPEAKER_07 28:12

That's what I was about to say. That's way different from a musician. Musician, you can listen back to your own music over and over.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Right.

SPEAKER_07 28:18

You, it's gone.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

It's gone. And some people even pay for the license, the rights to it, so I can't license the cell or anything. No prints. No prints. They pay hefty. There we go.

SPEAKER_07 28:28

I was about to say, yo, right.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

It breaks my heart. My dang. Do you sign it? Huh?

SPEAKER_07 28:33

Do you sign it?

Pricing, Prints, And Accessible Art

SPEAKER_01 28:34

I do. And um, with all my originals, you get a certificate of authenticity. I write a letter at the bottom, my signature. Like it's a one-for-one.

SPEAKER_07 28:41

This goes right into our next question. Okay. Right on time. So this is something we've been bothering people about, especially Mike and I. We like to bother people about this stuff. The future. Technology. Year 3034. We're out here on the planet. You don't have access to certain things that you would. And so art is now digital. And we have NFTs. What do you how do you feel about NFTs? And do you find it, especially as a self-taught artist, do you find it to be a welcoming idea moving forward?

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Uh I have some of my art turned into NFTs because a lot of people got me involved in that back during COVID. Um, and I'm just sitting on it. It's like a nest egg for when it, if when it ever grows, it's there. But like I like to be prepared for things, whether it fails or not. Yeah. But also like I learned to break the rules too, because a lot of people don't like it. So my clients that I do get, they'll they they see it as I don't like this. Now I really want handmade art. I'll pay extra money because we don't want all this stuff you can just type in the computer. We actually want like thought to it. People, it becomes a luxury. So I've I focus my market on people who see it as a luxury versus those that just want quick art. Um, and I've even had people call me like, hey, we did a whole vinyl of of art and off of AI and I hated it. Can you pay it over it? Really? Yeah, so it's actually opened up avenues for when they mess up, yeah, or just um using it to my disposal because people want my art. So here's a digital chain, and you also get the original. Yeah. So just using it as a way of meshing the two together instead of seeing it as like, oh no, my career's over. That's not true.

SPEAKER_07 30:37

But like even with like ownership, and this is something like, and I know Mike speak more to this, but like your your ability to to like make sure your material your work, your intellectual property is secure. Do you feel like it's use like is that a good thing for it? Is that something that even with your the the physical art you create and you do give certificates of authenticity, would an NFT good be good alongside it?

SPEAKER_01 31:00

That's what I do. So that's what that would be the that would be it. Cause I I feel like even watching back in the day a lot of people purchasing NFTs, they feel like they wasted their money because now they just have a digital thing. Yeah, and just got a file now. Right. So having so actually having like when you say, Oh, I bought this NFT, she sent me the artwork for the NFT. Now you have a digital, it's the it's like a digital certificate at that point. Right, right. Instead of it just being, oh, I bought a monkey head. Right.

SPEAKER_08 31:28

Well, and it's it's a it's a registry of it, so you can't forge that the same way you could a note.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Exactly.

SPEAKER_08 31:35

That makes sense. That's that's that's actually a really smart way to do it.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Exactly. Because if you want people to buy, you gotta sell them on it. And if they're not getting on their hands, you gotta do a lot of selling. And a lot of people are only selling NFTs at the moment because of their name. And yeah, let's find a different way to do that.

SPEAKER_07 31:53

Because in my opinion, and you tell me if I'm crazy on this, it seemed like just like with the the cryptocurrency that was being talked about, it was a brief trend that has fizzled out.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Right.

SPEAKER_07 32:07

You think yeah, yeah, I really do. You think crypto in general is fizzled out. Yeah, but I'm gonna tell you why. You ready? I'm gonna tell you why. As something for the the common man, yes. It is great still for investors because it's built on speculation, and speculation is everything when it comes you're investing, speculation. Now, here's the thing because I see I see someone shaking their head back there. I want you to come here and speak about it. Um there are certain cryptocurrencies that have an actual utility. Now, I agree in those see, because see, look, I knew what you was coming from. I'll be reading, I'll be reading. They have utilities. Now, you utility-based cryptocurrencies, I think, are awesome because obviously the work with the world that we're going into, you're gonna need those things. It's different with with creative endeavors, right? And that's why I was that's why I wanted to ask about that, because it just seems like, okay, it's not gonna go anywhere immediately, but it seems like it has fizzled out. Right. But I like how you're connecting it to the actual art piece. I've seen some people do that, and I thought that was the best use of it so that you can have something forever.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Right.

SPEAKER_07 33:17

But um This is this is all right, we're about to get to the the I like to call it the the hour of uh shameless plugs and stuff. Oh, yeah, absolutely. But before we get there, we can't we have time to ask you our favorite question.

SPEAKER_04 33:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 33:30

Best question in the universe How do you find balance between work and your personal life?

SPEAKER_01 33:37

Um initially therapy. Go ahead, talk about it. Um I grew up with a lot of people who are like one side of trying to prove myself, realizing I ain't need to do that to please who? Nobody's paying my bills but me.

SPEAKER_04 33:55

Right.

Scaling To Murals And Early Commissions

SPEAKER_01 33:55

But at first it was a lot of pleasing because people I I felt like I had to prove myself because people didn't think you're crazy, you're gonna go down this path, like it's not that frugal, starving artists, all that. Go be an architect. I don't want to do all that math. I just want to draw. So go be an architect. Yeah, so literally like changing people's minds to them getting hoorays, realizing that is this is my life, it doesn't matter. Like, I had to go through a lot of therapy for that because burnout is real. Absolutely. And people literally will kill themselves thinking that their body's a robot. No, you are a human being. Yeah, you need to recharge your batteries. I feel like um for work and home life to to work, you need to literally have time for yourself. Where you're just by yourself, um, being able to meditate. Like I like to get my tea, go down the riverfront, listen to the water, have my music playing on my vinyl, and just do whatever I want. That's outside of my craft. Okay. If that's picking flowers, that's just eating fruit, reading a good book, whatever, um, that's important to me, so I can be a hundred percent of myself when I go home and hang out with my family and with work, um, especially as you get to a point where everybody wants you, learning the power of no, it's not that you're like it. And it's not that the no is indefinite. Because I've had people not take my no. We'll wait, we'll wait three months, please come, or we'll pay you extra. And so you get more opportunities that way. I feel like being inaccessible helps you out more than you think, and then it also helps everybody who wants you because they don't want you to burn out and be gone because they want you.

SPEAKER_07 35:43

You have no use.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Yeah, they actually pat I've had a lot of people pat me on the back saying, Good job. I'm glad that you were thinking about you first. We'll figure it out. We'll get you again, just not right now.

SPEAKER_07 35:53

We ain't forget, yeah, but we'll let you live life.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

Yeah, just taking advantage of the fact that you're the you're only you're your only you and yeah, just go from there.

SPEAKER_08 36:05

Knowing your value.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Yeah, knowing your value. Because you can't expect other people to know it for you.

SPEAKER_07 36:10

It's true. Do you think that being able to to actually go out and live and experience life enriches your art?

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Hell yeah. I think my favorite part about art is when people give me opportunities that I'm not used to. Yeah. And I end up in a new place. Um, because I always say when I go to another state or city, things I'm gonna do is I always do a historical tour to learn about where I am. Awesome. I do um a food tour, of course, and then I just spend time like finding things that I like to do, but there. Okay. Um it's usually always a garden. I I really like flowers. Are you serious about flowers? I really got it.

SPEAKER_07 36:49

Did you like Disney growing up? No. The princess. I like Dreamworks. Dream, you a dream worker.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Yeah, Anastasia's my favorite princess. Ain't nobody got time for the Disney.

SPEAKER_07 36:58

See? I'm trying to figure out where, cause this love of flowers and gardening.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

But I like that because my grand my great grandfather was a garden, uh, gardener farmer. He owned a bunch of land. My grandma would kick us out the house and be like, you can't come back in till dinner or you're going to bed. Facts. Or cook it.

SPEAKER_08 37:15

Put your kids outside.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 37:16

They'll learn how to be artists. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

And that's something I want to do when I become old and gray, is kick my kids out. And then when they come back to eat dinner, they're like, We're full, because they ate everything off the land. So that's what we had. So I really enjoy that. And I like flowers so much because I am part Blackfoot Indian, and with my tribe, we go medicinal before we do anything. And a lot of health benefits come from flowers. A lot of the local flowers, you would realize like it's has so many health benefits.

SPEAKER_07 37:49

Can I say it? Yeah. There it is. It's another thread. The medicine. The medicine. Oh, yeah, the medicine. The medicine. Well, before we get out of here, this is your time. Shameless promotion. What you got coming up? What's going on?

SPEAKER_01 38:03

Well, I just got back from a cruise. I was with um Vimland at sea. It was sponsored by SWV, Keisha Cole, and uh Monica. It was actually really fun. I'd never had my art on the water before. Um, it was actually really cool meeting people from all over the world on a boat. We went to the Bahamas and just sold all kinds of art, made all kinds of art cruise. Yeah, but I've never getting paid to go on a cruise.

SPEAKER_08 38:33

Right to make money.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 38:35

They paid you from the boy, right? Yes. Shoes. I had a child. That's how you let it get it. Zero overhead. Exactly. Maximize profit. Come back with my business one-on-one. You gotta love that. You gotta love that. But go ahead, my fault.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

But besides that, um, I am a part of the Bull Street project, so there's a lot of murals coming from Bull Street. Um, I'm working with the mayor and a couple other people with USC. USC's getting a mural from me. Um SC State and Orangeburg's getting a mural, Logan Elementary. A lot of murals.

SPEAKER_05 39:07

Murals everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

Everywhere. Everywhere. Yeah, just look out for them. Um, I'm actually starting my own art breath, but um just art auctions and stuff have been the focused at the moment. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 39:20

Are you are you taking any commission projects?

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Yes. Um, my work schedule is weird. I work 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. So I like being up at night because that's beautiful. Yeah, early morning is the quietest time. Nobody's calling you, nothing. You get done so fast. Yes, because I work when no one's awake.

SPEAKER_07 39:43

No bobby.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

Yeah. So yeah, I I really like my schedule at the moment.

SPEAKER_07 39:49

Now, how do people contact you if they want a commission project?

SPEAKER_01 39:52

If you want to get a commission, you can contact me through Ija underscore Monet. That's Ij A underscore M O N E T. That's all platforms, or you can email me at ija.monet at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_07 40:08

Awesome. Awesome. Is there um any other um locations or areas they can find you if they want to see your art or or purchase some of your stuff on a cool mug or phone case or something like that?

SPEAKER_01 40:19

Uh you can go on my Instagram, which is Ija underscore Monet. I have uh a link in my bio that sends you to originals or prints. You can purchase either. Um, like you said, you can buy anything from phone cases, anything you want.

SPEAKER_08 40:34

Um yeah I'm getting some posters. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Way more useful than an NFT. Pretty much, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Get a sticker, you put it on your laptop. So, yeah. Speaking of, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_07 40:47

Um, but other than that, um, I think that's well we've got a live audience today. Yeah, we've got to mention our live audience. Come on, live audience. Y'all make some noise. Make some noise. Oh, before we do finish, um, if anybody has a question for the guests, you can pop up, right? Pop up, come to the mic.

SPEAKER_05 41:06

No, you're not gonna be.

SPEAKER_07 41:07

No, you're gonna be on camera right there, right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we can make sure we record it.

SPEAKER_05 41:11

Yeah, yeah. So make sure we get good art. Let's go say something nice.

Mixed Media, Memory, And Meaning

SPEAKER_02 41:14

Go ahead. I don't have a question. I just want to say that uh we do a show uh at the Cobra Center every month. So for the last three months, uh Ijah's work has been in the second floor gallery there. Yes. And I can't tell you, it's been literally dozens of people after our show. Like, who is this person? How can I find it? Right. How can I get it? And people were just amazed. So it was like, it was it was our show, but people were more concerned about your art at our show. So I just wanted to like give you your flowers, let's know like when you aren't there, people are like raving about your work, people were just asking about it. The one with the fingernails, people were just you know going crazy about that one. So just want to say people love your work and thank you for what you do.

SPEAKER_03 41:55

Thank you. Awesome, awesome.

SPEAKER_08 41:57

Yeah, shout out to Soul House for being such a nice venue for such things. Uh uh recently did some yoga there and I saw that you had an exhibit up and it was it was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Yeah, I gotta make time this week to go get it. But yes, a lot of art a lot of those pieces, um, since I'm going into like a new breadth of work, yeah, a lot of them are going into auction. Okay. Um, some will be available, but I'll make a whole like announcement on that. Because I also like my way to give back, yes, mentor kids, but also like literally help fund projects. So that's awesome. Yeah, a lot of the work will be going to local schools and um big events like Mercy where you help with mental health. So yeah.

SPEAKER_07 42:38

Excellent. Man, man. Again, out here doing the work.

SPEAKER_01 42:43

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 42:43

I'm gonna repeat again. It is now it is Women's History Month.

SPEAKER_01 42:46

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_07 42:47

So first day, so that's awesome. Um, wrapping up today, I just want to make sure um this Hilltop Glove podcast, we're coming live from Celeb Studio. We also have behind camera today Chef Judy. Yay, Chef Jay's here. She gets a nice little oh, we got some great fruit and spider stuff about it. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Do you want to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, come on. Go on up, come on.

SPEAKER_04 43:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

Um climbers high pictures.

SPEAKER_07 43:13

Chef Jay, you gotta come to speak behind the mic. Chef Jay like that. She liked to be in the background. We gotta get her in the foreground.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for this piece. I couldn't afford your art at the time. Yeah, but um, I just had to get this puzzle because I love the colors that you use, and also I love flowers, also, so we have that in common. But the climbers, you had a show on um Jervey, I think it was. And so they hired us to come in and do about 75 charcuterie boxes because it was colorful. Our charcuters colorful to blend it with your art. And that was just an honor. Yeah, that was yeah, that was just an honor. So when I came in and make some bring some desserts, I said, Is that how you charge? And they said, Yeah, so I had to let you know I got your puzzle. Thank you. And I thank you for all you do for our community. I love your murals around town and I admire you.

SPEAKER_01 43:56

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 43:57

Such an honor. Yes, thank you. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 43:59

Oh man, that makes my day. Well, I'm not gonna hold any longer. I'm DJ and what? Mike Skip.

unknown 44:06

Tamaya.

SPEAKER_07 44:07

And our esteemed guest, Aja Ronet. And we appreciate you being here with us. We appreciate especially everybody in the audience as well. Until the next time, please tell somebody next to you that you love them and you appreciate them. We will see you soon. Peace.