- R
LakeyThePoet.com
I've been a travelling artist since the summer of 2012...making this my 9th year creating/performing/sharing on the streets. The way I create in the streets has evolved over the years...The first year I would either do poetry or sit quietly drawing with Bic Ballpoint pens in a dollar store sketchbook beside a cardboard sign. The next year I put on a suit and tie, started drawing on nice 18x24 inch sketchbooks with good markers, and had a sign saying "Grandma said I needed a job wearing a suit and tie...this is my compromise."
The sign spoke to lots of people...Hands down the best protest sign I ever created...and it helped me make pretty decent money for a street artist...but then I turned 30 years old and my Grandma died...so the sign didn't feel proper any longer.
The next couple years were rough...I was still creating...probably creating some of my best art ever, but without the suit and tie and the sign it wasn't making me money or friends. Felt like I didn't have anything to offer anyone and started falling away from all my friends.
During 2018 I started using sidewalk chalk to share an idea/discovery I called #ABCMandala. To draw the idea/diagram I had to start with a perfect circle...I did this for just over a year and it proved far too big of an idea to share with random pedestrians...then in 2019 at SXSW one night I drew this pattern where the circles overlapped in such a way a flower like design would show up...I ended up covering a few thousand square feet that night...I would end up covering 100,000+ by the end of the year.
This year I want to at least match that 100,000 mark if not exceed it! I want to not only create but I want to involve others out to create and collaborate. I will document the creations with my 360 cameras and edit them into promotional videos for the artists/businesses/cities involved. I want to talk with artists, organizers, and businesses city to city learning about their arts communities then bring the information back to share it with the artists and organizers here in Longview, Tx. where we just got an art district. The first few months will concentrate only on Texas...once the weather gets hot I'll likely start heading north.
What will the funding be spent on?
Rode Wireless Go Microphone
High Quality 128 GB+ Micro SD Cards
Motorola moto g7 SUPRA or old iPhone Plus
Insta360 One R 1inch Leica Mod
1st Generation Apple Pen
Sidewalk Chalk
Bus/Train Tickets
Room & Board
Day to day living
Apps/programs that help me edit photos/videos/music
I've already purchased the most expensive tools I need and have invested many hours into improving my skills using them. I rarely try to secure funding before doing a job because I feel it wastes time and takes away from the organic nature of things. However, having people appreciate my work enough to ensure I'm funded helps keep me in a positive mental state and gives me the confidence to get even further out of my comfort zone and do bigger and better things.
In all I do I try to stick to my motto of creating liberally, consuming conservatively, and sharing the excess with mindfulness.
I've been a travelling artist since the summer of 2012...making this my 9th year creating/performing/sharing on the streets. The way I create in the streets has evolved over the years...The first year I would either do poetry or sit quietly drawing with Bic Ballpoint pens in a dollar store sketchbook beside a cardboard sign. The next year I put on a suit and tie, started drawing on nice 18x24 inch sketchbooks with good markers, and had a sign saying "Grandma said I needed a job wearing a suit and tie...this is my compromise."
The sign spoke to lots of people...Hands down the best protest sign I ever created...and it helped me make pretty decent money for a street artist...but then I turned 30 years old and my Grandma died...so the sign didn't feel proper any longer.
The next couple years were rough...I was still creating...probably creating some of my best art ever, but without the suit and tie and the sign it wasn't making me money or friends. Felt like I didn't have anything to offer anyone and started falling away from all my friends.
During 2018 I started using sidewalk chalk to share an idea/discovery I called #ABCMandala. To draw the idea/diagram I had to start with a perfect circle...I did this for just over a year and it proved far too big of an idea to share with random pedestrians...then in 2019 at SXSW one night I drew this pattern where the circles overlapped in such a way a flower like design would show up...I ended up covering a few thousand square feet that night...I would end up covering 100,000+ by the end of the year.
This year I want to at least match that 100,000 mark if not exceed it! I want to not only create but I want to involve others out to create and collaborate. I will document the creations with my 360 cameras and edit them into promotional videos for the artists/businesses/cities involved. I want to talk with artists, organizers, and businesses city to city learning about their arts communities then bring the information back to share it with the artists and organizers here in Longview, Tx. where we just got an art district. The first few months will concentrate only on Texas...once the weather gets hot I'll likely start heading north.
What will the funding be spent on?
Rode Wireless Go Microphone
High Quality 128 GB+ Micro SD Cards
Motorola moto g7 SUPRA or old iPhone Plus
Insta360 One R 1inch Leica Mod
1st Generation Apple Pen
Sidewalk Chalk
Bus/Train Tickets
Room & Board
Day to day living
Apps/programs that help me edit photos/videos/music
I've already purchased the most expensive tools I need and have invested many hours into improving my skills using them. I rarely try to secure funding before doing a job because I feel it wastes time and takes away from the organic nature of things. However, having people appreciate my work enough to ensure I'm funded helps keep me in a positive mental state and gives me the confidence to get even further out of my comfort zone and do bigger and better things.
In all I do I try to stick to my motto of creating liberally, consuming conservatively, and sharing the excess with mindfulness.
Organizer
