Author’s Note: If anyone has any questions regarding my RAW Artists experience please feel free to email me! Not only have I done this show, but I also won Photographer of the Year of Orange County by RAW so I will try my best to answer any questions you may have!

RAW: natural born artists is an organization for artists by artists. It is kinda like this awesome club where every art lover is invited in to experience the work of all artists; from musicians, to painters, sculptures, fashion designers, make-up artists, jewelry makers, photographers, drawers, poets, film-makers, and everything in between! I had the amazing opportunity to be a part of it! If you have never been to a RAW artists showcase or if you have never heard of RAW, you are missing out! It’s at a place that serves alcohol, there are fashion shows, alcohol, musical performances, alcohol, spoken word, alcohol, and every artist gets their own booth and can design it any way they want to. I, of course being the creative genius I am, was clueless on how to do this. Luckily, my booth buddy Alex Estrada (who is an AMAZING portrait/editorial photographer) was full of ideas and suggested we make a faux gallery wall using foam core. He was a life-saver because I was just going to probably just tape them to a fence or something (super creative, eh? Told you.).

So Steph and I loaded the car up with huge 4’x8′ 3/16″ foam core that we got from Art Supply Warehouse in Westminister, CA and made our way down to the Shark Club in Costa Mesa where the RAW Artists Orange County Showcase Kaleidoscope was taking place. I was extremely nervous heading down there, not because the foam boards were massive and I couldn’t really see the speeding cars on the freeway, or because Stephanie looks kinda creepy in the back seat, it was because I had to do a dreaded interview, on camera. Now some of you may not know me, but believe it or not, I’m shy. Ok, stop laughing. So I was freaking out. I knew the interview questions, but spaced out on all my super amazing answers (I’m really hoping you stopped laughing by now). The video will come later, where I’m sure more laughing will ensue.

So we arrive to the amazing venue and we set up. Oh and I forgot to mention, I picked the booth that was right in front of the stage. To me that was the best seat in the house. I didn’t care about whether or not people came up to the booth, all that mattered is I didn’t have to leave my location to view anything that was going on, onstage. Yes, I’m that lazy.

So setting up was all done and it was time for my dreaded interview and portrait session. The portraits were easy since I just had to sit there, but the interview….. yea….. I forgot everything I was planning on saying and just winged it. From the video, you can totally tell (at least I can). I looked like a deer in headlights. Mind you it was in a dark room, with two huge lights on me and I couldn’t see anything in the room except the lights. For the most part I believe I did very well. I spoke (which is a win), I made sense (which is another win), I didn’t run away, cry, or throw up (win, Win, WIN!). The video of the interview and the event is below. Once my sweaty self made it back to my booth the lovely host Molly Mahoney comes up to me and informs me she will be bringing up artists onstage to talk about their work.

I almost quit (not really.) So if video interview wasn’t enough, I now had to go onstage once the show starts and be interviewed. Luckily for me, I wasn’t in the first group to go up, so I got to see how everything panned out. This amazing band Ted Z and the Wranglers got the group wiled up and my drinking ensued to calm my nerves.  Fortunately Molly is an amazing host, she did most of the talking and bumped up the ego of every artist, so my interview was easy breezy. Plus it helped that I had a huge cheering squad of my lovely family and friends!

The show came and went. I met a lot of different people and a lot of amazing fellow artists including: Photographer Alex Estrada (have you checked out his amazing work yet?), Jewelry Designer Kinetik Soul, Musician Kelsy Karter, Clothing Designer Fatima’s Wild Rose Creations, Musicians Ted Z and the Wranglers, Graphic Artist Josh Garner, Make-up Artist Ashley O’Boyle and Hair Accessory Designer Rebel Hair Wear . The networking alone is what this organization is about and it has paid off immensely.

If you are an artist, whether you are an aspiring artist or established artist, you need to sign up to become a RAW Artist. You can do so at www.rawartists.org. When you showcase with them you receive  a professional portrait, an interview video, free admission and a +1 to any RAW Artists Showcase forever, and you get a FREE showcase out of state (or out of the country!). Plus not to mention you get a crap-ton of networking. Not only that, but RAW Artists get special discounts and perks to other places. For example, I signed up for Turningart.com which is literally the Netflix of art. You submit your work, clients go through and add your art to their collection once they return the art currently at their home, the next piece gets shipped out. So your work gets put up on client’s wall and you get paid for it! And the bonus for RAW Artists is you get featured on Turningart.com! If anybody wants a complimentary 3-month membership to Turningart.com and get my work on your wall, let me know and I will hook you up!

Ah yes, if you paid attention you realized by now I was stalling as much as I could from the interview video. Well it is below. Enjoy!