This is an experimental bonus episode! Since it's the holidays I wanted to wait until they were over to post the next artist interview. So I thought I would try a little experiment. I take a lot of marketing courses. And to tell you the truth they all teach the same thing. But one that I took talked about how to build an audience when you are starting out with nothing and building your own product. I thought I would just share what I learned. Let me know what you think! Tom Ray's Website - https://www.tomrayswebsite.com Join my email list to get a call out for artists when I'm booking interviews! Sign up here

Triangulador, Liu Szwako is a Mexico City-born street artist and muralist working in Madison, Wisconsin. I got the chance to meet with him in an apartment he turned into an art studio. Learn more about Triangulador at https://www.triangulador.com Music for the show is by Lorenzo's Music https://www.lorenzosmusic.com

John Sanford is an animator from California who has made cartoons working for Warner Bros. Animation, Walt Disney Television Animation, DreamWorks Animation & Pixar. And during that time he created a webcomic called Chippy and Loopus. As we talk on facebook messenger he tells me he decided he wanted to try and turn his webcomic into a tv show!

Brennen Reece is an artist and designer from Auburn, Alabama. He has also worked in film and makes music. But what really stood out when he contacted me to be on the show was he told me he designs Tarot cards. I learn more about that and what the word Polymath means when we meet each other.

I went to a local coffee shop to meet the people I talk with today, Olivia and Elizabeth from the start-up UnderBelly. So from time to time, I like to do a nearby location search on Instagram just to see if there is any interesting artwork that's being posted in the Madison area to try and find some new things to check out. I can’t remember exactly but I think that’s how I discovered underbelly. They have been working with local businesses to give a different view of the city. The hidden gems, the alternative, the niche and the interesting. UnderBelly is excited to show a local perspective with a twist. They do all this by putting out a weekly zine and just created their own mobile app. Visit the UnderBelly website and check out the app https://www.exploreunderbelly.io

Lacey Smith aka Luluweird is someone that I heard about after I met Lauden from American Trash back in August. I had connected with her on Instagram and asked if we could meet at the train car I recently rented out. Lacey has played synthesizer in bands, traveled, was a cook, was a farmer, collectively ran a grocery co-op and was the zine coordinator at a bookstore. Her artwork is inspired by nature, the mysterious, the strange, animals, handmade, new places, old things, music, people & posters. And she runs a record label the specializes in special releases of albums by The Residents.

Scott Pyburn emailed me after he discovered the podcast. He is also someone like me who decided he wanted to get back into drawing and creating again and told me that he was going to be touring with a Comic-Con and one of the stops was going to be right here in Madison. The day the Comic-Con rolled through town I decided to head on over to meet Scott and check out the artwork at his booth. Plus, I also talk about how I participate in my first Zine Fest!

In this season of the podcast, I decided to try and start my own business. It's going to be a multimedia podcast studio and retail space. And I'm doing it in an old 1930's train car! One of the things I need to figure out is what I'm going to sell and what online shopping cart I want to use. So I meet with two artists here in Madison, WI to talk about the different cart options out there and ask why they are in the process of leaving Etsy?

Today I get to meet Emily Balsley. She's a full-time self-employed artist whose illustration work I really admire. We've tried to get together to talk a few times. When she started working on a mural here at the University of Wisconsin, I stopped by and we were finally able to get together and talk. Links https://www.emilybalsley.com Instagram: @emilybluestar

Spencer Blesi and Rob Griffen are two guys I used to work with at a corporate job. They were in the video department. Spencer even recorded a video for my band Lorenzo's Music. After I left that company I later heard that they also left and started their own video production company, Tack Video. I met with them at a coffee shop to talk about running their own business. I also have kind of a revelation while continuing my experiment to create sales for the things I make one piece at a time.  Tack Video Website - https://www.tackvid.com  Music for the show by Lorenzo's Music  https://www.lorenzosmusic.com