Art Underfoot: Manhole Covers as Urban Art

The gallery is beautiful. You have done an amazing job finding unique artists and producing group publications. How do you find

contributors for the publications?

Thank you for the very kind words and support of the gallery and publications. It means so much to us and we truly appreciate you visiting us here and checking out the art and our books! So, when we first started creating the books we decided that we wanted the process to be inclusive and to allow artists from all around the world and of many different calibers to participate. Submitting art does not guarantee that you will be chosen to be in a book, but it does allow everyone to have a chance and a voice. We find that the collaborative process and being a part of a bigger project that includes such a wide array of artists can be very inspiring and motivating for everyone who takes part. With this idea in mind, we decided to offer open submissions for most of our book projects. In order to do this, we settle on the theme/focus of the book (for instance, skulls or insects) and then we have an open submission period which allows artists enough time to create their work, photograph it, and then submit it to us. For many of our large-scale coffee table-style books we received over 4,000 submissions to the projects. Once the deadline has passed we then organize every single submission and go through them one by one, choosing the work that will be in the book. It’s a long and tedious process, but it allows us to find the gems of the art world – from a wide array of mediums, as our collaborative books feature chapters on tattoos, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, mixed media, graffiti, and more. We have also done a few invite-only books, where we hand-pick artists and invite them to take part, however, most of our publications feature the “open submission” format.

You have had quite an arcing career. Currently your title is Dr. Jinxi Caddel mental health therapist and co-founder of OOSB & Gallery. After all of this, what is next on your to do list?

Well, that’s true, I have had an interesting and exciting journey so far. Many decades ago, I started out as a writer and worked for many tattoo magazines in the tattoo industry. This grew into jobs working at publishing companies, where I learned the ropes as an editor and also how to create books from start to finish. After working for other publishers, my husband, Steve, and I started Out of Step Books in 2010. We did so with the vision of having an inclusive company that gave artists of many different genres a chance to be recognized. In addition to my love for art and books, I have also been an advocate for mental health for many years. I received my bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1993 and started grad school way back then while Steve was in law school. But then we became the proud parents of three amazing kids (a daughter, Brynn, and twin sons, Aidan and Shea) and I decided to put graduate school on the backburner. Then once our kids were in high school and approaching college age, I decided that it was time to go back to school to finish what I had started so many years before. I earned my master’s degree in sports psychology and my doctorate degree in clinical psychology. I have worked in many different positions in the mental health field and am currently a mental health therapist at a high school and middle school on the Oregon coast. I also do speaking engagements and have a curriculum that is tailored towards artists in helping them with mental health wellness tips. I’m not sure what is next, but I usually try to balance my creative side with my mental health work, so I’m guessing that a new project that involves both of these passions will be coming soon. I get the summers off with my school-based therapist job, so I will have to start figuring out what is next on the horizon.

Are there any particular artists, albums or particular art pieces that inspire you?

Well, there is definitely a musical artist who inspired the name for our company – Out of Step – and that is the hardcore punk band Minor Threat and their incredible album “Out of Step.” It was a life changing album for both me and Steve. Our company’s name is an ode to the importance that it brought to our lives. We are also huge fans of the band Propagandhi and so much of what they create and sing about resonates deeply with both of us. In terms of art, we are both huge fans of dark art, underground, and lowbrow artists (as you can probably tell by the art that we post, print, and curate). Mark Riddick is one of my favorite illustrators and we have been lucky enough to have him in several of our publications. Some of my favorite tattoo artists are Jeff Gogue, Teresa Sharpe, Kelly Violet, and HoodeTattoos. I also really love the painting style of Dave Koenig, Jackee Sandeland-Strom, and the late Jed Leiknes. Oh, and an all-time favorite of mine is Mary Blair, an iconic conceptual artist for Disney who did a great deal of inspiring work from the 1940s-1960s.

Had you planned this career path or did one career lend itself to the next big step?

Oh gosh, I could never have planned the path that I ended up taking. I did always feel as though I wanted to be in the “helping” profession, so earning my doctoral degree helped me to accomplish that, but I also am simply not content without the creative side in my life, so I suppose that the blending of these worlds has really allowed me to live the dream. Steve graduated from law school back in the 1990s and during that time I was working as a proofreader for a court reporting agency, so I would say that our early path was more legal-focused, but we definitely drifted far from those early explorations and crafted a life that suited our passions and interests in a much more authentic way.

Have you always been a tattoo shop? Is this what you envisioned when you started in 2010?

So, everything started with Out of Step Books, which is our publishing company that we started in 2010. This grew out of decades of previously working in the tattoo and art worlds, where I met thousands of artists and interviewed tons and tons of artists throughout the years. This background made that transition to creating art and tattoo books so much easier. We grew Out of Step Books and then saw a time when we wanted to expand on what we had started by opening an art gallery that offered a glimpse into what we printed on pages – and translate that in a different way - up on actual walls that people could visit. From the gallery, the growth into the tattoo side of things came and it was a natural transition once again for us, since we had worked so intimately in the tattoo world for so many years. The tattoo craft is family to us and has been for almost three decades, so opening OOS Tattoo was the next step in our journey to bring creativity and inspiration to those around us. We are so fortunate to have an amazing crew of tattoo artists here that exemplify the love for art and ink that we have. We are very grateful that our progression through these different stages have led us to this point.

PHOTOGRAPHY AIDAN “SNiPED6” JAMES

WORDS+DESIGN:

MORGAN C. MEYERS

The Bleed: So, how did this all start for you? How did you get to where you are in your career?

Sniped6 : I think I was about fourteen years old. I used to ride skateboards and bikes with my friends, I still do actually. Anyways, I used to have one of those really cheap flip phones, and I would just film or shoot my friends while we did tricks and things like that. A few years went by and at one point I wanted more control over my shots and videos. My mom ended up giving me an old DSLR camera and I went wild with it. Fast forward to 2021 and I have my own personal company doing freelance photography and videography for local artists in town and Protland.

The Bleed : So , if you had to choose one, videography or photography, which medium do you feel the most comfortable with, or prefer over the other?

Sniped6 : Wow, you guys really like to ask the hard questions don’t you? That’s a tough question to answer. Although photography would have to be my choice of poison. Photography gives you more time to set up things, stay in that moment you know? With videography, which is mainly the work I do and get hired for, it takes a good amount more time and focus. File sizes really come into play here and owning a very strong and fast computer can mean a lot when producing pieces or videos. The amount of technical work can also be very overbearing, you can lose the creative driving force easily transitioning from one to the other. I love both mediums, but photography gives you more freedom in the end I feel, as opposed to videography right now.

The Bleed : How do you feel about those trying to get into the field. Do you feel a school degree is the only way to enter the field?

Sniped6 : Again, very tough question to answer and there is no right or wrong answer here to me. I personally do not have a degree, I am self-taught and learned a lot from Youtube videos, it may sound cliche, but very true. Although we need to be resilient artists these days, we need to look at every available option to help us in the field. That means using school options and every other option at the same time, including youtube, or whatever you can find to help you. Just because you’re in school does not mean you can’t learn anything from other artists out there posting videos on how to better use the program you use or are learning. No one is going to get mad at you for knowing how to use a program better than the person next to you because you stayed up late and found a Youtube video that showed you a work-around. I feel that if you have the drive and WANT to be in this field, there is nothing that will be able to hold you back.

The Bleed : Do you see yourself doing freelance for the rest of your career or do you see yourself working for a company at one point in the future?

Sniped6 : To be honest, neither actually. I’d really like to have my own small business/studio in town, use that as a home base, build a clientele in Eugene and the surrounding areas along with Portland, and then travel the world for shoots.

The Bleed: Ok, last question. Do you have any advice for those who would like to enter the photography or videography fields?

Sniped6 : Make as many connections as you can. It’s very community based, I feel here in Eugene. Don’t be afraid to make shitty content either, it’s part of the learning process. CREATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, I cannot stress that enough, also have fun!

Sniped6, also known as Aidan C. James, is a freelance photographer and videographer, based in Eugene, Oregon. He provides a wide range of photography and video for local artists. I personally got to have one-onone interview with him, about being in the film industry and photography field. To start off the conversation, I asked how he got to where he is now as a young and rising artist.