The Brick Magazine - March 2021

BRICK

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MARCH 2021

MAGAZINE

ANN ARBOR

CREATIVE WOMEN CURATING LIFE AS ART

PLUS! MY NEIGHBOR, THE MIRTHFUL STREET ARTIST

Molly McFarland

CALCULATING RISK AND SPARKING CHANGE

S P IN N IN G T H READS I NTO

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MAGAZINE

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Publisher • Sarah Whitsett

Managing Editor • Tanja MacKenzie

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Tiffany Birch Liz Crowe Mikki Moscara

Courtney Opalko Marilyn Pellini

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Lisa Profera Maria Sylvester Marji Wisniewski

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6

The Madness That Is March

10

On Calculating Risk and Sparking Change with Molly McFarland

16

Reviving the Lost Art of Hospitality: Creative Ways to Connect with Others

18

Creative Women

20

The Artistry of Facial Rejunvenation

22

Art and Soul

24

Curating Life as Art

26

My Neighbor, the Mirthful Street Artist

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CONTENTS

The Brick Magazine >>

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www.emilyroseimager y.com

Life. Business. Captured.

www.ericreativemedia.com

Welcome to Booze 101 with

Liz

The Madness That Is March

by Liz Crowe Photo by Brittani Burns

6 | The Brick Magazine

Ah, here it is.

The month that started it all: March.

As I write this, I’m having flashbacks of my carefree self from this time last year. I was facing down one huge life change (a move), but as with every winter, one of the main things I was looking forward to was basketball.

I grew up in Kentucky, ergo I know when a basketball player walks and what a pick-and-roll looks like, as well as the difference between a box out and an actual foul (although I’ve been known to engage in loud disagreements with the refs on this one). I love the game, and therefore March is a special month for me — especially since I cheer for a team that one could argue is a blue blood (and when I say this, please understand that I am NOT talking about the team in Kentucky that is blue. I’m for the one in red.) But we won’t get into that here, lest we devolve into arguments over championships and the general uselessness of college sports governing bodies and whatnot.

No, what I want to talk about is how events like March Madness are tied to parties, and therefore to our favorite subject: booze. Nothing beats a good tailgate party like a solid March Madness gathering, in my basketball-fan opinion.

So, let’s come up with some fun pairings for what we can only hope (at the point of this writing) will actually be a college basketball championship tournament this year.

First off, basketball games are fast-paced and lend themselves to what I refer to as “anxiety gulping.” This is a phenomenon where you consume your drink too fast, due to stress; I recommend keeping the ABV low for your madness event, in order to eliminate any issues with overconsumption. This implies beer, which as we have learned together, offers plenty of opportunity for various taste profiles that can match your favorite party foods.

Here are a few ideas that you can hopefully use, should we be blessed with an actual March Madness in 2021.

First up: Buffalo Chicken Crescent Rolls (I suggest Taste of Home’s recipe, found on their website) paired with an India Pale Ale (IPA). I don’t recommend a “hazy” or “New England” style for this. While popular and fun, those don’t work as well to cut the heat of Buffalo wings in any format as a true IPA. Of course, we can boast that a Michigan brewery makes an IPA that’s made “best beer”

lists on the regular. I speak of the Two Hearted by Bell’s.

It’s a great option, but it does have a slightly higher ABV than some, so if your party includes fans who are anxiety gulping, you might want to consider All Day IPA from Founder’s, or if you want to go further afield, I highly recommend Ballast Point Even Keel Session IPA. How about a taco bar? They’re easy and delicious, and your guests can make them with meat or without if you provide a solid veggie option to go with chicken, beef, carnitas, or chorizo. I love Cookie and Kate’s Epic Vegetarian Tacos recipe (found on their website), and have served it several times with much success. If you dial up the spices for your tacos, you’re safe to use an IPA to pair. But for milder options, you could try one of the many Mexican lager styles that have become popular.

To be clear, a “Mexican lager” is a bit of a fluid definition.

Neither the Brewer’s Association nor the Oxford Companion to Beer include it as a style separate from other lagers. For the most part, it’s a German beer, and therefore malt-forward (as opposed to favoring hops), so it’s smoother, less bitter, and crisp. Some would argue that it’s a “Vienna lager” that began with yeasts the Austrians brought over with them when they arrived in Mexico in the 19th century, which are now grouped together and considered “Mexican yeast.” Either way, Mexiacan lager is a favorite style of mine, and would go great with a milder taco bar. A few labels to try include Brew Detroit’s Ceverza Delray, Griffinclaw’s El Ligero, or Oskar Blues’ Beerito.

Continuing down our March Madness spread, and in keeping with my usual theme of having several different drink style options (not to mention it’s March, the month of St. Patrick’s Day), I recommend trying mini shepherd’s pies (a la Tablespoon.com’s recipe) paired with (you guessed it) a Guinness — or your dry Irish stout of choice.

Shepherd’s pie is something I learned to love while living in England. It’s 100% a comfort food, a pub menu staple, but not necessarily something you’d serve casserole-style at a party. These finger-food versions are fun, delicious, and are absolutely perfect with a dry, creamy Guinness.

No sporting event is complete without fries. This is not a rule, mind you — merely a guideline that I personally live by. I’ve used Southern Living’s recipe for salt and pepper oven fries a lot, and I always provide several dipping options like BBQ, ranch, and chipotle pepper mayo. They go great with a crisp, classic American lager or a pilsner.

March 2021 | 7

I’d suggest Pils from Old Nation, Lager of the Lakes from Bell’s, or Vintage Premium Lager from Shorts — or one of the better Canadian options like Moosehead or LaBatt’s Heavy.

Last but not least, no March Madness party is complete without something for your guests’ sweet tooth. I can’t speak for these personally, but this recipe is on my to-do list: A Simple Pantry’s basketball cake balls.

Why not? They look fun and super sweet, so you might want to provide something like a Scotch ale (Dirty Bastard from Founders perhaps, or Scotty Karate from Dark Horse, who have a whole new look to their packaged brews these days). If those are a bit too much like candy for you, you can’t go wrong with a pan of brownies.

My favorite brownie recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction uses beer — specifically Guinness — and I can’t recommend them highly enough. I’d tee up a nice oatmeal stout to go with these, since you’ve already covered the dry Irish version with your mini shepherd’s pies. New Holland has my absolute fave version of this: The Poet.

Some other options include ROAK’s Devil Dog, or Triangulation, an Imperial stout (higher ABV) from Perrin Brewing. But save those for the end, either to celebrate your team’s victory or toast to next year, as in “next year will be our year.”

I lift my beer to toast us all, regardless of who you’re cheering for this month. We made it this far. Let’s keep up the great work.

Amazon best-selling author, mom of three, brewery founder, craft beer marketing consultant, and avid sports fan, Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville currently living in Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales, public relations, and fundraising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse, all of which provide ongoing idea fodder for novels and other projects. www.facebook.com/lizcroweauthor (fan page) www.twitter.com/ETLizCrowe

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March 2021 | 9

Photo by Emily Rose Imagery

10 | The Brick Magazine

On Calculating Risk and Sparking Change with Molly McFarland

by Marji Wisniewski

In preparation for my interview with Molly McFarland, co-founder and chief revenue officer at AdAdapted, I googled the phrase “entrepreneurial spirit.” The top Google result was an article from Forbes magazine, which defined it like this: “Entrepreneurial spirit is a mindset, an attitude, and an approach to thinking that actively seeks out change, rather than waiting to adapt to change. It’s a mindset that embraces critical questioning, innovation, service, and continuous improvement. It’s being agile, never resting on your laurels, shaking off the cloak of complacency, and seeking out new opportunities. It’s about taking ownership and pride in your organization.”

Molly’s life exudes entrepreneurial spirit, and she has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

Small Town Independence I grew up in the Boston area until I was 9. That’s when my mom remarried and we moved to Lovell, Maine. It was a small “one stoplight” kind of town with about 1,000 residents at the time. Small towns often have a spirit of self-sufficiency, and most people I knew there were certainly very independent. For instance, my mom was a nurse and my stepfather was a carpenter. I wasn’t surrounded by a lot of tech companies or startups, but there was this feeling my parents instilled in me that I could do anything I put my mind to. They didn’t impose any rules in terms of what I needed to be when I grew up, or lay out any preconceived notions of my career choices.

As soon as I could escape the cold Maine winters, I did.

I remember as a senior in high school getting all the marketing packages from the colleges I applied to. These arrived in the middle of another cold season in Lovell. Of course, the pamphlet with students sitting on a grassy lawn with shorts and t-shirts appealed to me. That next fall, I headed to Tulane University in New Orleans for my freshman year.

College life was great. I loved New Orleans, and I even met my husband Seyth there, who was himself a Michigan native. After college, we headed north to Michigan just a few weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit. We had every intention of going back, but as time passed, we fell in love with the state and all it had to offer us, and ended

March 2021 | 11

Photo by Emily Rose Imagery

Skip Simms, Senior VP at Ann Arbor SPARK, Talks Angel Investing Ann Arbor SPARK is an economic development organization for the Ann Arbor area. Our focus is on growing the overall gross domestic product (GDP) in and around Ann Arbor. We offer a broad and diverse number of services to companies looking for help, big and small.

Through research and experience, SPARK realized that the majority of tech companies don’t need venture capital, they need smaller funding amounts provided by individuals. With this need identified, SPARK created the Michigan Angel Fund (MAF), which is now the largest angel group in the state. MAF has investors from inside the state as well as other parts of the country.

12 | The Brick Magazine

up staying. We got a place in the Depot Town area of Ypsilanti and I started a job in administration and then sales and marketing at an Ann Arbor architectural firm, Hobbs & Black.

A Risk Worth Taking In 2008, the economy had its own hurricane of sorts. I witnessed people get laid off all around me, even after being with firms for 20 years. Companies were dissolving, and it was a really scary time in the business world. Jobs that once felt safe and secure were now swaying violently in the storm.

I remember when the owner of a tech start-up approached me to be their director of marketing. He told me that they had eighteen months of runway, meaning that if things didn’t work out in the meantime, their company had funding to last about eighteen months. This was actually better than most other established businesses I saw out there at the time.

That gave me a mindset adjustment; I started to think, Well, everything is risky, everything has the potential to not work out how you planned. So why not do something fun that has a lot of upside if it does work out?

I made the jump to uRefer (which later became Amplifinity) and had no Photo regrets. metAnderson a lot of great people there, including my co-founding byI GE

partner, Mike by Pedersen.

MikeImagery was one David Lewis Emily Rose of the original employees at uRefer, and at the time he was being tasked by the venture capitalists to think about other companies that would be complimentary to uRefer that they could invest in. Mike approached me to help him tell the story of the new venture he was working on.

I remember him telling me, “I don’t know how to talk about this or even make a PowerPoint deck.” I agreed to help him on nights and weekends, and AdAdapted was born.

Here’s a quick summary of our company: AdAdapted is a mobile advertising platform. We partner with mobile apps that people use to make their shopping lists. We connect with advertisers to get their products onto consumers’ lists and into carts. AdAdapted works with consumer packaged goods (CPGs), grocery retailers, and with a variety of other consumer goods, including spirits, lottery, pet food, and more.

Once we had the concept for the new technology, the investors we thought we had actually couldn’t help fund it for various reasons. That didn’t stop us. We kept playing with the idea and the platform on nights and weekends, any time we could spare.

We created little pitches and ran them by potential investors, who in turn gave us encouragement and advice to keep going. After about six months of working on AdAdapted in the background, we both agreed we had to go for it. In order to give our idea a real chance of succeeding, we decided to begin working on it full-time. So, in 2012 we quit our jobs at uRefer, having zero salaries or safety net, and worked solely at AdAdapted.

For the next couple of years, we were just a few people trying to figure it all out. It wasn’t until about 2016 that we really started to take off. Today, we have a staff of almost 50 people!

A History of Winning In the start-up world (and really, in life in general), there’s no guarantee that things will go according to plan. There were times we found ourselves totally tapped out, and without a lot of money. And when the bad news comes in and there’s not a lot of good news to fall back on, it’s really hard to keep going and keep faith in what you’re building.

Early on, I’d ask myself, “How long can I keep taking this rejection without any payout?” It was scary. But now that we’re through those early uncertain days, we still can get bad news, but there’s a record of winning. We have a history of things turning around that I can reflect on now. I started training myself to remember this and not to get so devastated when things go wrong.

I don’t think there was a definitive turning point when I knew we were really going to make it long-term. I think there were wins along the way that kept us going. The first win was landing a $5,000 campaign for Biorè Skincare from a local advertising group. That $5,000 was almost nothing as far as our bottomline went, but it was everything when it came to boosting our confidence. The next win that came our way was bigger at $200,000. Then came the investment dollars. From there, the wins started to add up. This momentum kept us going and helped us realize that we actually had something really good going here.

The Biggest Cheerleaders I’m happy that I’m on this ride with my co-founder, Mike. Mike has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders. When I had my doubts, it was reassuring to have another person who was living it, who was making the same sacrifices.

I also can’t imagine building AdAdapted in any other community than Ann Arbor.

What Is an Angel Investor?

An angel investor is a person or household of high net-worth that invests in start-up companies. The federal requirements of an angel include a liquid net worth of $1 million, or two years of income at $200,000 for an individual ($300,000 if filing jointly, not including the value of the primary residence).

The minimum angel investment amount can vary by company, but is typically around $25,000. Historically, angels invest in tech-driven companies due to their ability to quickly scale up their businesses. National studies indicate that angels that invest in ten or more companies overall should expect a return of 2.5 times their total invested over a period of five to ten years.

Ann Arbor SPARK and the Michigan Angel Fund are proud to be part of AdAdapted’s last round of fundraising in 2020, where together with other investors, they raised a total of $2 million for future growth.

To learn more about Ann Arbor SPARK, visit annarborusa.org. To learn more about the Michigan Angel Fund, visit miangelfund.com.

Photo by GE Anderson

March 2021 | 13

There are so many people in the community that support us. Many people have simply met with us to listen to our story, give us advice, and help us navigate the next steps. Early investors, like Ann Arbor SPARK, were also big supporters; we wouldn’t have survived without them.

Having a community and not being afraid to engage it for help has been everything to us.

Ann Arbor SPARK has helped us over the years in multiple ways. They gave us our first money through grants and loans.

This was the first influx of capital funds that we tapped into.

Those grants gave us the ability to build our first website.

We couldn’t go out and sell our platform and not have a website of our own! As we grew, we moved into the SPARK office spaces (we recently outgrew that space and are now at Cahoots, a tech hub shared office space in downtown Ann Arbor). SPARK provided the money and the space, but more importantly they connected us to other investors and entrepreneurs that took us to another level.

over time. I would say that change has continued to be a challenge and an opportunity.

When I started, I got really good at being the CMO of a company that had five employees. Over time, as we grew to a company of fifteen, twenty, then fifty people — and into a funded company with a board of directors and more clients — change was everywhere! The scaling-up of the company has been pretty fast over the last five years. The challenges and opportunities lay in figuring out a roadmap that supports us not only right now, but into the future.

Keep Learning and Changing

It’s easy to fall into the trap of panic and lack of confidence.

Of course I don’t immediately know how to do everything or respond to every situation thrown at me. I’ve never done this before. I need to remind myself of this constantly. I can either fall victim to that uncertainty, or I can take a deep breath and know I’ve been able to overcome challenges before and I can do it again. I continue to remind myself that when facing a new challenge that feels heavy, that doesn’t mean I can’t overcome it; it just means I’m still learning.

I think what a lot of people — including myself in the past — don’t understand is just how much a start-up changes

I remember when we hired our first employee who had a family. It was mind-blowing to me that someone was

Photo by Emily Rose Imagery

14 | The Brick Magazine

going to have health insurance through us. I couldn’t imagine Mike and I being responsible for a family’s livelihood. We’ve moved well past that first hire, and seeing how we’ve grown and how many people depend on the company that we’ve all brought to life has been incredibly rewarding.

It’s been fun to see it take on a life of its own. I love watching our employees take the company to levels we never could have reached if it were still just Mike and me. We’re surrounded by amazingly smart people who continue to push us forward into the future.

Women in Tech Leadership

no longer nervous in these situations; this insight has been quite a gift.

Moving Forward Through Innovation Now that I’m a mom, I realize that there’s just not enough time to do it all. I used to be able to have total flexibility in what I devoted my time to. Today, I work just as hard, but I have to be smarter about where I spend my time and effort. I can’t afford to use nights and weekends to catch up anymore. I have to be efficient, prioritize tasks, and figure out what will move the business forward and allow me to have a life outside of it.

I don’t usually identify as a “woman” entrepreneur; I just feel like an entrepreneur first. Maybe it’s because I have a male co-founder and I don’t see a huge fundamental difference in the challenges we face. That said, I’m not blind to the fact that when you look at the investment community and the venture capitalists, when you see how many men are making decisions, occupying director’s boards, and the sheer proportion of men to women working at the companies that we interact with — it’s clear that there’s an imbalance.

As we forge ahead, Mike and I are working on new innovations. We’re focusing on applying everything we’ve learned so far and changing up the way our clients advertise — and really, mobile advertising as we know it today. It’s been exciting to work on a start-up within a start-up. I’m embracing the unknown and enjoying figuring out what the next steps are. In the tech space, you can eventually get to a point where the business is solid and growing, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not still an entrepreneur at heart; you may still want to find the next big hack or the next big surprise.

I will say that not all, but a lot of women I know struggle with the burden of self-doubt. Whenever we stop at a fork in the road, we find ourselves asking, “Am I good enough? Can I do this? Is someone else smarter? Do they know something I don’t?” Men don’t seem suffer from self-doubt as much; they can push things further without questioning themselves like many women do.

My advice to anyone thinking about starting their own company or working for a start-up is this: Don’t overthink it. It’s easy for people to assume that as long as they stay in an established field, there’s not as much risk. The truth is that risk is everywhere, not just in start-ups. If you’d like to hop on board with us, we’re hiring at AdAdapted and would welcome job inquiries.

I’m not sure if that’s something that we’re doing to ourselves, or if it’s more something we’re reacting to because we’re being treated differently than our male counterparts. I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably a mix of both.

If you feel drawn to the energy and passion that working for a start-up can give you, go for it. I promise, it’ll be worth the jump.

I will say that for me, a lot of this self-doubt comes from a previous mindset. I used to have an “us versus them” mentality — the “us” being the regular people that have an idea and hit a roadblock with these super-smart investors or advisors. It felt like they knew something that I didn’t, or had some unknowable secret to their success. I found myself feeling like the underdog in this mental space. It was intimidating. However, with time and experience, I came to realize that we’re all just regular people. There was no real mystery. Lifting that veil surprised me, but it was also very empowering. I’m

With a passion for marketing that started as a young girl, Marji Wisniewski created her own marketing and communications organization in 2017. As owner of Blue Zebra Marketing Solutions, she helps local and regional businesses and non-profits tell their story through branding, graphic design, content creation, and PR, focusing on customized solutions for each client that are more unique than a zebra’s stripes.

A Michigan native, Marji received her bachelor's from Western Michigan University and master’s from Wayne State University.

When not working you can find her gardening, doing Pilates, listening to podcasts, and spending time with her family and two dogs.

March 2021 | 15

Reviving the Lost Art of Hospitality

by Courtney Opalko Photo by Rodnae Productions

M

y family has a specific room in our house which has, on occasion, been referred to as the “Isolation Chamber.” Maybe you’re picturing a sterilized room of white walls, cold hard floors, and nary a house plant in sight. I’m glad to tell you it’s not quite like that.

16 | The Brick Magazine

It’s a beautiful room, painted in the most calming shade of blue. It holds two sofas facing each other, delightful antique chairs, collections of books, and family scrapbooks.

It’s designed specifically to foster deep conversations, long games of Scrabble, and lifelong friendships. It’s what others

may call a formal living room. And it’s delightfully bare of screens and cords.

This seems to come as a surprise to some. “So, what do you do if there’s no TV on? Talk?” It’s shocking, I know.

But if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s taught us the value of communication and friendship.

As we (hopefully) begin to be able to host others in our homes again, let’s revive the lost art of hospitality. In the past, hosting others may have been something we took for granted, or perhaps it even became a burden. It may have even been a rote, mindless blip in a “busy” yet unfulfilling social calendar.

Let’s make this spring of pandemic recovery an opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds for welcoming others warmly, and get creative in how we connect (or reconnect) with friends, family, neighbors, and strangers.

It’s easy to resist inviting others over because the house is a mess or otherwise imperfect. I’m here to tell you that all it takes to entertain a guest is keeping a few easy treats ready to go in the freezer, coffee or tea on hand, a cozy seat, and an open heart.

The art of hospitality is less about silver tea service and more about how we connect with others — and true connection does not come from Pinterest-perfect appetizers or magazine-worthy homes. It comes from a pure and honest desire to freely give our kindness, love, and empathy.

True connection can cross time, screens, and everything else in between. The next time you plan a gathering, bring back the lost art of hospitality and consider incorporating these simple tips; they’re designed to deepen relationships in a way that leaves us feeling cared for, valued, and yes, fulfilled.

So, open up the isolation chamber. Leave worries behind, pour a cup of tea, and delight in a genuinely personal connection.

Courtney Opalko is a certified etiquette coach with a mission to spread kindness and civility through important life skills. Courtney's unique programs are fun, interactive, and inclusive in nature, rooted in values of confidence, awareness, empathy, and respect. As an etiquette expert, she offers modern advice designed to elevate the everyday.

Courtney holds a BA in Communication from Michigan State University and is certified in youth, adult, social and business etiquette Beer the Grotto patrons

by Jennifer DeGregorio through Southern California School of Etiquette & Protocol.

Tip #1: Gather with Intention Consider why and who you are gathering. As the host, it’s your responsibility to gather others with intention.

Own that responsibility and commit to a purpose. In fact, make that purpose clear to your guests ahead of time so they know what to expect!

While it may seem authoritative or “business-y” at first, you’ll quickly find that when you set a clear intention behind a gathering, it’ll be infinitely more fulfilling.

Tip #2: Choose to Connect Connection is not a requirement, it’s a choice. We have to choose to show up and actively build a dynamic with others. This doesn’t happen without effort. Are you choosing to show up relaxed and ready to put others at ease? Are you aware of your attitude and how that affects the mood?

To have a connection with someone simply means you share something in common. It may be a hobby, experience, or interest, but it’s because you share something in common that you interact beyond a superficial level. Be prepared to use open-ended questions to carry a conversation and explore a variety of avenues until you land on something you have in common.

Tip #3: Bring Back Screen-Free Entertainment Some good screen-free activities include playing board games, listening to (or playing) music, undertaking a simple physical endeavor like a nature walk, or even participating in a class where everyone is learning something new. If you’re not sure what you have in common with a group of people, or it’s been a while since you last spent time with one another, create a shared experience that will allow you to connect.

The art of hospitality asks us to gather with intention, to make the choice to connect, and to delight in our common interests. It’s then that we’re able to open our hearts and foster deeper attachments to each other.

The best part is that these tips work in any situation — virtual or in-person, with partners and children, new acquaintances, neighbors, and even strangers. It’s ultimately up to us to show up with open hearts.

March 2021 | 17

Creative Women

by Marilyn Pellini Photo by Jamie Coupaud

M

y friend Bev has a true creative streak. Over the years she has dabbled in painting and all kinds of crafts, knits artfully, and is a fan of any kind of music. She loves attending theater productions where others show off their talents for acting and performance. Her true gift lies, however, with dressing herself and her home.

Bev is always so well put-together whenever she ventures out. She’s tall and slim, so the clothes she selects complement her very well. The way she composes her outfits is what makes her stand out. She’ll wear a scarf draped just so, or a chunk of jewelry that perfectly accentuates her clothes. When she enters a room, people turn to look. Her home, too, reflects this same flair. She had her furniture placed so that nothing touches the walls. She grouped pictures in odd but exciting configurations. In short, Bev has a talent few can replicate.

I’ve always been amazed by the artistic eye of others, and have sought to find my own creative spark. Throughout my life, I’ve grown to appreciate the many arts that call us.

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When I took my first job as a kindergarten teacher, I decided to take some painting classes in my after-school hours. I found a gentleman who held lessons for novices, and although he was quite famous himself, he had enormous patience teaching those who had not held a brush before opening a Paint by Numbers kit. For the first class he set up a still life, and our task was to render it on our canvases.

Try as I might, I could never see the light he explained was falling on the fruit and the bowl. My canvas had a flat, onedimensional look. I boldly asked if it was possible to teach someone with no natural talent to paint. When he answered “Yes,” I knew which category I fell into!

In college, I was able to take an art appreciation course.

I’ve been fortunate enough to view the masterpieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Louvre, and the Prado. Tour guides and their in-depth explanations of each artist helped me identify the special qualities each featured work possessed, and helped me understand why they became so notable.

And then there’s writing — what a blessed gift it is to communicate the written word skillfully! This is not a gift given to all. Many now are self-publishing books and articles, but true fame comes to very few. I try to hone my favorite craft each and every day, and am fortunate to have a person who does my research and one who types up my pieces. That leaves me free to write and edit, and edit, and edit. While I held a job and my husband was still alive, there was little time to try my hand at writing, but it became very therapeutic upon his untimely death. After months and months of work, I produced a book called “Dear Al, A Widow’s Struggles and Remembrances.” I can only hope that my words have brought solace to other widows and widowers who are as bewildered as I was, wondering what the future holds. Writing to my husband also helped me release some of the anger I felt toward him for leaving me behind.

Speaking of inspiring outlets, architecture and sculpture are some of the first mediums I think of when pondering art. Whether a master produces massive skyscrapers and majestic bridges or sculpts the bust of a famous person, we’re all given an opportunity to view the results of the world’s creative geniuses in this quintessentially physical expression. The Sydney Opera House, draped along the shoreline in perfect harmony with the sea, is a splendid example of this art form. So too is the Vietnam War Memorial constructed deep in the ground, as are the graves of those who lost their lives in that far-off country.

The obelisk of the Washington Monument pointing its way skyward, and Rodin’s “The Thinker” and the beauty of its sinewy body form possess such sleek lines; they seem to caress the area that surrounds them. And how about the sculptures of Mt. Rushmore? I stood frozen at the feet of its soaring majesty and had tears streaming down my face when I saw it, as did my husband.

Can we all be so fortunate as those who became famous for the masterpieces they produced? Most likely not. But I believe that women have such an edge over our male counterparts, as we seem to innately possess creativity.

Women should pay more attention to, and nurture, their creative side. Even raising children can be a true art form.

Teaching our little ones the skills they need to learn their school lessons, to negotiate the foibles of the sandbox, and to anticipate their next steps takes great skill!

Cooking for a family, especially when you have picky eaters, is also an art form. Inserting good foods into the diets of our children means cooking creatively. Cooking was not one of my great loves or skills, so when I was

raising my family, I used two recipe boxes with dishes I simply repeated over and over. I remember making a quiche once that called for black olives to be placed with the hole side up, covering the entire top of the quiche.

It took a number of cans of olives and a half hour of my time, but the creation was a true picture when it emerged from the oven. My two children, being total devotees of black olives, actually requested seconds.

Really, homemaking unto itself is an art form. Creating a home environment with spaces that are simultaneously pleasant and functional brings joy to those living under the same roof. Colors, textures, and arrangements give us candy for the eyes. Our moods and productivity level are greatly affected by what we see in our surroundings.

Comfort is a major quality that makes a house a home.

We might want our living room to have textures that are somewhat formal, but a family room with furniture that can be easily cleaned when a spill occurs gives a feeling of contentment and relaxation. My friend Louise, who is getting on in age, told me she wouldn’t mind leaving this world if only she could take her “stuff” with her. She and her husband began collecting little pieces of art in many forms, starting when they were first married. Now some of their collectibles are quite valuable. They have spent their lives surrounded by true beauty.

There is a certain creativity that goes along with keeping our partner happy and content, too. A special dinner, taking out the “good china” once in a while, and sitting at the dining room table without the kids, accompanied by flickering candles and a well-chosen bottle of wine is usually so appreciated. That special nurturing touch can add so much pleasure to life and break the monotony.

Tune in to all that life holds by exploring your hidden creativity. Whether you’re my stylish friend Bev or me trying to cook some gustatory delight that the whole family can enjoy, we all have that special something that will help us appreciate and explore life to the fullest and bring lots of joy to our family and friends, the ones we want most often on the receiving end of our creativity.

Marilyn Pellini published her first book, Dear Al, A Widow’s Struggles and Remembrances, in 2018. That same year, she won the first place prize in the New York State Federation of Women’s Club writing contest. In the past, she’s had poetry and articles published in magazines such as On the Water, Westchester Parent, Balanced Rock, and others.

March 2021 | 19

The Artistry of Facial Rejuvenation

by Lisa Profera Photo by Alexi Romano

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L

et’s face it: When it comes to facial rejuvenation, do you want a technician or an artist working with you? There’s a huge difference between a person who was trained to do the same types of injections on every person and the expert injector, trained to recognize aesthetically pleasing proportions and make adjustments accordingly.

Proper facial assessment is the key to proper cosmetic procedures. As I wrote in my BRICK article titled “Turn Back Time,” from April 2019: “When we look in the mirror, we’re at a disadvantage. We can only see a 2-D frontal view of ourselves. Everyone else sees us in 3-D and at multiple angles. The interplay between light and shadows cast on the face can make us look older or younger. A good makeup artist knows this. Our eye is drawn to the pleasing proportions of a convexity here and a concavity there. Correcting contours can re-illuminate and rejuvenate the face.”

Good facial assessment takes the patient’s concerns and addresses them with the eyes of an artist. Our eyes are naturally drawn to what we call the Golden Ratio (represented mathematically as the proportion 1:1.61), found in nature and expressed as a Fibonacci equation.

Some examples of this ratio in action include the precise arrangement of petals on a flower, or the swirls of a nautilus shell. The Golden Ratio has been used by artists to express classic beauty for centuries, and has been applied, consciously or not, to many great works of art. Leonardo DaVinci called it the “divine proportion.” When we look at a beautiful face, we might not know why we find it beautiful, but we are attracted to it. This is the magic of the Golden Ratio; if you Google “perfect face, golden ratio,” you’ll see what I mean.

As we age, we not only lose collagen and elastin, but we lose fat and other supporting structures. We experience ligament laxity and bone loss as well. Structural loss happens in all areas of the face — upper, midface, and lower face — at different rates. A good facial artist will understand what’s happening in the superficial and deep layers of the face and know how to adjust them in a pleasing way.

In my BRICK article from August 2020 (“Look Younger Longer”), I discuss this in more detail:

“Fortunately, there are many things we can do about minimizing the impact of aging, from the simple application of sunscreen to non-surgical facial rejuvenation. Most people don’t want plastic surgery, i.e. facelifts. The majority of procedures we do now are highly effective and minimally invasive, with very little downtime.”

Identifying the areas to modify, including asymmetries that distract the eye, is key to successful non-surgical facial rejuvenation. Botox is best for wrinkle control, and fillers help restore volume. Correcting mid-face volume loss is usually the best first step toward regaining a more youthful appearance. The newest area to treat is the chin; just a mild enhancement can do wonders for the entire jawline.

Finding a skilled and experienced practitioner is very important. This is your face we’re talking about! You need to trust the person who is treating you.

I designed the logo of my business to reflect these values.

The meaning of the projuvU MD logo precisely defines its mission. It features the Fibonacci spiral, the manifestation of the Golden Ratio and the mathematical expression of ideal beauty and proportion in nature. The spiral originates from the “O” in “Pro” and curves around to the “U,” which is capitalized to emphasize the importance of you, the patient. projuvU stands for “professional rejuvenation services centered around yoU.” At projuvU MD, we strive to idealize your look and your life by providing professional medical care and proactive guidance to help you achieve profound results! I’m happy to consult with you to figure out what would work best. Let’s see what a combination of art and science can do for you.

Owner and Founder of PROJUVU MD; Aesthetics and Lifestyle Medicine in Ann Arbor, MI; Expert Injector, Medical Director; Facial Innovations Medi-spa, Ann Arbor; Medical Director, Northville Beauty Spa; Certified Medical Marijuana Doctor; Certified doTERRA Essential Oils Expert; BEMER Independent Distributor; CrossFit® Level 1 Trainer www.projuvu.com • 1-844-PROJUVU • drprofera@gmail.com www.facebook.com/projuvu/ Request to join my closed FaceBook group, www.instagram.com/youressentialoilsdoctor/

Disclaimer: Please note that the information in this article has been designed to help educate the reader regarding the subject matter covered. This information is provided with the understanding that the author and any other entity referenced here are not liable for the misconception or misuse of the information provided. It is not provided to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any disease, illness, or injured condition of the body. The provider of this information shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity concerning any loss, damage, or injury caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this information. The information presented is in no way intended as a substitute for medical counseling or care. Anyone suffering from any disease, illness, or injury should consult a qualified healthcare professional. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.

March 2021 | 21

Art and Soul

by Tiffany Birch

Photo by Jeff Garland

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W

hen I enter potential clients’ homes for our initial meeting, I typically buzz with excitement. I have this passion for discovering what makes people tick.

a series of naked women in the hallway leading to my bedroom. Nudes are perfectly pleasing as a subject matter, but when asked, I encourage clients to display these particular pieces in bedrooms or master bathrooms.

All of my senses are engaged, starting with the first handshake and the eye contact used to convey a sense of trust — that moment that begins a bond that will hopefully allow me to collaborate on a creative journey.

Discovering what moves people is very much part of my job description. Our personal environment reveals our true nature — from how scattered or organized we are on a daily basis to the tell-tale signs of where we drop our phone and keys at the end of the day. Not surprisingly, the artwork one chooses to display in their home is perhaps most revealing. Art can be used to discern a homeowner’s sense of style or personality.

I’m frequently asked by clients if they should “match” their art to other objects in the room, such as sofas or the paint color adorning the walls. Here, too, is my subjective opinion.

As a general rule, spaces can get rather boring when things such as color palettes and the style of furnishing (including art!) are too predictable. It’s best to layer the room with interesting choices, and for me that almost always starts with an interesting rug to ground the space. From there, a color scheme can be derived from which fabrics, draperies, and art can be layered into the space, culminating in a collected look that looks more like you and less like a furniture set was purchased all at once. Art will do the heavy lifting for this, offering a glimpse into your personality or a personal hobby, and hopefully a dash of color.

It’s not uncommon for my design clients to ask for assistance when collecting or purchasing a piece of art. I admit, I hesitate when I get this request because I believe with all my heart that the beauty of art is truly in the eye of the beholder. Just as people find others to be beautiful or provocative based on certain traits, so too do we have our own taste for these qualities in art. How, then, could I judge art on their behalf? I often do it anyway. I’m always honest, but I make sure to mention some disclaimer that my recommendation is biased due to my personal filter, which may or may not coincide with their aesthetic. But I sure do love the thrill of the hunt!

It should be noted that art typically looks best against a simple white wall, which is why galleries are usually painted white. I personally believe that art looks equally as exquisite when displayed on a grass cloth wall covering in a neutral color. Some extra benefits of this type of display are that you get a beautiful texture behind the piece of art, and if you choose to move the artwork to a different location, it won’t leave marks behind on the original wall.

For an alternative, don’t rule out Command Strips for pieces up to 20 pounds.

Clients often struggle with where to display the art in their homes. My answer is to simply start with your favorite piece and display it in a space where it’ll get top billing. This could mean over an entry table in the foyer, or perhaps above the fireplace in your living room. The second consideration should be subject matter. My mother had a penchant for nude paintings, and I can recall as a teenager the embarrassment of bringing friends to my Photos by Kristina Johnson house and the looks on their faces when they passed by

Keep in mind that art doesn’t have to break the bank!

Some of my personal, most-treasured aesthetic possessions have been picked up at flea markets or antique stores. Do your research. Be aware of what you’re purchasing so that you’re not overpaying for something that you believe to be an original, if you don’t want a print or recreation. Etsy is a wonderful online resource that offers artists the opportunity to sell their wares in a global marketplace. Prior to Etsy and similar platforms, artisans historically were limited to craft fairs and the like. If you have the opportunity and you’re interested in checking out such a fair for the aesthetic enrichment of your home, by all means, take a gander! You never know what you’ll find.

The world of art is fascinating and rewarding. Art is supposed to elicit a genuine emotional response; there is no “right” kind of art. The best advice I can give, therefore, is to buy what you love and makes you feel the way you want to feel.

Tiffany Birch has been an interior designer since 2002, and specializes in both residential and commercial projects. She holds a Master of Social Work degree (ACSW) and utilizes interpersonal relationship skills on a daily basis with her client base, largely comprised of Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit residents. She enjoys residing in the city and the comforts of home. When she’s not fully immersed in client projects, you can find her on the golf course, a favorite pastime. www.birchdesignassociates.com Instagram: @birchdesignassociates

March 2021 | 23

Curating Life as Art

by Maria Sylvester, MSW, CPC

I

have long thought of myself, and my life, as a royal work-in-progress. Though it may seem like a stretch, I’ve been intent on creating a masterpiece. It’s messy and magnificent all at once. Sometimes I draw inside the lines, other times outside of them. It’s much more fun that way!

Striving to curate my life artfully has demanded, in a wonderful way, that I adopt a super creative, open mindset — a way of thinking and being that considers all I encounter a medium for expression. For example, how I care for my body, what I wear, how I speak, where I travel, how I garden, who I spend time with, or (perhaps most importantly) how I love all offer opportunities for unique, playful, and creative declarations.

I’ll often ask myself, “What am I being called to create right now?” I always craft from the inside out. I consider this calling a sacred priority. What we make matters; what we make of our lives matters. Designing your life as a work of art allows you a beautiful opportunity to thoughtfully organize your experience. In other words, living artfully allows you to curate your reality in a unique, meaningful way.

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I’ve discovered that when I deliberately focus on artfully living, I automatically awaken to more dimensions of myself and my world that may have otherwise been ignored. It’s as if I’m on alert, seeking to discover new representations of my existence within and around me. Reveling in the aesthetics of life deepens my appreciation of everything.

This rather transcendent perspective — viewing life through a kaleidoscope lens of wonder and appreciation — makes for endless possibilities, fascination, and joy.

Each Day: Canvas, Page, Dance, or Song If life is art and you are the artist, then each day is your creation. You can set your genius free to transform each and every fresh canvas of a day into expressions of colorful, personal meaning. Perhaps during some dawns, your blank pages become a perfect opportunity to alchemize dark, turbulent, painful feelings. You might write a story or poem that allows you to reclaim and embrace lost parts of yourself. Or maybe you move through your days choreographing each part into beautiful dances, performed solo or with a troupe of many. Maybe music is your prized medium, so you fill days with earnest sounds or songs that uplift your heart and inspire you and your people.

Each and every condition of your life can serve as an abundant muse of sorts, nudging you into fuller and fuller expressions of what you bear witness to. For instance, how might the energy of inspiration allow you to craft a day that feels truly enchanted? Or even a day that feels exquisitely utilitarian? The possibilities are infinite.

How profound is this? Artists are visionaries. You, and you alone, are the designer of the days you are blessed with.

You decide the vibe you will hold, the tones that will be brought forward, and the impulses to be expressed. You choose exactly how you’ll show up. You pick what you’ll focus on, what goals you’ll achieve, and what time you’ll spend simply being. Your day serves as a container of sorts, allowing your imaginative thought and flow to give it further shape and character.

Art as Communication Artists speak many languages — visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and culinary, to name a few. Each creator communicates unique perceptions and interpretations of the world through their instillations. As a result, the observer experiences one-of-a-kind pieces, unlike anything before.

You can cultivate your life as a powerful communication of whatever your soul seeks to take a stand for. For instance, maybe adventure is a priority for you. How would you give form to this pursuit? Or maybe you love all things literary, so crafting a beautiful space in your life and home for reading and writing might feel essential. For myself, I experience life as a spiritual path, so artistically creating opportunities for growth in this way feels important. I’ve built a little sanctuary in my home — an entire room dedicated to meditation, contemplation, and prayer. The space seems overflowing with good energy, and I had great fun decorating it to enhance its purpose. It draws me in each morning.

Constructing your life as an artistic expression speaks volumes to others. It tells them of your devotion to living well. You’ve given yourself full permission to exist on higher, more thoughtful planes of awareness. Others will likely experience you as quite intriguing and dynamic, just as exquisite works of art will have a different impact on each individual.

Creative energy is a flowing energy. It typically draws others closer. Recall what you do when observing a beautiful piece of art in a museum, or hear a lovely musical composition. You feel compelled to move toward it, or you turn up the volume. In this way, living your life artfully is bound to strengthen your connections to others. They’ll

likely feel pulled toward you out of curiosity as well as their own desire for growth.

Love as My Main Medium Modern Greeks often use the word meraki to describe what happens when you leave a piece of yourself in your work. These pieces could, for example, be your soul, your creativity, or your love. Meraki is what happens when you profoundly care about something so much, you put yourself fully into it. Your life is just that — your life! Are you fully in it?

I have to say that the main medium I strive to create with is love. It’s my go-to favorite. Dipping my paintbrush (and my heart) into love keeps things simple. This way, it’s pretty much guaranteed that my canvas will transform in a powerful way. So, I often set an intention to act from a place of love. I strive to leave a loving piece of myself in the moments I’m living. Love as a way of life is how I create meraki magic!

Creative energy is always seeking expression within us.

I never cease to be amazed that when I actively choose to bring love energy forward, especially during dark or challenging times, masterpiece moments arise — moments of unexpected learning, emotional clarity, or intimacy occur. Love fuels my life force, as I’m sure is the case for many. This is why you’ll likely feel a special fulfillment when you create with this medium.

Art as Impact Art helps us see with new eyes and feel with new depth.

Art brings us alive with possibility. Imagine how incredible it feels to know that your life has touched others in a similar way. Celebrate knowing that your existence has already significantly impacted those around you and beyond. And that’s not to mention the incredible fun you’ll have during the creative process. So here’s to you, and to making living itself an art.

Maria Sylvester, MSW, CPC is a certified Life Coach in Ann Arbor, MI who loves empowering adolescents, adults, and couples to live from the HEART of what really matters to them so that they can bring their fully expressed, vibrant selves into the world. She has a special gift for helping women reclaim their feminine power, and embrace their radiant, sensual, sexy spirits.

Their lives transform. They soar into their mid-life magnificence! www.lifeempowermentcoaching.com Instagram: @life_coach_maria Facebook: www.facebook.com/LifeEmpowermentCoaching

March 2021 | 25

My Neighbor, the Mirthful Street Artist

by Mikki Moscara

Photo by Doug Coombe

H

ave you ever experienced kismet? Sometimes the details of our circumstances align so perfectly that they stretch beyond the idea of coincidence, and seem to be part of the precisely unique masterpiece of life. That’s what I was thinking about as I stepped away from the computer after an hour-long interview with world-renowned street artist David Zinn.

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Street art in general is intriguing to me, but the way David Zinn bridges the gap between reality and fantasy is very distinctive and ingenious. By using chalk, knowing that the elements will wash his work away or cause it to fade, Zinn accentuates the beauty of his ethereal creatures.

Despite seeing Zinn’s art in person across Ann Arbor for

almost a decade, it’s very exciting for me to see his name and work pop up in street art groups across the internet.

Sometimes people post his wonderful works without knowing the identity of the artist, and I’m always happy to comment on a post from halfway across the world and give credit to a talented Ann Arborite.

Nadine is the inspiration for Zinn’s new book, The Untold Tales of Nadine. This book takes the title of each drawing of Nadine and turns them into chapter titles. Blank lines accompany each page of artwork; these are meant to be used by the viewer to write Nadine’s story however they see fit.

Part of what separates Zinn’s work from other street artists is the sheer wonder it conveys. So many spectacles often go unnoticed in the constant hustle and bustle of our world, robbing us of our attention to detail. Enchantment is around us all the time, whether it manifests as thousands of snails in the woods during a rainstorm or as the moment when you pass your future partner five years before meeting them and not realizing it. These little miracles are usually overlooked. Zinn’s work serves as a reminder that there’s always some marvel or curiosity lurking around every corner if you open your eyes.

“There isn’t as much of a psychic power in art as people think,” Zinn said when talking about The Untold Tales of Nadine. “We like to think that we make a piece of art and we put all this meaning into it, and a lot of our personal thoughts and beliefs into it, and those will magically spill out into the brains of anyone who looks at it. Far more frequently, we make a piece of art, we put a lot of things into it, and when people see it, the real magic trick is that they take things out of it that we did not put in. It’s that ability to accidentally put meaning into something that only makes sense to people who are not us that I find intriguing about art. That’s the really cool part.”

Sluggo, one of Zinn’s character creations, might be peeking through a crack in the sidewalk at any given time.

Someone in a rush to get to work or wherever they need to be might not even realize this magical creature was spying on them. However, someone else, maybe someone having one of the roughest days in their life, might drop a quarter and bend down to pick it up, and little green Sluggo will be right there on the ground with those wide eyes and innocent smile. That person’s day will instantly brighten with this fanciful comfort. To that special person, Sluggo becomes a sign of hope.

Nadine means “Hope,” and that just so happens to be the name of a cute little mouse that’s been popping up in corners all over Ann Arbor, courtesy of David Zinn.

Zinn continued by talking about people’s natural ability to stifle their potential creativity. “Everyone should be encouraged to trust their own creative ideas more than they do. We have a lot of mistrust in our creative ability after the age of five. Making art is everybody’s right. I think the more people get comfortable with whatever kind of creativity works for them, the better off the world’s going to be.”

Zinn plans to give away a large portion of copies of Nadine through either carefully-planned donations to the Gifts of Art program at the University of Michigan (whose Bedside Art program makes these materials available to long-term patients in hospital rooms) or to libraries

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and schools. Imagine what delight this creative project in disguise could bring to a child or patient in need of a distraction! He’s also thinking of placing copies in random libraries across town for people to find by “mistake.” In a way, this book — as well as Zinn’s art overall — can act as a spark for those of us who tend to downplay our own creativity.

Leaving random art where people can find it has a special inspirational benefit, Zinn said. “You can make a big difference in someone’s daily life by placing art of any kind, even if it’s just a written message, in an unexpected place for people to find by accident. I worry that there’s a disconnect between what people think it means to be a professional artist versus being a successful artist.

Most consider ‘successful art’ to be the art that people pay a lot of money for or hang in museums and have a statement on the wall that explains exactly what you’re supposed to take from it. I understand there’s value in that, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing; but that kind of art doesn’t give you the same experience as stumbling across a note hidden in a crack in the wall that may or may not have been put there specifically for you to find, and you’ll never know. You have to decide for yourself why this is something that happened to you. That, I think, has huge potential that we don’t really recognize. If more of us did it, more of us would get this benefit of feeling a connection to this random event in the universe that might change our lives.”

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Aside from being in the right place at the right time and opening your eyes to David Zinn’s work, serendipity can also be found in the art’s creation. Before speaking with Zinn, I watched his University of Michigan TedX presentation from February 2020, “Avoiding Blank Canvases: Street Art and the Earless Mickey.” In it, he talked about this one day when he was walking down the streets of Ann Arbor as a teenager and came across a Mickey Mouse with no ears painted on the sidewalk. He didn’t think anything of it the first time, but he passed by it again at night and noticed that a nearby parking meter cast a shadow of Mickey Mouse’s ears onto just the right spot on the sidewalk, thanks to a streetlight. Zinn was amazed by how the art itself was created from something random and ambiguous — a coincidence of pareidolia, the tendency to recognize unintentional patterns in nature or inanimate objects — rather than some blank canvas.

Zinn told me about other inspirations in his life, which include his uncle John A. Copley, who is also an artist and used to own a graphics shop downtown called Crow Quill Graphics. Zinn’s uncle helped him get his first apprenticeship after college, which was as a theater scenery painter in Brighton, MI. “We would do the big mountains behind some community production of ‘The Sound of Music,’ or intricate industrial backdrops for the Auto Show,” he said. I learned a lot about making flat things look three-dimensional by

working with my uncle painting huge mountains and brick walls designed to be behind the set, making it look like people were actually where they’re pretending to be instead of just on a stage.”

Another very important influence on his work was Steve Wetherbee, a math teacher from Greenhills School in Ann Arbor. He had a lot of training in art and was in charge of building and painting all scenery for school plays. Zinn learned to paint realistic brickwork while working with Wetherbee when he was in high school.

“It was a very tiny school that had no theater, so we’d have to do musicals and plays in the cafeteria or the gymnasium, which meant the entire stage had to be built from scratch every single time. This was useful for my artistic education, because when all of your scenery has to be built in the smallest possible space with no storage, no backstage, and certainly no flying things in and out, you have to learn to make things look as real as possible on the flattest possible surface. Steve Wetherbee, this genius, showed us how you can make a very realistic-looking brick wall with just rectangles of paint and a smudge of chalk.”

From the Earless Mickey to making the unreal look real in theater, all of this inspiration came together perfectly to shape Zinn’s beautifully life-like style and ephemeral works. He explained that this seemingly random journey is something that everybody experiences in one form or another. “Really, it all makes sense that we end up where we are. If you look back, you’ll see every step you took, and they’re completely random but they led you here. I’m just lucky that my steps led me to a place that I feel pretty content with, in a world full of lots of reasons to be discontented.”

Zinn spent twenty years working in commercial art before pursuing his passion of creating street art all over the world. Today, he has four books and has traveled throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, finding cracks and corners to open magical doorways where his chalk friends can come out.

One highly-famed project of his happened in 2015 when Zinn traveled to Borås, Sweden for the No Limit mural festival. No Limit is an outdoor art event that invites artists from around the world to participate in turning a public space into an outdoor exhibition. “It was a lot of very big buildings in a very small town,” Zinn explained. “A street artist moved there and proposed that they have this biannual festival where they invite graffiti artists and street artists from around the globe to just come and use these walls. Now the town’s a massive outdoor museum of international street art.”

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When asked about his experience in the No Limit exhibition in Sweden, Zinn said that it provided a unique challenge. “The event was good, but also awkward for me because it’s the rainiest place in Sweden — so it’s probably one of the last places a chalk artist should go. But it was a good experiment. For one thing, I tried to do some things in paint. I can’t be sure because I haven’t been back, but some of the things I painted there at least five years ago are probably still there, because I did them with acrylics.

Some of the things I did with chalk showed the value of improvisation and the advantages of working small. Most of the artists who were there at the same time were muralists. They had cherrypickers and hydraulic lifts, and some of them had massive intricate stencils that had to be attached to the wall, carefully sprayed, and then detached, and then they had to repeat that process with the next stencil.” This gave Zinn an advantage over the muralists, despite being a chalk artist.

Zinn elaborated on this advantage. “What I learned once I got there was that it wasn’t the rainiest place in Sweden because it rained all the time. It just rained with complete unpredictability, in ways you didn’t even know possible. It would start raining out of a clear blue sky. It would stop raining and then abruptly start again. All these people doing grand, carefully-planned art installations would get all of their equipment out and start to do their work, but

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“The 3-D illusion depends on there not being a shadow cutting flat across the ground to show everyone it’s not real, but a drawing,” he explained. “I have to kind of avoid direct sunlight as much as possible, because it’s hard to make the drawing believable in bright sunlight. But when you’re trying to avoid a nice sunny day, a nice sunny day will find you with the dogged determination of a little sibling that doesn’t want to leave you alone!”

On one particular occasion in Toronto, the sunlight made its way to a shadowy, hidden spot in the city at the end of the fall, just after Thanksgiving. Though he was cold, Zinn liked the spot and kept drawing. However, just as he went to photograph his work, the sun came out and bounced off several buildings, hitting the spot where he created his drawing.

then it would start raining again. They would come back down from their scaffolds and wait for the rain to pass.

Then it would be clear again, they’d go back up, and then nope! They’d have to come back down.

“In the meantime, I would just look for a building that had quite a bit of an overhang, and made up something that could go there,” he added. “So I was able to work under conditions no one else could work with because I didn’t have a plan.

Which is a dangerous reward for what is generally my modus operandi. If I don’t have a plan, I technically can’t fail.”

When discussing his most recent travels and his travel hiatus in 2020, David talked about how he got very lucky.

Everything worked out perfectly because he had made a lot of trips prior to last year and was ready to come home to Ann Arbor for a while.

“In 2019 I had two separate trips to locations in Germany, France, and a little bit of Holland. It was exhausting, but I’m really glad I did it while it was still relatively easy to do such things. I got it all out of my system and got all good and homesick, so I was delighted to spend this last summer within walking distance of my house and drawing on the sidewalks that I know like the back of my hand.”

Creating magical worlds outside in Michigan isn’t always easy with the rain and the cold weather, but David said that when it comes to nature, his biggest nemesis is actually the sun.

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“There was no way the sun should have been able to reach me down in that valley of massive steel buildings. They were reflective steel buildings, and the sun still found me.” he said. “It was like this theoretically cheerful metaphor — that no matter how deep within the shadowy valleys you are, the sun will find you. I was shaking my fist at the sun and its warmth on a cold day. There’s a kind of cheerfulness and paradox to that. I think there was something to be learned in that moment, but I’m not sure what yet.”

Some of the magical wonders around us are natural and some of them man-made, but the impact can be profound nonetheless. If we just took a moment to observe what’s in front of us, above us, and underneath us as we move through life, we might find miracles and messages in every footstep.

David Zinn’s work brings hope and magic to those who open their eyes to the world around them. Pigs really can fly if we believe — which they do, in the world of Zinn’s art.

“If you’re looking for good fortune, check under your feet,” Zinn likes to say. Let’s all keep in mind this beautiful reminder from my neighbor, the mirthful street artist.

Mikki Moscara is a writer with a degree in journalism from EMU. She has been a contributing writer and editor for Eastern Echo, Gothic Beauty Magazine, and Monroe News. She is currently the marketing manager at BELFOR Franchise Group.

She lives with her family in the King neighborhood of Ann Arbor.

In addition to being involved in local women's initiatives, Mikki and her family also frequently attend Ann Arbor charitable events.

Instagram: @mikki.moscara Twitter: moscara_mikki

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