I think a pretty good indicator of great jewelry could be when all of the models at a photoshoot try to buy the pieces they are wearing. Reese’s jewelry work has a certain character to it that makes it seem more like sculpture than anything else. Check out his shop on Campus Corner to see for yourself.

Where are you from?
Originally, I am from Southeastern Oklahoma; Quinton, Oklahoma to be exact. From there, I moved around Eastern Oklahoma quite a bit. I would call my home Mounds, Oklahoma.

What do you do?
Well, I own and operate a bead store on Campus Corner called ‘The Wild Hare Beadery’. Stop by and see it some time.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
I am inspired by a lot of things. Colors, patterns, designs, etc. It’s fun to find inspiration in the world around you.

What artists do you respect right now?
Artists I respect right now? My friend Ben King is always an inspiration. I find him terribly creative. My girlfriend, Margaret Kinkeade is pretty amazing. My friend in NYC, Lulu Wolf is pretty cool. I tend to be more influenced by those around me rather than artists far away. If we were going to name someone famous, it might be Walmor Correa – he does naturalist drawings and diagrams of mythical creatures!! Oh, or Maya Hayuk.

What are you sick of?
I am sick of the Oklahoman newspaper. How anyone finds that to be a credible source of information baffles me.

What music are you listening to recently?
I have been listening to Karen Dalton lately. She is a native Oklahoman that tragically lost her life to AIDS in the 80s. Really rad stuff. Another couple of artists are Kurt Vile, MV & EE, etc.

What is your first creative memory?
When I was pretty young, I would make crossbows and guns out of hair brushes and other household items. I didn’t think it was all that creative until my mom (an art teacher) sat down to look at one of my weapons and was amazed that it had moving parts and looked at me like I was some kind of genius. I’m not a genius, I just wanted to be a G.I. Joe.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
My favorite food/drank spot has changed since I found out I am an expectant father. Since then, I have decided not to drink alcohol or caffeine in solidarity with Marge. It was once The Library for drank and The Earth for food. Now I find myself craving Pepe’s and cookies all the time. I guess making up for the absence of alcohol.

Photos by Alex Thomas.

Thanks to Melissa, Jacob, Caitlin, Bri, and Cody for being beautiful, supportive people.

Photo by Jeremy Charles.

Sherree has been weaving together heart-wrenching harmonies for years and finally has an album for all of us to hold on to, instead of just going to her myspace page everyday like we used to do. Check it out on itunes. Or pick it up this Friday at her show at the Opolis.

Where are you from?
Oklahoma City as of recent.

What do you do?
I sing. I write stories, pair them with melodies. I constantly over-analyze. I’m all heart – no head. I make messes, and rarely do I clean them.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
It seems like weather, and my family and friends show up a lot in my songs. Oddly enough, there is this woman’s chorus in Snow White that is really inspiring my songwriting. Search “snow white music – love’s first kiss (finale)” on youtube. You won’t be sorry. Other than that, this book called “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron is blowing my mind. Overall however, new uncomfortable situations are the most inspirational. They usually squeeze out some creative juice in some way shape or form.

What artists do you respect right now?
Atony Hegarty’s compositions, Henri Matisse’s use of color, Emily Bronte’s dedication, David Bazan’s lyrics, Dawes’s harmony parts.

What are you sick of?
John and Kate Plus 8, questioning my own rationality, waiting for Jacob Abello’s album. In no specific order.

What music are you listening to recently?
Man, this band “Dawes” is just wrecking my soul. It’s like medicine. It’s wonderful. Also, Corey Chisel and the Wandering Songs, Antony and the Johnsons, and this girl Sarah Jaffe from Denton, Texas.

What is your first creative memory?
In first grade I became really intrigued by complex harmonies so I tried to turn my family of 4 into a barbershop quartet. I made us all line up by height and gave them each a note to sing. It sounded just . . . . terrible.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Food: Sweet Basil. Pad Thai with chicken, spice level 2 and a half, omelet on top.
Drink: Anywhere I can get a nice wheat beer with a lemon. It’s a summertime must.

Album art by Nathan Price.

I’ve been pretty excited about this post for a while. There’s something refreshingly honest about the way Zach presents his work. The world needs more people like him.

Where are you from?
Denton, Texas but I lived in Norman for 7 consecutive, definitely “formative” years, as well as Tarrytown, the Bronx, and Manhattan in New York, and Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China.

What do you do?
Primarily, I consider myself a printmaker and collage artist but I love to play with clay, and I flirt with street art every once and awhile. Starting in September, I will be an elementary and middle school art teacher in Shanghai (foreign kids from international schools, my spoken Chinese is okay for travel and shopping, but definitely not close to fluency).

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
I’m a news junkie who grew up on skateboarding; so mostly angst, but I like seeing what my friends are working on, old comics and cartoons, masks, traveling, Harlem Renaissance literature, Adinkra symbols, Pre-Columbian art, Google image search, and so on.

What artists do you respect right now?
I like people who are producing work with positive messages, but aren’t too didactic. Also, really into this resurgence of popularity of using printmaking for different projects and applications.

What are you sick of?
Allergies, questions about my hair/ethnicity, and the influx of police in Norman.

What music are you listening to recently?
Mostly hip hop, but I listen to a lot of Oklahoman bands, especially when I’m away, and have been really into the Workweek and the Nghiems. Also, I’m working on a shirt design for the Workweek, so it’s been on repeat a lot.

What is your first creative memory?
I stayed with my grandparents a lot during my childhood, and my grandmother was a landscape painter. She would give me colored pencils, watercolors and crayons since I was four years old, and I would go to town on some loose leaf paper.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Viva Pepe’s!

Anything else?
I intend to host/curate some mail art shows while I’m in Shanghai, and want all those interested to contact me. Thanks!

You might know Mickey Reece as the one-man band, El Paso Hot Button. His self-proclaimed final album, “Keep Your Eyes Quiet” is being released this week, with a hometown show on Friday the 21st at the Conservatory with Colourmusic, Pretty Black Chains, and Gentle Ghost. I’m sure it takes a lot to manage a one-man band, but that’s just a fraction of what Mickey’s been up to lately. Check out the videos after the interview.

Where are you from?
I grew up in Newcastle, Oklahoma. Currently I reside in Moore.

What do you do?
I make movies, play in a band, raise a small child and work as a Performance Evaluation Specialist at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center. I make art for the sake of art. Not money.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Marlon Brando is a huge inspiration. The man astounds me. I really like Paul Newman because he was a chain smoker yet still managed to be classy all the time. I like Bernardo Betulucci, Sergio Leone, Martin Scorsese and Hal Ashby films quite a bit. Musically, I’ve always been inspired by In Utero and The Breeder’s guitar tones. I’ve always enjoyed Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Quintron and Miss Pussycat and cite them as pretty big influences. Then there’s The Chinese Stars.

What artists do you respect right now?
As far as local artists go I’d say i’ve always respected any project Sethy McCarrol is involved in (Student Film, This Was The Year To Lose Friends, Gentle Ghost). I have nothing but respect for Quentin Bomgardner as well. He was the guitar player for Forty Minutes of Hell. Moviewise, I really like all of P.T. Anderson’s movies. Tarantino is always fun. I think Sean Penn is the best actor working in movies today since Deniro and Pacino started sucking. I also like Ryan Gosling.

What are you sick of?
Getting old. Responsibilities.

What music are you listening to recently?
Darker My Love, Wavves, and The Soft Pack

What is your first creative memory?
I use to make movies in my head with action figures. They were dramas.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Norman…let’s see. I like to eat at Misal’s, I like to drink at Bison Witches.

Video by Barrelhouse Beat.

Photo by Brandon Bales.

DJ. Designer. Cat-lover. B does it all. And not only that, he’s actually good at all of them, too. His group Dance Robots, Dance just won Best Dance Band at the ABOT Awards, and his blog is up for an award in the upcoming Best of OKC 2009. Check out a couple of his tracks at the bottom of the post.

Where are you from?
I live in Norman. I’m from Tulsa.

What do you do?
A combination of sitting in an office doing Graphic Design / sitting at home freelancing it / djing / producing musical tracks of some sort. The rest of the time I’m trying to catch up on sleep, or I’m eating.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Video games, old movies, my memories from the 80s/90s, the internet.

What artists do you respect right now?
I don’t really pay attention to specific artists much. Two that I can name off the top of my head that kill it are Josh Clancy (toothjuice) and Ronald Ashburn (electrik suicide). Josh is awesome, and he loves to party. I haven’t met Ronald so I couldn’t tell you what he’s like.

What are you sick of?
Stuck up art students.

What music are you listening to recently?
Depends on what I’m doing at the time. Could be going through my ‘new music’ folder which is mainly dance type music. Sorting tracks for dj sets. But my taste varies, despite what people think.

What is your first creative memory?
Growing up I drew a lot. I remember being in 1st grade and our class getting our first apple computer. this was 1987 I think. or 1988. or 1986. I really don’t remember the year. anyways, I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Somehow I helped the teacher set it up even though I don’t think I had ever touched a computer before. I don’t think that’s a creative memory though. I drew away most of my time until middle school when I began teaching myself photoshop and such on computers. I couldn’t even tell you which version I started on. Way back in windows 3.0 days and the black and white Mac OS 7. I just guessed 7 because it was released in ’91 and OS 8 was in color. As far as creative memories for music goes, I got my first bass guitar on my 12th birthday.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
blu for its cheap Coach’s beer. The humus at blu is bomb as well. Service Station for the burgers / fries. La Luna for their cheap hoegardden. Jason’s Deli for their salad bar. And Misal of India for their bomb chicken korma.

Anything else?
Just because your teacher showed you how to do something by the book doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way.

B – 36 Minutes on the Dance Floor

Dance Robots Dance – Must be Da Funk (Mash Up)

Photo by Blake Studdard.

Picking a highlight reel for Evan was just about the hardest thing I’ve ever done. His photo work is extensive and captivating. Check it out on his website or his flickr. And without further ado, I present to you Evan James French…

Where are you from?
3154 S. Florence Pl. Tulsa, OK 74105

What do you do?
I take photos, I fly airplanes, I run lights for anyone who’ll let me, and dabble in everything else.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Light, warm warm light.

What artists do you respect right now?
Yow. Blake Studdard (not a shameless plug, I really do like what he’s doing), Vincent Laforet, Austin Tolin, the Punch Brothers, and the fail blog.

What are you sick of?
The fact that I haven’t gone to the grocery store since May

What music are you listening to recently?
Michael Jackson (obviously), the Duhks, Sarah Jarosz, and Nine Inch Nails

What is your first creative memory?
When I was 3 or 4 years old, I made my dad play “Dixie Chicken” off Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus live record so I could try and get the drum part down.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Food – tie btw Sweet Basil, Ozzie’s, and On the Border. Drank- haven’t actually been there yet, but I’m sure in the future it will be the Holiday Inn bar.

Anything else?
I live in the Apache house.