Thank you, Wilmington NC

Friday night’s Record Release Party for This Water is Life, Vol. I with MindsOne and James Sardone was simply amazing! The record is seriously almost SOLD OUT already, so be sure stop by your local record store today here in Wilmington NC to pick up a copy, or CLICK HERE now to have one shipped to you directly; that is if we have any left. 

Thanks again to everyone involved, WE LOVE YOU!

'This Water Is Life' music event, plus 17 things to do for Wilmington's Earth Day weekend

[Repost from StarNews Online; by John Staton, April 21, 2022]

It seems like the weekends in Wilmington are only getting busier, and with so many worthwhile events, the only bad thing is having to make some tough choices. It's a good problem to have, because the 18 events listed here are only a fraction of what's going on. 

Speaking of tough choices, recently I've been starting off this list each week with a featured event. This week it's an album release show that combines local music, photography and advocacy for the environment. 

'This Water Is Life'

Wilmington's arts community, and its natural beauty, are two of the area's defining qualities, and big reasons why everyone keeps moving here. 

But rarely has a project connected the things that makes Wilmington special, and done it in such a meaningful way, as "This Water Is Life." The new double EP from locally based Fort Lowell Records comes out Friday and is timed to Earth Day. It will be the first in a series of releases that not only highlight Wilmington indie rock and hip-hop musicians, but also provide a platform for two groups fighting to protect Wilmington's environment, specifically its threatened waters: Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group.

On Friday, a release concert for "This Water is Life, Vol. 1" will be held at local hotspot Satellite Bar and Lounge on Greenfield Street. The show will feature longtime Wilmington rock songwriter James Sardone and local hip-hop mainstays MindsOne. Sardone has three songs and MindsOne four on "This Water Is Life," which will be released on vinyl and digitally. 

The project is the brainchild of James Tritten, who runs Fort Lowell and is one of the Wilmington music scene's biggest boosters. He said he got the idea after seeing the photographs of Josh Putnam, one of which Tritten used for the album's cover. The photos capture water within the urban Wilmington landscape while also literally reflecting that landscape.

That duality, or mirroring quality, gave Tritten the idea for a "split" EP that would get new work by area musicians into the world while reminding people of the very real challenges facing local waters, including pollution by PFAS chemicals released into the Cape Fear River by the Chemours company near Fayetteville. 

"In a perfect world there would be four to six of these albums a year," Tritten said, almost like a subscription service people could sign up for. 

Fort Lowell, which Tritten started in Arizona, is an indie rock label with a national roster, so Tritten knew that indie rock, in all its many forms, would be part of the equation. But he also wanted to spotlight the strength and depth of Wilmington's hip-hop scene. 

To kick off the series, Tritten went with two acts who've been sustaining Wilmington music lovers for decades.

MindsOne, which includes lyricists and rappers KON Sci and Tronic and beats by Belgian producer DJ Iron, has been around since the early 2000s. They've released multiple albums that have helped define the sound of Wilmington hip-hop while influencing the current generation of artists. 

Their old-school, "boom-bap" style with conscious lyrics is exemplified by the song "Footprints" from "This Water Is Life," which Joe Latterner, who writes and performs under the name KON Sci, said they wrote specifically for the album. The lyrics dwell on footprints both environmental and metaphorical, and especially the legacy that's left for future generations. 

"Environmental concerns, social concerns, that's always been in our wheelhouse," Latterner said, adding that new songs "Phantasy" and "Why So Serious?" show another side of the group that's more playful. 

They'll be performing all three songs from the new release on Friday (the album also includes a remix of "Footprints") and MindsOne has a full-length album coming out later this year. 

Sharing Friday's bill will be a new band from James Sardone, who was a mainstay of the Wilmington scene in the '90s. His punk band Brickbat toured nationally, opening for acts like Jawbox and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and his country rock outfit The Burnley Brothers were local favorites as well. 

A move to New York in the late '90s had Sardone hitting the big city right when a rockabilly revival was sweeping the nation, and his Jimmy Nations Combo turned heads in the Big Apple, even earning a write up in the Village Voice. 

Returning to Wilmington a decade ago, Sardone started a new band, Loose Jets, whose edgy glam-rock vibe was a regular presence at local clubs.

"I've always kind of like to change my hat" in terms of the music he plays, Sardone said, and the songs on "This Water Is Life" mark new territory for him: tuneful, deceptively simple pop rockers like "Do This Thing" that sound like they were pulled from some forgotten '80s radio playlist. 

"They're straightforward love songs pretty much," Sardone said, that he wrote for his wife, Stella. He said he's got enough material for a full album he hopes to put out soon.

Tritten said one goal of the "This Water Is Life" series — he's got a few more indie rock/hip-hop pairs lined up but doesn't want to say who just yet — is to get artists' work "on vinyl. So many artists stop at the world of digital, and vinyl is a special thing I know I can offer."

Another goal is for the project to be self-sustaining, where one release pays for the next one until there's a whole bunch more Wilmington music out there, not to mention increased awareness of environmental issues that need addressing.

A perhaps unintended benefit? On Friday, Sardone and the artists of MindsOne, who've done so much for their respective scenes, will meet each other and play on the same bill for the first time. 

Details: 7 p.m. Friday, April 22, at Satellite Bar & Lounge, 120 Greenfield St., Wilmington. Free.

'This Water is Life' Record Release Party

Join us at Satellite Bar & Lounge tomorrow night - April 22nd, Earth Day - for the official Record Release Party of our inaugural release for This Water is Life, featuring MindsOne & DJ Iron + James Sardone.  Both artist will be performing live in concert at the free event, and the music will begin at 7:00pm.  See y'all there, Wilmington, North Carolina!

Meet the team behind Fort Lowell Records' latest project

This Water is Life is a self-sustained and ongoing series of split EPs with two express purposes: to highlight new hip-hop / indie rock music from Southeastern North Carolina, as well as to provide a platform for Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group to deliver up-to-date authoritative reports on the health of the Cape Fear River Basin for both human beings and wildlife.

Dana Sargent of Cape Fear River Watch and Andy Wood of Coastal Plain Conservation Group will author the liner notes for each edition of This Water is Life; Sargent providing insight as to how human beings are affected by what is happening with the Cape Fear River, while Wood delivers a report on one indigenous animal from the region per release.  

The sustainability of this project has been made possible by sponsorship provided by Gravity Records, Persephone's Farm, Satellite Bar & Lounge, Wild Phoenix Salt Cave, as well as Dock Street Printing.

All design elements for each release will highlight the work of local artists: Josh Putnam for the cover art photographs, Ross Langdon Page for the band photographs printed on the back of the vinyl jackets, and Ivanna Knox of Pufferfish Print Shop for the artwork shown on the B-Side label of the vinyl itself - which will be an illustration of the indigenous animal which Coastal Plain Conservation Group writes about in the liner notes for that particular release. 

CLICK HERE TO ORDER This Water is Life, Vol. I

Dana Sargent of Cape Fear River Watch

Andy Wood of Coastal Plain Conservation Group

Gravity Records: [L-R] Chandler, Garret, Rizzy, Matt, and Brady

Joe Hauser of Persephone's Farm

Dusty Ricks (Owner) and Shannon Dunne of Satellite Bar & Lounge

Morgan Roman of Wild Phoenix Salt Cave, and wife Andrea

Josh Putnam

Ross Langdon Page

Ivanna Knox of Pufferfish Print Shop

Spring singles countdown

[Repost from Poprock Record; by Dennis Pilon, April 19, 2022]

North Carolina’s Tracy Shedd ambles onto centre stage with her single “Going Somewhere,” its laid back feel gaining more urgency in the chorus. Definitely a bit of car-driving, windows-open on a summer day sort of music.

Listen to Dream Pop Ensemble Lauds “II” EP

[Repost from Post-Punk; by Alice Teeple, April 9, 2022]

The old 9 to 5

Who could invent a

Better way to waste a life?

Hailing from the beaches of Wilmington, NC, guitar outfit Lauds are united by a love of the water and chiming hooks. They have released a second EP, entitled II, a sprawling, psychedelic, melodic masterpiece of pulsing indie rock and jangle pop with a motorik edge. It’s out now via Fort Lowell Records.

The bass and drums are given equal footing with the guitars in this collection, which vacillate between moments of chorused-out bliss and searing noise-rock catharsis, peppered with catchy hooks. Lead singer McKay Glasgow beckons the listener to get lost alongside him in the sprawling guitar scapes with his gentle croon.

The quintet composed of McKay Glasgow (lead vocals, guitar), J Holt Evans (vocals, lead guitar), younger brother Boyce Evans (keyboards, third guitar), Gavin Campbell (bass), and Ross Page (drums, vocals) play the bulk of the melodies on the album. They recruited friends Ross Page and Gavin Campbell, who helped steer the arrangements when it came time for recording.

Their lyrics, though sparse, are poetic ruminations on everyday life, from questioning the point of the daily grind (Weekend) to pushing through obstacles in search of an elusive freedom (CeeDee Lamb). They pack a lot of emotional punch in these fleeting moments. Despite the brightness of the melodies, these are songs examining deep-seated angst.

Having become a staple of Wilmington’s thriving guitar-rock scene, the band continues to play regularly in their region and hope to expand down the road, both with touring and in the studio.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves in the studio to be more adventurous with the type of sonic textures we were using to color the songs,” says the band. “All of the tracks are still essentially pop songs built around twin guitar melodies but we wanted to see how we could expand our sound by leaning into things like harmonics, feedback, and expressive solos…in the end I think we arrived at a sound that is darker, leaner, and more reminiscent of our live shows.”

Find Lauds’ II EP Here

Follow Lauds:

• Twitter 
• Instagram
• Bandcamp

Photo by Mary Hannah

‘Footprints’ by MindsOne & DJ Iron | ‘This Water is Life’ series

[Repost from Psychedelic Baby; Klemen Breznikar, April 6, 2022]

Exclusive track premiere of ‘Footprints’ by MindsOne & DJ Iron, taken from ‘This Water is Life’ series, out April 22, 2022 via Fort Lowell Records.

‘This Water is Life’ is a self-sustained and ongoing series of split EPs with two express purposes: to highlight new hip-hop / indie rock music from Southeastern North Carolina, as well as to provide a platform for Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group to deliver up-to-date authoritative reports on the health of the Cape Fear River Basin for both human beings and wildlife.

Ever since our forebears crawled up out of the water and drew their first breath, our – which is to say human and animal (and for that matter, plant) – experience has never strayed too far from its life-sustaining force. This water IS life. It will continue to be. But what kind of life? Threats to that water are, in turn, threats to the very life it supports.

Inspired by photography focused on water in urban landscapes against a backdrop of the evolving GenX (PFAS) water pollution problem in the Wilmington, NC / Cape Fear region, ‘This Water is Life’ is a local multimedia, multi-platform project. It takes what Fort Lowell Records does best – put out and promotes killer indie music of varied stripes – and fuses it with photography and other visual arts alongside river and wildlife advocacy. The goal is a virtuous circle contained within an intended series of records. Packaged together, musical and visual artists from the Port City combined with a separate, serialized and locally-specific environmental message gives rise to the future promotion of other local music acts and further advocacy.

‘Volume I’ features MindsOne & DJ Iron and James Sardone (of Brickbat, Burnley Brothers, The Jimmy Nations Combo, Loose Jets).

Innovative lyrics, heart pounding instrumentals, precise cuts, and intense live shows are what MindsOne has been offering their listeners since 2002. In its current iteration for this project, the group consists of KON Sci and Tronic on vocals with Belgian producer DJ Iron reprising his beatmaking role. Their music embodies the spirit of independent hip hop culture and pays homage to those boom bap masters and others who came before.

They have consistently delivered powerful and inspirational music over the years, and have continued to perfect their sound with each project from their debut EP, ‘The Space Time Continuum’ in 2006 to 2016’s collaboration with DJ Iron on the ‘Phaseology’ album.

Pre-order it here!

Fort Lowell Records · MindsOne & DJ Iron "Footprints"

HCTF premiere - James Sardone: Do This Thing

[Repost from Here Comes the Flood; Hans Werksman, April 5, 2022]

James Sardone (Brickbat, Burnley Brothers, The Jimmy Nations Combo, Loose Jets) has been part of the indie rock scene for a couple of decades, keeping the DIY flag flying throughout his career. His new song, the rollicking Do This Thing, supports a good cause: keeping tabs on Cape Fear River Basin in North Carolina by Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group. The track will be included on This Water is Life, Vol. I, a split EP, with three Sardone songs taking up on side, and four tracks by hip-hop artist MindsOne and Belgian producer DJ Iron on the other one. It is the meeting of two worlds that worked out quite well.

Do This Thing is released via Fort Lowell Records. Release date: April 8. This Water is Life, Vol. I is available for pre-order here (vinyl - 150 handnumbered copies, digital). The EP will be released on Earth Day (April 22).

Live date:

• 04/22 Wilmington NC @ Satellite Bar & Lounge (release party - free show)

» James Sardone on Instagram

Fort Lowell Records · James Sardone "Do This Thing"

OUT NOW: MindsOne & DJ Iron "Footprints" + James Sardone "Do This Thing"

The Digital Singles from the inaugural Fort Lowell Records album This Water is Life, Vol. I for both artists MindsOne & DJ Iron plus James Sardone are both available today, April 8th, on all music platforms.  When you pre-order the vinyl or digital album from Bandcamp, you will be able to download and save by singles:

• MindsOne & DJ Iron "Footprints"
• James Sardone "Do This Thing"
  
  

PRE-ORDER FULL EP NOW [Vinyl + Digital]

Fort Lowell Records · MindsOne & DJ Iron "Footprints"

Fort Lowell Records · James Sardone "Do This Thing"

LAUDS: II

[Repost by Blood Makes Noise; by Sam Lowry, March 31, 2022]

Immediately the band hits you in the face with a Cure meets The Smiths riff but as the vocals pop in it’s more clear that this is very brit rock inspired. It feels like something like Ivy, The Sundays, and mostly mellow stuff that is usually female fronted. More contemporary comparisons would be Soccer Mommy, Swiims, or Phoebe Bridgers. However the reverb washed vocals give it a more goth feel. I also hear quite a bit of classic indie influence especially in the guitar which at times is New Order/Joy Division –ish. This is quite nice and blends a tiny splash of goth with straight forward indie rock/ indie pop. At times you can hear a little bit of dissonant background noise like a splash of My Bloody Valentine or Mission of Burma was thrown in. Track 3 is titled CeeDee Lamb and I had to wonder, are these guys football fans? Dallas Cowboy fans? Ok, they lose some points with me for liking the Cowboys but I digress. In all a really solid EP that I suppose the new genre classification for is “dream pop” but if you are older than 25 you’ll get all the references and what these guys are about.

Let's Dance at Satellite Bar & Lounge on Friday, April 8th at 7:00pm in Wilmington NC

New EP: Lauds || II

[Repost from Add To Wantlist; by Dennis, March 29, 2022]

After their self-titled debut EP last summer, North Carolina 5-piece Lauds are back with a second 4-track EP, logically called II. James McKay Glasgow (guitars, lead vocals), J Holt Evans III (guitars, keyboards, vocals), Gavin Campbell (bass), Boyce Evans (keyboards, additional guitars), and Ross Page (drums) play melodic jangle pop with chiming guitar hooks and dreamy vocals, with a biting undertone that will also appeal to fans of noisy shoegaze. The lyrics of closing track Weekend clearly show what this band is about: “Hazy summer lines // What are we doing // The days are careening by // The old 9 to 5 // Who could invent a // Better way to waste a life?” – enchanting.

OUT NOW: Lauds 'II' [Digital EP]

Hailing from the beaches of Wilmington, NC, Lauds are five friends (two of whom are brothers) united by a love of the water and chiming guitar hooks. The quintet composed of McKay Glasgow (lead vocals, guitar), J Holt Evans (vocals, lead guitar), younger brother Boyce Evans (keyboards, third guitar), Gavin Campbell (bass), and Ross Page (drums, vocals) play a pulsing take on indie rock with lush intertwining guitar melodies that draw on everything from C86 jangle pop to British titans like Ride and The Cure.

On II, Lauds trade some of the more languid structures of their debut EP (Lauds, Fort Lowell Records) for hard hitting motorik-inspired pop. Now, the bass and drums are given equal footing with the guitars, which while catchy as ever, vacillate between moments of chorused-out bliss and searing noise-rock catharsis. The final product remains distinctly Lauds, with Glasgow’s vocals beckoning the listener to get lost alongside him in the sprawling guitarscapes.

Having become a staple of Wilmington’s thriving guitar-rock scene–playing packed sets at places like the Palm Room, Satellite Bar and Lounge, and, most notably, a sold-out Bourgie Nights slot opening for Athens, GA’s Futurebirds–look for Lauds to continue to make noise in their native the Carolinas and beyond. Next up: a 4/2 release show at Modern Legend, the first in-store show hosted by the record store and scene luminary in over two years. Featuring opening sets by local legends Color Temperature and Louis, this set promises to be the show of the year and a (noisy) celebration of all that live music has to offer in the Port City.

Lauds II is now available on all digital music platforms.

OUT NOW: Tracy Shedd "Going Somewhere" [Digital Single]

Available on all digital audio platforms, Tracy Shedd's latest single "Going Somewhere" is out today -- Friday, March 25th -- featuring James Sardone (Brickbat, Loose Jets).  For fans of Alvvays, Stereolab, and Wilco.

Photo by Scott Madgett

Lauds | Interview | “We’re a guitar band first and foremost”

[Repost from It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine; Klemen Breznikar, March 18, 2022]

Lauds is part of the dream pop-shoegaze-post-punk continuum, but carries an unpredictable edge.

Lauds are a band from Wilmington, NC that was formed in the spring of 2019 by songwriters McKay Glasgow and J. Holt Evans III. Bonding over their love of Slowdive and Neil Young, the band plays in the style of the former while channeling some of latter’s more untamed guitarscapes. Glasgow and Evans were both craving an outlet to make guitar-oriented rock music, and Lauds is the result. Glasgow is also a member of Tumbleweed, a folk-rock group, but had songwriting ideas that didn’t fit within their confines. Teaming up with Evans, who has spent a lot of his free time in recent years recording reverbed-out bedroom pop songs, the two founded Lauds as a project to unleash their Jazzmaster ambitions.

How did you get together to form Lauds?

Evans: My dad does a lot of music production work in Wilmington, North Carolina which is where we’re all from and grew up. McKay and I met while he was finishing up his folk band Tumbleweed’s first record at my dad’s studio. We kind of just immediately became pals, starting jamming, grabbing beers and the rest is history I guess. We were both sitting on piles of old demos that neither of us had found a home for and realized we were on to something when we started playing them for each other and rearranging them together to be all about the guitars. We added my brother Boyce on drums and our friend Rett on bass after that and started playing shows.

What inspires your music?

Evans: We’re a guitar band first and foremost. I think when you look under the Lauds hood we’re really just striving to capture feelings from different frames of mind and experiences that are meaningful to us and turn those into memorable guitar melodies. I’m a huge reverb and chorus guy because my dad played that U2 album ‘October’ too many times in the car when I was a kid. I feel like those sounds are almost integral to how I approach the guitar for better or for worse. We kind of started Lauds on this half joke premise of what if there was a band that sounded like Neil Young and Crazy Horse covering Slowdive. We really don’t sound like that at all, which I guess is probably a good thing, but we did try to cover ‘Cortez the Killer’ at our first show. Very grateful there doesn’t seem to be footage of that anywhere.

Glasgow: We want to write songs that we like and that are interesting sonically and hopefully that at least our friends will like. For me, a lot of the appeal in performing and writing now comes from the ways the guitar riffs interlock and the generally very affected sounds that are a bit off center. Lately we’ve been putting more emphasis on trying to make songs really groove with the backing drums and bass so that people can move around more at shows. It’s just more fun for everybody to want to bounce around.

What can you tell us about the 4-track EP that you released via Fort Lowell Records?

Glasgow: I think it’s safe to say we feel it’s our strongest work to date. The recording process was less about trying to come up with perfect parts and more about getting the sounds right. We tried to limit adding additional guitars in the mix and keep the arrangements replicable for live shows. It’s a bit more distorted and aggressive at moments than any of our other stuff but it has the familiar melodic breaks and bouncy baselines that will always be a part of our songs. There is also more singing in lower registers to fit the mood of some of the tracks.

Evans: We took months and months between putting out our first batch of singles and releasing the EP. The pandemic definitely slowed us down but in hindsight I’m really glad we took our time with these songs and the writing process in general. Like McKay said, we spent a lot of time trying to hone in on a unified vibe for the record that fit the mood of the songs and I think that extra time really helped pull everything together in the end.

What about the single, ‘Are You There All Alone’?

Glasgow: Holt 3 and I had a couple weeks where we sat down and tried writing in post-surf stupors. Basically we sat there with an acoustic guitar and bass, not overthinking and came up with a couple songs we felt good about at the time. But as every songwriter knows, it’s the days after that determine whether or not you were being delusional. We listened later and were like, “That was okay.” ‘Are You There All Alone’ was one of those songs. We started thinking, maybe this is a better way to write songs than laboring over them. We have enough songs now where we can let a song go for a while and come back to it so that has kept us from agonizing over trying to make a song work that just isn’t there yet.

Evans: That one was written quickly. We both locked in on a chord progression and 5 minutes later we were giggling like little kids. We knew that we had just written a great song. Can’t recommend the post-surf stupor enough.

Are you planning to release an album in the near future?

Glasgow: We’ve got about 12 songs ready to go after EP 2. The plan is to get a full album done and out this summer before some of the guys head off for school. We have felt really inspired to write music so we aren’t wanting to take the next six months for granted.

How are you coping with the current situation as a new band? Are you excited about being on stage?

Evans: We love playing live. It’s probably at least 90% of the reason we started the band, to share our music with our friends in a common space and have a great time doing it. Obviously we wish the state of the world wasn’t what it currently is but we’re trying to make the most out of it while striving to be as safe as possible for all involved. We’re stoked to have added our good friends and great musicians Ross Page and Gavin Campbell to the band. I feel like we’re probably the best we have ever been as a live unit in terms of tightness and musicianship.

Glasgow: We are trying to be responsible and not overly fearful. We have canceled some shows out of town in February but we are planning shows for the Spring and hoping for the best. We would be very excited to get back to playing consistently through the spring and summer if it’s possible. And if we can’t then it’s just more time to record.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favorite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

Evans: I know ‘Twin Plagues’ by the band Wednesday is a new album that’s been on heavy rotation for all of the guys recently. Great heavy shoegaze with an almost country bent out of Asheville, NC. Siouxsie and the Banshees ‘Tinderbox’ and ‘Script of the Bridge’ by the Chameleons are classics that are big for us. We also all liked the newest Deafheaven album a lot as well. I feel like I tell everybody I know to listen to that record. It’s amazing. Other than that, been bumping this bootleg copy of Mobb Deep’s ‘The Infamous’ that I got on CD for $2 at a gas station a lot in the car.

Thank you. Last word is yours.

Evans: Thanks! We feel really privileged to be a part of an incredible music scene in our hometown. Lots of melodic and fun guitar music in all sorts of flavors. Our drummer Ross is the king of Wilmington and in about 18 bands and all of them are great. Check out Seeking Madras (jangletown), AZZA (chorused out political punk), Nice Derek (the only band on this list Ross is not in), and Color Temperature (like Guided by Voices covering Talk Talk).

Photo by Mary Hannah

MindsOne + James Sardone live in concert Friday, April 22 at Satellite Bar & Lounge

Meet Heather Ivins | Graphic Designer & Fine Artist

Heather Ivins is the artist who created the illustration for Tracy Shedd's new single "Going Somewhere", due our Friday, March 25th.  Here is a photograph of the original art Ivins drew, along with the final cover art for the release.  Below is a recent interview Ivins did with ShoutOut Miami.

[Repost from ShoutOut Miami; March 16, 2022]

We had the good fortune of connecting with Heather Ivins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?

There was never going to be another choice for me—I’ve always known that I would work as a creative, in some capacity or another. I’ve been creative/artistic since as far back as I can remember, and I’m fortunate to have a family that encouraged and supported my creative expression.

As a young kid, I would design stickers and sell them at family yard sales. I would cut up newspapers, rearrange the pieces, and write new text to create my own publications. As a teenager, I hand painted t-shirts and gifted them to friends and family, which eventually led to painted t-shirt commissions (remember the days of puffy paint?). I would sculpt trinkets for friends to hang on their rear-view mirrors and paint my friends’ portraits as flowers, giving them petals instead of hair. It has always brought me joy to make others happy with my artwork.

In my senior year of high school, I participated in the school’s work experience program, where you would leave school for most of the day to go to work. I remember being in search of a job and flipping through the yellow pages to find something suitable. I was determined to find a position that would make good use of my creative skills. I came across the sign-making industry and quickly found myself working at a little sign shop in Stuart, where I began learning graphic design on the job. In my spare time, I continued to teach myself graphic design applications and principles in order to pursue a career in it.

I’ve since worked as a designer for over 20 years for a number of companies, including AOL and Fast Company Magazine. Most recently, I’ve joined forces with my husband, John Ciambriello, to officially form HEATHER & JOHN, a creative studio specializing in brand design, post-production photo editing, and illustration. Our most recent project was the re-branding of our local arts council, MartinArts. This was a very rewarding project for us, as my husband and I are both members of the local arts community.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

In addition to being a graphic designer, I’m also a fine artist and illustrator. I love to experiment and to explore different media, techniques, and subjects. I don’t just do one thing—which is kind of a theme running through my whole life (I’ve also dabbled in music and health coaching!). I don’t like comparing myself to other artists, but perhaps this is what sets me apart—you never know what you’ll get from me! I’m best known for my photorealistic colored pencil pet portrait commissions. But, I also paint with watercolor and gouache. And ink. And Posca paint pens. And my fingers! And cat whiskers! The one thing that I think remains consistent, though, is that I like the finished artwork to convey a sense of beauty and wonder.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

THE BEACH! The beach is a must, obviously, when visiting Florida (I’m in Stuart). On our way back, we would stop at Ital Bowls for a healthy treat. We would take bike rides around town and enjoy the beautiful local environment. Anyone visiting me has to come with me to my favorite little cafe and storefront, Hani Honey Company. They have awesome bubble tea, coffee drinks, and really yummy food. We would also head to Gilbert’s Coffee Bar to enjoy a tasty beverage while taking in the gorgeous sunset—they have the perfect view of the sunset over the marina. We would walk along the water and over to Downtown Stuart. After that, we would definitely hop in the car and go eat at my favorite restaurant, South Fork Kitchen and Bar. And then we’d come home and relax in my back yard looking at the stars. That’s just the first day of the visit—the rest of the week, just hit repeat.

Alright, so let’s jump right in! The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there a person, group, organization, book, etc that you want to dedicate your shoutout to? Who else deserves a little credit and recognition in your story?

I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my family. My mom, April Newswander, has always been super-supportive of my artistic pursuits. My husband, John Ciambriello, is my rock. He’s also my sounding board and has no qualms about telling me something isn’t working or needs re-thinking (or sucks!). And my son, Lee, is incredibly creative, artistic, and unafraid to be himself—he’s an inspiration to me.

Website: www.heatherivins.com & www.heatherandjohn.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherivins & https://www.instagram.com/heatherandjohn.co

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherivinsart

Photo by John Ciambriello