Transcript:
Melea Hames: [00:00:01] You're listening to the Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama podcast, part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network.
Welcome back to this episode of Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama. Today's episode is all about an incredible mural artist and unfortunately, we can't show you the amazing work she does through the podcast, but I highly recommend looking it up after this episode. Joining me today is the talented Jessie Andrews. Jessie, thanks so much for being here today.
Jessie Andrews: [00:00:36] Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to talk with you.
Melea Hames: [00:00:39] Yeah, me too. You have done some incredible mural artwork. Can you tell us a little about your background in art and what got you interested in mural art specifically?
Jessie Andrews: [00:00:49] Yeah, so it's kind of interesting. I feel like the way that I got ushered into this career, it wasn't necessarily an intentional decision that I made. And I went to the art school and I studied art and I don't know, I just never somehow clicked with me that this would be my career path. It wasn't a conscious decision, but my whole life I was always building things and being creative and trying to find solutions to problems like with my Barbie dolls, what are they going to wear? You know, just always like yeah, like making things and making furniture.
Then one day when I was a senior in high school, I just randomly decided to paint this giant mural in my bathroom in my parents’ house and luckily they were really cool about it, but it was just like this giant face in the bathroom and it's still there today. I was like, man, that was so cool, it was so fun to just like paint this very large scale piece of artwork and then from there it just was like this very organic flow into me starting to make abstract pieces for people's houses. And then that was about four years ago I started to sell that artwork online and I decided to do my artwork circles because at that time I had never really seen people who made circular artwork. It was very unique to me. And so I was drawn to it because it wasn't something I commonly saw.
So then I would do these abstract art pieces on these circles and I was very inspired by space. Yes, because we live in the Rocket City, but also because it's like this magical realm of existence that we know so little about. So it's just like the mystery of the space is so phenomenal to me. Anyways, I'd make these pieces of art on these circles and I would name them like Andromeda or something like that and people started to call them planets.
So then I applied or someone asked me to do like a very small public art project in Clinton Road Color Walk, which is the Space Store. and I guess that received a lot of positive feedback on Instagram, people were uploading photos in front of it and then I was asked to do this 1000-square-foot mural. And I was like okay this is a huge jump. This is not really like I'm a seasoned muralist at this point, this is just this grand opportunity, what do I want to do? And I was like okay I know I want to do these circular abstract “planets”. So then I made this giant galactic mural in downtown Huntsville and that kind of blew up for me and it just rolled into all of these other very large challenges.
So now I'm a muralist two years later. That was a long answer but I don't know that kind of contains some sort of sense in it.
Melea Hames: [00:03:28] Yeah that's so cool though, like Barbie dolls in the bathroom, and that's how you got the start. Maybe mural artistry is in my future because I also did that with my Barbie dolls. I made furniture and I made clothes out of like scrap fabric and everything.
Jessie Andrews: [00:03:45] Yes.
Melea Hames: [00:03:46] Maybe I'm missing my calling here.
Jessie Andrews: [00:03:48] Maybe you are. Maybe this is the episode where you figure out your next step in life. It's so funny though because when I remember being in middle school even and being in the shower so this kind of ties into being an entrepreneur, not so much an artist. But I remember like using the shampoo bottle as a microphone and like to be on QBC, and like selling the soap you know. I was like today only this bar of Dial you can have for 2.99. It’s so lovely to think about.
Melea Hames: [00:04:14] I love it. Did you ever practice like an acceptance speech with your shampoo also for winning an award?
Jessie Andrews: [00:04:23] No, I don't think I did. Did you do that?
Melea Hames: [00:04:25] Yeah. A Grammy. I was going to win a Grammy even though I cannot sing at all.
Jessie Andrews: [00:04:33] I feel like every kid at some point thought that they were going to be a musician. I don't know, it seems to be something that everyone's like, yeah,” I'm going to be famous for singing.”
Melea Hames: [00:04:41] That's right. I know we've all practiced our acceptance speech in the bathroom with -- that's so funny. Well, let's dive into some more of the murals that you've created. You mentioned Galactic and that's on our North Alabama mural trail and it's close to Holmes Avenue on Washington Street.
Jessie Andrews: [00:05:03] Yeah.
Melea Hames: [00:05:04] Is that correct?
Jessie Andrews: [00:05:06] Yeah. You can see it if you're at Mo's and Melt downtown. If you're standing in front of Mo's and you look to the right, you can see it.
Melea Hames: [00:05:14] I've seen a lot of people taking pictures with it. I've seen wedding photos in front of it actually.
Jessie Andrews: [00:05:19] I know, I've seen music videos. I know it's insane and it's nice too because within like a two-minute drive you can see a lot of murals that I've done and there's not always, there's very often somebody in front of one of them and I'm like, “oh hi.” And I like slow down and take a photo and I'm sure they don't know who I am and I think I'm just a creepy stalker. But I'm like, oh yeah, that's so cool. It never gets old.
Melea Hames: [00:05:41] Just yell out. That's my mural. Thank you.
Jessie Andrews: [00:05:45] I know I'm really bad about signing my murals there. That's kind of off point. But just, once I finish, I don't even really care about the signature and everyone's like, “You need to go back and put your signature on it.” I'm like, “Yeah, I guess I do.” But I don't know. The art is the signature.
Melea Hames: [00:06:00] Yeah. So you go by Honey Blood Art. How did that name come about?
Jessie Andrews: [00:06:06] Honey Blood Art is what my -- Honey Blood is, what my friend called me in high school and I have no idea to this day where he got that nickname from. But it's funny. Yeah, it's so weird. It's funny because my aunt, we called her Aunt Honey and I only ever knew her as Honey and honestly I don't even know her birth name now. Like she was just Honey my whole life.
So then I just thought that was so cute that people are called Honey and Darling and like all these cute little pet names. So when my friends started to call me Honey Blood, I was like okay that's beautiful, it's sweet, it's like mysterious. It's kind of, I don't know you remember it which I like -- and I never thought that I would have a business doing art, so it was just a name at the time, but now it works.
Melea Hames: [00:06:50] That is so cool, I love that.
Jessie Andrews: [00:06:51] Yeah, thank you.
Melea Hames: [00:06:53] Okay, so another mural that you have recently done, it's like an abstract chandelier, can you tell us what inspired that artwork?
Jessie Andrews: [00:07:02] Yeah, so 106 Jefferson, the hotel just opened up and even before it was done with its construction, I knew that it was just going to be like a super special beautiful place for Huntsville, and then immediately next to it is Phat Sammy's which I adore, it's I don't know if you've been there, but it's like a super incredible restaurant with like an actually fantastic chef.
Anyways, so they had this giant wall on the back side of their building and I just kept driving past it and I was like, “Man, that would be a perfect wall for a mural.” And so I reached out to Chad Emerson at DHI and Wesley Crunkleton who owns Crunkleton Real Estates and they essentially just were like, “Yeah that sounds like a great idea, let's have a mural here, we've been already thinking about it, we love that you reached out.” They wanted something classy and something vibrant that would complement what was happening on the inside of 106 Jefferson. So we're like, okay, let's do a fun, vibrant chandelier.
And for me, I'm always trying to add something like optimistic and like a surprising, beautiful, vibrant thing that you're not expecting to see. So when you turn around the corner it's like, oh, here's this -- I don't know, I just feel so happy to me like here's this bright rainbow without being gaudy, just like this bright, vibrant rainbow chandelier. It just makes me feel like it is a celebration if that makes sense.
Melea Hames: [00:08:27] Yeah, absolutely. That is so cool. And 106 Jefferson, it totally fits that vibe. We had a meeting there not long ago and that is the coolest hotel in downtown.
Jessie Andrews: [00:08:40] It's so cool. Oh my gosh, the smell. Yes, everything about it. I'm like, I want to just live here.
Melea Hames: [00:08:46] Yeah, and then the Baker & Able rooftop bar is so cute how it's in honor of Miss Baker and the monkeys that went up in space. That was so nice. I love that.
Jessie Andrews: [00:08:58] I know.
Melea Hames: [00:08:59] You've recently finished another mural too. Right?
Jessie Andrews: [00:09:02] Yeah. One at Mid-City. Is that the one?
Melea Hames: [00:09:04] Yeah, tell us about that one. Yeah.
Jessie Andrews: [00:09:06] Well I actually just finished one at Mid-City. I finished one, at, I don't know if I'm technically supposed to say this, but I'll tell you the new Facebook Data Center and I finished one behind Sea Salt, which is in the parking garage on Clinton Avenue.
Melea Hames: [00:09:22] Okay.
Jessie Andrews: [00:09:23] Yeah, but the one at Mid-City, I'm really proud of it honestly. It's this giant arched portal kind of looking into this ombre- this very simplistic ombre scenery with these dogwood flowers coming out into the portal. And around the portal on the black part, it says good fortune. And it has these aluminum cut stars that were installed on top. So they’re 3D. And they’re color shift. Yeah, they’re color shifts. So when you look at them from one angle they're blue. When you look at them from another angle, they're purple.
There's just so many things in that one specifically that were personal to me like dogwoods are very southern and they were my grandmother's favorite tree and she passed away a few months ago. So to me, it was like, “Okay, how can I make this?” I don't know. I think what I'm realizing now is like how can I add just little subtle colorful messages of positivity because the world can be a dark place and it can be so pessimistic that it's like, let's try and add as much beauty and positivity as we can.
Melea Hames: [00:10:29] Yeah, I love that. And I love how you add like bits of yourself in there. Things that pay tribute to your family, your past, things like that. That's cool.
Jessie Andrews: [00:10:41] Thank you. Thanks. That was actually good advice that I got from a friend not too long ago. I felt really challenged on like, everybody wanted a mural. Not everybody, but a lot of people wanted a mural and they would give me this freedom of like, we want you to do what you want to do, which sounds great, but it's like I want to do so many different things in my mind at this point in my career, like all over the place. So to not have any bit of guidance or feedback, it's kind of like, it's almost too much for a very creative person because you get parameters to -- but my friend gave me advice and was like, “If you weren't getting paid for it, if you just wanted to paint what you wanted to paint, like what do you enjoy, what do you like?” And I've tried to incorporate that a little bit more into my work.
Melea Hames: [00:11:25] That's cool. I love that. Yeah. We had Adam Stevenson on, which you mentioned that y’all are friends and he shared the inspiration behind a couple of the murals that he's done that's on our mural trail with his family, his sister, and dad and granddad. And he also talked about his process. Can you tell us about how you create art on such a large scale? Because it's just mind-blowing to me.
Jessie Andrews: [00:11:52] Yeah. So I would say for each mural for me, the process changes. So it's not always just like one hard way of doing it. But typically after the initial meeting that I have with the client, we’ll kind of run by like, okay, are you trying to promote a brand or do you want specifically just to have something beautiful on the side of your wall? Because one is more artistic, one is more marketing.
And so I try to find colors that complement the space that already exists. I try to pull from elements that will reflect what's happening on the inside of the building or what's connected with the ethos of the company. And so then I'll come up with this really rough like summary paragraph of here's what I'm kind of thinking. Tell me if you're feeling where I am mentally. Like are you on the same- or are we on the same page? Are we going in a good direction? And then after that, typically everybody is like, yeah, sounds good. Let's just see what you create.
And then I'll start to sketch on my iPad and from there I come up with like a few different arrangements of elements. So it's not a completed mock-up. It's just kind of a rough splattering of initial ideas and then I send that off to the client for review and then we'll have a meeting or a phone call or a Zoom meeting or whatever it is. From there, we'll decide on the elements that we like the most and I'll send them a final rendering.
Then as far as starting the painting goes, typically you always need like a lift or a scissor lift, a man lift, boom lift something like that. And then I'll prime the entire wall in a high-quality primer and then typically sometimes I'll project it, but then sometimes I'll use like a squiggle grid or I'll just kind of eyeball it honestly. Like the one I did at Mid-City. I was like, I feel like I could just eyeball this well enough and then touch it up and it worked out perfectly fine.
But yeah like so with the Mid-City one and with the celestial symphony, the galactic one, both of those have 3D elements. So it's like some work that's done off-site. And actually, I guess another one that I just did for a private client was 3D as well. So I like to incorporate different elements into the murals and try to make it a step more interesting than just a flat mural.
Melea Hames: [00:14:13] Yeah that's cool.
Jessie Andrews: [00:14:14] Yeah I hope that makes sense.
Melea Hames: [00:14:16] Oh totally. Yeah, I know and just watching like some of the before and after of the murals of the artists that I follow of seeing that squiggle grid, right?
Jessie Andrews: [00:14:30] Yes.
Melea Hames: [00:14:31] And it just absolutely amazes me that you can take -- I mean literally, I mean squiggles, it's pretty self-explanatory and then come up with this amazing mural. So that is so cool. And then just eyeballing it, that's I'm truly in awe of you for eyeballing those because –
Jessie Andrews: [00:14:48] Thank you.
Melea Hames: [00:14:49] The scale is, you know, it's cool.
Jessie Andrews: [00:14:53] Thank you for saying that because I think myself and probably a lot of other entrepreneurs, it's like you get in your head about what you know you're capable of doing and you always want to push that boundary and that limit and you always want to do more than you currently know how to do. So it's constantly a learning process, which I mean, I love that about it honestly. I never, ever, ever feel like I get to a moment where I'm like, “Oh, I pretty much know how to do every single thing here.” It's like, no, like you could add a 3D element or make it augmented or what else can be done? There's so much.
Melea Hames: [00:15:25] Yeah, that's so cool. I love that and I know it's fascinating the impact that a mural can have on a community. I mean it could really change the whole vibe of a downtown area. I know here in Decatur, we've got that beautiful mural on 2nd Avenue and it really does, it changes it. It just completely changes it. I know that you're very passionate about that. So can you speak on the effects of murals on a community?
Jessie Andrews: [00:15:55] Yeah, I have so many opinions about this and this is in the hardest moments of every career has challenges and in the hardest moments of this career. I'm like, man, why do I do this? Why do I care about it? And it is genuinely because of the community connections that it gives me and then it brings other people. Because like nobody has to know that I've done it, I don't care if people know Honey Blood or Jessie Andrews. The fact that it elevates the space so much is like really inspiring to me.
I read this study years ago and I know I'm going to completely dissect it incorrectly, but it was saying that there was this crime-ridden town, I believe somewhere in Asia and, I need to look it up before I even speak on this because I'm not going to say it correctly, but it was just a very dangerous area and it was dirty and the people were probably wonderful but like it wasn't a safe space. They decided to put this giant Buddha statue on the corner and within several months like the crime went down, the pollution or not the pollution, what do you call it when you trash on the side of the road?
Melea Hames: [00:17:02] Litter?
Jessie Andrews: [00:17:04] Yes, the litter, the litter went down. It's like people regained a sense of pride because someone had invested into it. So I think that when the city, when the government, when organizations, when communities invest into making their city better, not just through businesses and architecture and parks, but through art, it builds up the sense of pride and the sense of connection and also this inquiry of like, “Ooh, what is that? I want to go and see it myself. I'm seeing these photos of it. But like where is it? Let me go and find it.” And I think that that's really honestly just so incredibly cool.
Melea Hames: [00:17:43] Yeah, it's like it adds value. And then when you see something that's really nice like you tend to want to keep it nice and take care of it. And that is really cool. I totally get that, that it would make- change that whole area.
Jessie Andrews: [00:18:00] That's something else that I was reading about, about public art. And it was saying, it Google, some article is saying that if you have an area of the world that doesn't really get lights and doesn't really get attention, even if everybody notices it on a daily basis, the people who actually like frequent this area, the most feel that it is unseen and feel that it's going under the radar, so the tendency towards doing something bad there or towards it being a sketchy place is more likely because it's not getting any sort of highlight, any sort of focus, any sort of care or attention. So why should anybody else care about it?
So anyways, I am a huge fan of art and how it's helped me on an emotional level, how it seems to be contributing optimistically to society. I don't see any bad about it really.
Melea Hames: [00:18:55] Yeah, It's almost like when you're creating something with your hands, you're painting, you're building, in a weird sort of way it feels like it's giving you hope, you're investing in something that's going to last and people are going to appreciate for a long time.
Jessie Andrews: [00:19:11] I completely agree with that. And even people who say that they're not creative or they're not artistic, still having the support of those people like you having me on your podcast, like that is so huge to me and I'm so grateful for it because it helps me to continue on what I'm doing which I feel is important work, you know?
Melea Hames: [00:19:30] Yeah. So cool. Where are some other places we can find your artwork?
Jessie Andrews: [00:19:37] Okay. Trying to remember all of them. But some of my favorites are in North Courtland. There is a really large mural there in a beautiful tiny little city with the most wonderful people and an amazing mayor. There's a piece there and it's an exterior mural. There are several in North Huntsville. One that you can see from Mo’s off of Holmes, one off of Clinton, and one in the parking garage behind Sea Salt off of Clinton. There's a pavilion mural in front of the courthouse next to the park. There are several different utility boxes painted all around Big Spring Park. There is a door in Clinton Road Color Walk.
I feel like I'm probably missing several, but that's where you can find murals specifically. But then also if you want to check my Instagram @honeyblood.art, that's where I have a lot of my -- I want to say original work because that's what kind of got me into mural work, but it's a completely different style. It's more just abstract. And so to me they're not really correlated, but they're both like equal parts of my business and my day-to-day life.
Melea Hames: [00:20:44] Yeah. I feel like we could create a Honey Blood Art Mural Trail.
Jessie Andrews: [00:20:49] Yeah. I think that would be cool. That's a good idea. I like you.
Melea Hames: [00:20:56] I'm sitting here thinking like, okay, there's, there's tons of them around. Where is the oyster that you recently did? Is that behind Sea Salt?
Jessie Andrews: [00:21:05] It's behind Sea Salt. Yeah. If you're in front of 106 Jefferson or in front of Phat Sammy’s. There's a little, I'm trying to think that there's the parking garage right across the street from Phat Sammy’s and if you walk in the side there, it's on the wall, it's facing the east and it's behind Sea Salt.
Melea Hames: [00:21:23] Cool. I saw that one on your Instagram and I thought I've got to go find it. It's so adorable.
Jessie Andrews: [00:21:29] Thank you. That's what's really cool too, is like working with businesses, it's just a challenge because it's not -- I know a lot of artists and muralists who are paid to do specifically their style and that's great and I admire them and support them. But I really like working with businesses to kind of like have to, I don't know, uniquely come up with something that honors their business. It's not just me and my work. It's like, what are you trying to say to people? Let's figure it out together.
Melea Hames: [00:21:57] That's cool. So what would you say is your favorite part of your job?
Jessie Andrews: [00:22:03] I would say connecting with other people is my favorite part of my job. I feel really limitless when it comes to the types of people that I get to work with and connect with. I mean I've worked with really small inner city school children and I've worked with mayors and, I've worked with other artists, I've done collaborations with photographers and videographers and that is hands down. My favorite part of it is just having meetings and getting known people and understanding what they're interested in.
I just love people a lot and I think Huntsville has an amazing community. Honestly, I think they were so lucky. In Decatur too. I mean, I don't know a ton about Decatur if I'm being honest, but I know that there are a lot of good people trying to do wonderful things there.
Melea Hames: [00:22:49] Yeah, those connections. I like that. Well, thank you so much for being with us today and I can feel your passion for your art, the people that you work with, and I know that our listeners can feel that as well. So for all of our listeners out there, where can they find you on social media?
Jessie Andrews: [00:23:08] I'm on Instagram honeyblood.art. On Facebook, I think I'm just Honey Blood Art. But, if you search Huntsville Alabama Honey Blood Art, you're going to find me. I'm in the middle of working on my website. So I don't have a site that I can send you to. But even if you don't have an Instagram account, you can still view mine and my email's on there if you want to get in touch with me.
Melea Hames: [00:23:30] Yeah. So you all need to give her a follow. And North Alabama social platforms are linked in the description and don't forget to check out the North Alabama Mural Trail at northalabama.org because when you check into these places, you can earn prizes. So that's really cool.
Jessie Andrews: [00:23:45] Ooh.
Melea Hames: [00:23:46] I know. Everybody wants T-shirts and caps and things. So yeah, you all get to exploring out there. Well, thanks for joining us and we'll be back next time with more about North Alabama adventures.
This has been another episode of the Unexpected Adventures in North Alabama Podcast, part of the Destination Marketing Podcast Network, hosted by Melea Hames and produced by Relic.
[End of transcript]
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