In the heartlight w/Dalton James of Mr James Workshop Part 1

Hi Darlin! Welcome to our first episode of “in the heartlight”- an in-depth multimedia interview series! You’ll get the most out of the experience by listening to the podcast audio while following along with the text and images. If you can’t listen to the episode, check out the audio transcript- it’s messy but full of amazing insights and stories!We begin the series with my longtime friend and collaborator, Mr James-known to me as…Dalton.Mr. James (known by me as Dalton) is a Los Angeles-based artist and cosmic raconteur, spinning vivid stories from the unanswered questions of childhood. Through painting and video, he transforms these mysteries into primary color-soaked, mytho-psychological pop fairy tales. His work, rooted in character as mythology, draws from pop and folk art traditions, with echoes of his years in NYC’s fashion world. At its core, his art is an homage to life in motion—ever-evolving, ever-becoming.First, a trip down memory lane (1990-2002)(corresponds with minute 02:07 in the podcast audio/transcript) “Dalton: One of the very first shows I did in Dallas as a performance artist…It was when I met you, and that was so long ago. And yet it was such a beautiful experience. I think we were both doing pieces that we felt so great about. And it was such a beautiful way to get introduced to you, your work, and for me to introduce my work and myself to you as wellJenni: That would have been at UTD. Was that “Piecing the Quilt?”Dalton: That was Piecing the Quilt.Jenni: Holy crap. I didn't even remember that one. I hadn’t gotten that far back!”“Jenni: I don’t think it was the next thing we did together, but it was one of my dad's most unfavorite plays I was in…the Tennessee Williams play…warning signs Dalton: Oh god, “Small Craft Warnings”. Yes. The other day I was looking for a voice to do and I was looking at Tennessee Williams and he was interviewing with Dick Cavett- I think he’s drunk- but he's talking about Small Craft Warnings. Yeah, it's fascinating. They don't talk much about the play because they couldn't- but it's a really funny interview…speaking of things that that maybe you didn't want to invite your parents to I remember having to stuff my pants for that show…”“Dalton: Good lord. Time is... Yeah, I did my one-man show in 2002. That was my last time on stage with... now I can't think of the name… Stag. My one-man extravaganza.Jenni: Oh, I didn't see that because I was in New York by then.”Winding our way through the streets of New York City, finding your truth and how artistic processes evolve. (Timecode in audio/transcript 14:05) This portion of the interview is a whirlwind of ideas, insights, and topics, including but not limited to:* -Texas Sheet Cakes in NYC bars* -Employing ChatGPT as part of the artistic process-Interviewing your characters, whether in a script or a painting* -How project management can make creative pursuits even more awesome! Now back to NYC…“Dalton: [In NYC] It's harder there to be heard, so my voice got super super quiet for a very long time- which was okay. I would still sketch and draw and stuff. I can't complain because I wound up doing t-shirt graphics for a living, which is a strange thing in itself and it got me into that world of what would be termed “apparel” or “fashion”, but it didn't do a lot for my genuine creative voice. Even though I got exposed to so much wonderful stuff, I just never felt, or I never took the chance, the opportunity to have that dialogue in that place.”“Dalton:I wasn't looking for the truth as much.I wanted to be clever.I wanted to be exciting and sexy.And it wasn't as much about truth telling.And it wasn't as much about truth telling.And it wasn't about exploration of myself.It was about trying to define myself in terms of pop culture, which was hard to do because I couldn't find myself in pop culture. So I wanted to try and somehow embed myself in pop culture, but I wasn't doing it with truth-telling in my storytelling.So now I start with an idea that's a feeling or an expression that I would like to make. And then, put it through the business mill- you know, you have to set your deadlines, get your supplies, and run your ideas up against other people and see if you can get a little bit of feedback. Certainly, it's not going to tell you what direction to take. Thank goodness. Or, or how it's supposed to look, but you can see if it's sticking.Your truth is sticking.”Whew! That brings us up to date…join us next week for Part 2 where we will explore Queer Cosmic Folk Art, the mythology that Dalton has built for himself, and the evolution of the Billies!Until then, travel to Eureka Springs for the “Meet the Billies Tour”. Can’t make the physical trip? Take a virtual trip to MrJamesWorkshop.combluesky: Dalton Jamesinstagram: Dalton JamesContact: [email protected] you next week!Lotsa love, JenniJenni Tooley Presents is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.PS: There’s a lot of material to cover, so I have written up multiple posts (you just read Part 1). However, I didn’t want to tear the podcast episode into pieces, so I chose to include it in its entirety with every post, no matter which Part you are reading. Get full access to w/Jenni Tooley at www.jennitooley.com/subscribe