The Creative Independent

Happy paperback release day! How’s it feel?

It feels good. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since the hardcover came out.

A year tomorrow, right?

Wow, you’ve done your research. ...

How did you get into costume design?

It was never really my intention to work in film or in costume design. I didn’t study it. I will say that I had worked in retail and had an obsession with film, particularly New Wave. I was living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is really big on thrifting and vintage, so I had a crash course. My boyfriend at the tim...

Listening to I’ve Got Nothing to Lose, and I’m Losing It, I was struck by how much wisdom is in these songs, especially “Cradle the Pain” and “Crystal Ball.” I hear a kind of hard-won realism. I’m curious whether those songs came from a place of knowing, or whether you w...

I’m curious about how you arrived at your style of painting?

I have a background in figurative painting and photo realism. When I first learned how to paint with oils, which was an indirect process of copying old master paintings, I was really interested in that high level of realism and refinement and naturalistic rendering. This was right before I s...

Is there a specific moment earlier on in your career that has affirmed your direction as an artist?

I guess what I can say is that I had an idea. Then, once I was playing live, I could see how people were reacting—and having sort of major reactions to what I was doing [with stage performances]. I think that motivated me and told me where people were a...