Autumn Pearson: a Harbor gal and SHAMc's current Artist in Residence

I found Autumn Pearson working at her studio in downtown Safety Harbor. She winters here sometimes because her ties to the area go back generations. 

Autumn is SHAMc’s current Artist in Residence and will exhibit her artwork February 16, 2018 from 4-11 p.m. with her BOLDER Talk from 6:30 to 7 that same evening. It's free - We hope you'll join us.

 Me: “What brought you to Safety Harbor?”

AP: “My family has had winter homes here in Safety Harbor since the ‘60s. My great grandfather had a little trailer over at Harbor Hills.” She pointed to the home across the street. “My grandma and grandpa bought that house when I was about eight. I learned how to ride my bike on the brick streets and did cartwheels on the pier.” She pointed toward the house adjacent to her studio. “And in 1997 my mom bought this house.”

Me: “What has your journey been like with your art? Has it always been full time?”

“I have been a teacher and school administrator in New Mexico for almost twenty years. I just decided that isn’t who I am anymore. I was offered an artist in residency opportunity in Morocco. It’s my favorite place in the world so far. I did an exhibition there and then I went the Canary Islands for a month and a half. I was in the most remote and southern part, a place called El Hierro. It was really fun to live on such a safe, tiny island. 

“Now I am here in Safety Harbor. I’ve been here since the end of November working as an artist in residence for SHAMc and next I will head back to Morocco. Then I will see where the Universe takes me.”

Me: "That’s incredible—to have such diverse experiences to inspire you."

“That’s kind of why I’m here. I’ve been traveling since June. It was time to come home and check in and visit my momma. If I’m going to be in the U.S. I need to be on this path and continue to create.”

Me: “How do you describe your art?”

AP: “I use all found objects so when I drop into one of these communities, as an artist in residence, I show up with the same set of gouache – they’ve been around the world – and the same set of paintbrushes and I make everything from all found materials.” She motions toward her current project, a raised portrait on a multi-colored canvas with a textured background. “These were all found canvases, all recyclable material made of paper and minerals and it dries really hard. My mom is a weaver so this [the textured background] is one of her rugs.

“My show is called Giving Back. It’s giving back to Safety Harbor – it has been my second home – and giving back to my family because they’ve been here forever. I’m doing a series of portraits of my mom and her three sisters . . . they’ve been really special to me growing up.”

Autumn shows me a sneak peek of her series of women made from fence posts. It’s her grandpa’s old fence that she rescued from being burned in her mother’s fireplace. “I made a series of Moroccan women in traditional jellabas. The buttons I use are all traditional handmade by Moroccan women.

“My bigger concept is giving back to the environment by not consuming.”

Me: “That means a lot to you?”

AP: “I think a lot about it. I try to show people through art and through conversation to bring awareness about what they consume and leave behind. It disappears from their minds but it doesn’t disappear form our planet. 

“This is my giving back to SHAMc.” 

Autumn brings me into her studio where a three-headed mermaid rests, waiting for her talented hands. “It got its first bit of paint yesterday. This is made of palm fronds and the Tampa Bay Times. It will be covered with found objects from my walks.” 

Me: "SHAMc is lucky to have you here."

AP: “It is great to walk by the water every day and having an art center to connect to is really inspiriting. You can really feel alone being an artist in residence. Having a place that is always bringing in other arts and connecting with other artists – those are the things that SHAMc has given me.” 

Me: “What do you want people to know about you, your art, or the Bolder Talk and exhibit?”

AP: “ I want people who’ve never been to SHAMc to go. So many people – from Safety Harbor – they’ve never been to SHAMc. I want them to get out of their comfort zones. I want them to think about what they consume. I want them to come to this exhibit and see all of things that are normally thrown away. They might decide not to use a straw the next time they go to the restaurant . . .

“I want people to get out of their homes and their minds and have an experience.”

We want that too, Autumn! (So, readers, please  join us!)

Ez-Ra - SHAMc's first Artist in Residence

Todd and Kiaralinda met Ezra Huleatt four years ago in Austin where he and Black Taxi played South by Southwest. Now, Ezra is back, but this time, solo.

“He’s our first artist in residence,” Todd said. “We’re excited to have him. He’s one of the most creative front guys I’ve ever met. He’s always thinking ahead, whether it’s music videos, lyrics, photography. He’s an artist with goals in mind and that’s powerful”

You might have already started humming one of the memorable Black Taxi songs, all emanating electric dance beats and catchy lyrics. Black Taxi  still occasionally plays together with a couple different members, but Ez-Ra is excited about a new phase in his career.

Sitting with him outside on a perfect Safety Harbor day, it was easy to chat about life, plans, and his dreams. What came of our conversation renewed my intense respect for artists risking the unknown all for the magic of creating.

“What I’m working on now… it’s a little darker and heavier than what we did with Black Taxi,” Ezra said. “We are going through some trying times and I want to get some of this out there. Purposeful, but not necessarily polished.”

Ezra’s a likable guy. One of those people you can sink into a deep conversation with on life, love or dreams. He takes risks. Just that day he was planning a kite surfing lesson because as he put it, this area has some of the best conditions for it. But “going solo” was what felt like a risk. “I guess it’s is a different animal than having a band. You go outside naked. But it’s refreshing that way. You can’t hide with your voice.”    

(I admitted that I still know the lyrics to most of Black Taxi’s Electroshock Death Grip album.)

“We were singing songs we wrote five years ago. You either get bored or you’ve moved on. It became difficult.”

He released an EP last summer and Toska last month. “I’ve been working on a collaborative album,” he said, to raise funds for Haiti.”

Ezra had worked in a hospital in upstate New York and was on the path to becoming a doctor. He wanted to do something to help people and he imagined, like his brother, that was the way to do it. “I thought about working for Doctors Without Borders,” he said. But he couldn’t imagine spending so many years in school. He had spent time in Haiti in the early 2000s and got involved in schools and orphanages.

“The Haitian Peoples Support Project, or HPSP is a non-profit organization,” Ezra explained. “I spent many years working in Haiti teaching English. I saw a lot—it never ends in Haiti. There are always issues. Always needs. People donate to charities like Red Cross but it doesn’t always get where it needs to go. I knew I had to help.”

He found a way to do that through music. Now, his time as SHAMc’s Artist in Residence is dedicated to writing and producing more music and every penny he makes from sales will help the people of Haiti. “Every penny,” he said. “I am releasing a song a week while I’m down here. I’m working to get them mixed and mastered.

“There’s a word,” he continued, “saudade. It’s a word that doesn’t translate but it is the act of wishing what was or could be. I guess when you’re out running with a dog and I get déjà vu and think about the good times you had with a girlfriend. A pleasant feeling, but sad. The songs I’m writing are about that. Nothing is about Haiti but some of the topics reflect on a feeling of loss.”

He’s already released his first song, I Feel Everything. It’s the only love song he plans for the album. He’s written more and will release one a week while here.  “There’s one I write about the whole refugee situation. I was up on the subway platform last week and I imagined their situation and thought about what I could do to help. 

“I want to get into awkward situations and challenge myself. Even if it’s staring someone in the eyes. I want to do something every day that scares me. I don’t have any desire to live out of my van, but I have enough room if I have to do that.

“My goal is to spend a month in a town, get to know the culture. I don’t think music will be my only income. I want to write and create from the road. This month is about figuring it out.”  

Ezra expressed relief at his respite from the New York hustle. “Something about this environment allows me to play. I was over by Guitar Center the other day and saw a soccer game in progress. I haven’t played soccer in years. I joined a pick-up game and had the best time of my life. There’s no chance for that in New York. As a musician, you have to hustle pretty hard. But even in this Artist in Residence Program I want to be a success story. I want to put some good music out, be a trailblazer for others. There are still pressures, but despite that, I’ve been given an emotional and physical space that allows me to breathe deeper. The energy in their house is childlike and I mean that in the best way. Everyone I meet here is very open.”

(Of course, I had to ask how he’d make a living if all proceeds are going to help the Haitian people.)

“I have my website. I write customized songs. You can reach out and tell me what you want and I can write it, sing it, or you can write it and I will put music to it. I have a gift for writing fast.

“I’m still figuring out,” he said. “Still trying to write catchy songs. It’s a tricky line to walk but I am creating every day. I need to get inspired by things. Not just by politics. Take our national parks, they’re so important and I want to visit them all. I want to rock climb. There is always going to be music and writing but I want to get back to some of my roots – use my hands a bit more. I don’t know what my next profession will be but I’m on my way to finding those things. It will be a year for exploring and I want to see what’s out there that excites me.”

Ez-Ra will perform at SHAMc for Third Friday beginning at 7 p.m. He will also perform in a few weeks, prior to leaving. Keep an eye out for the date. And if you like the music he’s creating, buy it. You’ll be helping to encourage the Artist in Residence Program and perhaps, more importantly, a whole country to heal.