018: Street Artist Megzany on Art, Community, and Courage

Jennifer Gardner interviews street artist Megzany. http://roamhowl.com/018

"I would never tell anyone ‘oh, test the waters.' No, just go. Sure it’s freezing, it’s going to stifle you, you’re going to go through all these tribulations, but you have to do it. If you know that you want a change, you have to dive in." ~Megzany

Meg Zany is a Los Angeles-based street artist. Zany’s first pieces of street art appeared early 2016 and she has since produced countless works in over a dozen cities around the world, including LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Boise, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, West Palm Beach, New Orleans, Montreal, London, Kraków, Paris, and Berlin. The nature of her work is often a contrast — bold in-your-face text paired with lively figures that intimately connect with viewers. Possessing an affinity for flight since a young age, her work often utilizes images that depict aviation. One of Zany’s most iconic stencils is of Amelia Earhart paired with the mantra, “Courage Has No Gender” in order to inspire and motivate others toward an optimistic future, while paying homage to all women who disrupt the forces of gender-profiling — just like Zany herself is doing daily within in the male-dominated world of street art.

  Connect with Meg:   Megzany Website   Courage Has No Gender Kickstarter (through 8/15/17)   Instagram   Twitter   tumblr   Facebook   Connect with Jennifer: 

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I am also on the web at www.jgardnerassociates.com and you can read about my approach to practicing law.

 

Highlights from the Episode:

 

How Jennifer and Meg met via the magic of Instagram

The story of how Meg went from fashion school to the business of corporate recruiting to street artist in downtown LA

"I just want to paint in my underwear… that’s my dream life.”

Hitting rock bottom with “job envy” and checking into therapy to in order to get to the bottom of what she was feeling so she could rewire her 

Meg’s philosophy of just closing her eyes and going for it

"I didn’t know how hard it was going to be. I just figured that picture of where I wanted to get was going to be a lot more fun than where I was standing."

Choosing your own "sh!t sandwich" in life

How Meg arrived at the name “Megzany” by reading the dictionary and referencing Shakespeare

Scaling her lifestyle way back from her corporate income level and finding fulfillment through the creative process, rather than shopping and material possessions

Meg’s upcoming shows at The Hive in LA and The LA Residency

Insight into the culture of the LA street artist community

Where Meg gets her inspiration - soaking up her surroundings like a sponge and pairing images with her journal writing

Meg’s writing process for both her published book "Year One” and her book in process that she’s writing on index cards.

“Nothing goes according to plan so plan on it!"

Reflecting on stoicism, discussing "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius 

Meg’s vision of the future and technology, discussing the option of being cryogenically frozen so she can experience it

Whether or not Meg worries about what other people (including her parents) think about her chosen career and lifestyle as a street artist

“Courage Has No Gender” - Meg’s new project and current Kickstarter campaign

“I’m not resisting what I do. I don’t wake up every day and go, ‘Oh god, I’ve gotta do this thing.” It’s like, ‘Cool. What can I do today?’” ~Megzany

 

Thank you so much for listening and I hope you enjoyed the show. You can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes here.

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Maybe by tuning in, we will learn something and be inspired to do the next creative, fun without a box thing in our own lives.

http://roamhowl.com/018