May 13, 2022 • 45 mins
Whoever said that youth was wasted on the young had yet to meet this week's artist.
Brejenn Allen is young, ambitious, and putting in the hard work. The Meridian-based artist uses a mixture of current culture and unconventional materials bringing texture and humor into her work. Find out all about Brejenn's inspiration and process, and then find her on social media if you haven't already.
Oh, and Lowes, if you're listening, Brejenn is an artist with a passion for your store... Brand ambassador Queen... Just throwing it out there.
Find Brejenn:
https://brejennallen.com/
https://www.instagram.com/brejenn
https://www.tiktok.com/@brejennallen
Find us:
www.TheLittleYellowBuilding.com
www.tlybARTMAG.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Derek Smith (00:10):
Hey everyone and welcome or welcome back to the
Mississippi artists to artistsPodcast. I'm extremely happy to
have Bridgen Allen with ustoday. Bridgen is an artists
that is just so fun to watch onsocial media, just that you have
a way of mixing humor and reallife situations and pop culture
(00:36):
and this really fun entertainingso it brings like not only not
only your art to people's view,but your personality and you and
getting invested in you as anartist. So I'm, I'm just so
excited to have you here with usto get started off region. Why
don't you tell us a little bitabout growing up and your
(00:56):
history with art?
Brejenn Allen (00:59):
Awesome. Okay.
Well, first of all, thank you somuch for having me and saying
all this often type things aboutme and my tomfoolery on social
media. So let's see growing up,I always had a great support
system through my family for myartsy ways. I've always been
artsy I came out as a toddlerjust wrecking the walls. And my
(01:24):
mom tells people this storyabout this white carpet she got
when I was four, that I ruinedwith Crayola markers. I don't
know why she decided to getwhite carpet with polygons. But
yeah, so I was just, I was justalways really artsy, really
creative. And my parents really,that me, they didn't try to sway
(01:50):
me away from it. Even if I did,you know, your own furniture.
They kind of gave into it. Andbefore, before long, my mom was
helping me, you know, jaw allover my walls. And she just gave
up and just said, you know,let's just do it. I can't stop
(02:11):
it. So, yeah, we're out of timeI was in my teens. My room just
like had pain all over the wallsand the walls were my
sketchbooks. So growing up, Iwas very lucky to have a family
that supported my creativity,even if I deviated away from it
(02:31):
and was like, oh, I want to be adoctor. I want to do something
serious. They all just kind oflooked at me like yeah, okay,
whatever. So it was fun. I wasvery fortunate to have
supportive family. But yeah.
Derek Smith (02:48):
Did you have any type of arts in high school?
Brejenn Allen (02:53):
I did have I had an art teacher, Miss Madison, in
high school. And yeah, it wasgreat. That was like, that was
really fun. I had like a summercamp earlier and elementary
school that I did with arts, butI didn't really get a lot of
(03:13):
access to supplies until thatparticular class in high school
with Miss Madison. And she knewthat I was going places before I
even did like everybody knew Iwas just painting and John and
having fun and everybody lookingat me like yeah, you you're
gonna do something serious thislike you don't you think you're
(03:35):
just fooling around, but this islike, this is really good work.
But so yeah, she was she wasvery, she was very cool teacher.
And she was very, she's nice.
And she was soft andintroverted. Like I was so I
really vibe with her and reallyliked her. She was different
from all the other teachers.
(03:55):
Were just like yelling at me.
And, you know, just reallystressed out she was she's the
teacher that was a vibe, which Iguess you could expect her the
art teacher, right. But yeah, Iloved her class. Our right
little note, I was like one ofthe only kids in the school who
like write really legiblecursive. That was just like,
(04:15):
really nice. So I would write mylittle excuses and forge the
teacher signature, so I wouldget to class. But I was like my
little style, that it has to bekids because maybe I will write
their excuses. They forage theyeat cheese. So I will get our
right minds I can get to go tothis class. But yeah, that was
(04:37):
my first. I wouldn't say it wasmy first because I did have this
summer camp. But that was theone where I, you know, was old
enough to be like, oh, man, it'scool. She's like my escape from
high school.
Derek Smith (04:54):
And you ended up at the Art Institute of Chicago,
correct?
Brejenn Allen (04:59):
Yeah. So I went to emcc first. And then my two
years there under Terry cherryand Lisa Spanx. And then, um,
when I was applying for schools,mistakes was she was really
adamant about SAIC, because, youknow, it's so instrumental and
(05:23):
the art scene for like the wholecountry. So she's talking about
how, like when they over inGermany, when the Holocaust is
happening, and the Jewishartists has, like, escaped, they
came over and started the ArtInstitute. She was like, all
into the history of it. I wantedto go to Yale. So I applied to
(05:45):
Yale and Art Institute andscared, um, and I got into SCAD.
And I got into the Art Institutewith a scholarship and I didn't
get into Yale. So I was like,Okay, I guess he went. So I went
there. And then it was, the cityis so amazing. And I'm from
Gary, Indiana, which is like 20minutes from Chicago. So I was
(06:08):
like, I guess this is apractical decision. I mean, as
far as art school goes, ourschool isn't exactly practical.
But you know, um, to go backhome closer to you know, my
family. Um, it was it was prettyeasy decision between SAIC and
(06:29):
scared. So, um, yeah, I'mreally, I'm really grateful. For
emcc and their preliminaryteaching, they introduced me to
a lot of stuff that I hadn'tdone before my first oil
(06:50):
painting. I remember, underunder Mr. Cherry, we did like
oil painting for the first time,it was everyone's first time we
got to pick our canvas. And Itake like, the biggest canvas
like a fine. It was like, Oh,my, it was like three feet by
four feet. And he looked at mehe's like, Are you sure you want
(07:11):
to? This is your first time youwant to? I was like, Yes. I want
to do this bit. Big cam is GoBig go home, I still have it. My
first my first little paintingis over in, in storage on the
day. So I'm really grateful forthem. And then I applied and got
(07:32):
the scholarship. And I was like,well, they're gonna pay for it.
Might as well. So that's how Iended up up there. And it was so
much fun. It was the best timeof my life. I love college. It
was very stressful. I criedevery day, but I loved it, it
(07:53):
was it was very rigorous.
Incredibly, people say you know,you're an artist, you must be
having so much fun. It must beso easy to just be creative. And
just do what you want to do andjust go where this be as the air
and be a free spirit. But let metell you, you go to art school
(08:13):
is the exact opposite. Youbecause You are getting graded
on your creativity, and how youcan how creative you can think
in. And then you have deadlinesand people critiquing and
telling you that your stufflooks terrible. And you're like,
(08:34):
but this is what's in my head.
This is what you want. It isincredibly confusing, and very
rigorous and it is crazy. Soyeah, I always tell people when
they tell me that you try it.
Derek Smith (08:55):
It's a dedicated time around people that are
dedicated to the same thingsthat you are doing. And it's
probably one of the only timesin your life where you're going
to be that close. And thatconfined with a whole bunch of
political people.
Brejenn Allen (09:11):
Yes, we are all it's, it's like a you don't want
to say it's like a competition.
Oh, me being competitive. Yes.
I'm like this is a competition.
All I want I am supportive ofall my art friends, all my art
girlfriends. We collaborate onlots of different projects. But
I'm competitive. I'm also verybusiness minded. So when I went
(09:35):
to the Art Institute with allinstitutions, those walls I
didn't appreciate how when Iwent to art school, they really
push you know studio and yourcraft and making paintings and
teaching you how to think aboutcreativity, but they didn't push
business and how to marketyourself and how to sell these
(09:57):
paintings after You graduate,they really just want you to
fall into galleries and dependon galleries. And you know, the
traditional model for how to bean artist, get a representative.
They didn't teach you at allabout you know, business and how
to sell it or like a website orE commerce, nothing like that.
(10:21):
So they did have businessclasses, they didn't push them
out, like they should have theyreally pushed out, you know, art
history you need, you need 20hours of art history, we would
really love it if you sat in hisart history class for four hours
and talk about all these oldpaintings of naked people like,
(10:43):
that was so important to mydevelopment, apparently, but not
a business.
Derek Smith (10:55):
Things that's bothered me about art history
curricula is that they do theygo in and they talk about all
these monumental paintings,which is okay, you need to know
that stuff. You know, you needto know what changes the world
every once in a while. But theybarely dive into the backgrounds
and the lives of the artist. Andthat's what you really need to
know. Like, how did theysurvive? Because that still
(11:15):
translates?
Brejenn Allen (11:17):
Yeah, like they, they didn't survive like Van
Gogh sold one painting. So like.
So it's not, it's not, um, ifnecessary, but I really would
have appreciated if they madebusiness as mandatory as they
did the art history. So I mean,have that stuff that I memorize
(11:37):
on flashcards for art historyclass, I don't even remember
anymore. So I go to the museumsnow. And I go to shows and I'm
like, this looks familiar. Thislooks like something I've seen
in art history. But I don'tknow. Like, this is from 1857.
This is Manet, like, I don'tknow, specifically. So yeah, but
(11:58):
being being business minded, I,I am competitive. And I look at
art school, as these are mycompetitors in a market for art,
where I'm trying to stealpaintings and pictures for 1000s
of dollars. So yeah, when I whenI got up there, and I was doing
(12:24):
that, and I was trying to, I wassupporting other artists and
collaborating with otherartists. But I was also figuring
out how am I going to competewith these artists? How's my
work different? How's my worksatisfying? Visual need that
hasn't been explored yet? Or ifit hasn't been explored? How can
(12:45):
I do it in a different way? So,yeah.
Derek Smith (12:52):
So how did you end up in Mississippi?
Brejenn Allen (12:55):
Okay, that's a good question. Okay, so when,
when I was around 11, when wefirst moved here, I was 11. And
that was because my grandfatherhad a stroke, and we moved here
to take care of him. So we, whenwe lived in Gary, it was on the
(13:17):
decline. It was very inner city.
And it was it was ghetto. Idon't know how else to put it.
Um, there was a lot of gangviolence. The Chicago was
getting gentrified on the westside. So all of the gangs are
getting pushed out. And theywere coming over to our city.
(13:37):
And they were clashing with thegangs that were already there.
So it was very, very dangerous.
It was like, it was routine toyou know, just get on the floor,
when you heard bullets, like youjust dropped to the floor. And
then we just get back up and goabout the rest of the day. We
didn't really think anything ofit. But my parents were like,
(13:59):
trying to like get us out ofthere. So when we lived in Gary,
when we weren't in school, onthe weekends, we will actually
leave the city and go fishing inthe country every single
weekend, because my parents justdid not want us to be in that
environment. And there wasnothing else for us to do. You
(14:20):
couldn't just go to theplayground. Like that was just,
it was dangerous, and we didn'teven realize it. So um, that my
grandfather being sick, gavethem a little bit more pressure
to move us out of thatenvironment. And so that was why
we moved to Mississippi. Andthen they had talked about
(14:40):
moving back. But we ultimatelyjust ended up staying because
they enjoyed the peace andquiet. It's a lot less
dangerous. Even in like thecities they talk about like the
shootings that are going on inMeridian, and I'm just like it'd
be a lot worse like y'all don'tYou know? So yeah, that's how I
(15:04):
got. That's how my family gothere. And then after college,
when I graduated in 2020. So,right in March, when everything
went down, it was actually mybirthday weekend, march 15. And
2020. They were like, We don'tknow what's really happening.
(15:24):
That's what the school were,they were saying, we don't know
what's going on. But y'all needto get out of here. So they were
like, yeah, get out of the dorm.
We don't care where you go, youjust can't stay here. And so
we're just kind of like, whoa,what about the people that can't
afford to go home or like me? Iwas I was working two jobs. I
was like, Okay, so now I haveto, like, we scrape together
(15:46):
money to play pay for this planeticket for me to get home. And I
had to leave on my art supplies,and I couldn't take anything
with me. So when I got backhere, in March, I was just
really depressed because Ididn't have anything to create
with. And, you know, the storeswere like, we didn't even have
(16:08):
like our art store here at thattime, because Hobby Lobby just
got built. I didn't have anysupplies. And I, um, I went to
the schools, and you know, theyhave like, stuff that they throw
away that the kids just, and bythat time the schools are like
closing down. So I was just likegoing in dumpsters and get in
(16:29):
like canvases and stuff thatthey were throwing away. This is
how low I was, I was just like,really depressed. And I was
creating art that lookdepressed, I was painting with
my fingers because I didn't havebrushes. So 2020 is how I got
that to Mississippi aftercollege. And I was doing, I was
doing my last semester entirelyonline. And our teachers didn't
(16:53):
know how to how do you teach apainting class on Zoom? Like, we
were all confused. We were allangry. And yeah, it was
incredibly frustrating. But Igraduated, and I have a BFA. And
yeah, so that's how I got backto Mississippi after the
(17:18):
pandemic. And I was when I firstgot that on the plane.
They didn't say anything. Theysaid, You know, we don't know if
you're supposed to wear a maskor gloves, or if they didn't
know what nobody knew what todo. So I had this luid on
(17:40):
fabric, and I could amass out ofit. Because I was also in the
fashion program there. So if I'mgonna put something on my face,
it has to be branded, it has tolook fashionable. So I got to
the airport, and people werelike, Oh my God, that's so nice.
And when I landed, I had like,two contracts with the hospital
(18:03):
with a local doctor. Like, everyeveryone needed Maths. But there
was a shortage, no one knewwhere to get them. And I was
just, I was like, 19 hopping offthe plane. I had a sewing
machine. And I was making, I wasmaking money. And but I didn't
(18:26):
have any art supplies. I did notcare. I was like, Look, this is
great. But I can't buy artsupplies because there's no art
store. And this isn't, thisisn't fun. So that that was I
was in the news. I was on TV.
And it was all fun and great,but I couldn't paint so I was
(18:51):
really happy. So that's that'sthe Mississippi story. I'm a lot
happier now. It's been two yearsI've gotten readjusted. I
actually got just got back fromChicago last weekend. I went up
there just to hang out with myown with my college friends
because I hadn't seen them sinceeverything went down two years
(19:12):
ago. So it was really great toget to see now but I've gotten
readjusted to being in the southwhere everything is much slower.
But I think I'm like bringingthem along with me. I'm like,
forcing myself to. I'm making itwork. So I'm meridian. I'm
(19:35):
getting involved inorganizations and we're making
things happen I refuse to justbe here existing and go into a
job and just just being I don'tI don't want to say mediocre
because hardworking people areadmirable, but that's just not
my thing. I'm not just want toget up and go to the job and
(19:59):
just exist. So I am making itwork, I'm having art shows, I'm
still in art. I'm doing socialmedia, I'm selling paintings
that way. So I'm making it work.
And I'm getting adjusted. Andtry not to be so sad.
Derek Smith (20:16):
I can completely relate to every bit of what you
just talked about, becausemoving back here is, is an
adjustment, a really, reallybig. Yeah. So I'm glad you're
here because I enjoy just yourpresence in Mississippi getting
to watch what you're producing.
And your artwork is so cool.
Like it's based around a lot ofpop culture reference. And then
(20:39):
it's a lot of life influence inthere. And it's these big, old,
bold, beautiful colors andsubject matter. And I love
figurative art anyway, and youhave this interesting collage
style of collaging images andstuff together, just I really
appreciate it. And you bring ina lot of unconventional media
(21:01):
into your artwork, like you werein the seven deadly sins show
that we had. Yeah, we that wasin February, and the two pieces
that you had in general,generosity and greed, they had
these beads on it, along withthese plaster dollar, it was
just beautiful, like it was athing, and I loved looking at
it. And it actually made methink about greed and generosity
(21:25):
and what it means to differentpeople, and I appreciate your
artwork a lot, what inspires alot of your art?
Brejenn Allen (21:33):
Well, I, let's see, I paint what I like to look
at, quite honestly, I don't payanything that I wouldn't want to
have in my house. Becauseultimately, until it fails,
that's where it's gonna be a manlook at it every day. I'm not
that I don't know, I don't wantto pay anything that I don't
(21:54):
want to look at. I don't reallydo a lot of abstract stuff. I
have great respect for theabstract artists and all the it
a lot of it is beautiful. But Iwant to put a little bit more
effort into what I do. And Iwant something that has meaning.
(22:14):
I understand abstract as havingmeaning with motion and emotion.
But I want something that I canlook at and be like, this is
something and it meanssomething. And I want people to
look at it and what I meant bywhat I painted. So what inspires
me is just what I see around me,or what I want to see around me
(22:39):
in the future. So with the greedand generosity piece, like I
created it for that. This theparameters. I didn't have it
before, because I really wantedto exhibit with you all, because
I hadn't I hadn't exhibited withany gallery in Mississippi
before. So and you all were likereally cool. And you were active
(23:02):
on social media. And you werelike, we're a gallery but we're
not a gallery. It was verymysterious. And it attracted me
and I was like, well I want toexhibit but the gallery that's
not a gallery so I'm gonna makethese pieces that they cannot
turn down because I built themfor this. You guys accepted it.
(23:22):
Oh, yeah. Because this is madefor this literally. So that's
what, that's what those pieceswere about. You guys inspired
me. So I made somethingspecifically for you. And so
just whatever's around me that Ican see that's inspiring me. A
(23:44):
lot of times it's about beingblack. But sometimes it's not
like glaucoma. Kroc was justlike this funny meme I saw on
Facebook that I was like, Man,that is so funny. Like, what if
I painted that? And what if itwas art, but people are gonna
look at it and be like, That'snot art fascism. Me. But why
(24:05):
can't I mean be art? So? Andthen what? How can that provoke
people to think about whatdefines fine art? And look at
this Glock on this croc? Andquestion how ridiculous we make
fine art out to these just likethis thing that's inaccessible
to people and just like raisingquestions and man funny. I'm a
(24:30):
huge goofball. So all of thosethings. Very clever
Derek Smith (24:38):
with your art and you're clever with your
statements. And they're alwaysentertaining, but they have so
much truth to it. And if you'rean artist, like please go and
follow Jen's reagins reelsbecause they talk about real
things that you go through as anartist like when people come up
(24:58):
and doubt your artwork. You havean internal reaction that you
don't tell them. Go watch thisreal like this. Yeah. Do you
want to turn around and tellthem every time like your your
eye? Yeah, you're just a joy towatch.
Brejenn Allen (25:12):
Yeah, I try, I try to be transparent because
when I got to Chicago, it was alot. There's a lot of formality.
And, you know, we gather inthese groups around each other's
artwork, and we use all thesefluffy terms. And we just, it's
(25:33):
so ceremonial. And I just sitthere and look at them, like,
come on, like, really, likereally? Oh, it's, it's, it's
interesting. And we're also shyand introverted, or at school,
nobody really wants to put itout there. Or I want to say talk
(26:01):
about it, because we talkedabout it amongst each other. But
we don't share about it onsocial media or publicly or we
don't blog about it. So I founda niche that was underserved. I
was like this is we're funny, wehave these problems. And a lot
of our artsy problems, regularpeople who don't have a creative
(26:23):
bone in their body can relatewith also. So they ended up
identifying with it and theartsy people identify with the
info, we just all get togetherin my comment section. And chat
and have fun, and I'm reallygrateful for the community that
(26:44):
I've been able to build onInstagram and Tiktok is very
cool. I didn't think for asecond that I would end up being
a tick talker, or an Instagramermy sister was actually the first
one to start tick tock and shewould do the dances and stuff
and I would just like be so antitick tock like, Oh my God,
(27:05):
you're like one of thoseteenagers is she'll like on our
flight home. From like Chicagoduring the pandemic that we had,
like scraped to put together shewas doing a tick tock dance in
the middle of the airport.
embarrassing me and I was like,Would you stop doing you are a
grown woman and you are dancingfor the internet. And now I like
(27:27):
to do it every day. So it's afull circle. Like God, it's so
funny. He's like, Ah, how aboutHow about them apples how you
fill in now. So it is it's fun.
I have a lot of fun getting ontheir act and getting to connect
(27:50):
with people and meet new peopleand come across opportunities.
So yeah, if you aren't artistsare not an artist. I would love
to if you check me out. I feellike I'm I'm pretty great. I
don't know.
Derek Smith (28:04):
You can find it on Instagram. Just it's Bridgen
just be our EJENN and it's regenallen.com to find a website.
What's your Tik Tok? I don't dotick tock.
Brejenn Allen (28:18):
Tick tock is breech. And Alan everything is
supposed to be breathing out andlike all my social media except
for Instagram, because when Ifirst started Instagram, I was
like, man, it would be so coolto just have my username as my
first name because then I'm likeBeyonce, right? But what was
available, I'm like, I got it.
I've never changed him. So Ican't I can't change that. So
everything's regen out and it'sexcept for Instagram. Instagram
(28:42):
is just breathing because I'mtrying to be like Beyonce. But
the rest is freezing out. Andall social media Twitter. I
haven't mastered Twitter yet,because it's just words and I'm
not incredibly great with words.
I wish it was just pictures butthen that would just be
Instagram all over again. So I'mfiguring out Twitter, you can
(29:05):
follow me on there if you'd likeI try to say things that don't
sound stupid. And tick tock ticktock tick tock is more about
like my life as opposed to likemy art so I just have regular
stuff on there about like mygardening and just regular
(29:25):
random stuff that you wouldn'tthink I'd be doing my RV. I live
in an RV. So that stuff is onTik Tok. And then Facebook is
for like my older audience andmy family. You know, the people
that I see at church that knowmy very PG stuff more
(29:46):
appropriate for our T's andstuff, you know that audience
but Instagram, I'm just like,everything's everything's
everything. Doesn't matter.
Everything. Everything goes. Soyeah, Follow me anywhere,
whichever platform is the most,what you are what you want?
Derek Smith (30:06):
Well, I want to ask you two things. And we'll get
everything wrapped up. Iappreciate you giving your time
to this interview. One, tell usa little bit about your process
of making art. You know,whatever you feel is, is kind of
your core process. And then I'llask you about any advice that
you have.
Brejenn Allen (30:27):
Okay, so my process, I spend a lot of time
thinking, I wake up, and youknow that our were you wake up
and you're, like, awake, butyou're not really awake, you're
still asleep, but you are not indeep sleep. That little area,
I'm like thinking of our ideas.
And I'm like, going throughthings I'm thinking about the
(30:52):
day I had the day before andwhat inspires me or what I'm
seeing on social media, I'm justconstantly thinking, I have my
phone next to my bed. So it haslike my notes that I, whenever I
wake up, if I still rememberwhat I dreamed about, I'll write
it now. So I sent a lot of timethinking as a big part of why
(31:14):
I'm so quiet. People see me onsocial media, and they think
that I'm just as active andactually just this extrovert,
which I'm not i i sit my RV andI'm quiet and I paint. I enjoy
silence I when I interact withother people, I'll get like a
(31:36):
sensory overload with voices. Solike I don't, I, I won't even
listen to music with peopleactually like singing because I
don't want to hear nobodytalking. I don't want to hear
people. So just a lot of silencea part of my process, classical
music, nothing with any words.
(31:58):
And then when I do finally get asolid idea that isn't crap, I
will sketch it out in mysketchbook or in Photoshop, or
whatever I have near me. Andsince a lot of my work is
collage like later on today,after I get off of this
interview, I'll be ordering likeprints of, of the Harriet $100
(32:20):
bills that I made. So those aregoing to be printed out like 20
inches, so they're going to behuge. So I like I can collage
them into a painting. So it's alot of logistics, like that's
why earlier when I said youknow, creativity is not easy.
It's not as simple. Just go withthe wind thing it can be, but
(32:44):
the way I do it, it's very, it'sa business. So it requires like
my checklist. Yeah, so thecollages are ordered the prints
that are getting collage intothe art. So I'm doing that later
today. And hates Lowe's is a bigpart of my process. I really
(33:08):
want a sponsorship with Lowe's,like they need to pay me as much
as I go to Lowe's and postcontent and Lowe's. I've reached
out to them. They haven't, youknow, gotten back to me loads if
you're listening to this toplease.
Loads is a big part of my artprocess because there's so much
(33:30):
material and loads in differenttextures and just unconventional
stuff that artists wouldn'tnormally use. And that's what,
that's what my painting isabout. It's just about using
stuff that isn't normal. So I'llhave like, my most recent
paintings have like jointcompound and roofing mud. So
(33:53):
just like all these, all these,all these materials and tile
loads is a huge part of myprocess and finding those
materials. And then coming backto my studio. And creating my
studio is the I'm at home nowbut my studio is about five
(34:16):
miles from me and it's out inthe woods in this driveway. That
looks like if you drive a persondown in there, I drove a friend
down in there and he thought Iwas about to like take him out
into the woods and chop him upinto little pieces or something.
But it's very like creepy and itgoes off into the woods and then
it opens up into this likeclearing like 10 acres with this
(34:40):
shed right in the middle of itnext to this pot. And that is my
studio. It has no power orwater. So it's very disconnected
and off the grid. There's no WiFi no connection. So there's no
room for distraction. And I justI stay up there and I paint
until it gets really, really hotin the summer, or really, really
(35:04):
cold in the winter. So, and nowit's like the perfect time
because it's not too hot orcold. So I'll be going over to
my studio to paint. But that's alot of what my process looks
like. So just know, thinking andgetting my prints made for
collages, what people give a lotof, like, random stuff out of
(35:25):
their houses to me because theyknow how to use it for Yeah, so
like, the BS that I did for thegreed and generosity piece was
just like stuff that a lady gaveme out of her house. Yeah,
collaging with found materials,stuff that people give to me,
and then go on to loads, findingwhat I could find, as far as
(35:46):
different textures andmaterials, and then head to the
studio and putting it alltogether. And a big part of my
process is filming it,obviously, for social media.
Because the process is veryimportant for me, but also for
other artists to get inspiredand see what I'm doing. So yeah,
(36:08):
so filming the whole time, I'mdoing all of this, which is a
little distracting, becauseyou're like trying to make your
art, but also, you need to filmit. But you have to get on
Instagram and film it. And thenyou don't Instagram and you
start scrolling and forget thatyou're there to film it. And
you've lost two hours of yourstudio time. And so I'm working
(36:32):
on that part. But yeah, sothat's what my past is about,
and then posting about it later.
I'm trying to learn how toincorporate social media into my
process, without completelyexhausting all my time away, and
maintaining healthy boundarieswith it. So that's what the
process looks like. I mean, foursounds like
Derek Smith (36:56):
is the isolation.
That's is that a huge part ofit?
Brejenn Allen (37:01):
Yes, it is a huge part because I cannot function
in front of people I find,especially for social media.
Sometimes my mom will come tothe studio with me and just sit
and read a book. But I didn't, Icannot. With her looking. She's
not even looking at me. But justher presence being there. I
can't film or be my like,naturally goofy. So on camera
(37:25):
issues is sitting there. But Ican't paint with people watching
because obviously we had to dothat in Chicago during studio
sessions. We have like the sixhour long class, we just had to
paint and your professor waswatching you. I've gotten very
accustomed to that. Because Ihave this one really just macho
professor. We call him boss. Andhe was just like he said I was a
(37:49):
genius. I really appreciatedhim. Like he said I was a
genius. But at the same time, hewas always just like, he'll walk
up behind my paintings and hejust take his hand and just like
his entire hand through mylittle oil painting and be like,
just like saying expletives atme like this is complete and
(38:10):
utter. Just bullshit. It'sterrible. I hate it. Yes. But he
did that on several occasions,though. He He's always. And then
after I fixed it, he was like,Sure. Such a team. You are, you
are going places. I don'tunderstand your mind. I'm like,
(38:32):
my mind. May the paintinginitially that you ruined. So I
don't quite understand how yourlogic works. But okay, thanks
for the vote of confidence. So,yeah, isolation is important for
(38:53):
my social media process. But Ican paint in front of people. So
not as important for forpainting, but people can watch
me paint. But don't talk to mewhile I paint. So it's very,
very, i Silence is moreimportant than isolation.
Because I don't know what it isabout voices. But I don't want
(39:17):
to, I can't even when I was instudio sessions in school, I
would have headphones on andthey would play classical music.
So and you would have to tap meon the shoulder to walk up to me
and say whatever you want it to.
And I will try to be as nice aspossible. But I was obviously
annoyed. And but yeah, so peoplewould walk up and try to you
(39:40):
know, give me a pointer or say Ireally like that. I'll be like,
thank you. So yeah, I'm a reallynice person. I'm really nice in
person. Like that's not to say,I'm like, I try I'm a very nice
person. I don't want to give theimpression that I'm a mean
(40:01):
person if you try to talk to me
Derek Smith (40:04):
Not at all, you need the barrier.
Brejenn Allen (40:11):
Absolutely, I need that to be creative.
Derek Smith (40:17):
For those of you who are listening, and we
reference the flamingos, if yougo to Bridgend website and go to
the original art and scrolldown, you're you have this
beautiful painting of lawnflamingos on this blue,
beautiful fabric. And when yougo in and read the description,
(40:38):
has that story in it. And I'mlike, That's brilliant. Like,
that's it. You're just so honestand candid. Even when you go to
sell your art. You're like, my,my professor swiped this, and we
finish.
Brejenn Allen (40:49):
Yeah, he did. And I actually just bought that
painting, like, like, who wasit? It was like a month ago. I
was like, Man, you don't evenknow this is an iconic region
moment right here. It's justlike, Yes, I know. That's why
I'm buying it. And I was like,thank you. But you don't you
don't even know what I had to gothrough to make?
Derek Smith (41:13):
Well, last question, and and I'll let you
get back to your day. For anyonewho's coming up behind you are
anyone Are you as a youngerself, what would be some advice
that you would give,
Brejenn Allen (41:26):
I would give the advice to be consistent. I am I
myself am struggling withconsistency. But it's important
to treat your art like it isyour job. Or to obligate
yourself to your art, like youobligate yourself to a nine to
(41:47):
five. So I work a nine to five,four days a week. And on my
Fridays that I'm off mySaturdays and my Sundays, I get
up the same time I do my nine tofive, and I paint, or I work on
my website, or I batch film forsocial media, and I'm consistent
(42:08):
with it. So treat your craft,like your business, like your
job, if that's what you want itto be. If you just want it to be
a hobby, then that's fine,that's cool. But if you don't,
and if you plan on being knownand making a living from it,
then it can't just be somethingthat you do when you feel like
(42:30):
it, you have to have discipline.
Because discipline kicks in whenyou don't have the motivation.
So I would say consistency, andsocial media is so beneficial.
And it's a game changer when Igraduated. And I had to move
back here for the pandemic, abig part of why I got so
(42:54):
depressed was because I fullyanticipated on staying in
Chicago, and living there afterI graduated. Because that's how
you make a living. As an artist,you have to be in a city, or I
thought you had to be in a citywhere those types of people are
and that type of stuff ishappening. You have to be in a
city with those types of people.
(43:18):
So when I got back toMississippi, in this town with
800 people, these types ofpeople aren't buying $5,000
paintings. But social mediachanges that. And now I'm all
over the world while still beingin this town. 800 people selling
paintings for $5,000. So don'ttake social media as a joke. Be
(43:43):
consistent with it, incorporateit into your process, make it a
big part of your job, because itwidens your audience and makes
the whole world assessable towhat you have to offer instead
of just the immediate peoplearound you. Yeah, that's
helpful.
Derek Smith (44:02):
It's great. It's great. Oh, thank you so much for
coming on and spending this timewith us and sharing about your
life and your process and allyour experiences. I've had, like
I've said over and over like Ijust get a thrill out of
watching you on social media. Ithink you're so you're here in
Mississippi.
Brejenn Allen (44:21):
Thank you so much for having me. This was fun. I
hope I didn't talk too much orwas all over the place.
Derek Smith (44:29):
For everyone else, thank you for joining us and
listening and and we will reachout to breach in and reach out
to these other artists andfollow them and see what they're
up to because their lives are soentertaining. And it can you can
get so much out of just seeingan artist and then experiencing
their art. It really is kind ofan amazing transition to be able
(44:50):
to see that and social mediadoes that for us. We're able to
really connect with the artistand go through and really
connect to their art and Tillnext time, everybody have a
great week and we'll talk to youthen. And a special thank you
goes to our members, the friendsof the little yellow building.
(45:12):
Beth Breeland, Mary Hardy, Gwenfury, Mary Adams, Jenny Howard,
Jenny Moke. Evelyn PV, the EvansFamily, Janet Smith, Buffy,
Jordan, Jennifer drink water,the Smith family, bopper Zach
and Hannah Hester, thank you forall the support
Hey everyone and welcome or welcome back to the
Mississippi artists to artistsPodcast. I'm extremely happy to
have Bridgen Allen with ustoday. Bridgen is an artists
that is just so fun to watch onsocial media, just that you have
a way of mixing humor and reallife situations and pop culture
(00:36):
and this really fun entertainingso it brings like not only not
only your art to people's view,but your personality and you and
getting invested in you as anartist. So I'm, I'm just so
excited to have you here with usto get started off region. Why
don't you tell us a little bitabout growing up and your
(00:56):
history with art?
Brejenn Allen (00:59):
Awesome. Okay.
Well, first of all, thank you somuch for having me and saying
all this often type things aboutme and my tomfoolery on social
media. So let's see growing up,I always had a great support
system through my family for myartsy ways. I've always been
artsy I came out as a toddlerjust wrecking the walls. And my
(01:24):
mom tells people this storyabout this white carpet she got
when I was four, that I ruinedwith Crayola markers. I don't
know why she decided to getwhite carpet with polygons. But
yeah, so I was just, I was justalways really artsy, really
creative. And my parents really,that me, they didn't try to sway
(01:50):
me away from it. Even if I did,you know, your own furniture.
They kind of gave into it. Andbefore, before long, my mom was
helping me, you know, jaw allover my walls. And she just gave
up and just said, you know,let's just do it. I can't stop
(02:11):
it. So, yeah, we're out of timeI was in my teens. My room just
like had pain all over the wallsand the walls were my
sketchbooks. So growing up, Iwas very lucky to have a family
that supported my creativity,even if I deviated away from it
(02:31):
and was like, oh, I want to be adoctor. I want to do something
serious. They all just kind oflooked at me like yeah, okay,
whatever. So it was fun. I wasvery fortunate to have
supportive family. But yeah.
Derek Smith (02:48):
Did you have any type of arts in high school?
Brejenn Allen (02:53):
I did have I had an art teacher, Miss Madison, in
high school. And yeah, it wasgreat. That was like, that was
really fun. I had like a summercamp earlier and elementary
school that I did with arts, butI didn't really get a lot of
(03:13):
access to supplies until thatparticular class in high school
with Miss Madison. And she knewthat I was going places before I
even did like everybody knew Iwas just painting and John and
having fun and everybody lookingat me like yeah, you you're
gonna do something serious thislike you don't you think you're
(03:35):
just fooling around, but this islike, this is really good work.
But so yeah, she was she wasvery, she was very cool teacher.
And she was very, she's nice.
And she was soft andintroverted. Like I was so I
really vibe with her and reallyliked her. She was different
from all the other teachers.
(03:55):
Were just like yelling at me.
And, you know, just reallystressed out she was she's the
teacher that was a vibe, which Iguess you could expect her the
art teacher, right. But yeah, Iloved her class. Our right
little note, I was like one ofthe only kids in the school who
like write really legiblecursive. That was just like,
(04:15):
really nice. So I would write mylittle excuses and forge the
teacher signature, so I wouldget to class. But I was like my
little style, that it has to bekids because maybe I will write
their excuses. They forage theyeat cheese. So I will get our
right minds I can get to go tothis class. But yeah, that was
(04:37):
my first. I wouldn't say it wasmy first because I did have this
summer camp. But that was theone where I, you know, was old
enough to be like, oh, man, it'scool. She's like my escape from
high school.
Derek Smith (04:54):
And you ended up at the Art Institute of Chicago,
correct?
Brejenn Allen (04:59):
Yeah. So I went to emcc first. And then my two
years there under Terry cherryand Lisa Spanx. And then, um,
when I was applying for schools,mistakes was she was really
adamant about SAIC, because, youknow, it's so instrumental and
(05:23):
the art scene for like the wholecountry. So she's talking about
how, like when they over inGermany, when the Holocaust is
happening, and the Jewishartists has, like, escaped, they
came over and started the ArtInstitute. She was like, all
into the history of it. I wantedto go to Yale. So I applied to
(05:45):
Yale and Art Institute andscared, um, and I got into SCAD.
And I got into the Art Institutewith a scholarship and I didn't
get into Yale. So I was like,Okay, I guess he went. So I went
there. And then it was, the cityis so amazing. And I'm from
Gary, Indiana, which is like 20minutes from Chicago. So I was
(06:08):
like, I guess this is apractical decision. I mean, as
far as art school goes, ourschool isn't exactly practical.
But you know, um, to go backhome closer to you know, my
family. Um, it was it was prettyeasy decision between SAIC and
(06:29):
scared. So, um, yeah, I'mreally, I'm really grateful. For
emcc and their preliminaryteaching, they introduced me to
a lot of stuff that I hadn'tdone before my first oil
(06:50):
painting. I remember, underunder Mr. Cherry, we did like
oil painting for the first time,it was everyone's first time we
got to pick our canvas. And Itake like, the biggest canvas
like a fine. It was like, Oh,my, it was like three feet by
four feet. And he looked at mehe's like, Are you sure you want
(07:11):
to? This is your first time youwant to? I was like, Yes. I want
to do this bit. Big cam is GoBig go home, I still have it. My
first my first little paintingis over in, in storage on the
day. So I'm really grateful forthem. And then I applied and got
(07:32):
the scholarship. And I was like,well, they're gonna pay for it.
Might as well. So that's how Iended up up there. And it was so
much fun. It was the best timeof my life. I love college. It
was very stressful. I criedevery day, but I loved it, it
(07:53):
was it was very rigorous.
Incredibly, people say you know,you're an artist, you must be
having so much fun. It must beso easy to just be creative. And
just do what you want to do andjust go where this be as the air
and be a free spirit. But let metell you, you go to art school
(08:13):
is the exact opposite. Youbecause You are getting graded
on your creativity, and how youcan how creative you can think
in. And then you have deadlinesand people critiquing and
telling you that your stufflooks terrible. And you're like,
(08:34):
but this is what's in my head.
This is what you want. It isincredibly confusing, and very
rigorous and it is crazy. Soyeah, I always tell people when
they tell me that you try it.
Derek Smith (08:55):
It's a dedicated time around people that are
dedicated to the same thingsthat you are doing. And it's
probably one of the only timesin your life where you're going
to be that close. And thatconfined with a whole bunch of
political people.
Brejenn Allen (09:11):
Yes, we are all it's, it's like a you don't want
to say it's like a competition.
Oh, me being competitive. Yes.
I'm like this is a competition.
All I want I am supportive ofall my art friends, all my art
girlfriends. We collaborate onlots of different projects. But
I'm competitive. I'm also verybusiness minded. So when I went
(09:35):
to the Art Institute with allinstitutions, those walls I
didn't appreciate how when Iwent to art school, they really
push you know studio and yourcraft and making paintings and
teaching you how to think aboutcreativity, but they didn't push
business and how to marketyourself and how to sell these
(09:57):
paintings after You graduate,they really just want you to
fall into galleries and dependon galleries. And you know, the
traditional model for how to bean artist, get a representative.
They didn't teach you at allabout you know, business and how
to sell it or like a website orE commerce, nothing like that.
(10:21):
So they did have businessclasses, they didn't push them
out, like they should have theyreally pushed out, you know, art
history you need, you need 20hours of art history, we would
really love it if you sat in hisart history class for four hours
and talk about all these oldpaintings of naked people like,
(10:43):
that was so important to mydevelopment, apparently, but not
a business.
Derek Smith (10:55):
Things that's bothered me about art history
curricula is that they do theygo in and they talk about all
these monumental paintings,which is okay, you need to know
that stuff. You know, you needto know what changes the world
every once in a while. But theybarely dive into the backgrounds
and the lives of the artist. Andthat's what you really need to
know. Like, how did theysurvive? Because that still
(11:15):
translates?
Brejenn Allen (11:17):
Yeah, like they, they didn't survive like Van
Gogh sold one painting. So like.
So it's not, it's not, um, ifnecessary, but I really would
have appreciated if they madebusiness as mandatory as they
did the art history. So I mean,have that stuff that I memorize
(11:37):
on flashcards for art historyclass, I don't even remember
anymore. So I go to the museumsnow. And I go to shows and I'm
like, this looks familiar. Thislooks like something I've seen
in art history. But I don'tknow. Like, this is from 1857.
This is Manet, like, I don'tknow, specifically. So yeah, but
(11:58):
being being business minded, I,I am competitive. And I look at
art school, as these are mycompetitors in a market for art,
where I'm trying to stealpaintings and pictures for 1000s
of dollars. So yeah, when I whenI got up there, and I was doing
(12:24):
that, and I was trying to, I wassupporting other artists and
collaborating with otherartists. But I was also figuring
out how am I going to competewith these artists? How's my
work different? How's my worksatisfying? Visual need that
hasn't been explored yet? Or ifit hasn't been explored? How can
(12:45):
I do it in a different way? So,yeah.
Derek Smith (12:52):
So how did you end up in Mississippi?
Brejenn Allen (12:55):
Okay, that's a good question. Okay, so when,
when I was around 11, when wefirst moved here, I was 11. And
that was because my grandfatherhad a stroke, and we moved here
to take care of him. So we, whenwe lived in Gary, it was on the
(13:17):
decline. It was very inner city.
And it was it was ghetto. Idon't know how else to put it.
Um, there was a lot of gangviolence. The Chicago was
getting gentrified on the westside. So all of the gangs are
getting pushed out. And theywere coming over to our city.
(13:37):
And they were clashing with thegangs that were already there.
So it was very, very dangerous.
It was like, it was routine toyou know, just get on the floor,
when you heard bullets, like youjust dropped to the floor. And
then we just get back up and goabout the rest of the day. We
didn't really think anything ofit. But my parents were like,
(13:59):
trying to like get us out ofthere. So when we lived in Gary,
when we weren't in school, onthe weekends, we will actually
leave the city and go fishing inthe country every single
weekend, because my parents justdid not want us to be in that
environment. And there wasnothing else for us to do. You
(14:20):
couldn't just go to theplayground. Like that was just,
it was dangerous, and we didn'teven realize it. So um, that my
grandfather being sick, gavethem a little bit more pressure
to move us out of thatenvironment. And so that was why
we moved to Mississippi. Andthen they had talked about
(14:40):
moving back. But we ultimatelyjust ended up staying because
they enjoyed the peace andquiet. It's a lot less
dangerous. Even in like thecities they talk about like the
shootings that are going on inMeridian, and I'm just like it'd
be a lot worse like y'all don'tYou know? So yeah, that's how I
(15:04):
got. That's how my family gothere. And then after college,
when I graduated in 2020. So,right in March, when everything
went down, it was actually mybirthday weekend, march 15. And
2020. They were like, We don'tknow what's really happening.
(15:24):
That's what the school were,they were saying, we don't know
what's going on. But y'all needto get out of here. So they were
like, yeah, get out of the dorm.
We don't care where you go, youjust can't stay here. And so
we're just kind of like, whoa,what about the people that can't
afford to go home or like me? Iwas I was working two jobs. I
was like, Okay, so now I haveto, like, we scrape together
(15:46):
money to play pay for this planeticket for me to get home. And I
had to leave on my art supplies,and I couldn't take anything
with me. So when I got backhere, in March, I was just
really depressed because Ididn't have anything to create
with. And, you know, the storeswere like, we didn't even have
(16:08):
like our art store here at thattime, because Hobby Lobby just
got built. I didn't have anysupplies. And I, um, I went to
the schools, and you know, theyhave like, stuff that they throw
away that the kids just, and bythat time the schools are like
closing down. So I was just likegoing in dumpsters and get in
(16:29):
like canvases and stuff thatthey were throwing away. This is
how low I was, I was just like,really depressed. And I was
creating art that lookdepressed, I was painting with
my fingers because I didn't havebrushes. So 2020 is how I got
that to Mississippi aftercollege. And I was doing, I was
doing my last semester entirelyonline. And our teachers didn't
(16:53):
know how to how do you teach apainting class on Zoom? Like, we
were all confused. We were allangry. And yeah, it was
incredibly frustrating. But Igraduated, and I have a BFA. And
yeah, so that's how I got backto Mississippi after the
(17:18):
pandemic. And I was when I firstgot that on the plane.
They didn't say anything. Theysaid, You know, we don't know if
you're supposed to wear a maskor gloves, or if they didn't
know what nobody knew what todo. So I had this luid on
(17:40):
fabric, and I could amass out ofit. Because I was also in the
fashion program there. So if I'mgonna put something on my face,
it has to be branded, it has tolook fashionable. So I got to
the airport, and people werelike, Oh my God, that's so nice.
And when I landed, I had like,two contracts with the hospital
(18:03):
with a local doctor. Like, everyeveryone needed Maths. But there
was a shortage, no one knewwhere to get them. And I was
just, I was like, 19 hopping offthe plane. I had a sewing
machine. And I was making, I wasmaking money. And but I didn't
(18:26):
have any art supplies. I did notcare. I was like, Look, this is
great. But I can't buy artsupplies because there's no art
store. And this isn't, thisisn't fun. So that that was I
was in the news. I was on TV.
And it was all fun and great,but I couldn't paint so I was
(18:51):
really happy. So that's that'sthe Mississippi story. I'm a lot
happier now. It's been two yearsI've gotten readjusted. I
actually got just got back fromChicago last weekend. I went up
there just to hang out with myown with my college friends
because I hadn't seen them sinceeverything went down two years
(19:12):
ago. So it was really great toget to see now but I've gotten
readjusted to being in the southwhere everything is much slower.
But I think I'm like bringingthem along with me. I'm like,
forcing myself to. I'm making itwork. So I'm meridian. I'm
(19:35):
getting involved inorganizations and we're making
things happen I refuse to justbe here existing and go into a
job and just just being I don'tI don't want to say mediocre
because hardworking people areadmirable, but that's just not
my thing. I'm not just want toget up and go to the job and
(19:59):
just exist. So I am making itwork, I'm having art shows, I'm
still in art. I'm doing socialmedia, I'm selling paintings
that way. So I'm making it work.
And I'm getting adjusted. Andtry not to be so sad.
Derek Smith (20:16):
I can completely relate to every bit of what you
just talked about, becausemoving back here is, is an
adjustment, a really, reallybig. Yeah. So I'm glad you're
here because I enjoy just yourpresence in Mississippi getting
to watch what you're producing.
And your artwork is so cool.
Like it's based around a lot ofpop culture reference. And then
(20:39):
it's a lot of life influence inthere. And it's these big, old,
bold, beautiful colors andsubject matter. And I love
figurative art anyway, and youhave this interesting collage
style of collaging images andstuff together, just I really
appreciate it. And you bring ina lot of unconventional media
(21:01):
into your artwork, like you werein the seven deadly sins show
that we had. Yeah, we that wasin February, and the two pieces
that you had in general,generosity and greed, they had
these beads on it, along withthese plaster dollar, it was
just beautiful, like it was athing, and I loved looking at
it. And it actually made methink about greed and generosity
(21:25):
and what it means to differentpeople, and I appreciate your
artwork a lot, what inspires alot of your art?
Brejenn Allen (21:33):
Well, I, let's see, I paint what I like to look
at, quite honestly, I don't payanything that I wouldn't want to
have in my house. Becauseultimately, until it fails,
that's where it's gonna be a manlook at it every day. I'm not
that I don't know, I don't wantto pay anything that I don't
(21:54):
want to look at. I don't reallydo a lot of abstract stuff. I
have great respect for theabstract artists and all the it
a lot of it is beautiful. But Iwant to put a little bit more
effort into what I do. And Iwant something that has meaning.
(22:14):
I understand abstract as havingmeaning with motion and emotion.
But I want something that I canlook at and be like, this is
something and it meanssomething. And I want people to
look at it and what I meant bywhat I painted. So what inspires
me is just what I see around me,or what I want to see around me
(22:39):
in the future. So with the greedand generosity piece, like I
created it for that. This theparameters. I didn't have it
before, because I really wantedto exhibit with you all, because
I hadn't I hadn't exhibited withany gallery in Mississippi
before. So and you all were likereally cool. And you were active
(23:02):
on social media. And you werelike, we're a gallery but we're
not a gallery. It was verymysterious. And it attracted me
and I was like, well I want toexhibit but the gallery that's
not a gallery so I'm gonna makethese pieces that they cannot
turn down because I built themfor this. You guys accepted it.
(23:22):
Oh, yeah. Because this is madefor this literally. So that's
what, that's what those pieceswere about. You guys inspired
me. So I made somethingspecifically for you. And so
just whatever's around me that Ican see that's inspiring me. A
(23:44):
lot of times it's about beingblack. But sometimes it's not
like glaucoma. Kroc was justlike this funny meme I saw on
Facebook that I was like, Man,that is so funny. Like, what if
I painted that? And what if itwas art, but people are gonna
look at it and be like, That'snot art fascism. Me. But why
(24:05):
can't I mean be art? So? Andthen what? How can that provoke
people to think about whatdefines fine art? And look at
this Glock on this croc? Andquestion how ridiculous we make
fine art out to these just likethis thing that's inaccessible
to people and just like raisingquestions and man funny. I'm a
(24:30):
huge goofball. So all of thosethings. Very clever
Derek Smith (24:38):
with your art and you're clever with your
statements. And they're alwaysentertaining, but they have so
much truth to it. And if you'rean artist, like please go and
follow Jen's reagins reelsbecause they talk about real
things that you go through as anartist like when people come up
(24:58):
and doubt your artwork. You havean internal reaction that you
don't tell them. Go watch thisreal like this. Yeah. Do you
want to turn around and tellthem every time like your your
eye? Yeah, you're just a joy towatch.
Brejenn Allen (25:12):
Yeah, I try, I try to be transparent because
when I got to Chicago, it was alot. There's a lot of formality.
And, you know, we gather inthese groups around each other's
artwork, and we use all thesefluffy terms. And we just, it's
(25:33):
so ceremonial. And I just sitthere and look at them, like,
come on, like, really, likereally? Oh, it's, it's, it's
interesting. And we're also shyand introverted, or at school,
nobody really wants to put itout there. Or I want to say talk
(26:01):
about it, because we talkedabout it amongst each other. But
we don't share about it onsocial media or publicly or we
don't blog about it. So I founda niche that was underserved. I
was like this is we're funny, wehave these problems. And a lot
of our artsy problems, regularpeople who don't have a creative
(26:23):
bone in their body can relatewith also. So they ended up
identifying with it and theartsy people identify with the
info, we just all get togetherin my comment section. And chat
and have fun, and I'm reallygrateful for the community that
(26:44):
I've been able to build onInstagram and Tiktok is very
cool. I didn't think for asecond that I would end up being
a tick talker, or an Instagramermy sister was actually the first
one to start tick tock and shewould do the dances and stuff
and I would just like be so antitick tock like, Oh my God,
(27:05):
you're like one of thoseteenagers is she'll like on our
flight home. From like Chicagoduring the pandemic that we had,
like scraped to put together shewas doing a tick tock dance in
the middle of the airport.
embarrassing me and I was like,Would you stop doing you are a
grown woman and you are dancingfor the internet. And now I like
(27:27):
to do it every day. So it's afull circle. Like God, it's so
funny. He's like, Ah, how aboutHow about them apples how you
fill in now. So it is it's fun.
I have a lot of fun getting ontheir act and getting to connect
(27:50):
with people and meet new peopleand come across opportunities.
So yeah, if you aren't artistsare not an artist. I would love
to if you check me out. I feellike I'm I'm pretty great. I
don't know.
Derek Smith (28:04):
You can find it on Instagram. Just it's Bridgen
just be our EJENN and it's regenallen.com to find a website.
What's your Tik Tok? I don't dotick tock.
Brejenn Allen (28:18):
Tick tock is breech. And Alan everything is
supposed to be breathing out andlike all my social media except
for Instagram, because when Ifirst started Instagram, I was
like, man, it would be so coolto just have my username as my
first name because then I'm likeBeyonce, right? But what was
available, I'm like, I got it.
I've never changed him. So Ican't I can't change that. So
everything's regen out and it'sexcept for Instagram. Instagram
(28:42):
is just breathing because I'mtrying to be like Beyonce. But
the rest is freezing out. Andall social media Twitter. I
haven't mastered Twitter yet,because it's just words and I'm
not incredibly great with words.
I wish it was just pictures butthen that would just be
Instagram all over again. So I'mfiguring out Twitter, you can
(29:05):
follow me on there if you'd likeI try to say things that don't
sound stupid. And tick tock ticktock tick tock is more about
like my life as opposed to likemy art so I just have regular
stuff on there about like mygardening and just regular
(29:25):
random stuff that you wouldn'tthink I'd be doing my RV. I live
in an RV. So that stuff is onTik Tok. And then Facebook is
for like my older audience andmy family. You know, the people
that I see at church that knowmy very PG stuff more
(29:46):
appropriate for our T's andstuff, you know that audience
but Instagram, I'm just like,everything's everything's
everything. Doesn't matter.
Everything. Everything goes. Soyeah, Follow me anywhere,
whichever platform is the most,what you are what you want?
Derek Smith (30:06):
Well, I want to ask you two things. And we'll get
everything wrapped up. Iappreciate you giving your time
to this interview. One, tell usa little bit about your process
of making art. You know,whatever you feel is, is kind of
your core process. And then I'llask you about any advice that
you have.
Brejenn Allen (30:27):
Okay, so my process, I spend a lot of time
thinking, I wake up, and youknow that our were you wake up
and you're, like, awake, butyou're not really awake, you're
still asleep, but you are not indeep sleep. That little area,
I'm like thinking of our ideas.
And I'm like, going throughthings I'm thinking about the
(30:52):
day I had the day before andwhat inspires me or what I'm
seeing on social media, I'm justconstantly thinking, I have my
phone next to my bed. So it haslike my notes that I, whenever I
wake up, if I still rememberwhat I dreamed about, I'll write
it now. So I sent a lot of timethinking as a big part of why
(31:14):
I'm so quiet. People see me onsocial media, and they think
that I'm just as active andactually just this extrovert,
which I'm not i i sit my RV andI'm quiet and I paint. I enjoy
silence I when I interact withother people, I'll get like a
(31:36):
sensory overload with voices. Solike I don't, I, I won't even
listen to music with peopleactually like singing because I
don't want to hear nobodytalking. I don't want to hear
people. So just a lot of silencea part of my process, classical
music, nothing with any words.
(31:58):
And then when I do finally get asolid idea that isn't crap, I
will sketch it out in mysketchbook or in Photoshop, or
whatever I have near me. Andsince a lot of my work is
collage like later on today,after I get off of this
interview, I'll be ordering likeprints of, of the Harriet $100
(32:20):
bills that I made. So those aregoing to be printed out like 20
inches, so they're going to behuge. So I like I can collage
them into a painting. So it's alot of logistics, like that's
why earlier when I said youknow, creativity is not easy.
It's not as simple. Just go withthe wind thing it can be, but
(32:44):
the way I do it, it's very, it'sa business. So it requires like
my checklist. Yeah, so thecollages are ordered the prints
that are getting collage intothe art. So I'm doing that later
today. And hates Lowe's is a bigpart of my process. I really
(33:08):
want a sponsorship with Lowe's,like they need to pay me as much
as I go to Lowe's and postcontent and Lowe's. I've reached
out to them. They haven't, youknow, gotten back to me loads if
you're listening to this toplease.
Loads is a big part of my artprocess because there's so much
(33:30):
material and loads in differenttextures and just unconventional
stuff that artists wouldn'tnormally use. And that's what,
that's what my painting isabout. It's just about using
stuff that isn't normal. So I'llhave like, my most recent
paintings have like jointcompound and roofing mud. So
(33:53):
just like all these, all these,all these materials and tile
loads is a huge part of myprocess and finding those
materials. And then coming backto my studio. And creating my
studio is the I'm at home nowbut my studio is about five
(34:16):
miles from me and it's out inthe woods in this driveway. That
looks like if you drive a persondown in there, I drove a friend
down in there and he thought Iwas about to like take him out
into the woods and chop him upinto little pieces or something.
But it's very like creepy and itgoes off into the woods and then
it opens up into this likeclearing like 10 acres with this
(34:40):
shed right in the middle of itnext to this pot. And that is my
studio. It has no power orwater. So it's very disconnected
and off the grid. There's no WiFi no connection. So there's no
room for distraction. And I justI stay up there and I paint
until it gets really, really hotin the summer, or really, really
(35:04):
cold in the winter. So, and nowit's like the perfect time
because it's not too hot orcold. So I'll be going over to
my studio to paint. But that's alot of what my process looks
like. So just know, thinking andgetting my prints made for
collages, what people give a lotof, like, random stuff out of
(35:25):
their houses to me because theyknow how to use it for Yeah, so
like, the BS that I did for thegreed and generosity piece was
just like stuff that a lady gaveme out of her house. Yeah,
collaging with found materials,stuff that people give to me,
and then go on to loads, findingwhat I could find, as far as
(35:46):
different textures andmaterials, and then head to the
studio and putting it alltogether. And a big part of my
process is filming it,obviously, for social media.
Because the process is veryimportant for me, but also for
other artists to get inspiredand see what I'm doing. So yeah,
(36:08):
so filming the whole time, I'mdoing all of this, which is a
little distracting, becauseyou're like trying to make your
art, but also, you need to filmit. But you have to get on
Instagram and film it. And thenyou don't Instagram and you
start scrolling and forget thatyou're there to film it. And
you've lost two hours of yourstudio time. And so I'm working
(36:32):
on that part. But yeah, sothat's what my past is about,
and then posting about it later.
I'm trying to learn how toincorporate social media into my
process, without completelyexhausting all my time away, and
maintaining healthy boundarieswith it. So that's what the
process looks like. I mean, foursounds like
Derek Smith (36:56):
is the isolation.
That's is that a huge part ofit?
Brejenn Allen (37:01):
Yes, it is a huge part because I cannot function
in front of people I find,especially for social media.
Sometimes my mom will come tothe studio with me and just sit
and read a book. But I didn't, Icannot. With her looking. She's
not even looking at me. But justher presence being there. I
can't film or be my like,naturally goofy. So on camera
(37:25):
issues is sitting there. But Ican't paint with people watching
because obviously we had to dothat in Chicago during studio
sessions. We have like the sixhour long class, we just had to
paint and your professor waswatching you. I've gotten very
accustomed to that. Because Ihave this one really just macho
professor. We call him boss. Andhe was just like he said I was a
(37:49):
genius. I really appreciatedhim. Like he said I was a
genius. But at the same time, hewas always just like, he'll walk
up behind my paintings and hejust take his hand and just like
his entire hand through mylittle oil painting and be like,
just like saying expletives atme like this is complete and
(38:10):
utter. Just bullshit. It'sterrible. I hate it. Yes. But he
did that on several occasions,though. He He's always. And then
after I fixed it, he was like,Sure. Such a team. You are, you
are going places. I don'tunderstand your mind. I'm like,
(38:32):
my mind. May the paintinginitially that you ruined. So I
don't quite understand how yourlogic works. But okay, thanks
for the vote of confidence. So,yeah, isolation is important for
(38:53):
my social media process. But Ican paint in front of people. So
not as important for forpainting, but people can watch
me paint. But don't talk to mewhile I paint. So it's very,
very, i Silence is moreimportant than isolation.
Because I don't know what it isabout voices. But I don't want
(39:17):
to, I can't even when I was instudio sessions in school, I
would have headphones on andthey would play classical music.
So and you would have to tap meon the shoulder to walk up to me
and say whatever you want it to.
And I will try to be as nice aspossible. But I was obviously
annoyed. And but yeah, so peoplewould walk up and try to you
(39:40):
know, give me a pointer or say Ireally like that. I'll be like,
thank you. So yeah, I'm a reallynice person. I'm really nice in
person. Like that's not to say,I'm like, I try I'm a very nice
person. I don't want to give theimpression that I'm a mean
(40:01):
person if you try to talk to me
Derek Smith (40:04):
Not at all, you need the barrier.
Brejenn Allen (40:11):
Absolutely, I need that to be creative.
Derek Smith (40:17):
For those of you who are listening, and we
reference the flamingos, if yougo to Bridgend website and go to
the original art and scrolldown, you're you have this
beautiful painting of lawnflamingos on this blue,
beautiful fabric. And when yougo in and read the description,
(40:38):
has that story in it. And I'mlike, That's brilliant. Like,
that's it. You're just so honestand candid. Even when you go to
sell your art. You're like, my,my professor swiped this, and we
finish.
Brejenn Allen (40:49):
Yeah, he did. And I actually just bought that
painting, like, like, who wasit? It was like a month ago. I
was like, Man, you don't evenknow this is an iconic region
moment right here. It's justlike, Yes, I know. That's why
I'm buying it. And I was like,thank you. But you don't you
don't even know what I had to gothrough to make?
Derek Smith (41:13):
Well, last question, and and I'll let you
get back to your day. For anyonewho's coming up behind you are
anyone Are you as a youngerself, what would be some advice
that you would give,
Brejenn Allen (41:26):
I would give the advice to be consistent. I am I
myself am struggling withconsistency. But it's important
to treat your art like it isyour job. Or to obligate
yourself to your art, like youobligate yourself to a nine to
(41:47):
five. So I work a nine to five,four days a week. And on my
Fridays that I'm off mySaturdays and my Sundays, I get
up the same time I do my nine tofive, and I paint, or I work on
my website, or I batch film forsocial media, and I'm consistent
(42:08):
with it. So treat your craft,like your business, like your
job, if that's what you want itto be. If you just want it to be
a hobby, then that's fine,that's cool. But if you don't,
and if you plan on being knownand making a living from it,
then it can't just be somethingthat you do when you feel like
(42:30):
it, you have to have discipline.
Because discipline kicks in whenyou don't have the motivation.
So I would say consistency, andsocial media is so beneficial.
And it's a game changer when Igraduated. And I had to move
back here for the pandemic, abig part of why I got so
(42:54):
depressed was because I fullyanticipated on staying in
Chicago, and living there afterI graduated. Because that's how
you make a living. As an artist,you have to be in a city, or I
thought you had to be in a citywhere those types of people are
and that type of stuff ishappening. You have to be in a
city with those types of people.
(43:18):
So when I got back toMississippi, in this town with
800 people, these types ofpeople aren't buying $5,000
paintings. But social mediachanges that. And now I'm all
over the world while still beingin this town. 800 people selling
paintings for $5,000. So don'ttake social media as a joke. Be
(43:43):
consistent with it, incorporateit into your process, make it a
big part of your job, because itwidens your audience and makes
the whole world assessable towhat you have to offer instead
of just the immediate peoplearound you. Yeah, that's
helpful.
Derek Smith (44:02):
It's great. It's great. Oh, thank you so much for
coming on and spending this timewith us and sharing about your
life and your process and allyour experiences. I've had, like
I've said over and over like Ijust get a thrill out of
watching you on social media. Ithink you're so you're here in
Mississippi.
Brejenn Allen (44:21):
Thank you so much for having me. This was fun. I
hope I didn't talk too much orwas all over the place.
Derek Smith (44:29):
For everyone else, thank you for joining us and
listening and and we will reachout to breach in and reach out
to these other artists andfollow them and see what they're
up to because their lives are soentertaining. And it can you can
get so much out of just seeingan artist and then experiencing
their art. It really is kind ofan amazing transition to be able
(44:50):
to see that and social mediadoes that for us. We're able to
really connect with the artistand go through and really
connect to their art and Tillnext time, everybody have a
great week and we'll talk to youthen. And a special thank you
goes to our members, the friendsof the little yellow building.
(45:12):
Beth Breeland, Mary Hardy, Gwenfury, Mary Adams, Jenny Howard,
Jenny Moke. Evelyn PV, the EvansFamily, Janet Smith, Buffy,
Jordan, Jennifer drink water,the Smith family, bopper Zach
and Hannah Hester, thank you forall the support
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