City of Boulder, CO Creative Neighborhoods Projects, 23 Jun 2021

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From YouTube: Artist Interview: Peggy Sands

Description

Seeing how hard everything has been on everyone Peggy wants to bring back some silliness into people’s lives. By using pipe cleaners, she is making small objects to bring a little wonder back into the world. Creative Neighborhoods: COVID-19 Work Projects was launched by the Office of Arts + Culture and Create Boulder: https://boulderarts.org/public-art/creative-neighborhoods/covid-19-work-projects/

A

Start the recording, um so first, uh would you mind just introducing yourself in your creative career.

B

um My name is peggy sands and I have.

B

Been it's interesting. My creative career I've been a professional artist since I was 23 no 16. I've.

B

Been creativity has sort of run through me, my entire life, so pretty much everything I've done in my life has been creative and um I've been a professional artist for many years been illustrator. I do graphic design been a baker. I do you know the creativity does not fit in. Oh I'm painting a painting. Creativity is um really how you do something as far as I'm concerned.

B

So for me, cleaning is very creative and for me it's been a lifetime project of whatever I do to pull my creativity into it, because, when you're, creating you're having fun, I'm in the creative flow, I'm having a blast and the actual creating is the fun thing, not the oh, that's a nice painting or oh you know, whatever it's it's being in that wonderful flow. So that's my creative career and then there's you know public art and murals in various parts of the world and selling work for many many years in europe and.

B

um You know there's the whole.

B

What would you call it the list of things, I've done and interviews, and you know that's to me. That's I have to say I find that stuff really crap. I've got it hidden on my website. You know if you want to see my cd, but you really have to find it. I just think that's.

B

Creativity is about at all, unfortunately, is what the world looks to.

B

To say, somebody's, a creative person or not, you know, I've enjoyed art shows, and you know how many interviews and how many magazines has she been put in it? It's just so.

B

It's just so wrong. You know fix my hair, can't mess with it too much. It'll just stand out straight.

B

So that's my creative career and my thoughts on that.

A

Wonderful um also, a side note I forgot to mention in the beginning is: um when you're answering my questions, I'm going to be muting myself, just so you're, not getting any feedback from my end. um So just in case you're wondering why I'm not like saying anything back to you. um That's why but yeah, wonderful um and um obviously covet 19 has had a huge impact on you, but uh would you mind just explaining how it has impacted your life and livelihood.

B

Well, the way I've been making money these days has been, I own, a house in sedona which are airbnb so that you know, crashed and burned. I had to shut that down and uh people are not advertising right. Now, people, you know everybody's pulling back, so the design work has gone way way way down um pretty much flatlined.

B

So that's my livelihood has been. You know interesting, then, um for me personally,.

B

I don't know what this what this disease is going to end up doing to me, I have been tired. It's affecting my memory in my brain, which is very weird.

B

um I still have something going on in my throat, which has been going on for a month. It's affecting my heart, it's affecting, and I have a mild case. You know I was never terribly sick.

B

I just got permission from the doctor the day before yesterday that I could go out. I mean I've been housebound for a month. If you can imagine what that's like and uh but mostly the thing, that's weird with coronavirus is that you have no energy to do anything. You know my creativity also flows from how much energy I have and how alive I feel it's an overflow, and you just don't have that you don't have it's weird. You don't know much of anything and I'm older.

B

You know so it's going to affect me um more than a young person, but it's.

B

I don't know what the end result of this is gonna, be because I'm not through it yet I just wish everybody would wear a mask. We could get through this in a hurry. You know it's it's so.

B

Stupid and what's amazing, to me about coronavirus for anyone, who's interested I've been sheltered in place since march, because I'm high risk because of my age over 50 and uh blood type ain't positive.

B

I never went out without a mask. I never went into any store more than 15 minutes. I run in and out of trader joe's running out of costco just and then I that was it. I haven't seen friends since march.

B

Nothing and what I do is I ride my bike and I'm on the bike path and um the protocol for the bike paths. Is you don't wear your mask and when somebody's coming along, you put the mask up?

B

You must know this that yeah, so you know where everybody's going along and I there are people on the bike cats running who don't have masks, and the only thing I can think of how I picked this up is from that either that where I was in home depot in one area for waiting at the desk, the tool desk.

B

There's two people around me a guy behind the counter, and I was there for half an hour and one guy ran in the side door with a bandana walked really close to me and walked back then came out, but didn't come close to me. So then I'm going how in hell did I get this? Everything in my house when I walk in is disinfected at the door. My friends think I'm crazy and anal, and so that's that's my little coronavius wrap.

B

It is so many people have it have no idea how they got it and they've been incredibly careful. So it's contagious. That's really just.

A

I'm very very sorry to hear about everything and I'm I'm hoping that I'm hoping that you're on the um on the mend you know, but a month is a long long time. I can't even I can't even imagine.

B

I have a mild case. I I have a friend who's been three and a half months in acute pain and his lung capacity doesn't work and he's.

A

B

The side at this point because he's in so much pain, nothing yeah. It's it's bad news. It's you know it hits some people really hard. Most people, it's just gonna, be a drag for a month or two, but some people.

A

B

Some people, it's really really horrific.

A

Yeah, it's so good, I'm very sorry!

A

um Well, there's there's not much more! You know that I can feel.

B

A

It's just it's, it's a shame. um Yeah.

B

A

Thank you yeah, so um you've obviously been awarded a covid19 work project. Stipend. Would you mind just briefly telling me about your project and how it can promote connectivity in the neighborhood.

B

um What I wanted to do is bring a little bit of fun and a little bit of silliness in because we're all in such a heavy space, with the political, also with coronavirus and everybody's flipped. And um so I wanted to do something a little bit silly. That.

B

I could probably find something so I what I want to do is little things on the ends of pipe cleaners that are kind of hanging in the wind, and this has been something I've been doing on the side. My whole life, where um you know I have what I call my high art, which is you know, professional.

B

It looks good, looks like it whatever and then I have the fun stuff and that started when I was at risd and I'm doing my high art and then I'd sit in the corner of my studio and do these weird little drawings and fun stuff and um the guy next to me was a very serious artist and he was doing environmental art and he was busy smacking, weird dividers, between the studio, like just not walls, and he was he decided to like cut a hole in the between my studio and his I'm like what are you doing?

B

So I put all these little people on pipe cleaners hanging out like weird little people. Silly looking. You know how do I and anyway, so they were all on pipe cleaners and they're all like facing into a studio kind of waving into the breeze like what are you doing and that has all evolved from that. You know just this like weird little circus, it was all going along my wall of the studio and just just fun.

B

You know just fun and make people stop and laugh and go that that's kind of um interesting, and um so that's what I want to put around boulder. My neighborhood is boulder. My neighborhood is not just this little section of boulder as far as I'm concerned, so you know I want to do this at trader joe's. If I can get permission just on the wall, how it would promote connectivity is how it just would get people talking. You know it's like what that's.

B

What's that you know just all these little things waving in the breeze little collection of stuff. So when I'm better, I will start playing with this.

A

Lovely, I can't wait to see him popping up.

B

Check out me too,.

A

Hopefully, very soon you know yeah, that's.

B

A

um So, finally, is there anything else you'd like to share.

B

I'm not getting your last question.

A

Oh sorry, um finally, is there anything else you'd like to share.

B

No thank you I mean this has been. uh um I just appreciate the city of boulder.

B

You know taking care of artists in this way, as uh as they do, and I just hope we can all get through this I mean but yeah big thanks, big big thanks. It was very inspiring to get this project. You know it's like yeah. Somebody cares because artists live, I call it the hermit kingdom of art. We are in our studios when we're not doing whatever we need to do to make money, we're generally not very social people and uh you're alone on your own.

B

You don't know if anybody's seen you work or not just putting it out and put it on your website.

A

B

Whatever so, it's very appreciated- and it was a real um boost for me as well- made a big difference.

A

Great, I'm glad to hear that.