announcer: On "Studio Space," Blake Reagan's vivid colors and nature-inspired designs brighten up walls all over Eureka.

Julian Lang is a Karuk elder and painter.

His work features Karuk words and phrases, keeping the language alive and present.

"Studio Space" explores Northern California's vibrant art community.

♪♪♪ Rhynell Mouton: Hi, my name is Rhynell Mouton.

Have you ever been driving around Eureka and seen those amazing murals?

Well, today, I was actually able to catch an artist in action.

His name is Blake Reagan.

Hey, Blake.

Blake Reagan: Oh, hey, didn't see you there.

Blake: I believe every single thing you do in life prepares you and leads you to your next step of what you create.

And I feel like everything I've done has prepared me to make murals happen.

♪♪♪ Rhynell: Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background?

Blake: My background, I'd say it started when I was going to school to be a draftsman or an architect possibly, and I just didn't like staying in the lines and using rulers as much.

So, I wanted to--I wanted more freedom, if you will.

I think right now I just really liked doing large-scale murals or small-scale murals.

I just like making drab, dreary environments more vivid, bright, and with some uplifting energy to them, putting out, like, positive vibes basically.

I really like painting flowers.

Lately, I've been trying to capture the cosmic radiation, which is something we all kind of live in and trying to define what that is with my floral gradations.

And I think it's love, you know?

I think we're all swimming in it and we just have to pay attention.

Rhynell: And then so that's when you start to realize, like, "I want to use this color with this"?

Blake: Well, usually the color schemes and values, I try and figure out first off, yeah.

Like I'll do a large gradient of one color to another and then I'll find out how those colors will work with each other along the way.

Rhynell: Okay, and do you base the colors off of the emotions you want to portray in the art?

Blake: It depends on the setting but yeah, yeah, the emotion the art has can be deep blue, it can be hot magenta.

You know, it depends on which direction it's pointed towards or its location.

Rhynell: Yeah.

Do you have a favorite color?

Blake: Oh, yeah, I definitely do.

I am a--I love purple, you know?

And most people, you know, it's the whole thing; you ask what their favorite color is, they're like, "My favorite color is blue," "mine's green," and my answer is usually, "I am purple."

Rhynell: I am purple.

And it is it a specific purple?

'Cause, you know, you can get deep.

You can dive deep into the purple.

Is it specific or-- Blake: I enjoy the full spectrum from deep purple to a light--a dark magenta.

Rhynell: Mmm, what is it about purple that you like?

Blake: Well, for me, it soothes my mind.

It's kind of really comfortable, like the color lavender is for most people.

It just makes me feel at home.

It is home.

Rhynell: What gives you the most satisfaction about your paintings?

Blake: I really like completing a large project that I've been working on for a few weeks because when you start them, you can't really set them down.

You have to go to work every day and finish it, so completion is a great feeling.

But above all, having a passerby walk up to me and tell me how that changed their day and changed their daily commute and how thankful they are for my contribution to their community makes me feel really good, like, that's what I'm doing it for right there.

Rhynell: When you're completing these murals, is it a thing that you can complete in a day?

Or how long does that often take for you to complete?

Blake: A mural can go between a half a day, and I've worked on murals for almost two months before.

So, they can take a lot of time.

Rhynell: Does weather affect it, has any-- Blake: It does, everything from the rain, can't really paint in the rain, to the wind.

If you're up high on a boom lift, the wind will ground you and you can't even go to work.

So, working with the weather and scheduling around the weather is a big part of it.

And you kind of gotta just, you know, plow through that.

You just keep going to work and stay passionate about it.

And if you keep doing that every day, you're gonna finish, you know?

Rhynell: Is there anything that motivates you to keep going?

Blake: Oh, just to paint another wall, like, the next job always is the main motivation, yeah.

You know, I like to start with some help, and then I like to do most of the work myself.

But I also really like to collaborate with other artists because then we can learn from each other, and we learn a lot from each other.

And some of my big larger pieces have been with other artists.

Rhynell: Your murals are huge.

So, how do you work around painting at those large scales?

Blake: Well, usually renting some heavy machinery, you know, like a boom lift or scissor lift.

I like driving tractors, so it's kind of part of the job.

And it's a fun aspect to it, and it also forces you to pay attention because it's heavy equipment on a sidewalk.

And I don't know, it's really fun to play around with them.

They're like big toys.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Rhynell: I've seen that you do-- that you used to do live shows.

Can you kind of walk me through that process and how that came about and how has that changed or evolved?

Blake: Well, yeah, a lot.

That was probably my main source of advertising.

And I also like to dance and I like to paint.

So, I would just set my easel up on the dance floor.

And I'd use blacklight paint and some ultraviolet lights and be part of the show, you know, trying to enhance everyone's experience so you can see art being created, you can hear art being created, you can go dance with people that can become art after they get body painted, you know?

So, it's just part of an immersive experience that I like being part of.

Rhynell: How did that come about?

Blake: You know, I just saw a couple people hanging flyers, and I just walked up to him and bothered them.

You know, I was like, "Hey, I'm a live painter.

Can I paint at your show?"

And they said yes.

And it was a Mark Farina show, and I was excited and that just kicked it off, been doing it since.

Rhynell: Your paintings are very detailed.

Is it mostly freestyle or are you going based off another painting or a picture?

How does that process work?

Blake: I would say most of my work, I try and create out of my own imagination.

And so, it's untainted by other images.

But a lot of work, you know, I like to look at subjects.

But for the most part, it's I try and keep it freestyle out of my imagination.

Rhynell: You often talk about sustainability in your paintings.

How are you trying to incorporate that more, and how do you want your audience to see that coming out of your paintings?

Blake: I think about themes and subjects that idealize at least thinking about a certain thing.

Like, should I look at my phone when I'm not doing anything?

Or should I drive my car when I can just ride my bike down the road?

You know, I just, I try and question little things we do every day, that everyone does every day, and hopefully they can make a different decision after reviewing a painting that questions that.

Rhynell: Are there things in there that you want the audience to focus in on?

Blake: Yeah, yeah, there is, you know, and it used to be more about the duality of being human and our choices.

And I'm kind of leaning towards more just focus on the beauty of nature, you know, and things we already have like the sky, the sunset, trees, things that we might be taking for granted.

Rhynell: What is your take on social media and art?

Because I know there's the goods and the bads of the social media.

Blake: You know, that's actually something I am still struggling with.

It's a great tool for advertising yourself, sharing information, inspiring people, but at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is give people a reason to be on their phone.

I want people to see my work out when they're walking around.

And so, it's something I'm trying to juggle a healthy dose of, use it a little bit just to share and add to the community online.

Rhynell: How important is it to connect through Instagram?

And has it helped you connect and get a wider audience?

Blake: I'd say it has.

I have a really big support here in Humboldt County.

It has expanded my own personal art, my groups of friends, and now I'm connected with artists doing similar things.

So, that's a wonderful tool that everyone gets to use now, you know?

Rhynell: What is your ultimate goal in art, in the art pieces that you're creating?

Blake: That's an exciting question because I don't know yet.

So hopefully, I get to paint some large sections of towns and more buildings, but I'm not--who knows?

Yeah, maybe I'll turn into an architect after all.

You have no idea.

Rhynell: Is there any artistic mediums that you haven't had the chance to try just yet but still want to try?

Blake: You know, I dabbled in welding a little bit, and that is something I want to start doing again.

I would like to build some large-scale metal sculptures, yeah.

Rhynell: Wow.

That's amazing.

Would you paint them, or would you just kind of create more of, like, giant figures?

Or what would you like to do with the welding?

Blake: I would like to combine all my skills, you know, learn how to weld, make the armature with steel.

I could add wood because I like to work with carpentry quite a bit.

And then paint things that need to be painted, you know, just learning enough about each material to make a new creation is something I'd like to do.

Rhynell: How has your practices changed over time?

Blake: I'd like to say they got more discipline in certain ways, but I'm kind of willy-nilly in other ways.

I'd say planning has changed a lot, and my attention to detail and craftsmanship has definitely changed.

Rhynell: How important is conveying a message through art to you?

Blake: I'd say it's really important because art's one of those things that brings people together.

If they disagree or agree, they're still kind of coming together in debating or talking about a certain subject.

And I think just opening the conversation is really important for society because we're getting kind of closed off, and I think we should talk about, more about everything.

And so, I think art is a great medium to bring difficult topics up to discussion.

Rhynell: Well, thank you, Blake, it's been a pleasure.

Thank you for having us in your lovely studio.

It's been amazing, a lot of amazing artwork.

Blake: Oh, thank you.

The pleasure's half mine.

Thanks for coming by.

Rhynell: No problem.

And thank you for joining us on "Studio Space."

David Ferney: I would say you've mellowed a fair amount in your older age, but I kind of consider you a trickster because you have such a mischievous sense of humor.

Julian Lang: I don't consider myself a mischievous character.

I'm just me, you know, trying to be true to myself.

♪♪♪ David Ferney: Hi, I'm David Ferney.

Today on "Studio Space," we're visiting with Julian Lang, multimedia artist and Karuk tribal member.

I'm looking forward to learning more about his culture and art.

Julian.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ David: Thanks so much for joining us, Julian.

Julian Lang: Hey, thank you.

Happy to be here.

David: You've spent many years, you know, working diligently to preserve your language and also teach it to other people and young people.

Can you tell us a little bit about that work and what it means to you?

Julian: That's what made me pursue everything, you know?

Once I began to understand and acquire the language, it really provided the fork in the road.

Here I am going down a fork as an artist as kind of an odd character outside the, you know, mainstream anyway.

Then there's another fork, which was language, which was a whole new way of thinking.

It's something that I think that people hopefully will hear more and more about, the importance of that, the importance of the language.

But I guess the most important audience is our young people.

And so, they have taken to our language as, you know, "I can wear feathers, I can wear beads, I can do this or that, I can dance and I could do--" These are all important building blocks to who you are as an indigenous person.

It's a true fact that the Western mind is so linear, there only can be a beginning and an end.

And whereas the indigenous way is that no, this is all intertwined and, like, this was the end of my garden here, you know?

Next year there'll be a new garden, and it'll be different fruits and vegetables.

And we will eat and be happy in a different kind of way.

David: Can you tell us a little bit about your painting work and what some of your influences are with that?

Julian: You know, I'm a self-taught painter, for the most part.

And I tried and I hit and miss.

So, I started as a draftsman, so I drew and that's all I did was just draw, draw, draw.

The result of that draftsmanship, I recall I could even tell you, I was living in Santa Rosa.

And I was trying to paint and I was, you know, I had acrylics out.

And I was trying to do all of this, you know, fancy things.

And it just was one mushy drawing after the other, one mushy painting after the other until finally, suddenly, I was able to create all these fantastically, to me, fantastically beautiful things.

And the color made sense, the, you know, the composition made sense.

All the important elements made sense and so I became a painter at that point.

David: Is it a relaxing pastime for you doing your painting?

Julian: You know what?

It is a zone.

David: Uh-huh, it's a zone?

Julian: It's a zone that you get into, and it is kind of all encompassing.

This is my--our living room, but it's also my, unfortunately, my studio.

And so, once this is set up, it kind of is pretty much here.

It's part of the furniture now.

And so, it'll be here until I finally do what I plan to do and get done what I plan to get done.

And then usually in the meantime, something else has popped up and now I'm gonna move to a different project, because the thing about an artist is you can never retire because it's a--that continuum that we talked about earlier, that idea leads into one thing, leads to the other.

So, this one here is a mural on the wall, but I may begin adding a completely-- David: Different elements.

Julian: Elements.

The language may come back.

There is going to be-- on the wall.

This area here is kind of a stylized river.

"Pay pasaam Usaamvaraktih," which means-- "Pay pasaam" is this flow here.

"Usaamvaraktih" came from up the river.

And so, it's like, as the linguists say--locution.

David: Now, I like--I notice you use a lot of language in your paintings.

Julian: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: Which is cool.

Julian: I, you know, to me, that's kind of, I guess, that's what I'm most known for in my painting.

And I didn't realize that but early on, I've kind of--that was an important part of everything that I did was language and including that and exposing that to people, these like long words, these odd consonants all thrown together.

"What the heck could that possibly be?"

David: Has there been any interesting critiques over the years of your work?

Any favorites, whether positive or negative?

Julian: I think the most interesting one came from-- I can't remember who it was, but I can see their face and they were saying, "What in the heck is going through his mind?"

If I was to say how does my culture inform what I do, it's been pretty primary and fundamental to everything I do, no matter if it's a political situation that needs attention, or if it's some sort of an artistic creative project, it informs.

I've never felt like oh, you've gotta be an American, successful this-and-that type person.

I've kind of almost rejected the American dream as a quasi-nightmare.

So, I'm more of a dreamer but from the standpoint of my culture.

David: You recently did a wonderful, big, outdoor mural project.

Can you tell us a little bit about that project and how different it was for you painting-wise?

Julian: Well, as you know, I do not do things like in a vacuum or, like, in a disjointed way.

Everything's connected with what I have been doing.

We were planning to do a number of murals in the juvenile hall.

We actually executed several of them.

And so, I had three or four other ideas.

So, what I decided to do was to go through a box and find my drawing because I know I had seen it recently.

So that's what you're seeing there is an adaptation of that, a real expansion of what we were going to do at the juvenile hall.

But it was very, kind of very satisfying because I was able to include a lot of young people, our young-- my grandkids and all of that.

So, a definite pleasure to see it happen.

David: And it was interesting too because it was during COVID.

So normally, I found out with hanging out a little bit, that normally, you would be heavily involved with, you know, with the dances and cultural stuff during that time, which wasn't happening during COVID.

So, it was kind of a little interesting little replacement to connect with people.

Julian: Yeah and that was the idea again, that reconnecting.

So, we're not gonna have ceremonies because of COVID.

So well, let's put the ceremony on the wall then and create--the title of the piece is "Fixing The World The Old-Fashioned Way," and it was an idea that the center--so in the center of that image is the center of the world, what we call the center of the world.

The land, you know, the tree, the yellowness of some of the landscape is reflects, you know, our belief in heaven.

There's a yellow hue to everything in heaven.

You know, so there's, like, it's kind of like here, earth, you see in the circle, you see the earth becoming itself.

David: Over the years, you've gravitated to working with a lot of diverse partners and collaborations, and I wonder if there's any particular collaborations or partners that were some of your favorites or more interesting projects?

Julian: I read this book by Twyla Tharp that was called "Collaboration" or "How To Collaborate," very interesting book because I felt that collaboration starts really great until you're right in the middle of it and then you realize, oh, half the job is just the human interaction, working through all of that.

How do you work with a schedule when you're an early riser and your collaborator's, you know, a night owl, doesn't get up till 1, 2, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, you know?

And so, you've gotta try to solve problems that you didn't know you were gonna have to solve, that your collaborator will bring a perspective or a voice that you cannot conceive of.

They somehow--they provide you with a solution that you would never have thought.

I really glommed on early to collaboration because I felt like no matter what we do as Native artist creatives, we have to collaborate with a society that doesn't understand us.

And sometimes your collaborator will reveal the source of that, of that misunderstanding and they may not even know it, and vice versa, and that somehow my perspective is so out of line with what mainstream thinking is, you know?

How do we--how do we, you know, how do we remold this so that it makes sense?

And then your language makes it all makes sense, so you start acquiring the basic language, you know, and vocabulary.

And the next thing you know, you're starting to, you know, have little snippets of cultural belief that is so different than anything you could have ever imagined.

You're on your, you know, on your machine one day, you know, killing whatever and then, you know, the next day you're like, this is, like, what life is all about.

And so, I think a lot of American kids are kind of shortchanged by not being exposed to what life really means, you know, that it's not a part of the entertainment industry, you know, in all its various forms.

You know, indigenous people, indigenous kids, I think that's a very good straight powerful medicine for them that they're able to understand the meaning of life in a way that is not Cartesian and laid out to you in a schematic kind of way, but that it's a--it's like a song that you could sing that over time, it will make more and more sense, that you start singing that song louder and louder as you age.

It will be come an important part of their life.

Dave: Well, thank you so much for sharing your creative spirit with us, Julian.

Julian: Thank you.

It's been really a pleasure.

Rhynell: For more information about these artists, visit studiospace.tv.

Blake: Barn owls, we have like 30 right now, it's crazy.

They're all huge, and they're the alpha bird in the area.

Like, even the hawks, like, we have red tails everywhere.

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