Aaron Wall describes tattooing as describing love. There is no proper definition for it.
Aaron Wall started tattooing at the age of 13 years old. He always loved art and thought he could do better than the adults that were tattooing his friends. From then on he morphed his style to Black and Gray and Neo-Japanese. Before he was able to establish his style, he would draw everything. Aaron wanted to be as well- rounded as he could.
Aaron states how he wished he had a teacher throughout his tattoo career because he could have gotten further along by now. He ended up taking advantage of this.
The St. Louis’ tattoo scene is overrun with American Traditional style. “If I had a teacher starting out, I would end up doing American Traditional like everyone else.” Lucky, Aaron stuck with the style he loves most and ran with it.
Aaron Wall now teaches others in the art of tattooing. His long-time girlfriend Brittany, lost her job at a tanning salon and decided to take up tattooing. “I had to start from scratch”, she stated. “I spent eight hours a day drawing.” Aaron took Brittany under his wing and now she is a full time artist at Arch Nemesis.
You can book a constitution with Aaron Wall through his Facebook, Instagram or calling Arch Nemesis. Feel free to look through their gallery and Brittany’s.
Two dancers tell their personal stories through the art of dance.
Two friends, Madison Rodgers and Desiree Jones met just days before our Webster journey began on August 23, 2017 which happened to be Rodgers’ nineteenth birthday. The only African American dancers in the Webster University dance program immediately hit it off.
Seeing each other as companions instead of competitors, the two best friends have spent much of their time together over the past three and a half years. Rodgers, having started her dance career at the age of three stuck with dance, saying “dance has been my passion for 19 years now, and I don’t see myself ever calling it quits.” Rodgers loves dance because of the freedom to express herself but prefers dancing in a group environment.
Jones considers herself as starting late in the game of dance, during the sixth grade. Jones loved the discipline and learning of dance, coupled with the family like atmosphere of a collective struggle to perfect every move. She appreciates the opportunities dance has brought into her life, such as auditions, and even went on to say “I don’t know where I would be without dance, it has provided me with so much happiness and purpose.” Lastly, Jones told me that she prefers dancing alone because she is free to express her emotions in a private setting.
For the two companions, dance has allowed them to go to college and to join a family of other dancers they otherwise would never have met. Their friendship is a feel-good story in world shrouded in darkness right now.
Tattoos have long been considered to be one of the most unique artforms. People will spend thousands of dollars to have a piece of artwork be permanently on their body.
Have you ever became a stand-up comic for the sake of one-upping someone else? Did you do it while also suffering from stage-fright? Angela Smith did four years ago, but how is she doing now?
By Caleb Sprous
Angela Smith performing her set for charity in St. Louis, MO.
Her show begins in a few minutes. She is anxious, attempting to build her courage with “two glasses of chardonnay on an empty stomach.” She spent hours that day preparing for her ten-minute set. She sits on a stool, intently reading over her jokes while doing breathing exercises. In a few short moments, Angela Smith will turn a sea of downtrodden, pandemic-influenced scowls to a sea of laughter.
Angela Smith is a St. Louis comedian from Arnold, Missouri. Her journey as a performance artist began four years ago… on a whim. Smith was a member of a sketch comedy group called “Sketch Bad,” when one of her co-stars insisted she would not be able to do stand-up.
“Someone told me that they didn’t think I would be good at it,” Smith said. “[Stand-up comedy] was something I fell into out of spite.”
“Someone told me that they didn’t think I would be good at it. [Stand-up comedy] was something I fell into out of SPITE.”
In the end, Smith killed and was subsequently booked on for more shows. Four years later, she boasts a portfolio that includes opening for big names in comedy, such as: Michael Ian Black, Pauly Shore, and Nikki Glaser. Despite performing at venues from St. Louis to Orlando, Smith found herself still struggling to overcome stage fright.
“I feel like I’m outside my body for the first minute,” she said. “I would say it’s gotten worse over the past year.”
Luckily, she has her fiancé, Charlie Winfrey, whom is a fellow comedian, for support. Winfrey, while being supportive, insisted Smith “doesn’t need me too much.”
“The lower the stakes of the show, the more comfortable she is,” Winfrey said. “But she does good no matter what.”
The reason Smith performs well despite her potential stage-fright stems from her extreme preparedness. While she recognizes that “not everything is going to kill,” her meticulous preparation for her sets allows her to command the room. Despite having nearly four years’ worth of written material, Smith will spend hours prepping her material for a ten-minute set later in the day; she refuses to go onto a stage unprepared to just “wing it.” Winfrey asserts Smith’s success comes from her strong ability to write jokes, going as far as to say she is the superior writer between the two.
To both Smith, Winfrey, and many others, stand-up comedy is a form of art.
“[Stand-up comedy] is the most immediate art form there is,” Winfrey said, “You don’t have to look at a painting and figure it out. You just have to listen to someone tell a joke and either laugh or not.”
Smith appreciates her ability to help other people forget about their daily lives for ten minutes of time. She considers this a skill in its own regard, but she is not particularly interested in debating anyone that would assert stand-up comedy is not a form of art.
“I think what I do, if it’s not an art, its at least a skill,” she said. “I wouldn’t go up to a painter and say, ‘I can do that.’ Well, they [also] can’t do what I do.”
Smith’s website is angeladoescomedy.com. She can be found often highlighting local comedian showcases at The Funny Bone in St. Louis. When you glance over the laughing faces at one of Smith’s shows, you will never notice a hint of anxiety or uncertainty emanating from her. Instead, you see a local artist overcoming her own anxieties in master fashion to deliver a moment of reprieve and joy to others.
Artists and Athletes don’t usually mix, but Ben Swords excels at both. In his final high school season, the Illinois standout had a terrific year, batting well over .500. In half of his at-bats he got a hit. He also spends his time designing the baseball teams jerseys and gear.
By Zack Goodman
His successful year gifted him an opportunity to play for the nationally known Webster Baseball team.
“I love playing and I always knew I wanted to play in college,” Swords said. “I needed to find a place where I could become an artist but keep pursuing my dream of playing professional baseball. Webster checked off all of those boxes.”
Swords keeps a busy schedule trying to balance the two full- time commitments.
“‘Between working, baseball, my new fiance, and school I am always doing something.”
One of the Gorlok’s best pitchers, Sean Beaver, has always been impressed with Sword’s work ethic.
“He is a hard worker and it is really impressive that he is so good at both art and athletics.” Beaver claimed.
Not only does Swords play baseball on Webster’s team,which ranked number one in the [division III baseball last year, but he is the star of the team. He is the team’s best hitter, and he doesn’t want to stop there.
“I want to play professional baseball. This last summer I played against a lot of pro guys and I did really well,” Swords said. “It kind of gave me the reassurance that I can actually do this.”
Swords has designed logos for professional video game teams. He also designs the uniforms and practice gear for the Webster Baseball team.
“Coach just gave me the freedom to kind of just do what I wanted with it. I ran away with the idea of making all powder blue uniforms, but that is where the coach drew the line.”
Every day, the Gorloks team hits the practice field in order to get better and every day they are wearing Ben Swords designed gear.
Every time they hit the game field they wear his designed uniform. He gets to wear his own uniform while he performs what he loves. He gets to live out his dream of being an artist and pursue his dream of being a professional baseball player. Ben Swords is living his dream.
Musician Alyssa Catlin describes finding her career as a musician, being a mother and the constraints female musicians have placed upon them.
By Alexandria Darmody
Growing up, musician Alyssa Catlin was used to being the only girl in her field. Even when she arrived at Webster University to study classical guitar, she still found herself as the only woman.
“The entire time I was there, I was the only guitarist in the music department who was female,” says Catlin. “Never—in the jazz department or the classical department—never any other female guitarists.”
Catlin had been studying classical guitar for years before her time at Webster. She had gone through countless competitions and classes, working hard in her field and knowing what she wanted to do. After meeting with Webster professors and learning about the program, she decided that was where she belonged. But even finding such a perfect school still had its hardships.
“There were a lot of male guitarists I met that were really cool and very encouraging . . . but there were also a really large number of male guitarists who just assumed when they saw me that I was going to be really mediocre simply because I was a woman.”
The misogyny was not always outright, however. The idea of family vs. Career was ever-present in Catlin’s mind during her college years. Going into school, she thought she wanted to mainly focus on performing—doing competitions and traveling on tour. Realizing she wanted a family though threw a wrench in those plans.
“I thought that when I made the choice to focus on being a teacher that I would have a really fulfilling awesome career as a teacher,” says Catlin. “I would also have a family, but that performing would definitely have to take a sidestep.”
But that is not because she could not do it.
“I never saw it! I didn’t see women being performers and being musicians who had young children,” says Catlin. “I knew two women who were teachers . . . who do have children, but it’s very part time.”
Catlin made the decision to focus on teaching after learning she loved it through teaching local classes while still in college. She has continued teaching guitar since, but her career outlook is not as limited as she thought before.
Catlin became half of the performing duo Cambia, traveling around the St. Louis area performing a wide array of music genres and venues. Pre-COVID, Catlin took gigs performing old-time music, classical guitar and playing around St. Louis with bands for country and square dances.
She also finished one of her life goals she felt like she had to give up on: performing with an orchestra.
“Five years ago, I was asked by the St. Louis Civic Orchestra if I would play one of the most famous guitar concertos with their orchestra,” says Catlin. “I said sure, so in a year, I learned the entire [concerto] and performed it with the St. Louis Civic Orchestra.”
Catlin realized she could “have it all”, answering the famously misogynistic question aimed at female professionals. She knows now how people must view her in order to get respect as a musician, and now finds that often within her community.
“People who don’t look at me and see ‘oh well she’s a musician who just has kids so she’s not going to be a good enough musician to actually play music with us’,” says Catlin.
“They look at me and they take me as ‘this is a musician, let’s give her a chance and see how she plays’.”
Now as both a successful, busy performer and teacher, Catlin makes sure to instill the right ideas in her students’ heads.
“Especially to my female students, I give them the very clear message ‘if anybody ever tries to make you feel lesser or worse because you’re a female guitarist, you need to get rid of them in your life because they are not worth being around any longer’,” says Catlin. “The boy students that I have now, I give them the lecture of you had better never prejudge somebody based on gender. It does not matter if you are male or female.”
Anthony Scheffler, who is from New Orleans, brings his unique woodworking talents to the St. Louis art scene. What started as a youthful interest blossomed into a successful art career. His creations have been sold to various independent buyers, and is featured in galleries across the United States.
At the age of 21, film major and video producer Travis Haughton fulfills his dream of showing his art through film.
By Arianna Arias
“All my stories focus on the mental health in the black community, and many people do not like to talk about mental health, so I decided to talk about it through film,” Haughton said. He started out wanting to become an actor.
When Haughton was in high school, he performed up until his senior year. He then found his love for directing and writing his own stage play.
“I decided to tuck acting in the back of my pocket, and pursue directing,” Haughton said. Once directing and stage play took off, he pursued writing his own productions. He applied to Webster, knowing they had a great film program.
His love progressed when first writing and directing his film. His most recent film, “Black in America,” focuses on the media and how it traumatizes society. His creativity comes from past experiences and implementing them through his films, hoping others can relate to it.
“You need to find your actors, crew, polish a script, and make everything as solid as possible,” Haughton said. The current film Haughton is working on is approximately 20 minutes and took roughly four days to shoot. It focuses on a white family, not allowing their daughter to spend the night at her best friend’s house, who happens to be colored.
The father is a cop who has an image of black people and his reasoning for not wanting his daughter to leave. In this film, he believes how society depicts black lives, the depiction of being afraid, and racial segregation.
“It is a process but when you are talking about directing you need to communicate with everybody. As a director, you need to know every last position on the set because you need to communicate with everybody,” Haughton says. Haughton shows himself through the film by telling his story. He often keeps late hours working on the final product.
He not only focuses on his skill sets but encourages others to pursue their highest abilities. Haughton is very motivated and believes in himself. He is very confident in just about everything he creates, whether picking up equipment or directing a set.
His home is on set, doing a great job communicating with others, both cast and crew. He does a great job of helping others executing at their jobs as he does himself.
In this style of performance, it is ephemeral. You see it, you delight in it, you gaze in awe and wonder but when the performance is done all you have left is the memory of what has just transpired in the art of movement and spinning fire.
Welch spinning her contact staff during her demonstration
By Craig Reynolds
Flow arts can be described as a combination interpretive dance, martial arts, and visual performance. It has its roots in circus performances as well. There is a school you can attend if you are looking to get into this practice as well, there is a link at the bottom of the article that provides more information.
Makeup artist Aspen Singleton grew up in her grandma’s beauty salon. Her grandma inspired her to follow her dreams and spread her kindness and creativity to the world.
From college dropout to an established music producer, Will Lorenz answers the question of “What does it look like to chase you inner most wants and desires?” Even if it means diverting from the traditional path.
By: Jordan Parker
How well does the quote “At the end of the day we are all chasing a dream.” connect with you? That quote came from Will Lorenz, a 21 year old music producer born and raised here in St. Louis, Missouri. From his personalized home studio Lorenz gave insight on the slew of questions thrown at him. Questions centered around his musical origins, biggest inspirations, and his creative processes which can be viewed and or listened to in the video below; the biggest illuminating question thrown at Lorenz was “How did you know it was time to drop out and pursue your dream?”
Lorenz came to Webster University in 2018 as an undecided freshman taking a slight interest in accounting and computer science, but all together not very passionate about either. One thing that remained a consistent interest for Lorenz l though was his involvement in the Webster golf team and his love for music.
When Lorenz had downtime during or between classes he would “whip out his laptop and get to working on a new melody”, “putting together a beat”, or even “learning a new trick on YouTube”. But, the weight of working, college, golfing, and making music was clogging up too much of his time and he had to make a decision on where he wanted to take his future.
After a trip to Las Vegas for a golf tournament Lorenz told me that during the flight home he watched a “No Jumper” interview with entrepreneur Josh Kesselman, founder of ‘Raw Rolling Paper’ where he explained how he essentially dropped everything to focus and start his business and ended up becoming one of the leaders in the Marijuana industry.
At that moment Lorenz knew what he had to do for himself, he had a clear vision of how much music meant to him and wanted to give it his all to the craft and decided to drop out of school in June 2019.
Over the past two years since Lorenz dropped out he has sold his music, collaborated, and written with not only local artists, but artists that span from coast to coast all done from his personal studio.
Lorenz’s music notably has shaped into a true delight to listen to, learning and implementing those new techniques to make his music sound more industry standard while also keeping his sound from two years ago intact. But there was more to his situation beyond the “ooh and awe” of my first impressions.
Lorenz’s Home Studio
Lorenz shared his insight on his current situation despite the successes he’s garnered. Calling himself a “bum” stating that “from an outsider’s perspective someone that is living in his mother’s basement, without a job, making little money in his perspective would be looked down upon.”
He also acknowledges that the journey of making it in such a lucrative industry there are going to be some down periods.
“But if the talent, hard work, and genuine care and passion is there those down periods will only be temporary.”
Interestingly enough though, Lorenz has shifted the importance of the music itself to the business side of things. Lorenz highlighted how important building connections are in the music industry.
The way Lorenz got to work with people from coast to coast and wound up working with other producers from notable brands like “Internet Money” and “808 Mafia” were through the connections he made in those two years. Noting that when connections are made his name could travel through word of mouth.
“If one artist in particular didn’t want to work with me at the given moment that same artist could potentially recommend him to another friend, and so on.” Said Lorenz.
Lorenz’s work is commonly displayed on his social media with the occasional Instagram story or video post. During his studio sessions a new name, face or voice will cameo with his appearance showcasing how many connections are truly being utilized.
Lorenz plans to move to Los Angeles in the near future stating that the importance of being there is that “that’s where all the other good artists and producers are”. Lorenz has truly put his dream into motion and he has no plans on stopping any time soon.
Emanuel Rodriguez labels himself as an artist, musician, and a freak of nature. Rodriguez has been doing art since he was 3 years old and has used it as a way to communicate ever since. Rodriguez says that he uses his art as a way to be seen, and if he had the choice of his art being valued or seen, he would choose being seen every time.
Larry Morris is a Webster University staff member of a band name ILLPHONICS. The band brings a new sound to Hip-Hop.
By: Rodson Etienne
Their story began at Webster University. Morris’s group would not be the same without Webster.
Morris grew up in University City. When Morris was 13, he discovered his musical gift. He began to fall in love with reading poetry and began writing soon after. He was a natural at flowing and rhyming words together. At the time, he didn’t realize his talent, so everything he did was for fun and to gain further knowledge of poetry.
At the age of 17, he was more mature and knew his calling was around music. He started to realize that he could really do something big with this gift.
“I got in my cousin’s car and he instantly put on a beat and said, ‘Spit something to this.’ After a few seconds of hearing the beat, I just started flowing and didn’t want to stop,” Morris said.
Morris’ cousin, Leonard Holland, aka Man, was his biggest mentor.
“I knew this kid had potential from the first time I heard him flow in my car. As a person who’s an artist, I already knew what was in route for him, so I just took him under my wing,” Holland said.
Holland was very familiar with music. Holland was an artist himself and his knowledge for music is very high. He is known as Illspittasicflo. He’e been in the rap game for many years. After hearing the way Morris rhymed and flowed to certain beats, Holland concluded that was his calling. He pushed Morris to continue with music and keep listening to varying artists.
Morris took his cousin’s advice and explored different types of music, but “If I Ruled the World” by Nas opened his eyes and guided him to where he is now.
“The way he just flowed on the beat and the words he used to rhyme was something special to hear,” Morris said.
Morris has many family and friends in the music industry, like Holland. Chaz Brew plays the drum and is another member of Morris’ family that knows his way around music. Morris and Brew grew up together. They both attended Webster University.
Every member of ILLPHONICS
While attending his first year at Webster, Morris became close friends with Kevin Koehler. Koehler found Morris to be really talented and proposed they make music together when he came back from studying abroad.
Keith Moore and Morris met in the 6th grade but became closer throughout high school. Since then, they have been working together from time to time making music.
Simon Chervitz and Morris met at University City High School. Chervitz and Brew were in Jazz together and made music. Morris and Moore we’re always making beats together and hanging out. Morris would always compete in small rap battles and Moore was his wing man.
Morris and Koehler met freshman year at Webster University. They both were working on a project during the same time and decided to collaborate on it. Morris linked up with Koehler and brought in Moore. In that process, they needed a drummer and a bass player so they brought in Chervitz. Chervitz wanted Brew in on the collaboration and from there they formed Fall Out and Friends. The band always practiced on campus. One day after practice they decided to change their name. A lot of ideas were being thrown out and the name Illphonics came up. Everyone liked the name because the band was Ill.
They practiced for months. After a while they decided they were ready to perform in front of a loud crowd. Webster University held an open mic event where the band had their debut. The crowd cheered and applauded for the band. They played a few gigs and started to gain recognition from fans and producers. Eventually, they signed a record label and now they tour the world with a different taste of music for people to enjoy. They’ve constantly come out with songs that have good lyrics cloaked by jazzy bass lines, sharp drums and crisp guitars.
From stenciling vinyl records to making music video props, RiteHand Robot, AKA Jordan Massey, is making a living creating art right out of his home studio.
BY Robby Floyd
Jordan Massey grew up watching local graffiti artists paint the trains that came through De Soto, Missouri. The “graffiti trains” arrived covered in designs from similar artists around the United States. Massey would watch as they were either repainted or left to sit in the yard for months before moving on.
“I got to see a lot of artwork that a lot of people don’t get to see,” Massey said. “That’s how I grew up, so I think it was inevitable that I’d get into art myself.”
LaRonda Blanchard is no ordinary beautician. She takes pride in her work and creates genuine bonds with her clients.
By Khyree Plair
Photoshoot for hair care line, Smooth and Healthy Crowns. Photo Cred: Infinite Visuals LLC
LaRonda Blanchard is a lifelong artist. She began styling the hair of her dolls at the age of 12. Eventually, she became quite skilled. She had no idea would eventually be a huge part of her life.
Hannah Harms doesn’t just work for the finished product. She loves the process too. She doesn’t believe her skills came to her naturally. She worked hard to develop the skills she needs to succeed in animation.
Abigail Arnette said because of COVID-19 her art has never been more important to her. Though it hasn’t been easy, Arnette said her art has kept her mentally strong.
When she graduated high school, Nermina Ferkic thought she would be majoring in pre-med. Now, she’s an intuitive graphic design and film major who has an eye for color and a sense of humor.
By Micah Barnes
Up until her last semester of high school, Nermina Ferkic was on track to major in pre-med. Now, Ferkic will graduate with a double major in film production and graphic design. Equipped with these degrees, she envisions herself incorporating her art into filmmaking or working as an art director.
Eric Miranda has turned his artistic prowess into a massive online following, garnering over 10K followers and 300K likes on TikTok alone. In putting his own unique spin on pop culture icons, the St. Louis-based artist captivates audiences all over social media.
the stl art scene 