A live painter on cherry blossoms and what made him smile.

0:01MoaOh yeah. What’s your name? Ryan. Ryan, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Moa.

0:06BNice to meet you, too. Um I

0:06MoaI have a platform on YouTube called Wita Media.

0:09BOkay. Um

0:10Moaand right now we’re doing like a a weekly series where we go out and ask different people our weekly questions and we’re giving out 100 bucks of people who participate and we pick our favorite submission. We’ve had people participate from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and India so far outside the US. And I’m trying to encourage all of you who are doing these videos to do kind of profiles from people you interview too.

0:29BYeah. Um,

0:29Moaand so I’d love to hear your answer to this week’s question, but first love to know, you know, you’re a painter, you’re an artist, you’re here from, are you from here in Denver?

0:37BI am originally. I’m from Illinois. Moved here about 3 years ago and just got new creative flu moving out here and painting ever since. Okay.

0:49MoaAnd we’re at First Friday. What can you tell us about First Friday in Denver, Colorado?

0:52BOh man, there’s so many things about First Friday. So many artists. We’ve got a lot of music out here. The people are so great. So much fun energy. Um I just I just love being out here. Every time I talk to new people, I feel creative. Um just a bunch of inspiration.

1:16MoaOkay. And what’s the name of this gallery? Like where are we?

1:19BWe’re in the Art Gallery here on Stand.

1:23MoaOkay. And how did you end up painting here? Like how did I come to find you? He’s the only live artist in this whole room.

1:28BYeah, I know. I know. I’m very shocked, honestly. There’s usually a couple other people here as well. Um, my boyfriend works here, so with that. So, you get the end.

1:38MoaYep. Exactly.

1:40BVery big opportunity to come in and paint and share my work with everybody.

1:45MoaOkay. Is this your boyfriend over here?

1:46BIt is. Yeah.

1:47MoaOkay. Well, I’m going to ask him some questions about the place then cuz I have no idea where I am.

1:50BYeah. Yeah.

1:51MoaBut tell us about your painting practice. Yeah.

1:53BSo, this is an acrylic painting. I’ve been super inspired by cherry blossoms lately. So, I’ve been kind of putting those in there. Um, I’m a huge fan of marbles and bubbles. So, I’ve tried to incorporate that in there as well. Um, this piece is called reflection. It’s kind of embodying the reflection of both the artworks and how the cherry blossoms aren’t around for too long, but they’re still just as beautiful at all times.

2:25MoaOkay, sick. And do you have any favorite painters? Do you like like who influences you? Like why are you painting? It’s

2:31Ba very very good question. Morgan Mandala is definitely one of my biggest inspirations. Definitely should check her out if you haven’t. Um, she’s got a lot of good nature pieces. Definitely what she focuses on. Um, Stephven Cruz is also a really good one that I look up to. Uh, loaded question. I look up to pretty much everybody in this galler.

2:57MoaI mean, you can name drop as many people as you want. Like, it’s okay. You’re the first painter I feel like I’ve had on my YouTube now. So, in real time, too.

3:04BSo, um, definitely. Yeah. Blake Foster, Mandala, uh, Brandon Roberts, just a big group of them out there. Anybody from the theater collective, I recommend 100%. Definitely everybody I look up to.

3:23MoaOkay, sick. And this week’s question is, what’s something that made you smile this week? Uh,

3:28Bbeing here tonight with everybody. I feel like I had kind of a rough week at work and coming here and just kind of letting that all go, losing myself in the painting and getting to share with everybody, kind of talk to new people just brings warmth to my heart. Let you know that there are people. How are you feeling about the overall climate of the world right now? Well, it’s crazy. It’s crazy out there. Um, from the weather to just the news, it’s all insane. But when you come into a group of people like this, you got to forget about everything. And I’m super sense.

4:09MoaIf you could ask people around the world one question, what would you ask them?

4:12BWhat motivates you? What keeps you going? What makes you want to wake up and get out of bed? Something that I ask myself fairly often. And just being able to start a new day. Honestly, the opportunity is not the same. You just want to get out there.

4:33MoaOh, yeah. And do you have any thoughts you would share with people under the age of 12?

4:38BBe as creative as you can and enjoy your year while you can. Absolutely. There’s so much nostalgia that I’m going through right now. I miss being a kid. Growing up is fine, but definitely embrace your body, man. Absolutely. Oh,

4:57Moayeah. All right. Thank you.