We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brooklyn Buzzy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brooklyn below.

Buzzy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I actually have a really good example of when taking a risk paid off. I was recently commissioned to paint a mural on the outside of a bar called The Springs in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (NYC). I had never painted a mural before and I had no idea how to begin. There were so many unknowns, how much paint I would need, what supplies to get, will there be people watching me, how long will it take, what if I mess up, what if I have to go to the bathroom, etc. My fears just kept coming. I had to force myself to turn off my brain so I could accept the commission. My strategy was to go super early to the site so I would have space to freak out as privately as possible before anyone showed up.

I was able to paint the entire mural in one long day, with help and support from my husband and some friends. Somehow, I got lucky and my mural was featured on the cover of the Brooklyn Paper with an interview. That was dope.

I think being an artist means taking risks, by definition. I am learning to get out of my own way and to trust my abilities. I want to explore and do new things, especially the things that are difficult or seem out of my reach.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My family is made up of a bunch of self taught artists and makers. Most of the furniture in my childhood home was built by my dad, he is also a photographer and woodturner. His parents were both tailors, a profession that saved my grandfather’s life in WW2. My mother has a deep appreciation for the arts and would often take me to museums, she also did needlepoint. Her father was an electrician by trade and he made furniture, her mother was a masterful knitter.

When I was a kid, I liked to dig in the dirt. I liked to watch bugs and birds. I loved storms and the changes in weather. I collected rocks, shark teeth, animal bones, rhinestones, bits of glass, beads, different vessels, anything shiny, blank notebooks- to me they are all objects filled with potential. I especially love weird cool stuff, I really do, the more strange an object is the more I am drawn to it. My father says he always knows what I would like because in his opinion it’s the ugliest thing there.

In December of 2002, I went to the Tate Modern in London. I happened upon the entrance to the Rothko room, it was such a small doorway I could have missed it. I didn’t even know who Rothko was, so I went in to check it out. I was unprepared to be affected by art this way, it took my breath away- literally. I was completely alone in this small room with about 6 or so very large paintings, all muted and mauve tones. Dim lighting, heavy air, silence, total perfection. I was in Rothko’s heart. In this room I understood the universe, my life, colors, people, I can’t describe it accurately in words, it was all feeling. I wanted to scream and jump around, shake someone and say look, can you see it, can you feel it?!! It was traumatic, and I had to keep it to myself. In that moment I knew I was going to be an artist, it took me about 14 years to tell anyone else.

My name Buzzy comes from little sculptures I started making in 2016. Buzzys are made from different found objects and whatever materials are on hand. My oldest son coined the term and it became my art name. When schools reopened after covid in 2021 I started to make daily lunch-notes with monsters and written non sequiturs for my youngest son, I called these monsters The Heavys. In 2022, I was invited to go to France for an artist residency and there I took the chance to create larger versions of the Heavys, meters big. I was curious to see how they would look at that scale and if I could do it. Honestly, I was embarrassed to show them to my peers at first. They were so weird and cartoonish, they felt amateur and I did not think they would be taken seriously. My mentor came by for a studio visit and explained what she saw in her own words to me. Once the composition of the Heavys were distilled with language, I was able to discuss them for the first time. It was strange to me that I needed help to understand how to talk about my work, but I did and I am so grateful for that. One of the major benefits of being in an artist residency is acceptance and permission to try new ideas while being supported by fellow artists. It was an invaluable experience for me. Now I can tell you that the Heavys are neurotic, weird and hilarious creatures that propagate from pieces of themselves. They tell it like it is with text, gestures and expressions. They are New Yorkers in spirit- haha!

I am also working on an idea for clothing that incorporates Heavys and a book project I am developing based off of my original lunch-notes for my son. My art practice is a way of documenting ideas, similar to keeping a diary and I love this concept because it’s all so open ended.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I decided to become an artist, in the Rothko room, I was embarrassed to tell anyone, I expected that people wouldn’t take me seriously. I didn’t believe that it was possible for me anyway, I have no pedigree. I never went to art school and I barely knew any artists myself. To me the art world was like a secret society. When I started painting, and making Buzzys, I never introduced myself as an artist because I felt like a fake.

I remember one day, I was at the National Gallery in DC with my family. I was looking at a Mondrian painting, one of the grid paintings on a white background and noticed pencil marks on the canvas. I was really surprised that the marks were there at first. When I thought about it, the pencil marks were my favorite part of the painting, it humanized the work, it became relatable. I realized that I had fabricated a bunch of nonsense rules in my mind about what art should be, it was all bullshit. I had to unlearn and let go of all of these ridiculous rules and expectations that I thought governed me. I had to learn to trust and believe in myself.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission in life is to create good positive relationships and community wherever I am. I want to sustain thoughtful and meaningful relationships with my collectors and fellow artists, and to develop new and lasting ones with curators and galleries. And, I would love to have a museum show down the road.

Thank you for reaching out for this interview, these were great questions and I really enjoyed thinking about them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brooklynbuzzy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooklynbuzzy/