Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to June Bunch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, June thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I switch the word “risk” for “adventure” pretty often.

Was it risky to move from place to place seeking inspiration?
Perhaps, but when fireflies beckoned in Asheville and whales’ songs echoed in Maui, my heart was on fire.
When I could find a job and a place to live in an environment mysterious to me, I chased my curiosity and wrote postcards home.

Did I live lightly? Yes. Was my nomadic lifestyle right for everyone? No. It certainly came with discomforts, but I was willing to endure them all for the sake of following my nature’s muse.

As a naturalist, I collected ecosystems that shared stories of adaptions. You knew what could grow where and what couldn’t. Hence, I learned how I could grow and what parts of me would be challenged to adapt.

The desert gave me extremes, whether through temperature or steep terrain, but it also gifted tranquil silence. I found the skeleton of earth there, and within that red rock of bone-dry endlessness, I found the core of myself that I couldn’t hear before.

The rainforest of Juneau gave me the opposite.
There, I was hugged by natures generosity.
It was pure softness, whether through emerald beds of moss, thirst-quenching snow melt streams, or simply the hyper-saturated, overcast dewy daylight. The Inuit people shared that, because of the plentitude of food mother nature provided, they never had a word for “starvation” in their 10,000 year-old language. I would call that a stark contrast from Moab, Utah’s environment. That said, it did come with its own challenges when the sun would disappear for the other half the bitter cold year.

There, in these places, I found music in my soul and sketches of nature waiting to be drawn.
I saw other’s connect with their sense of place in a similar way too.
We, as musicians, rinsed our fears of rejection and risked sharing slivers of ourselves in the hope that someone else might have a matching sentiment and connect. There’s no icebreaker like storytelling with a melody behind it, and we were tangled into each others webs. As an artist, I could elaborate through color and form the way words might fail me – coloring the atmosphere of a place’s feeling… it was all so enriching to experience a place and then re-create it through mediums that amplified it’s affect.

June, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Pleasure to meet you, I’m June, a Florida-native artist.

I illustrate body language and botany, combining flowers with postures that create mother nature’s “choreography” of growth.

I began as an illustrator for a plant nursery and kept evolving drawings into botanical ladies. When I saw plants growing, they all had different paths and speeds. Watching baby vines transform into highways of brave shoots felt like a swift pas de bourrée couru in ballet. When cacti would take their time, they felt grounded, like Sukhasana, but their mothers were towers, standing straight and proud in Tadasana. I wondered about the backstories for their dance of growth, noting sunflowers pirouetting, following the sun, and how some seemed coy while others felt playful. It was in drawing these movements through body language that I realized they were self-reflections of situations – how my mind raced or grounded, but no matter what, grew from the experience, wanting to strengthen. I did a lot of reflective learning as I gave my favorite plants familiar human limbs.

From there, I created prints for friends, slowly expanding and organically growing through custom commissions and projects for anything from logos, murals, to tattoos. It’s been incredible to become a part of someone’s day to day life, visually, and I hope that they find their own choreography of growth happening as they see my work.

Musically, I write songs that invite listeners into my memorable moments.
“Traveling Mess” empties your gas tank on a long Appalachian country road.
“Moab” speaks of disappearing in the desert.
“Storm Dancing” puts you in a boarded up house during a hurricane.
And the list goes on as the stories of life unfold.

When others listen, it draws our stories closer, and because of the connections made through music, it makes me think we are all a lot more alike than at first glance.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Visually,
Let my art be your garden gateway drug!

The botany-nerd in me craves to cultivate plant curiosity.

When illustrating botanical ballerinas, I write “personality” descriptions for each plant lady, in hopes that it sparks new interest through their symbolism and backstories. Plants are incredible responsibilities to love and find self-love through.

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Musically,
Let my songs be your story’s safe space.
Let me help you feel honesties you hadn’t explored before. I want to be a friend to your ears like a good book is a missed companion to your eyes as you read.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Our town is teeming with creativity, and that eager ecosystem grows greenest with you look after it.

You can support your local artists by share, share, sharing.
Tag an artist in a story to validate the impact of your experience.
Text your pals that singer-songwriter you just discovered and curate a playlist of local music.
Buy a bakers bread and cry with delight about how perfectly they understand butter.

Your word-of-mouth is their survival, and artists thrive when they have encouragement and a platform.

We need you. We love you. We make art FOR YOU.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.junebunch.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/junebunchstudio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/June-Bunch-Music-100049282283176/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwuaSf5tAE-eODED4zytwqg
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/june-karin-bunch
• Other: http://www.instagram.com/junebunchmusic