We recently connected with Kate Razo and have shared our conversation below.
Kate, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
At the age of 15, I became a dedicated vegetarian for humanitarian purposes.
Born and raised on a farm in Wisconsin, I watched and felt what we were doing to animals that had no voices we cared to listen to.
I made a decision. I became a lifelong vegetarian.
Last year, I started painting portraits of all the animals I have not eaten in the past fifty years.
A conservative estimate would be: 1,150 chickens, 16 pigs, 4.4 cows, 37.50 turkeys, three ducks, 600 fish, 6850 shellfish.
And so I imagine the lives lived, spared. And I ponder their portraits, as sentient beings. Lives that were spared through the dual lenses of love and kindness. A simple compassion.
Kate, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
At 24, I opened my first bookshop in San Francisco. I moved to the Bay Area in my early twenties and, quite by accident, discovered my love of working in a used bookshop.
Half-Price Books in Berkeley was a large, rambling secondhand shop that fueled my imagination.
One year later, my then-partner, Kirby Desha, and I opened Phoenix Books in Noe Valley. Seven years later, I opened Dog Eared Books on Valencia. Three more stores followed in the intervening years.
Each bookshop was a small neighborhood bookstore that sold new and used books. We carried magazines, journals, cards, and most importantly, books of all types.
I started painting portraits of my bookstore customers in 1986.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
A little something called ‘Tangible Support’.
It’s essential to support artists and creatives by opening the wallet.
Not just exclaim ‘Oh, I love your work so much!’
‘Oh, what a beautiful space, I’m so glad you are here!’
Buy something. Anything, big or small..
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Covid.
COVID was tough.
I had to close the stores — and I didn’t know how I was going to reopen them.
But what I learned was that we had to make ourselves available to the neighborhood and the community we had supported through times thin and fat — and in return, our neighbors wanted us to be there when this ‘IT’ was over.
So we built an online presence and delivered books door-to-door.
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Contact Info:
- Website: dogearedbooks.com. KateRazoArt.com
- Instagram: @dogearedvalencia. @Kate-Razo-Art
Image Credits
Portrait of Kate Razo: Cammie Toloui