Welcome back to The Truth in His Art, your source for conversations joining arts, culture, and community. These are stories that matter, and I am your host, Rob Lee. Thank you so much for being here today. My next guest is a Baltimore based carver, illustrator, sculptor, and educator who transforms stone into stunning works of art. His work keeps pieces of the city's history alive through carving.
Rob Lee:We last spoke back in 2022, and I'm excited to reconnect to see what's new in his world. Please welcome back to the program, SEBASTIAN MARTORANA. Welcome back to the podcast.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Thanks for having me, Rob.
Rob Lee:Thank you for thank you for coming on. Thank you for, for making the time. And, you know, it's been a it's been a lot of time a little bit. You know, since we last talked, it's been about three years. I think we talked back in 2022.
Rob Lee:And that year, you know, frankly, was a blur for me as I was talking about a little bit before we got started. That was the year 03/1928 or something episodes that went out that year. I was doing almost an episode a day.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:That's a brutal schedule.
Rob Lee:I chose it. You know, it's just it's just flogging myself, but, you know, audibly. But if you will, for folks who haven't dove back, and they should dove back and listen to your your your first, interview here, but could you, you know, reintroduce yourself to the folks listening? And, I have a second point, but I'd like to give you a little space and time to introduce yourself, and then I'll go into the second question.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Alright. Sure. Well, I'm Sebastian. I'm a local artist. I primarily work in, sculpture, mostly carving of primarily stone.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But I'm also, you know, an educator, designer, and illustrator. So I kinda fortunate to get into a lot of different things, but my I would say the preponderance of my work is in, marble carving.
Rob Lee:Thank you. So in that that time, like, I've I I think I've seen you maybe once or twice in the city. Like, is this all because like like we were talking about, I was like, there's the guy. I have a pet. And, you know, could you share could you share, like, over, you know I I like to look at the scope of the last five years, you know, because there may have been some stuff that I missed in the first interview.
Rob Lee:But over the last five years, you know, what are some of the the biggest changes or even milestones that have happened in your your art career, like, that stick out? You can limit it to the last three or the last five, but what's some of the bigger things that stick out for you for your work over the last number of years?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Well, if we were sending it to even before that point into those five years, I'd say, you know, it's been I mean, the short answer is it's been really good. I've been steadily getting busier and, which is has allowed me to be, you know, more selective, both with showing and with the more kind of commissioned institutional stuff. And that's both institutional commissions and private commissions. You know, in the last five years, I've gotten some of the most interesting institutional work. I guess I should sorry about that.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I would say my work kinda is is a combination of the more fine art sculptural stuff and then, like, the work that is for generally what I I think of as institutional work, and that's often, governmental, academic, or ecclesiastical work.
Rob Lee:Sure.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And in the last five years, I've gotten to work on some pretty big projects with some governmental agencies, some stuff with some colleges, universities, and then also some other things with, basically some work for the National Park Service. So, you know, one of the kind of, I guess, essentially, some of them I can I can discuss on the podcast for the record? Some of them I can't. One of them I I know I can, is that I think it might have been actually in 02/2022. Yeah.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Just over three years ago. When I kind of, took over working on the, doing the engraving at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in DC. And so that was a real, you know, interesting, project to become involved with because it really is only you know, it it had the previous engraver, for reference, had been on the job for thirty five years. So, you know, it doesn't change over very much. So it's a big responsibility, and a real honor to be asked.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And so like every job I do that's institutional, it affects my, know, my personal work. You know, just learning the process and learning about it and having time to think on that job as I do it affects the work that I do myself personally, both in terms of, like, focal point and also in terms of, you know, equipment and tools and skills and things that I learned for that job, you know, because it is so very specific, in terms of what's being done there, how it's being done, the equipment being used. You know, it's even though, you know, you're invited to look at these things for a reason because you have that kind of experience, but every job is unique. So I got to learn or I I essentially had to essentially learn a slightly new skill set, and so learning those new tools and techniques has you know, it always infiltrates what I'm doing personally. And, also, because of the nature of that work, because it is so important, I it made me wanna bring more things in house under under my umbrella.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So I was able to maintain and provide all the equipment in the various, like, again, unique things necessary to do that job myself. So building up some of those skill sets and, capabilities in my own shop, or at least in my own studio, which is in another, stone shop here in Baltimore. You know, my my studio is housed within Hillgarter Natural Stone Company, which is its own stone fabrication shop.
Rob Lee:Yeah. And and thank you. Because I think this this definitely leads into sort of this next question, but I wanna comment first on, yeah, I I think when you when you were describing sort of, like, the different requirements for certain projects, you have to use this tool, you have to use sort of maybe this technique and so on and, you know, working within sort of parameters and how that perhaps, you know, affects sort of, you know, the time that you have to do your own personal, like, sort of work or what have you. And, you know, I did the education thing, so I can add educator to mine. So if someone does my byline, I can say, you know, Rob Lee, educator, professor Rob, and which which is kinda cool, but, you know, I I think during that time, actually, when I was when I was teaching, I had to learn how to use other equipment, test it out there, and serve as a producer for folks and just do different things to a specification.
Rob Lee:I do so much of this that I kinda cook on my own, and it's just like I know what I'm doing, but when it's maybe you're you're you're I'm working in a capacity of serving a certain purpose for someone. Hey. We need a podcast produced. I don't necessarily need you to host it, but also I'm kinda hosting it as well. It's me figuring out how to give them what they need, especially in this sort of client relationship, while also being able to stretch the boundaries of what I do.
Rob Lee:Because sometimes folks don't know what the hell they're using. They're like, oh, yeah. You just need to do this. And it's like, no. No.
Rob Lee:I got something real cool for this. Or, you know, it's like, so I have no idea how to how to use some of this this gear and some of this technology. I'll now try to learn it. Like, I got these Rode mics, for instance. Never use those.
Rob Lee:I think it's just social media mics. Right? I just see all of these broccoli hit teenagers, you know, as a fellow guy with a haircut. You know, these broccoli hit a teenager just wearing the the same little clip on mic, and I kinda, like, hate them just because they're youth. But now I use them because the, the little box that they come in has two receivers it is a receiver and two microphones.
Rob Lee:So it's very small. Like, I'm always about being utilitarian. So if I can get smaller in it, but I have to go through and do my mic checks differently, I don't even actually have physical mics. I have these little clip on devices which sound
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:great. So
Rob Lee:I've learned and changed that over the time, but brought it driven by working with a client and having to meet certain specifications.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Oh, yeah. I mean, the equipment tool like, that's that's everything. And even, like, you know, anyone, any craftsperson you talk to, artists, they're gonna be a tool nerd for all this stuff. And, like, the size of things, you know, honestly, I, you know, again, I don't know if this is on topic or not, but, like, one job that I've I've been doing for a long time now over, gosh, better part of a decade or more, is I do all the carving up at Saint Patrick's in in New York City. And that you know, it's a beautiful building, but it's old.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:It's like a 50 years old. And so it's something you don't think about is, like,
Rob Lee:there's not a ton
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:of outlets on a gothic cathedral floor. And so when I first began that job, obviously, I need lighting to work where I'm working, and, I mean, I went traveled up there with a 50 feet of drop cord to plug in clamp lights on things so I could work. And I I did this a couple times. I thought, what what am I doing? And so all this research into basically mobile, you know, LED lights and the different wavelengths and the warmth and what's gonna work and what's gonna replicate the light that I need, and then the battery cells that work these things and, like, all this kind of stuff that I use now for all kinds of things in in my work normally.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But, like, again, like you say, pairing it down, making it efficient so that way I can hop up there. Everything's done by hand. So it's like, I'm not rolling up there in a work van. I'm going up I'm taking the train, and I have a tool bag. And, like, a lot of that applies to other things that I do now, but, like, my kit can get very small depending on what I'm doing if it is small detail work.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, I'm I need a a tool bag. That is it. And because of the technology and the, you know, rightsizing of those things.
Rob Lee:There's a universe. This is really off topic, but there's a universe with the aesthetic in which you just described with having that small bag and taking the train up. You could be a John Wick like assassin, like one of, like, the ancillary characters. Yeah. There's the cover right there.
Rob Lee:See? It it works. It just works.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Well yeah. I mean, that basically I'm like, I it's you know you know, the all the the ushers all know me, and they I'd you know, do they know my name? Maybe. But they know I'm the carver, and I show up a couple times a year, and I do my job, and I get out. So
Rob Lee:It's it's right there.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:If if, if there's a John Wick analogy to be made in this universe, I'm all about it.
Rob Lee:Look. I I mean, when the movie gets made, someone listens to this podcast, I need to wet my beak. You need to wet your beak as well. We need to wet our beaks. So and and this is and this is sort of where the questions and I think you touched on it, but if you you have, like, one really specific way, and it might be the pairing down of things.
Rob Lee:But how has your creative process evolved over, like, the last few years? And, you know, has environment as you you touched on, like, your your your space, how has that, like, maybe influenced in how you approach your work and the perspectives around your work?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, I'll be honest. I'm not sure I know or I can say how my own creative process has evolved. You know? It's like, it it would be like, you know, again, asking an animal how their own evolution occurred. I I really don't know.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I may may not be fully aware of it. I know circumstances around me have changed and evolved. I think the the biggest, like, overarching thing is, which probably came up in our previous conversation, is that time. You know, time is the thing that I am constantly trying to manage and balance, and I never, like, I never have enough of that thing. You know, the I'm very lucky to have, like, so much work and a great support system and, like, an awesome, you know, spouse, and my children are doing great.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And, like, that's all awesome. And it's, like, trying to balance that with the work that I do genuinely enjoy doing, and then being more present for those things outside of the work, you know, which is the thing that you're always generally asked about in these interviews like this. But it's like, the bandwidth that I can basically what's the word I'm looking for? Provide to each one of those important aspects is really tough. I think a big thing that maybe changed in terms of how I function, on a day to day basis really has nothing to do with the work.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:My my wife got a new job, somewhat recently. And prior to that point, because really of COVID, she had been working at home. And so as we came out of that space, you know, everyone's kind of been readjusting to that transition in this essentially, you know, post COVID, but we have all of the skills and the abilities of, you know, say, mobile work and things like that that we developed during that time. You know, there's artifacts of virtual learning. For instance, I still currently use when I teach.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. But she transitioned from working almost exclusively at home to now exclusively in an office that's farther away than my studio. And so suddenly, it was like, you know, on the one hand, it's an excellent situation for us. It was a great opportunity for her, but, you know, I'm very much now the number one. You know?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I'm I'm an emergency contact person. I'm the one that's like, if there's, like, someone sick, there's a snow day, you know, school's closed for some reason, that's me. I'm on that, which on the one hand, I love because I'm able to have a more flexible schedule maybe than the average person unless I'm physically traveling for work. But it does, you know, just pare down the amount of time you have for stuff. And so, you know, one kind of thing that happens happened to some other reason.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I don't know, if we talked about this before. Like, I kinda had to step back from, like, for instance, social media for a while. Yeah. I haven't been on, you know, Instagram, for instance, for instance, in maybe a few months now just because you know, not not for the reason people would assume, like, the largely terrible news cycle we're in, but I just it I real I'm just trying to look, like, to strategize, like, where my my fourth quarter last year was crazy. It's was the busiest of my career.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And on the one hand, that's great. But on the other hand, it was like, I don't have enough hours in the day. How can I physically look at my schedule and build more time into it? I can't I can't extend I can't slow down time. I wonder if I could.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I can't. And my work does, by its own nature, take a long time. So I was like, well, what am I wasting time on? And I'm like, well, maybe it's this. And I'm like, if I'm not looking at my phone all the time and checking up or getting notifications, So I was just like, we're gonna go off of that.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And so, you know, sometime, I don't know, probably December, I was just, like, walked away. And I know I'll I'll obviously get back on it before this airs so I can promote it with you. But, but it truly it was just like, I need to it was just how do I manufacture more time in my day to get done the things that are truly responsibilities because I was like, well, what is the social media for? For for me, it's really it's a an outreach. It's a promotional thing.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:It's it's professional. Right? And, you know, maybe maybe it worked a little too well for a little while, and I've I gotta catch up on the commitments I've made, to these what are, again, really interesting projects and things that I'm able to do and be involved in and step back from the thing that is there to produce them for a little bit just so that I can actually work on the work. You know?
Rob Lee:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. That is that's really that's really good.
Rob Lee:I you know, like, people talk about, you know, sort of time being a a a challenge. And I remember years ago, we're skimming, through, I think the formal work week. And I was just like, I got the concept that I got what I needed out of it at that time. Right? And one of the things that I've applied to doing this, and I I referenced when we first had the interview back in 2022, And that year, I kinda wrapped up the year.
Rob Lee:I think I did creative mornings. Right? And there were a number of folks who are like, so when you're taking a break, though, because you're super busy. And I took you know, it's a it's a it's a badge, right, of, like, being very busy and so on. But I was thinking about it.
Rob Lee:I was just like, yeah, I am very busy. And it even sort of the behind the curtains of it all. I have the day job. I have a real life, you know, outside of doing this. And, you know, when I do my prep, I lament over these questions over and over again.
Rob Lee:Like, I might put into two hours of worth of time for these questions. So, you know, you start looking at doing a certain number of interviews that I was doing at that time, almost one per day. That's an extra, you know, two hours per day that's going in that area. And let's say you have something that happens. Let's say you gotta wait here for Comcast.
Rob Lee:You get you're late going somewhere. You have those those different time sucks in trying to make time work for you. And now I I think I have a better handle on time, but I had to make that effort, to maybe trim down the number. It's like, it's really important, and I really enjoy it because that's the that's the key thing. But going from three, whatever that number was, to $1.75 the following year and then last year, one zero seven.
Rob Lee:And this year, I'm I'm trying to commit to doing under 75. And, you know, part of it is spending time and attention to it, but also giving myself time to keep the batteries charged, be refreshed. And, you know, also, I took those breaks from social media as well because I just found like I wasn't enjoying the experience as much. And, you know, it's a it's a time suck in some regards. Now, hey.
Rob Lee:You know, I'll see that engagement goes down. Rob, you haven't posted any new episodes for a while. Sure. You know, here here is it's it's on Spotify. It's on Apple.
Rob Lee:You can find it there, actually. But looking at those spots where you can save time, manipulate time, and move it around, I'm fortunate to live very close to my day job, so I don't really
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:have a
Rob Lee:commute. But, you know, if I'm trying to fit this in, which is a whole other undertaking, a lot of people think this is the full time gig because I'm so pronounced in what I do. It's just like I'm really good at manipulating time. But when there's a new thing inserted, you gotta figure it out. And I digest always in tweaking.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. Oh, for sure. I mean, I'm very fortunate that what I'm doing generally like, what people see that I'm doing, like, that is that is my day job. That's my thing. But that means I when, you know, you don't have a day job, I'm a freelancer.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Right? I'm I'm a independent contractor, essentially. And so while, you know, on the one hand, I've had friends that'll be like, I mean, you never have to apply for a job. You're so I'm like, what are you talking about? I have to apply for jobs
Rob Lee:All the time.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Dozens of times a year. Every project is a new job. I'm having to write proposals and field emails and and and sift what is good. And, you know, maybe that's the you know, maybe that answers your question really is, like, what's been the best or the most significant developments over the last few years? I've been I've been very fortunate, with some, you know, work of mine getting into some really great collections, a couple new museum collections, and then the commission work also being really picking up, which has been great, but I've been able to be more selective and say to people honestly, like, hey.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know what? I might not be the best fit for this. Right. And if I know that a job is either I'm just not suited for it or I just don't wanna do it, I'm able to fill that time with something else. So, you know, getting to that place where I have I I mean, I've always had kind of a backlog, but, really, a a backlog, a docket of work of jobs that I'm all I'm really excited about all of them and the commission works the that I'm able to be selective with.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So if I'm spending time like, if I'm putting chisel time into it, man, I really wanna be doing it. It's really interesting. I'm very excited about it every time. And so maybe that's the, like, the biggest, you know, transition, you know, that it's just kind of I feel like I'm I'm trying to maintain space in the barrel of that wave right now. It's going really well.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And so Yeah. Trying to to keep stay in that sweet spot, which is tough. So who knows? Maybe stepping back from social media, I'll find out was a mistake at some point. But who knows?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And and and that's such a crazy landscape too anyway, because I was like, maybe I picked the right time to step back because things got have gotten a little weird with, you know, the the algorithms and the advent of AI and how it's affected content and the manipulation of viewership, you know, that kind of stuff. So it's like, and maybe a little this stuff sorted itself out a little bit, Because, again, I know it sounds like I'm being very negative about, social media, and I don't mean to be because I think it is it's a great tool. And I know I get work from it, and I think when it operates at its highest level, it's done what it's been able to do for me. Like, there's people I've, like, met online. I I just did air quotes there for the listeners.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Okay. But I then I meet them in real life. I've met these people in real life. I've done real work with them, real projects. It's not just a matter of, like, let's meet and follow each other to, like, you know, promote things in a Internet space that is, you know, liminal, and we don't really know.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Like, no. We're doing real work. I have real relationships with people whose work I truly respect. But the genesis of that relationship was on Instagram, for instance, you know, because that's how we became aware of one another. So on that level, it's an incredible tool.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So I don't mean to to make it sound like a negative thing, but I did realize. I was like, wow. I've been I'm spending too much time paying attention to stuff or looking at things or responding to you know? And so yeah. And maybe this is a good place to put out a public, hey.
Rob Lee:I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:to x y z message or request or email or I I try to be more responsive, but you get a lot of you get a lot of messages. You know?
Rob Lee:I know. No. I I I hear you. And, you know, I I think in in sort of doing this, like, the the IRL version of it, as you were you were touching on there of, like, did I meet you in person? Like, that's the thing that in part I really wanted to insert in this this season, this this this series of interviews of like more insight.
Rob Lee:But, you know, what does it look like in the real life, the people that are behind the work? And, you know, one of the things that I've kinda learned in being out there more and more, you talked about, like, chisel time. It was like, I'm gonna put this time into it. Socializing in real life is very challenging for me at times. I'm like, yo, I'm awkward.
Rob Lee:We're tall. People say weird stuff to me sometimes. I'm like,
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Well, I don't have that problem, the the tall thing.
Rob Lee:I you've seen me in person, so you know, like, a giant bear person just walking. And because they they they they'll hear me, they're like, oh, that's the Rob Lee guy, you know. I was like, yeah. I'm I'm I'm trying to drink this this whiskey real quick. Can you not, you know.
Rob Lee:And so so in it, there's almost this nice. There's almost this sort of belief that, you know, one is on and not a real real person. So if I'm gonna come out and I'm gonna pop up at someone's thing, it's like either I rock with you, but that is something that you touched on. The awareness maybe come, you know, online, but it's like did we grab a coffee? Did we chat in real life?
Rob Lee:Can we potentially collaborate on something? How can I help you? And all of these different things moving in the future. It's about relationships. And that's the thing that I've learned over the last few years because the online thing will make you think that we're all friends.
Rob Lee:We are not. You know, we we we are aware of each other, and maybe there is the prospect of of friendship and deeper connection and maybe community as people always, you know, touch on. And and that's the thing that I'm really curious of exploring, you know, in in a lot of these interviews and a lot of these conversations, you know, over the last few years. Mhmm.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. I mean, it's a it's a tricky it's a tricky space. You know? And, like, again, I I'm not by nature someone who I'm not, like, I think by eight by nature an extrovert. I would much rather spend all day every day by myself in my studio.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I'm like one of those people where it's like, if I've said less than a hundred words a day, that's a good day. I'm into that. And and often my days are that way, and it's it's fantastic. But I also will, like, for instance, you know, when you're talking about reaching out to people to do this kind of thing, these interviews, I also am well, I'm a professional, and I understand that part of me not having a day job and a boss is that I need to make sure I am doing this kind of thing and talking to people because I am genuinely interested in you know? Like, there's not a lot of people that are truly excited about their work on a day to day basis, and I do not take it for granted that I am one of those people.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So, you know, I don't think the the trope of, like, the reclusive artist who stays in their studio and, you know, wears black and doesn't talk is, like, a real like, we've all seen those, you know, movies from the early two thousands about the You got
Rob Lee:a black shirt on? That's fine. Just a
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Right. Right.
Rob Lee:Right. Right.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But, but, yeah, I mean, like, you can't, you know and I I talk to my own students about this. It's like, the idea that people are gonna chase after you indefinitely is a little silly. Like, you need to be able to be out there, and part of your job is to be able to discuss your work in a way that people understand how deeply you do care about it. You know? So while I would prefer a world where the art did all the talking for me, I know I don't actually necessarily live in that world, and maybe that's just an aspirational a place I need to get to where the things I'm creating are powerful enough that I do not have to speak about them all the time.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But I just, I haven't gotten there yet.
Rob Lee:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I I hear this thing. I I I was, I've been diving back in to up to a degree because sometimes I get tight about it.
Rob Lee:But, you know, as far as what's happening, because I had these conversations and, you know, relistening to because I did audiobooks of, Death of the Artist. The one thing that William DeRozowicz is talking about in there, he's like, oh, yeah. You know, you have to have the life style of being an author, the lifestyle of being an artist. So you have to do those sit downs and the social media and the rollout, the BTS material, and you're actually not working on the thing that you're you're doing.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And Right.
Rob Lee:That's that's the thing that you're you're touching on. It's like, if I could, like and even doing this, it's like I talk all the time now. I don't talk this much in real life. Like, oh, can we? So I want to move into this next question.
Rob Lee:I find like what you do to be somewhere between like wizardry, alchemy. It's you're a wizard, sir. You're a wizard. And and I read that there's a is this belief, you know, I read that belief is a prerequisite of ability. Is that is that true for you?
Rob Lee:Like, you need to at least believe that you could do something that looks really challenging, but you're like, alright. I think this could be done. I believe I can do it. I think I have the talent for it. And, now it's opportunity to problem solve as you were talking about with sort of maybe I'm not the person for this or what have you, but, you know, sort of when you know that I can do this.
Rob Lee:I'm not sure how, but I can do this.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, it I'm not sure it's interesting concept, the idea of whether or not belief breeds ability. You know, I think if I'm being honest, it might kinda be the other way around. You know? Because curiosity and I guess I'm I'm going bay maybe back too far to, like, essentially childhood or young adulthood. But, you know, ability, I think, probably I don't I mean, again, I don't wanna be totally contrarian, but I feel like I would guess that ability breeds belief more than the other way around in the sense that if you can find something that, a, you're curious about and then you start learning about it and doing it, practicing and building a skill set, then you realize, yeah, I can do this thing.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I believe I can probably do this other stuff too. So just like these projects where I get brought into, like, well, yeah, I'm an experienced stone carver at this point, for instance. I'm an experienced wood carver, but I don't fully know. But because I've figured out these other things, I've done this other stuff for these other reasons, with these other stakes involved. And, you know, sometimes those are a timeline situation or a size or material situation or a, like, well, we've got a building that is, you know, over a century old and it's irreplaceable, don't mess it up situation.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Those things, the ability to do those, which I guess is just the experience of having done them, that in my mind, tends to build the belief Yeah. Maybe it's the confidence, right or wrong, that I can figure out the other stuff. I'm gonna make it work. You know? In this and and when I know I don't know something, I'm like, alright.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I'm gonna ask someone who does know, who does. So that's been, I think, helpful over the last few years too. I've been I've, you know, gotten some interesting projects, and I've been able to collaborate with some other interesting, artists who who know more than I do about stuff. You know? For instance, I do a ton of wood carving.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I love that. But and recently, I've gotten a lot of projects like this. And one of them, you know, something came up recently for a local restaurant that just opened up that had something. It's a long story, but it was like a carving for something that involved a lot of restoration, and it also involved a lot of metalwork. And it's like, I understand some metal work.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I can weld, but I'm not a welder. I'm not a blacksmith. And I'm also not really a wood I'm not a cabinet maker. I'm not a I don't really understand joinery. I'm not a, you know, a marine grade boatmaker, all those things.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So this particular project involved aspects of that. I'm a carver. I'm a designer. I can do typography. I can do the the chisel work, as we say.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And then I do a lot of restoration work as well. But there were aspects where I needed to talk to my guy, you know, Mike Clarkson, who is a professional woodworker. That's what Mike does, and we've worked on other stuff together. We have a history, and I trust him. Say, hey, man.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I have this situation. I need to, you know, reinforce this thing, and, of course, Mike knows. These are the products you should use. This is the way you should do this thing. Same project.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:It needed, you know, to for this particular sign to stay together, it needed a metal hug to to keep this whole thing intact. And I was like, I'm really not the right person to do this, but my guy, Nick Irie, a professional blacksmith here in Baltimore, he knows how to do that. So I was able to bring him into that, and it gave me the confidence to say, I can do what I do. I know what I am doing. I'm gonna do what I do well and trust these other people to bring in their skill set.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So I think it's, like, the ability of either being able to do it yourself or get the professionals that do know what they're doing. Like, I feel that, like, the having that ability builds the belief, or maybe it builds the confidence to say, yeah. I can figure this out. I can tackle this or have the knowledge to know when to say, alright. This isn't gonna work.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know? That we can this particular idea for this thing, that's a great idea, but that's not gonna work. Let's pivot and do it another way that is gonna work, for everyone and where everyone's gonna be happy with the outcome.
Rob Lee:No. That's that's good. That's that's a good way to to describe it because I think I think that there there there is. I think there's definitely a sort of cyclical relationship there because I find, like, at times, if I go into something thinking, like, I'm gonna I'm gonna screw this up, inevitably, it just happens. And I can have all of the experience.
Rob Lee:Like, I've been doing this close to two decades at this point, but I still run into, like, you might screw this up. You might you might botch this or what have you. But if I go in there with sort of and maybe it's just positive affirmation too. If I go in there with sort of, like, the right mindset of, no. You you got this.
Rob Lee:You're gonna figure it out. You know? What what are the limitations? What are the parameters and all of that? So I think maybe with that that quote, it's it's almost this you almost have to start off with something.
Rob Lee:You know? You can't just go in there completely blind with no ability. It's just like
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Right.
Rob Lee:Have some baseline ability.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. I mean, I I heard someone and, again, this is probably something I saw as a clip on Instagram or something, but it was, you know, obviously, my feed for a reason. But someone talking about, like, as younger people are, like, trying to figure out their career path and, of course, ideal. I teach one day a week only over over at MICA, and I teach in the illustration department. And that was my my undergraduate degree.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And that's basically how I still work. Just happen to be working in three dimensions. So dealing with these students all the time that are trying to figure out their current path, and this person said something to the effect, and I'm paraphrasing, but basically the idea of, like, you know, we're while people are often told, you know, follow your dreams, follow the thing that you love, you know, follow the thing that maybe, you know, you believe in, for instance, that's maybe not the best advice. It's like, find what the thing that you're really good at. You You know?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Because it's pretty unlikely you're gonna be good at something you don't love, you don't really like. But if you can find the thing that you have, like, an aptitude for and hone that, you know, because there's this, like, tricky conversation between talent and skill. You know? I'm much more a proponent of, like, building a skill than a talent. Because a talent, you know, implies that this thing was just, you know, naturally gifted to you, and it's not really earned.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't work at that thing, it doesn't matter. Or if you're not willing to put in the time or the effort, then that doesn't really matter. But if you can find the thing that you are naturally, you have a knack for, you're gonna be good at that thing. You're probably going to love it and follow that as a career path as opposed to, you know, saying, well, I, you know, I really love I don't know. I wanna be a rock star, and I wanna do that because I believe that's the thing that I lose my mission in life, and I wanna be, like, you know, in a in a band.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And that might not be a reasonable path for you unless you have a very clear aptitude for that thing. So instead, maybe you'll find the thing that you're really built for and go in that direction, which might sound like laying up, but, like, not really. I mean, you're still following a path that worked for you. It's like I, you know, knew from a pretty young age I wanted to do this type of thing. And I was very lucky that, again, you know, it's not like this is the most reliable career path.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I was a child of the nineties. I had parents that were like, you could you know?
Rob Lee:Got it. You can do it.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You can go to clown college. Like, we've we've all seen the intro to, like, Portlandia. People. But the yeah. I don't with without some level of aptitude, I don't know that they would have supported that.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And they also you know, I it it it didn't come before other more serious things. Like, everyone else in my family has, like they're smart. They have real jobs. They you know, you you academics first. If you aren't on the honor roll, you are not gonna get to do this other stuff.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So that there it was still a very practical side of it. But, you know, I think I it was still a situation where I was following something that I had, a knack for
Rob Lee:Yeah.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And then therefore believed I could just figure out the things I wanted to do. And, I mean, that's kinda how the carving thing started. I saw images of stone carvings. I was just like, that looks like the hardest thing. And so it's also it's gotta be the coolest thing.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:How do we figure out that? You know, so it was just, like, having once but I had the ability, then I got the belief. That was why I became an apprentice at a stone shop. It was just like I knew I didn't know how to do this. But if I was going to do it, I wanted to be able to carve stone in a way that was professional, not someone who was, like, a hobbyist.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So it was like I needed to develop the skill set first, then apply it to the concepts, not the other way around. Someone that comes in, they have a grand idea about what they wanna do in this workshop. You know, they take a stone carving workshop somewhere, and they end up with a slightly smaller block than they started with. You know? I wanted to be the other way around where I got the proficiency first so I had the ability to apply, the techniques to the concepts that I had, the things that I wanted to say.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But it it needed to be in that order for me.
Rob Lee:It's it's akin to when I watch my action movies that I enjoy so much. Do you find, like, this villain in it is, like, Juilliard trained? You're like, oh, you actually are a real actor. No shots, but you're a real actor. You've been on a stage.
Rob Lee:You're not like, yeah, I used to lift weights, and I know how to look menacing in on film now. You know? Because or and and one one comment I wanna make, and I got two questions after this I wanna hit you with, but one comment I I also wanna make, when I think of and it just popped in my head. When I thought of the sort of skill and talent, you know, debate, I thought of this running bit that Charles Barkley was doing on, like, inside the NBA or whatever, and he was just talking about all these guys in the slam dunk contest. He's like, yeah.
Rob Lee:You need to work in your jump shot. You need to work in your jump shot because eventually, you're gonna be able to just jump over everyone. Eventually, that talent of being able to jump is not gonna keep you around. You know? You have all of this right now, but eventually, the thing that keeps you around is sort of those fundamentals, those those skills that you need of being able to play defense, being able to this sort of skill oriented stuff.
Rob Lee:That's the harder stuff to do, not the you're genetically well, not genetically, but you're gifted physically. And it's just I just think about that.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:It makes me think of and, again, it's not on our topic of visual artists here in Baltimore necessarily, but, like and maybe also because I have two young kids who are, like, super in Spider Man. But I know I heard some interview with, like, the newest Spider Man.
Rob Lee:Tom Holland?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Tom Holland. The the new and, like yeah. Like, you were just saying, oh, you know, he's a superhero, so he's not a villain. But he's the hero in this case. He's like Spider Man.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:He's a badass. Look at all the stuff he could do. Like, well, yeah. He's a trained ballet dancer.
Rob Lee:Right.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:His child from childhood, he was doing ballet. So most people, unless you're obviously, you know, you're savvy or in the industry or you're a dancer yourself, wouldn't look at Spider Man movies and think, oh, ballet. But that's why he can do that. That's why he moves that way. That's why he looks that way.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:That's why he has that command of his body is because he had that serious training as a child, through his youth. Like, that that's where it's coming from. You know, you just you don't necessarily clock it when you're watching a a web slinger on TV.
Rob Lee:A %. Absolutely. That's that's a really good distinction. So stone. Right?
Rob Lee:Unforgiving material. There's no undo button. I'm sure you I'm sure you might have an undo button or a tactic because you're a very skilled individual. I've I've seen some things turn hard things into pillows, so, you know, that's the thing. When you're you're working on a piece or or something that might not go as planned, and, obviously, I'm maybe pointing more towards your your personal work as you you touched on sort of the they're very specific things for some of the clients that you've worked for, work with, or have you.
Rob Lee:Like, you gotta you can't really there's no one do button here. You do this. So how do you when something doesn't go as planned, how do you you pivot and how do you adapt? And has there been anything that maybe it's just like, alright. This was a happy accident, if you will, that, you know, happened in the stone because it's considered so, so unforgiving.
Rob Lee:It was like it's set in stone, I said, with a smug sniff.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. I mean, honestly, there's a lot of planning that goes into it. And so the instances where, like, something could go wrong and that could be, like, the, you know, proverbial happy accident, that is something that really could only occur in my personal work because it's not being done for someone that's already approved an idea or drawing or something like that. You know? However, you know, in in that gray space, like, a lot of my even my my commission work now that's sculptural comes from clients that have seen other things I've done, then they contact me to ask, you know, if I can do something else that's in that vein.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So, like, the current commission on my carving table right now is for, you know, a collector who I've worked with I worked on something in the past. It was actually a restoration job for a sculpture they had. But it's they they basically they asked me to do a sculpture of two stuffed animals. They have two daughters, and they each have these stuffies that are, like, very unique and special to them, each one. And so I'm doing a sculpture of each one of them, you know, essentially a portrait of these two stuffed animals, which is awesome.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:It's, you know, something I've done in the past. That's something I've done for my own children. And so, you know, because those forms are a little bit fluid. Right? It's a stuffed animal, so it's only gonna be so precise.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, as I'm breaking the stone and pulling things apart and well, I think of it as pulling apart. As I'm I'm working the texture, I'm I'm not as concerned about, like, what stone does or doesn't stay at a particular point, because the the form itself is a little bit fluid. Now in this case, because these two stones are are connected, I wanted to make sure the two sculptures are from the very same stone. So I wanted to take one larger block and split it and make them both from that. And so splitting a stone is in theory, it should be a perfectly precise process.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But in practice, like, things you know, they break. Right? And so I can do all the planning in the world. I can put my cuts and my wedges in the right place and break that stone. And when I when I did it for what I wanted, luckily, it came out pretty much how it was gonna be.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But I knew the break between those two pieces is just like, that is gonna be the live edge that I have to deal with. Whatever it is, that's the union of those two pieces. Even though they're separate sculptures, they're gonna come together in this particular place. And so whatever that looks like, that is just gonna be what I work around. So in that case, it basically meant that not always, but often when I'm starting a stone sculpture, I'll kinda have, like, an origin point of, like, where I'm pulling all of my other dimensions from.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And so wherever that particular break in the stone between those two pieces was, that's where everything is deriving from. So I'm working outward from that particular point. You know, as far as other things, I do a lot of work with, like, salvaged materials. Yeah. So sometimes they present their own unique problems because I'm working with this piece of stone that I mean, all stone's old, you know, several to many millions of years old, but if these stones have been exposed or part of a building or tumbled around or broken or they've had stuff through them, like, that can sometimes present its own problem, especially if I'm making something that is supposed to be very fragile, really thin, has, you know, a lot of negative space in it.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And so, you know, I'm working on a piece recently that looks, you know, a lot like a drapery, ultimately, and it was a piece of salvage facade from, let's just say, a a local prominent university, and perhaps in our neighborhood. And so this this stone had holes in it and stuff. And so so those are things I have to work around. I have to plan my forms to miss what are gonna be negative spaces or hide them, because they had anchor holes and stuff. And then there was, like, something like, oh, I could work around this thing, or I'm like, nope.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:That's gonna go that's gonna be on the backside of the sculpture. And I'm filling it in with epoxy. You'll never see it, but I need to solidify that thing and avoid it. So I need to make sure I adjust what would be, like, my reference images to account for this one particular place where I'm like, I can't take too much away there, or it's gonna get too fragile and be, you know, not not safe, basically, to hang, or I need to, like, find a way to carve that negative space away completely so it doesn't, you know, foul what I have in mind. So it's a little bit of a kind of adjusting for the individual story of that particular stone in that case.
Rob Lee:That makes sense. Wow. I mean, this just when you hear when you hear planning, that's that's what I'm hearing. They're very exacting with sort of what the process is to account for any of those potential heavy accidents. And you you know, I got it.
Rob Lee:You know? Again, like I said, you know, on the train, you know, the carver is here, you know, he you know, down to the minute. You know? So I got this one last last question, this last real question. And it's it's just more of a a summation, You know, to the degree in which you can because I know that, you know, you have, like, sort of projects that you're working on that you can go in-depth on and sort of projects that you're like, I can't really touch on that one too too much.
Rob Lee:But what is a project in, you know, the remainder of 2025 here that you're really, like, excited for and looking forward to that you could speak on.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Mhmm. See. So yeah. So it's like you're I I have a tough time speaking about stuff that's, like, in the planning stages, both because, again, some things I I just can't, legally. Also, things like, I'm never someone who likes to talk about stuff that's in a preplanning stage because I feel like I'm more about, like, what what have you really done?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Like, Like, I don't know. I don't like people talking about, like, what they're thinking about doing. I wanna hear about what you did. But I guess I can talk about something I know I've started, but and it's you know, basically, I've started a piece right now that I you know, I did my own personal work that is actually kind of, like, my thinking on AI and AI technology a little bit because it's the one thing that it you know, I think, like, any craft person has been kind of reckoning with digital technology over the last several decades, really. And, honestly, none of it has worried me at all.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, people ask me all the time if I'm, like, worried about CNC machines or routers, like, doing work. Like, not really. That's not something I'm really competing with, and and that's just a tool. And certain times where it's like, you know, the sculptors use these things for creating their works or, like, getting a stone from 10 tons to two tons when they're going to, you know, make something manageable. You know, and if it's a carver using these things as, again, a tool to move material, I'm not so rattled by that.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, I I take a bit of a dim view on sculptors who are, like, not stone carvers, but have a robot make their entire sculpture and then call it their sculpture.
Rob Lee:The glass is down a little bit on that one. Right.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. So I might I might I might, you know, shrug a little at that. But the advent of AI in its generation of art, like iterative AI generative AI and how it's creating the imagery and doing it in three-dimensional space, and that being something that itself can be taken from, you know, two d we've all seen the two d things, of course. You know? But that same thing exists in a three-dimensional space, then you can send that thing to a robot that will then knock that out.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And it's like, so at what point are we even really still making the artwork when the entirety of the process can be taken over by an artificial intelligence where both the creative process and the physical fabrication process is removed from the human. So there's a piece I'm working on right now that I'm, you know, really excited about and just haven't had as much time to put into it lately as I'd like because of other work, where I'm kind of thinking about what that looks like and what it means to me and, like, how I get to do this work physically with my hands and with you know, where I always thought of the work with my hands. I'm like, I'm still also using my brain for this because that's gonna get replaced too. And so how long will I be able to do how long will we as just a species? Like, we get to do this work before the computers get to tell us, like, you know what?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You're really not the best at this. Let we got this. And so I'm like, but maybe I should get it in now while I still have the ability to, like, think of and fabricate this sculpture myself on my own before ultimately this technology that we have created betrays us and says, no. We got this part. Because I've I've seen a lot of writings like this where people talk about AI taking all these jobs, and someone's like, well, take the bullshit.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Sorry. I don't know if that that's gonna have to get edited out. Sorry, Lily. But, like, take do do my laundry, wash my car, walk my dog. Like, do that AI.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Don't don't take my editing job. Don't take my create don't take the jobs of the creatives that actually like our work. You know? And so that that's the first kind of technological change that's happened in my lifetime I can think of, really certainly in my career, that has me rattled, and in particular for my students. Like, they're much younger.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Like, I'm I'm probably okay. I'm pretty ensconced with you know, I'm mid career, I guess, but, you know, that's taking away the earliest, simplest work where younger artists cut their teeth. What's gonna happen to them? Where are they gonna get that experience? You know?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Because other tech can do it so much quicker and cheaper, and it's already there.
Rob Lee:No. It's it's it's really one. Look, I I'm I need to see some we we gotta talk again because I, you know, I I I work in the, you know, IT and sort of Mhmm. You know, playing around with AI for a very long time or you know? And, yeah, you know, I I see some of the stuff they could do with audio, and there are a couple thousand episodes of this voice out there.
Rob Lee:So I'm like, yo. Just just imagine. There's, you know, there's another election coming up. The truth in his heart here asking for your vote. It's like, that's not me at all.
Rob Lee:Mhmm. I can use it creatively to get myself out of things too. I could just lie and just, like, I don't know. I'll be, yeah, Yeah. I I I think you you touched on it as as I as I close out before I hit you with these rapid fire ones.
Rob Lee:I think you you touched on a really key thing right there. Like, it's something that you can make with your hands. I think that's a big piece, but the mind part, it's just they're not they can't, at least where we're at now, they they can't think the way that we think. It's you might be able to make a facsimile, but, you know, whatever comes out of here, they can't replicate that. It's just not there.
Rob Lee:They could try to do an imitation of it. You know? They can do some sort of you know, elevate it really technically, but it's like, it's not there. The imperfections and all of the stuff that makes these human things human, makes the art the art that comes from the mind, that comes from, you know, the person, the human.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. I mean, that's that's that's fundamental to the question is, like, to what degree I think, really, ultimately, the question is, like, to what to what degree do we care? Right? Because I think that was always the question before in terms of the CNC versus a hand done material and stuff. It's just like, really, it's the user, that's making like, meaning the the client, I guess, who's defining, like, whether or not they want something that's done in that way.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But now where this technology is so ubiquitous, so available. Right? It's doesn't they're they're putting these things out. They're making it more. It it's like, well, what what do we care?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:How does that does that get regulated? And, you know, I think it's one of those things. It's only really gonna be regulated by people. You know, what do they wanna see in their lives? You know?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Like, other I think of other artists and illustrators and producers or publishers and stuff that have come out and said, we're not working with this stuff for our, you know, whatever our our particular, you know, program of materials is. And if we find out that any of the artists we work with are using this stuff, we're not gonna work with them again. That may be the only way this kind of thing is handled just by essentially, you know, end user intention. Do you want stuff that's speed by, you know, AI or not? I think that's kinda what it comes down to because Yeah.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, sooner or later, something that's learning that fast. It's like, I think we don't really think about what, you know, iterative means and how how fast it really works. You know, it's gonna in in capacity and ability, the those things will catch up real fast. Absolutely.
Rob Lee:You you you feed it with stuff, and I I see it on sort of the the digital and the the sort of media related, like, work. You know, you see it with you know, there's some digital songs that are up for war. It's just like your your awards are starting to come in question if you're allowing us. There's a certain degree that's acceptable as far as I'm enhancing sort of the audio, but this was done by a musician, not beep boop beep, here's a song, you know, or, you know, with, I think, even the, Academy Awards this year, one of those movies, Brutalist, gotten a little heat of you made an accent that was not done by the actor so it could actually sound like the actor. You know?
Rob Lee:They they did some audio did they did some digital manipulation of Adria Brody's voice to sound more like this particular accent, this, Hungarian accent. And Really? That comes out and it's like, it is called acting. Right? You know?
Rob Lee:It's like, you're the bad at acting,
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:but at accents. Well, I mean, the the thing is, like again, this could be an entire other episode with people that are more expert than me, but the thing that I again, from the, you know, when I wear my professor cap, when I'm talking to my students, I'm like, what I guess, what is the difference, really? And and it's, again, it's organic material. It's like, do we want art that comes out of computers, or do you want art that comes out of meat, ultimately? Because what we're doing in a school is not dissimilar to what we're asking these machines to do.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Because I sit there with a group of students, and I say, I want you to think of a bunch of different ways to do this thing. We're gonna call those things thumbnails, But I'm gonna want you to use all the other information I have hopefully presented to you and you have hopefully listened to because my lectures are just so fascinating. You're hanging on my every word and you're absorbing it with a % accuracy and you're taking all the information in. You're synthesizing it in your younger, nimbler brain, and you're gonna come up with a bunch of different iterations. Oops.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Sorry. Let's call them thumbnails. Of ideas that you're gonna present to me, and then I'm gonna sort out what I think are the best ones. I'm like, oh my what the what what's the, you know, what is fundamentally the difference? We're asking them to that's how we learn.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:That's how we come up with new ideas. And then hopefully, every now and then, someone comes up with something that's truly unique. Or, well, ideally, each one of these students comes up with a voice that's truly unique. But it's it is a very similar process. And so I've spent a ton of time going in circles in my own head of, like, where where where is the distinction in here?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:And is is it just that fundamentally, organic versus inorganic? You know? I don't know. And so that's why I think it's it really is something that comes down to, like, what do we wanna see in our lives, and do we care where it came from?
Rob Lee:So one of the takeaways I take from that is that your lectures are the prompts. It's like, as you're listening to everything, you're not doing what I do, and I'm typing in there, I was like, alright, as I previously said. He said you didn't get it right this first time. Redo, integrate, now, now. So so now we got off our tech So let's let's move in here into these these rapid fire questions.
Rob Lee:I got a few of them for you. They're not crazy, but definitely speed is key here. Here's the first one. On average, let's say most recently, how many hours of sleep do you get generally?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I'm having six.
Rob Lee:Okay. You're you're in the same ballpark, my guy. I'm working up at four something like, oh, man. I'm trying to get out there. I I I know
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:it should be more.
Rob Lee:I I mean, look. After after I hit forty, it's like, how many hours, honey? Word?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I'm a hit 40.
Rob Lee:Favorite color. You you were touching on, like, these these midtones earlier, and I see that you're wearing an an olive or gray shirt currently.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:I know. Yeah. This I mean, well, yeah. I guess it's probably a sign that this is, like, outside of my normal wheelhouse of somewhere between gray and black. And this is, yeah, olive.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:But, yeah, I mean, I'm like I'm a sucker for gray and also which I know is not technically a color and all that kind of thing. But, you know, it's not oh, there's all of that. It's a value. It's not a hue.
Rob Lee:I debate it all the time. That is my favorite color. I debate it all the time. Pretty good.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:When it comes to all my stuff and then, again, I come down to, like, practical stuff where again, and this isn't being very rapid fire of me, but it comes down to, like, what we're kinda talking about off mic before. Everything does kinda come down to, like, function to what I'm wearing when I'm working, but everyone always says, well, shouldn't you be, like, a painter wear white or light colored stuff because you're working in stone, you're getting dusty all the time. I said, no. Absolutely not. Because those lighter colored things get stained really easily.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So even though I'm working in a material that fundamentally creates a light colored dust that would settle on me, obviously, I'm wearing almost black or gray stuff all the time. The shirts that I wear you know, I own 20 of these shirts that I buy through my buddy who creates apparel because they're a heather gray blend. And when you get a hole in something that's dark, unless it is very, very tight to your skin, you don't see that hole. It's like cut little holes in it. Also, the only kind of stains I encounter on an average day are from basically machine oil from the tools that I'm using, and those are dark.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So if I'm wearing dark colored things, they're gonna last forever. And to the degree that they get dirty, well, they get dusty. And dusty is not dirty, as I've explained to my wife a thousand times. Just because I'm dusty, I'm not dirty, and dust washes off. Machine oil does not.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So, yeah, my my color palette tends to be pretty limited in terms of, like, dark grays, heather materials, you know, just for that kind of functional reason.
Rob Lee:Dig it. Dusty is I wanna use that distinction. It's just like, man, the place is a little dusty. It's fine.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Not dirty. Dusty.
Rob Lee:So here here's the last one. I'm always curious about, just the things that that, that people do, like the real life sort of thing. So what what is your, like you know, it's a weeknight, you know, as we're recording this. What is that go to meal for you on a weeknight?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:What did my kids not eat before they took it off the table and I gotta put it away? I mean, honestly, I wish it was, like, a sexier answer than that. And, again, maybe we were talking about this off mic before, but, like, you know, not to, like, deglamorize it or become unwizardly as you mentioned. Like, it's not like the sexy life happening over here. It's like, what did what where what's happened with their food?
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Alright. Get those kids. Make sure they're fed. When is bedtime? I'm gonna eat my dinner standing over or at or near a sink or a countertop, because that's what's left on their plate, or I can microwave this quickly.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:You know, but it's, like, cool because it's a countertop that I made out of stone that I polished myself. So I try to keep, like, the cup half full in that regard, but that that might be the go to meal. That said, I should make the point that, like, I am not a starving artist. As you can obviously, see, my wife, Amanda is an exceptional cook. And so, like, she, you know, knows I have a, you know, pretty pretty big love of eating.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So it's whatever you know? It's not that I can't cook. It's just that I don't have, like, a real love for it in the way that she does, nor do I have a talent or skill, as we discussed before, those things that she absolutely does. So, you know, there's almost always, like, something pretty awesome in my house that she's made. It's just that often the opportunity to enjoy those things doesn't exist in the way that it deserves, usually because we're just shuffling from, like, one thing, whether it's a after school activity, a club, a soccer practice, a concert, or something like that, you know, to the next thing before when is bedtime when I'm, like, literally off duty.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:It becomes a little tricky.
Rob Lee:I mean, the visual of you eating over a saying, I just see you just turning the hat backwards like it's a switch, like, Stallone.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Oh, right. Yeah. And not trying to hit the faucet with it. But, again, soft brim for everything.
Rob Lee:So that's kinda it. Thank you for for coming back on to the podcast and
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Thanks for
Rob Lee:having me. Time. Yeah. Absolutely. And, in these final moments, just, you know, I know you're not doing the social media, but just tell folks where they can, check you out.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:Yeah. I'll be back on it, and I keep it simple on social. So, yeah, it's just I'm at sebastian moderano, which I know is a a mouthful, but I'm sure you'll have it in the show notes. But it's easier to find me just online. I have a website, also made by my gracious and talented and skilled wife, just sebastianworks.com.
SEBASTIAN MARTORANA:So I feel like that's the easiest thing. You think Sebastian, he works. That's it. So that's the easiest way to find me.
Rob Lee:And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Sebastian Martirana for coming on back onto the podcast. And for Sebastian Martirana, I am Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture, and community in and around your neck of the woods. You just have to look for it.
