Revealing Colorful Portraiture and Pop Media Paintings: A Conversation with Artist Jay Delnegro

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Unknown
Only a couple months down. I think I recognize.

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Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth of this art. I am your host, Rob Lee, and I am thrilled to introduce my next guest. Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, this artist specializes in eye catching, colorful portraiture, pop media paintings and digital artwork inspired by comics, cartoons, social issues, his childhood and the soulful tunes of 1990s R&B. His expressive pieces of art aim to grasp what is familiar while reaching for so much more.

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Rob Lee
Please welcome Jay del Negro. Welcome to the podcast. That is it. It's great. It's great, by the way.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Yes, it came from Facebook back in the day where you could put whatever you want as a name. I had a friend who was first name actual first name. The last name was no last as in no last name. So I was like, Ooh, that's cool. First it was El Blanco, but like, let's let's be real. I'm a little fair skinned here.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And I was like, I don't want to draw that attention to myself. So I put my black fist in the air and it came down Negro. And J was literally the letter J to represent my first name, but J.

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Rob Lee
So not no relation to the any to use another basketball reference.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I was always told by the lineage of my family was in Portugal. So possibly.

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Rob Lee
No I. So I'll share this with you because we were having a conversation before we got into it. You know, you know my original stage name because, you know, I'm a I'm from the era where you have a stage name like Shawn Michaels and Amos. No, Shawn Michaels. It was like Michael Higginbottom. Tom Cruise is not. Tom Cruise.

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Rob Lee
Is Thomas me part of the fourth, Right. So it was not a good name. It was not a good stage name. It's like Rob. Good times.

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Jay Delnegro 3
It is. Depending on the work you do.

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Rob Lee
I change it very quickly when I in terms of the podcast phase, I was like, It's just Rob Lee. It's a version of my name.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Good job. Good job.

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Rob Lee
So let's talk a bit about your work in this sort of like introductory way. Could you could you share with this like some of those like early points when you realize you were interested in, you know, art, creativity? Like what was what were some of those, like early moments where you're like, Hey, I saw this comic when I was younger.

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Rob Lee
Hey, I saw this music video that really pop, that is cartoon, but just something that really sticks out from your youth that you kind of look back at. It's like, that's an early formative point for me.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So I would say I was probably six seven and I've always like hung out with older kids. So these kids, to my knowledge, were at least nine, ten and they were brothers. Maleek and Jamal, Malik and Jamal were considered the weird kids in the neighborhood because like, they were weird kids, but they were immensely talented artists and like, they could draw cartoons, like you could only imagine in 1987, this is like, I want in on this cartoon stuff.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And I just like held them all the time because I wanted to learn how to draw these cartoons. Like they because like to me they were the pinnacle of what like youth was because they can create anything from their imagination and just put it on paper. Maybe had it. And so I followed them around and held them. And it was like, give me lessons.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Like, this was this was the teach me some moves from the last dragon. Like I was I was I was there on them. I was I was demanding of it. And then it kind of worked out where they just took regular one local paper throw line down the middle and on one side they will work. They start up with a sheet over line and then I would I would follow it on my side.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And that's how I learned to I don't know if that's how I learned to draw, but that was my first introduction to a lesson around drawing. And then eventually, like I became the art to write to my to my age group and the kids in my class like I was I was I was the kid in my grade who drew.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So if you wanted a poster or flier or a cover for your book report or whatever, like you would come in my direction and I would draw whatever you would ask for. And then around like middle school was flipped a little bit because in elementary ages I didn't have any competition, which is neat. Yeah. And no one paid me too much attention except for like my friends because I was just like, that's what we did in our circle.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Then in middle school, I had competition because I went to like a feeder school. So there were like other great kids of different things, Like I didn't go there. I just went there because I was a good student. But there were like, fantastically talented kids there that did other things. And I had a rival who was my arch nemesis and like and I knew, like, so the thing I believe about myself because, like, I've got a good eye and I learned a word recently and I can't get rid of it.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I'll share that. And I've got a good eye, Like I can tell like where talent is and where it can go. And I've always had this and it was basically three kids in our grade that can draw myself, Robert and Michael. Michael was the best out of us. Michael was also like very humble. Robert was the least talented out of us, but had the biggest mouth and most bravado.

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Rob Lee
Sounds very familiar.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Robert was my he was my art, and Robert pushed me more than anyone ever did before because I'm inside. I'm fuming because I'm better than this kid. But this kid knows how to speak up for himself. So that's kind of where I became in and out of art. Like after that point, I wasn't I wasn't really, like, into it as much.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I got into other kid things, but I've always kind of drawn in doodle stuff like that.

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Rob Lee
I almost want to like, take off the mask and reveal that I am that Robert from.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Did you remember the gentleman we mentioned of of of air? Yeah. He looks like he could be related to them as well. So it is, it is the coincidence of it all is just like it's really funny. Yeah.

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Rob Lee
Because we're in the same age group that's going to be like, oh yeah, we used to have smoke, but we do. And what was, what was the word that you said? You've been.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Amateurish. So sometimes I see things and I just can't put my, my finger on like why it's not compelling, whether it's like actual art or just fashion, whatever it is, just like, what's the word for it? I can't figure out. And one day someone said amateurish, and that word has never left me. It it is immediately identifiable is like this is someone who might have a love for what they're doing, but they don't know what they're doing just yet.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So I see a lot of that out there. And in seventh, sixth grade, Robert's stuff was amateurish. I just didn't know it.

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Rob Lee
That that makes a lot of sense. And and I have a subquestion for this because I was one of those kids that, you know, was a draw, was doodling, doing all of the different stuff. And then I had a moment where I applied to an art school and they told me that my my work was childish and I was like, I'm literally sitting here drawing four pages of X-Men comics, just freehand superheroes.

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Rob Lee
I was like, I'm 13, what do you want? And so did you ever get to, like because of drawing and kind of being there in school and being in that sort of click, You ever get into any, like, trouble growing up of like, why are you drawing this? Like, what are you drawing? Like, why don't you work on your test?

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Jay Delnegro 3
No, because I got other interest. Like, I was also like I was influenced by middle school and especially like I was influenced by like this was this middle school was an opportunity that was always sold to me, like an opportunity like no other. And it was diverse. So I'm from Baltimore and I went to school in my neighborhood.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I grew up in Cherry Hill, so everybody it was a homogenous school group in Cherry Hill. But I went to this other middle school across town and it was just everybody. So I wanted to meet all the friends because my influence was like in the movies, these kids do like kid things. So in order to get attention, I told jokes.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So I got in trouble for telling jokes, not for the doodling. The doodling was, in fact, I'll tell the story. Sixth grade. I was always told I had a cousin in my class, but I've never told her name and I never ask. I'm just like, All right, I got a cousin, whatever. She was in my class and I found out she was my cousin because she told my mom's cousin about the funniest boy she had ever met.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And his name is Jay. Yeah. And then it got back to my mom, and then it was like, Oh, that's your cousin. That's how.

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Rob Lee
That. That is like, reveal yourself. No, no, no. We're going to go through this back channel. So this person says, this person? Yeah, that's I remember. And that was I had this sort of situation where I wasn't doodling, but I had sort of the remnants of using a pencil. I had a I'm a not a pacifist, but I'm a very aware of my size.

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Rob Lee
And even then and I was like, I am very patient, you know, And some kid, it was just popping off and eventually threw a trash can on me.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Oh.

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Rob Lee
And I just remember the remnants of the pencil shape. And I was like, this this is like the confetti of what I work on all day. And and, you know, situations happened and situations were taken care of. And I remember they put me in my brother's classroom, who was a loud mouth, put it this way. It's like hewing Riley in I am Huey.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Okay.

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Rob Lee
So my brother's just like, Yo, my brother just beat up your brother to the boy's sister who's in his class. And I was like, Yo, this is wild. I was like, I felt like, sad. I was like, all bent out of shape and, you know, I just, like, it's just something like those. Those years are those those growing up years of very interesting.

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Rob Lee
I was like, I just want to be the quiet kid that's drawing and trying to read these with Scholastic.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Oh, wow. Wow.

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Rob Lee
I am 38 or so.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Wow.

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Rob Lee
Yeah. So in it I'm reading, you know, so I want to give you space to sort of, you know, describe like what your work is for those who don't kind of like, get it like, you know, you know, post-production all but those who don't really get it. I see, you know, various influences from, you know, comics to cartoon social issues.

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Rob Lee
I even see like some nineties R&B in there. So talk about that because you're already talked about childhood a bit. So describe your work to define folks out there.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Oh, I wish I knew really, I am. I like to think of myself as as someone who can kind of do things, but I don't think of myself as like those things aren't entirely me. I was just a part of it. So when it comes to like painting or drawing and it used to be photography and it used to be pretty t shirt, like it's just like stuff, Dude, I'm sorry if it's not inspiring.

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Jay Delnegro 3
It's just like stuff is stuff comes out. I'll work on a piece and I'll look at it and I'm impressed by it because I'm like, I can't believe I did that because I don't even know how I did that. And then I'll try to replicate it in then I can't. It'll be something else that I don't know how I did.

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Jay Delnegro 3
In fact, in fact, the way I got into portraiture is through fear. Initially I started doing pop art because it's simple in terms of what the image is, right? It's pretty much solid colors unless you incorporate some solid shapes and colors and actually incorporate some sort of shadow work. And my feeling is like, I want the work to be clean.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I want the lines to be clean. I want the scale to be correct. I just I just want it to be clean. But it takes a lot of work to get clean. Pop art. You've got to spend time with it. And I did not have the patience to pull them off like I thought it would be. Like I was influenced by a guy to see Matt Corrado.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And Matt got it right. Those those, those guys you so much vibrance in color in their work. And I was like, ooh, dark, heavy black lines were out lines. Ooh, I want to do I want to have a pop of explosion of color, recognizable characters. I want to take the things I enjoy and just updated and give it a now space.

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Jay Delnegro 3
But I just wasn't good enough that it really wasn't. So I was frustrated and put the paint brushes and everything down for a while until I saw a guy. I think his credit goes by Detour or three or four out of Colorado. This gentleman does portraiture, but he uses color. Uses color to to to show tone and light and shadows and everything you can think of he does is a big mural.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Is he actually did something on I think Charles Street recently for baseball season Charles North Avenue. I think that's where something happened. It was like a collaborative thing with a local artist, but it's like a kid swinging a bat. Like that's him if you ever see that. But like I saw him do a video of, like, painting Will Smith on just like a piece of paper.

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Jay Delnegro 3
This was the old Wilson before, you know, couple years ago, just regular. Well, I think that the reference was from like the space movie he did with his son where they crashed on the planet. Oh, after. After. Yeah. He just he just painted shapes or ages, shapes of color and filled it in. And I thought to myself, like, ooh, I could do that.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And I've always avoided portraiture because I didn't want to fail at it, not looking like the person that it's supposed to be. Because then to me that's like, that's not that's not art. But the color was was a good idea because I wasn't good at matching color either. I wasn't good at like getting the right tones of skin because like, I don't know, you know, there's but brown and red and purple are some of the hardest colors to like just blend and make and make cohesive.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So in primarily black people. So I'm going to try blue color and I failed successfully the first time out because it didn't look like the picture that I was referring to. But it did have like the feeling in there. And so I tried it again and I failed even more successfully. And then I try to the third time and then I was successful and it was just like in a matter of four days, I went from I don't know if I'm ever going to paint again to I can do this.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And then I fell in love with doing portraiture because it gave me the chance to say, You are good at this in a way that I've never felt about the art I had done before.

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Rob Lee
Wow. Well, so, so. So tell me a little bit more about the that failure component. And I want to frame it in this way now I'm just free jazz and it right now just because is I finally I've watched these fitness videos and things of that nature and I've had sort of my own instances where I'm doing something that's a little further outside of my depth, and then I learn something from the inevitable failure because it's like it's this new ground.

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Rob Lee
It's like it could succeed. But I want to view it in this way or like I may not be able to push. That weight is too much for me at this point, but eventually I'll get there. Talk about the importance of sort of those instances where you fail and like what he what you get from it. Like, I would imagine you're learning from it as you describing there, like failing successfully, which I really like the way that was described.

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Rob Lee
But to me, like a whole failure works within sort of your process and being someone who tries different things.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I think when I feel like it's absolutely like just it's a learning experience as the best teacher out there, but with with art and specifically painting white paint with acrylics, like the failures, you can always work on top of work with. For instance, like I painted something recently where there was a face that had just a face that I had a photo of and I just wanted to work on and I just wanted to throw colors in that don't make sense.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And I just wanted the shading around, you know, the eyes just to show depth to the face. And it's not flat. And problem was, I told the canvas way before I started. So the contrast didn't work against the other colors that were in the face and kept looking at it. And I hated it. It was just like, This is not it.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I need to do something else. So I just matched the areas up just so that they still appear and just painted a whole new portrait on top of it. And now that portrait has so, you know, took the masking off. And now, like that portrait has feeling like it's a story and it's layered. So oftentimes with failure, there's there's a story associated with it within like the muscle memory of doing the work because like with painting, like you said before, like, I don't remember how I do things, but like, I can't explain it, but I do remember, like, I can get back to a point where this works.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So specifically with failure in painting, I always look at it as like a chance to be better at something and see it in a way I didn't initially see it like it won't ever be that piece, but I can work it into something just as good.

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Rob Lee
That's great. That's great. I you put your you're putting it out. I'm picking it up, as corny as that that might sound, but I'm definitely on the same page and yeah, like, you know, I tried this thing and I've mentioned it on here a few different times and I think it's been about probably seven years. So one of the things I was into when I was as a kid was the painting right?

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Rob Lee
And I got in trouble for getting no paint on my glasses when I was working on a big mural for a school project, you know, But that's what, boy, you know, you're not that Dad died. Number one, glasses since I was three. So I'm a bespectacled individual. That's just my personality, right? So I dove back into painting, probably like maybe 31 or whatever rights had been, you know, 20 years.

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Rob Lee
And in I'm looking at the paintings, I have them in the recording studio now. So old art with current art, right, or current work. And you know, I have five of them in here and you know, two other ones. And it's this goal for that year was to do one painting every month, you know, And as we talked about before we got started, I'm a volume guy.

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Rob Lee
I'll do that. And, you know, I gave one to my partner. They gave her one that she has she really likes. And it was like astrologically related. And I had one for myself that I like and so on. But the ones that are in the studio, they're here intentionally. And then I'm looking at them like, This is okay work, especially as a person doing interviews with artists and like you guys are much more talented than that.

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Rob Lee
You guys doing that? I'm doing this. Give me the microphone. But as I look at the paintings, it's like I can see sort of the feeling that's in them. I can remember that. And each one has a different thing and I'm looking at the first one right now that I did those like, I don't know how I did that.

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Rob Lee
I don't know how blended that it happened. It came out. It's just like I was able to express whatever that sort of creative language I was trying to do in that moment on that canvas. And I find the same thing happens as many of us were in high school. Yes, I tried to rap for a while. Those that passed, and I remember I was one time one of my friends used to make fun.

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Rob Lee
I was like, yeah, you're you got the punch lines. It's like it's like Donald Glover's first album. It's like Child is going to be his first album. And as you remember, it is like put on a beat. And I started freestyling and my friend is like in shock. Like, you're really good, actually. And I was like, I could never do this again cause I don't know how I did it.

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Jay Delnegro 3
I don't know how I did it.

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Rob Lee
So it just makes me think of that. And sometimes even with, you know, doing like live shows, as I was talking about a moment ago, when you're stretching sort of the boundaries of what you're doing, like I'm better in sort of this capacity being able to talk. You have the the glass frame of protection, but you know, in front of folks, what have you, there's no safety that there's no time to kind of correct yourself.

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Rob Lee
And it's public speaking and we all know how that works. But, you know, I always feel like this is this is trash. I did not do well. And people say, man, that was so great. That was amazing. That was like, you didn't see me mess up there. No, I didn't. You didn't mess up anything. And it's just something about that.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So I have this is Snapple fact. I have been on TMZ lab like non Topps. Wait, wait. Yeah, I've been on TMZ lab like, nine times. How this happened, Was it our latest round here to how this happened was I responded to a tweet. They sent me a message like, hey, you want to be on TV? And every month since June of last year, they reached out to me.

00;21;00;26 - 00;21;26;04
Jay Delnegro 3
It was like, Hey, you want to be on TV? Basically commenting on a story they gave me, right? It's not for you. Just like 15 seconds, whatever. I talk to the host every now and again, whatever. And I used to show it off to my family and friends. Like, every time, like, look at me. I'm on TV and I'm, like, so critical of, like, what I'm doing because I used to write down a script and have notes ready for what I wanted to say because I'm I'm working on the segment and I want to present myself.

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Jay Delnegro 3
And then like the last four times, I'm just like, I don't care what I read. Whatever they say to talk, I'm just gonna have something to say. And it's been so great. And so the art related point is like, so sitting here when, when or I'm sitting in now to do TMZ, except my phones are to the right of me on the wall over here it's just like part Yeah so they can it's pointing at that wall.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Yeah. And so Harvey, the host from TMZ was like they laughed at whatever I had to say. And it was like, Did you paint that? I got to talk about my art in front of 3 million people on a random Tuesday for, like ten or 9 seconds. But the failure was, I never said money. I was just J from Baltimore.

00;22;09;26 - 00;22;33;05
Rob Lee
I am I go back. I want I want the city college. Right. You know, since you said you have to do that thing where you're from, Baltimore, you have to say what high school you go on to, right? And so I remember upon graduating, that's one of those things where supposed to be really huge, and I'm the last kid that's done, the rap, the writing, you know, I was another thing I was doing and, you know, some some drawing, but mostly the rap and the writing.

00;22;33;07 - 00;22;55;05
Rob Lee
And I was really into like wrestling, especially like, like CW and stuff. And I did some goofy pose when I got my diploma and I was like, Oh, so bad. And I was like, I wish I could have that one back in some of those instances. And I think when you're doing something creative, you have a few more of those, especially when you getting more opportunities to do those things.

00;22;55;07 - 00;23;17;09
Rob Lee
And you know, I'm not one of those dudes that do a lot of promoting of myself or even, you know, I think I talk about myself enough on this podcast, but I don't share my story too often. I think the people that listen to it, they kind of get it and that's how I knew almost immediately I was like, No, Jay is this dude without with minimal information.

00;23;17;10 - 00;23;20;10
Rob Lee
I was like, Jay is this dude. I want to be at a rock with him on this level.

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Jay Delnegro 3
Okay?

00;23;22;04 - 00;23;40;20
Rob Lee
You kind of know, you kind of be able to read people. And I've done all the interviews, as you described earlier. All the interviews, all of them. So I want to step back and people are going to going to love this. I want to step back in, talk talk a little bit to me about some of the some of the themes that are showing, because I heard, you know, sort of the pop art stuff that that was in there.

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Rob Lee
And again, I'm still the comics. The comics in the cartoons. I need more of that because, you know, I'm a nerd, so more of that.

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Jay Delnegro 3
So I was the Jim Leigh run of X-Men superfan. I used to go to Japanese down the harbor to get the trading cards and the comics after school. My friends, that the core group of kids I hung out with, they kind of drew or comic nerds or what have you. They switched the image. I was on board for Youngblood Savage Dragon.

00;24;17;13 - 00;24;39;22
Jay Delnegro 3
Erik Larson was my favorite artist at the time because his work was simple and done in it and I could just see it and I believe in it like that. That was my window of comics or whatever that was 92, 93. Like that was I was all in the comics. X-Men had t greatest show ever. Like, what are you doing here?

00;24;39;22 - 00;25;13;24
Jay Delnegro 3
I know the storylines. I just read this book. Like, I know what's happening like this. This is amazeballs, you know, like Power Rangers. As I go from eighth grade to ninth grade, like, that was like, huge, like the white Ranger side. They're like, what? This is this is the greatest television I could ever happen. In the same time, though, I'm like, hiding it because I don't want to be that nerd is only the cool kid that that whoops in like, like everybody knows and like, likes and isn't thought of for being, like, the nerd.

00;25;13;24 - 00;25;40;25
Jay Delnegro 3
So there was always like a struggle. And I think in the work that I do now, especially especially not necessarily the popular, but the work that I do now, like the color, the flare, and then the realism. Like it's, it's, it's that same like struggle within was like, I want I want to let you know that like, I'm good with what I'm doing and I'm actually really good at how I'm doing it.

00;25;40;27 - 00;26;02;07
Jay Delnegro 3
And I hope you pay attention because you see something that feels familiar to you, whether it's the face, the posing, the lighting. But I'm really hoping like the color because like they take motifs, like a lot of my paintings, like it's dark going dark, Like that's that's the color palette. Like it's dark, cleaned up. Like that's just where it starts from.

00;26;02;12 - 00;26;34;22
Jay Delnegro 3
There's purple. Purple is the the most pervasive color in ultimate purple. And it's because of dark. Dark because like he he didn't know what he was doing, but he was doing the hell out of it the whole time. Like he was dark. Was the dude just trying to raise a kid? You know? I mean, just out there trying to make a way and doing the best he could and bumbling the whole way through cargo, though.

00;26;34;22 - 00;26;42;02
Jay Delnegro 3
But yeah, like, that's really where like the cartoons are now. That, that's like the structure of the power of my use.

00;26;42;05 - 00;26;42;20
Rob Lee
For.

00;26;42;20 - 00;27;00;26
Jay Delnegro 3
A piece. It's just like got to what is it like hex codes that com or something like that and just throw in a combination of colors and it's like that reminds me of Ducktales or whatever. And that's going to be the basis for the portraiture. Like the color, the colors in there is based off of some childhood memory.

00;27;00;28 - 00;27;30;08
Rob Lee
I mean, I think I am that Robert teased. It's just like talking to the artist version. Oh, I love it. I love it, I love him. And. And you've given me new rapid fire questions to ask you now because I am a troll when it comes to the back end of it. But yeah, I think, you know, like I did branding for a little bit, branding and marketing, those are my first job out of college and apply some of those, those tactics to it and it's really corny, is really simple, but I think when done well, it's like, Oh, the people who will get it will get it.

00;27;30;08 - 00;27;51;20
Rob Lee
And looking at, you know, my logo and all of that stuff, when I do these sort of interviews in different cities, I try to take from the sports iconography of, let's say I'm doing interviews in Philly, right? Obviously they are sports town. You know, Baltimore is too, but Philly is definitely a sports town. And their major three sports teams have had a lot of success in the last few years.

00;27;51;22 - 00;28;13;05
Rob Lee
So it's like, okay, kind of makes sense for me to kind of take maybe my logo and maybe use this as the color palette for these Philly interviews. Maybe that'll crossover, maybe they'll get it. Or if I'm doing interviews and you get into the football season, whereas they're purple and gold and for the Ravens and things of that nature, or if I'm doing anything Orioles related and I love the Orioles, you know, having that sort of color color scheme there.

00;28;13;05 - 00;28;29;24
Rob Lee
But you know, I think when opportunities present themselves, you know, to kind of like combine different things, it's like, let's play with it, let's see what we can do. Let's let's try to stretch it out. And hearing that, you know, cartoon references are popping up in your work and in some of the most subtle ways were done expertly.

00;28;29;27 - 00;28;38;01
Rob Lee
Just I've shown my teeth the entire podcast. So yeah, I dig it and love Doc we dug yeah.

00;28;38;03 - 00;28;43;19
Jay Delnegro 3
I mean, if you don't like puppies, so, you know, you just you're bad person. That's kind of it.

00;28;43;21 - 00;29;14;13
Rob Lee
So, so to talk to me about, you know, being an artist here in Baltimore now, like as an adult and doing the work that you're you're doing now, like what are like what is a sort of a win, a sort of challenge of being here because it is this sort of newfound awareness. I hear more and more people talking about the arts and culture and someone like yourself, someone like you, like myself, and different folks have been saying it for years, Hey, we need to look at these creatives here and these artists here.

00;29;14;13 - 00;29;25;10
Rob Lee
They do a great work. Check them out. I mean, now people seem to be aware of it. So from your vantage point, what are some of the like the winds of being an artist here and what are some of the challenges being an artist here?

00;29;25;12 - 00;29;54;00
Jay Delnegro 3
I will speak to the challenges first and for me, me, myself personally, the three of us. Like we don't know anyone, right? We are a complete outsider from the creative community in Baltimore. So being on Billboard was just like, Here's an opportunity for somebody to actually see me in the city. I've done some showcases and some exhibitions in different spots like this small like I'm not I'm not grand by any means.

00;29;54;00 - 00;30;16;01
Jay Delnegro 3
I think of myself as just a dude who can paint. So if I get an opportunity to show, yes, I'm going board, whatever, but I don't I don't know the people. Right? Just last week I had a conversation with the curator for the motor House and because I submitted and I got rejected. Right. But in the rejection, they they do aftercare.

00;30;16;01 - 00;30;34;12
Jay Delnegro 3
It was like, if you want to talk, we can talk about it. And that conversation was just so vital to me because I didn't know like I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what I was supposed to write in and say and and speak to specifically so I could be awarded, you know, the the, the, the I can't remember what it's called, but a residency or whatever.

00;30;34;15 - 00;30;51;20
Jay Delnegro 3
But like, I just I didn't know how to like, advocate for myself. And then she gave me my knowledge and one thing she said was like I didn't have any notes about your work. It was just like, I don't think you fit well for this round of it, you know? And I'm like, But this is what you can speak to, to kind of sell yourself more so that you can win.

00;30;51;27 - 00;31;16;06
Jay Delnegro 3
And that was like the first real local conversation I had with like a difference maker in the in the art community. And like for like the wins is like I'm an outsider to me anyway. So like, right now I am this is the coolest thing in my mind. I'm on with the downtown partnership. I have one of my pieces on the kiosks that are floating around downtown Baltimore.

00;31;16;06 - 00;31;36;29
Jay Delnegro 3
So like my art shows up on 16 different kiosks in the city of Baltimore. Like it rotates. However every 3 minutes all day for a month. And it's just like that is that is so cool. And that's because somebody saw my art on the billboards, like, you should do this, you should submit to this. And then it was accepted and I was just like thankful and appreciative.

00;31;36;29 - 00;31;56;20
Jay Delnegro 3
And it was just like, there's another person locally that I can possibly reach out to and start to maybe not even build with. But like, my name is in a room that has never been in before. And that's kind of like what's happening for me now as a as a creative, because, you know, you, you submit and you receive tons of rejection of it.

00;31;56;22 - 00;32;17;15
Jay Delnegro 3
It wears on you, especially if they're like consecutive. Like I've told this one Maryland inmate, I think that's the name of it. And they had the triennial submission for all the local jurisdictions or what have you, and everybody got to submit art. And so I signed up like, you know, I'm a contributing member and blah, blah, blah, submit it didn't get accepted.

00;32;17;15 - 00;32;37;03
Jay Delnegro 3
Cool. But the part I hated about it the most was the very next day I got an email from them saying, Hey, support, support after you rejected it is just like, What? I wish I can take my money back because that is just like rude, right? Yeah, it doesn't feel well. And there was an A person who was just like automated emails or what have you.

00;32;37;06 - 00;32;59;07
Jay Delnegro 3
So once, like there is a personal aspect to it. I feel like that's, that's a win and something that could be championed as like someone who started later because I was like 38 when I started painting and like, I also feel like the odd man out because I'm like 43 and I'm just like a lot of young guns or older people will be known in a longer time.

00;32;59;07 - 00;33;11;15
Jay Delnegro 3
And I'm like, I'm new, but I'm not young enough to really, like, hang out and then like, be in the spaces with it. It's just all kinds of middle aged crisis stuff going on over here. Like I just I don't I don't know.

00;33;11;15 - 00;33;25;20
Rob Lee
Sometimes now I, I feel you and thank you. That's very honest. I mean, you could just, like, lean right into it and just put on like, the tiny glasses and a big scarf and just start showing up to things. That's that's the work. That's my art esthetic. That's my art esthetic.

00;33;25;22 - 00;33;28;16
Jay Delnegro 3
And glasses books are.

00;33;28;18 - 00;33;29;22
Rob Lee
Being very pretentious.

00;33;29;25 - 00;33;32;13
Jay Delnegro 3
Free tweed jacket with the patches on the elbow.

00;33;32;19 - 00;33;59;16
Rob Lee
I just feel like the the work of the Baltimore diaspora, the East Baltimore diaspora is very bespoke and very baroque and just all of the things just just nose up everything. But with stepping back though, because now to strongly at this point, I definitely agree with that sort of notion of the rejection, like peeling the onion back or peeling curtain back is where, you know, I approach this, as I said earlier, like a creative, like an artist.

00;33;59;16 - 00;34;21;08
Rob Lee
And, you know, I'm doing a lot of stuff. There's a lot of different moving parts. So absolutely. I remember I got like four rejection responses back and one morning after getting passed up for promotion at work in the life. So it's just like, you know, and it's all comes like back to back to back or this is a thing that that you'll probably relate to.

00;34;21;08 - 00;34;45;21
Rob Lee
Maybe. So you know how invitations work, right? Where someone invites you to a thing you. It's not hey, it cost this much. That's an awareness thing. You have put me on a mailing list. It's not an invitation. If you're inviting me to something that's. That's sort of like a personal thing. They pull up, you know, you tickets already covered or do this.

00;34;45;21 - 00;35;07;05
Rob Lee
Here's this for VIP something that's an encouraging thing. Not Hey, I'm going to show up to pay for this thing It feels in sometimes they're sent as a personal thing, but it feels impersonal. It feels like very scripted. And it's like I do the same thing, but I'm doing it. It's a personal thing. I'll send an email with all the errors in it, all of the stuff.

00;35;07;07 - 00;35;24;21
Rob Lee
Hey, man, pull up, man. I'm doing this thing. It's a free event. Pull up. People don't show up. And that's that's what I find to be a challenge. Like some of the things that that we try to do, like for what I'm doing in this podcast, my goal is always how can I connect dots? How can I try to like, show more people?

00;35;24;21 - 00;35;44;29
Rob Lee
This is an invitation for folks to check more out to your work, what your work is about, and you. And maybe something comes from that. And I've seen and I've heard multiple times. Yeah, I heard about this personally podcast now about buying work from them. That's how that's gone over the six hundreds. It's like 3D, but over the 600 plus episodes.

00;35;44;29 - 00;36;11;05
Rob Lee
And in it I find like that sort of support isn't always reciprocated, you know, for what the nature of what the intent is. And I say that anyone needs to listen to come out and so on. But at a bare minimum support What's in your best interest if there are so many people who will pop open on an interview and so on the interviews about their interviews, about their work, You know, it's not the TMZ mood, right?

00;36;11;07 - 00;36;29;18
Rob Lee
And people don't even repost the interview that they're on. It's like, what is that? What's that about? It's like this kid. I remember going to the Smokers tour years ago and Method Man was on stage. I was the emcee currency, but I met the man and he was like the headliner and he'd mentioned something. He called people out.

00;36;29;21 - 00;36;52;13
Rob Lee
He was just like, Yeah, learning how to code, actually enjoy yourselves. He's like, Show that you're enjoying this. And then he ate a blunt and then he did a song and I was like, What? But I still have. That's how I got in the song. That's how, by the way, then throughout thereafter, you know, he ate the blood and kind of destes these, these dudes that would just, you know, video in it basically and enjoying themselves.

00;36;52;15 - 00;37;13;28
Rob Lee
And it's just like enjoying the thing that you're into. And I find that like a lot of spots are getting caught as we were talking a little bit earlier about sort of the algorithm of how these things work and even the sort of notion around does whatever the thing is. And what we were talking about earlier, the word for sake of argument, does it have feeling attached to it?

00;37;14;01 - 00;37;40;06
Rob Lee
And I find like people are pulling, extracting that piece of it because the computer and what the Internet or whatever is telling you is so pervasive in that sort of response. It has to have feeling, right? Like put it this way, people restrict sort of certain creative pursuits like dancing, movement, art, culinary arts. Those are the ones you can't put the fakeness in.

00;37;40;08 - 00;37;47;07
Rob Lee
If you eat something, you feel a certain way about it. It's not like you're asking yourself, Man, do I feel good about this burger? You go to slap it.

00;37;47;08 - 00;37;51;09
Jay Delnegro 3
Yes, yes, yes.

00;37;51;11 - 00;38;22;26
Rob Lee
Now, this this ties with it a little bit. So digital art. Ooh. Uh huh. So it's gotten more and more popular and we have A.I. stuff. We have all of these different things sort of floating around. Like, does that play a role in any way to your, like, creative process, like now as it's become more and more out there in I think creatives and people are trying to do their things to reach a larger audience, have to be online, have to be a part of, for better or for worse.

00;38;22;28 - 00;38;27;18
Rob Lee
How is that, if at all, impacting your process and how you approach your work?

00;38;27;20 - 00;38;49;05
Jay Delnegro 3
So far? Only, only I thought there is a gentleman out of Dallas. I don't know. I can't recall his actual name, what I believe his Instagram name is like and so on or something to that effect. He started incorporating digital art until his murals where he would take his concept and then feed it into some sort of like a template.

00;38;49;11 - 00;39;22;16
Jay Delnegro 3
And then it would, you know, it would illuminate different areas or bring light in places that it hasn't done before. And like lately, I'm painting record using photos that I've taken as references for my work because like, no one's seen these pictures. So the arts original, it's all original, but I'm thinking of incorporating those photos into some sort of digital art, some sort of digital air feeding system so that I can make my art look a little bit different.

00;39;22;18 - 00;39;48;25
Jay Delnegro 3
Like, I just I just want it to have a different angle and then I can try to do something that I haven't done before. Like, I'm not I'm not huge into the digital art space. I respect it. I know it's beyond my limits. Picked up a tablet and procreate and I am trash, but I see the value in a lot of the work that people do.

00;39;48;27 - 00;39;56;26
Jay Delnegro 3
And honestly, I believe it's the quickest way to get on if you're trying to sell art. Is there digital art?

00;39;56;29 - 00;40;15;26
Rob Lee
Yeah, I think there's I think there's something in there where I think you're right. It shouldn't be a crutch. It can be a mix of what that process is and what it could look like when I go through, when I'm looking at how do I write certain things, I know what I want in there and the thinking is coming from me.

00;40;15;26 - 00;40;22;07
Rob Lee
But sort of the the action at times it be, Hey, I want to ask these questions and this is what it is. Can you polish this for me?

00;40;22;09 - 00;40;45;22
Jay Delnegro 3
Oh yeah. I've sent so many emails at work. Do I write the email? And then I'm like this, This is my favorite line. I literally this is this is the prompt business, this up colon. And then I throw in the email and then it gives me the results and then I say, All right, condensed that the five sentences and then I still like, take out what I want because I don't know if it works.

00;40;45;22 - 00;40;47;16
Jay Delnegro 3
It works like it does. That works for.

00;40;47;16 - 00;41;21;01
Rob Lee
Me. I do this thing, I'll take like all the emails. I'm like, reference this format using this format, right? This new email in this way. So I'm referencing myself, which feels a little masturbatory, but still it works. And I think that's sort of the thing. Like the thinking is still there in whatever the creativity is. I do feel at times when folks are using it as a crutch or of the dark side of what it can become just in doing this.

00;41;21;01 - 00;41;24;24
Rob Lee
Like there is enough content out there of me talking.

00;41;24;26 - 00;41;25;16
Jay Delnegro 3
Oh yes.

00;41;25;16 - 00;41;50;08
Rob Lee
That I could just be replaced. But cast. Yeah, getting to the chat so it wouldn't be good. It would not be good. So here's sort of the the last the last question in the last real question is I still had rapid fire ones. What's next? What's next for you? What are you looking forward to in the next? Let's see.

00;41;50;11 - 00;42;06;09
Rob Lee
And I think sort of like pie in the sky, because you never know what could happen. It could be like, Hey, I got TMZ, call me back. They brought me on, you know, But but what if I said my name this time? What are what are things that are like right there that you're seeing like, you know, I would love to do this.

00;42;06;09 - 00;42;17;13
Rob Lee
This is the opportunity. I can see that happening or projects that you have coming up like, you know, I'm showing work here or I'm working with these folks. What's what's coming up? What do you aspire to do in the next year or so?

00;42;17;15 - 00;42;58;27
Jay Delnegro 3
There's nothing coming up because I took a break from even trying to submit. So it's just like I'm chilling. I'm all right. But there is a project in concept I'm working on around young men receiving hugs. I didn't get home grown up unless it was from grandma, Right. And once I got older, even that stop. So I want to I want to paint a series of images where young boys are being how by not figures, but just like the space itself, just to kind of say like it's safe, you can feel safe in the space you're in.

00;42;58;29 - 00;43;19;08
Jay Delnegro 3
So and I don't want to do that because I generally like I don't paint large. Most of my work is around 2024 inches in some dimension one way or another. So I want to paint like a three foot by two foot or the four that feels like I want to I want to really push me like I've never pushed me before in this particular space.

00;43;19;08 - 00;43;44;02
Jay Delnegro 3
So that's something I had in mind. And I'm working out and trying to figure out what photo references of mine and I'm going to use or need to set something up or taking photos or what have you. And like, ultimately, I just I really just want to I like to say I just want to go to Greece just so I can stand in front of the Colosseum and grab my jaw in the B-Boy stance.

00;43;44;05 - 00;44;05;03
Jay Delnegro 3
I just want to have my work in one of the local museums that we went to as kids. Like, I just want to have a piece in there just to say, like, I'm cool. I did it. Like it's really like what I do. Even from the TMZ to the LED billboards to anything ever accomplished is like, show my son's like you can you could do what you want.

00;44;05;05 - 00;44;26;18
Jay Delnegro 3
Like you don't have to stop. There aren't limitations to this. Like, feel safe, feel secure and try. If you fail, you don't learn something from it. It's really just all about like, inspiring us. So I want them proud of Dad for all the reasons in the world, all of them. So it's really it really, really is about inspiring them.

00;44;26;20 - 00;44;37;03
Rob Lee
That's what's really great. That's great. And yeah, it's something about it. Like finally, I still love them fools, Japanese people. Hey, yo.

00;44;37;05 - 00;44;39;28
Jay Delnegro 3
I'm here. Oh, here. You got to.

00;44;39;28 - 00;45;01;19
Rob Lee
See it like Patrick Mahomes. I am here. You got to do it. It's just. Yeah, we're talking about TV, you know, for a while. You know, you have some of those sort of. I had, like, two things running light for a long time. I was running off a spike, you know, spikes of spikes power. And the other one was, I'm just trying to impress my partner, like, Yeah, baby, I got all these interviews.

00;45;01;19 - 00;45;27;16
Rob Lee
See that? Look at Eddie. Here, you take it, baby. But yeah, it's it's cool to have sort of those those goals of sort of stretch goals. And and the project seems interesting because you're right, you know, I wasn't getting any hugs when I got older. I'm. I'm very like, what you want? You want a hug? Would you want a hug for in I think you know, kind of whatever matters.

00;45;27;19 - 00;45;48;28
Rob Lee
Yeah. There was an opportunity that presented itself recently and someone else got it and I felt like Isaiah Thomas a little bit, if you know what I mean. And I was like, Yeah, yeah. But then my, my, my inner Jordan came out. I was like, look, I took a personal so is that and I remember mentioning it to a few folks that was like, I need to get down to the bottom of this.

00;45;48;28 - 00;46;04;16
Rob Lee
What happened, why I was in that I was the corner sent my way. Right? And as a member of just a few folks telling me that you shouldn't worry about that you're better than them. And so you need to where else? I know. But that's a thing that I wanted, though. You want what you want. So you want to grab your junk in Greece?

00;46;04;18 - 00;46;09;21
Rob Lee
I want to be in this this publication. I want to stun on these people because it's something that matters to me.

00;46;09;24 - 00;46;12;27
Jay Delnegro 3
Mm hmm. Exactly that. That is the exact sentiments are.

00;46;12;29 - 00;46;32;11
Rob Lee
Yeah. So now we get to the rapid fire portion, all of the in the last hour and change that You and I have been on here talking, chatting it up, realizing that we were probably Nemesis back in the early nineties late eighties. I don't know. So here here's my my four questions Don't don't overthink.

00;46;32;13 - 00;46;33;28
Jay Delnegro 3
Now which one?

00;46;34;00 - 00;46;39;20
Rob Lee
Here's the first one what is your favorite nineties jam.

00;46;39;22 - 00;46;41;12
Jay Delnegro 3
Wreck effect from Cher.

00;46;41;14 - 00;46;54;17
Rob Lee
You get it you get it. This one I had in mind because it related to one of the colors, one of the color palette you mentioned. Do you have a favorite nineties cartoon quote or catchphrase?

00;46;54;20 - 00;47;03;26
Jay Delnegro 3
Oh well, harder, I could say. Let's be dangerous, but that's not the real answer. It's just the one that pops in frame of mind.

00;47;03;29 - 00;47;05;09
Rob Lee
Just say, What's that? Right.

00;47;05;10 - 00;47;07;03
Jay Delnegro 3
Oh, good. Yeah, that's good. Dangerous.

00;47;07;10 - 00;47;15;09
Rob Lee
That's good. Which. Which sees it. Do you enjoy more. And I'm talking about of the year and I love a TV show or something which.

00;47;15;09 - 00;47;25;07
Jay Delnegro 3
Would murder some of your summer guy hot blazing. Bring it because because life is to be lived while the sun is up.

00;47;25;10 - 00;47;31;01
Rob Lee
Summer this is this is kind of the first instance where room opposite sides and one winter guy.

00;47;31;03 - 00;47;37;00
Jay Delnegro 3
Winter keeps you indoors. You can't experience life when you're trying to stay warm.

00;47;37;06 - 00;47;51;01
Rob Lee
Everybody know it's a no. It's one of those bizarre where my girl reminds she's like it's because you're you're you're you're a you're from the north. I was like, what you mean She was like, in the Game of Thrones law.

00;47;51;04 - 00;47;52;16
Jay Delnegro 3
You're from war.

00;47;52;18 - 00;48;18;16
Rob Lee
Yeah, well, I met largely so here's the last here's the last one. And this is the more, more serious one. But definitely, I wanted to get your take on it, because I think is one of the themes that shows your work. At least I read what is what would be the social issue, if you will, that I grind your gears and it doesn't have to be rapid fire, obviously.

00;48;18;16 - 00;48;29;00
Rob Lee
But what is that social, social issue that grinds your gears to most? Like what is the one that just as soon as it's mentioned, you're like, No, I'm going to talk for like 20 minutes on this.

00;48;29;02 - 00;48;59;04
Jay Delnegro 3
It's an internal struggle amongst black people. Like there's a thing that I don't know much about and I also don't understand, and it's colourism. Colorism is one of those things where on on its face, I get it. But like the permeating thought that people of a lighter hue are aware of what's happening in their light, their benefit in society.

00;48;59;04 - 00;49;22;04
Jay Delnegro 3
And it's just it's just one of those things like this. This is the Twitter thing that should it it could and should go off line. But I think people pile on with colorism in a way just so they don't sound wrong. It's it's a conversation that isn't about healing, but it's about like language. It's just the language used.

00;49;22;10 - 00;49;51;15
Jay Delnegro 3
When people talk about colorism. I'm just like, this is this doesn't feel right. Like the feeling around it just is. So it's weird to me, like, I want to understand, like I want to connect with what saying so that but it just does not resonate with me. Like why is everybody a victim about everything? Why is everybody a victim about my victimhood is stronger than yours.

00;49;51;17 - 00;50;04;14
Jay Delnegro 3
So so we're going to do the oppression Olympics that you know when you get ahead because you and I'm just like, wow, wow, wow us. Why are we doing this right now?

00;50;04;16 - 00;50;30;06
Rob Lee
I'm going to throw throw this your way. I think because of this one, things that you had mentioned earlier about sort of like not knowing the sort of process in all of that stuff and applying for grants and all these these sort of different things. Or I finally some folks leave with sort of identity markers to pitch their work versus the work being what it is, whether work is good or whether it speaks to you and so on.

00;50;30;06 - 00;50;47;12
Rob Lee
It's different superlatives that are put in front of it. They may not have anything to do with the work. Like if your work is purely from speaking of sort of the black experience or whatever that might look like or the queer experience, whatever that might look like, and it shows up in your work, ten or ten do it.

00;50;47;15 - 00;51;18;05
Rob Lee
But if it's like there because it feels like it's an SEO benefit, it's a search benefit for it, it feels weird to me. It's like, if I were it, maybe it's because I don't really fit in to too many groups or really think of myself in that way. And I'm getting this sort of same thing from you where some of the artist statements that I get from folks at times in the bios that I did, it's so layered with as a black artists of bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bah.

00;51;18;05 - 00;51;38;24
Rob Lee
From Piscataway bah bah bah bah. I'm like, I haven't heard what your work is about yet. And I've been reading for a while and I've had folks tell me, Hey, you should maybe change the description of your podcast to me more inclusive of that. And I was like, That's not what I do though. And there have been folks who hit me in the DMS.

00;51;38;26 - 00;52;03;21
Rob Lee
Hey, you seem to be talking to a few too many white people. I was like, Talk to anyone. I think it's interesting and it's it's really weird that we're doing that and it feels it feels a little reductive. It feels the whole monolithic conversation is there. But I finally is more words that people are using, but not really saying anything or word.

00;52;03;21 - 00;52;22;08
Jay Delnegro 3
That is it You just saying all the words because we have all this language and you just must use it to prove that you know what you're talking about. But the feeling around whatever you're speaking or just isn't there is just like it's just a language word salad. Why are we doing this? And we're doing.

00;52;22;12 - 00;52;39;10
Rob Lee
It? That's the thing. Like, you know, I've been told, you know, getting advice because, you know, I don't have a conversation with folks and, you know, hey, put more yourself in Arizona. I was like, I think there's enough of me in these interviews, you know, as I was touching on earlier. And if one wants to get like, what is Rob about, You listen to the conversation.

00;52;39;12 - 00;52;49;05
Rob Lee
How were we able to we just met today. How are we able to sit here, have a conversation and see those sort of aha moments Because it's like I'm a real dude. You're a.

00;52;49;05 - 00;52;50;15
Jay Delnegro 3
Real dude, though.

00;52;50;18 - 00;52;57;05
Rob Lee
And there is sort of this overlap of mid-late thirties, early forties from Baltimore.

00;52;57;05 - 00;52;58;14
Jay Delnegro 3
Black guys.

00;52;58;16 - 00;53;24;08
Rob Lee
Drawing and it's just like certain things they just said, Yeah, you know that. Yeah. Love Rob Jacob Yeah. Doc Absolutely. Let's get dangerous. You have to say it just like that. You're talking. Joe stupid. So that's kind of it. And I thank you for, for saying that, that, that last piece around sort of the, the social issue component because I think it is, is a thing that is a discourse that isn't had.

00;53;24;08 - 00;53;41;12
Rob Lee
It's like there's certain things we can't talk about or we can only talk about in a certain way where I, I have a buddy who's like can do to what have you. And, you know, I was like, you know, this is all I can guys play basketball. This I'm asking a guy to play Batman. That's actually kind of funny.

00;53;41;15 - 00;53;54;29
Rob Lee
And it's just like being able to take from it. But when it becomes pervasive, I remember it. I had to check. I got checked and I was like, you know, you're absolutely right, because I had this thing where someone was like, Man, you're really dark as I was telling you about earlier.

00;53;55;03 - 00;53;55;22
Jay Delnegro 3
But I was like.

00;53;55;22 - 00;54;14;07
Rob Lee
Oh, no, that's true. But I'm go off and I got caught and I was like, Oh, because I was running a bit. And I'm going to say it here because I think it's funny. I would go to white coffee shops and ask them to make my coffee the color of different black celebrities. Oh yeah. And I would troll in that way.

00;54;14;09 - 00;54;30;13
Rob Lee
And I remember was like, Oh, what's coffee color my clothes to and say, Oh, why are we having this call? Color is a conversation. It's like, Damn, we are doing it. And I'm trying to do a bit. But actually it was sort of that conversation that's in the background that I'm not even I'm just oblivious to. So I don't know.

00;54;30;13 - 00;54;49;01
Rob Lee
I think it's something that's definitely floating around. And as you touched on earlier about, you know, bacon browns, you know, that that being a color to work with and it's something in there is something there. So with that, I want to I want to thank you do this was this was 1010 I.

00;54;49;01 - 00;54;49;26
Jay Delnegro 3
Had last year.

00;54;49;27 - 00;54;59;27
Rob Lee
Really, really happy ones because of the one. And I want to invite and encourage you to share with the folks where you can check out on social media online website, all the good stuff, the flowers or share with everyone.

00;54;59;29 - 00;55;29;16
Jay Delnegro 3
Hello everybody. Thanks for sticking around. I am jado negro. You can find me online. AJ donadio dot com on the internet. I'm j del negro anywhere. Also host the podcast. Don't judge me, it is nonsense and foolery. Do not come there with your undergarments in the bunch. It's not going to work out for you. I really. I just want to thank you for showcasing talented, creative individuals.

00;55;29;18 - 00;55;44;03
Jay Delnegro 3
This is a great discourse from all 6000 episodes that you've done so far. I'm catching up. It's a lot to catch up on and catching up, and I really, really appreciate that. You invited me on to share a little bit of my story with not.

00;55;44;06 - 00;56;07;00
Rob Lee
Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Kind of words. And there you have it, folks. I want to again thank Jay del Negro for coming on to the podcast and I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art and culture in and around Baltimore. You've just got to look for it.