Transforming Spaces Through Art: Joe Boruchow's Murals and Creativity
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Rob Lee
Only a couple months down. I think I recognize it.
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Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth in this art. I'm your host, Rob Lee, and we are back in Philadelphia. Lovely Philadelphia. And today my guest is a Philadelphia based muralist and paper cutout artist whose site specific work is designed to fit into architectural niches and public spaces. Please welcome Joe Boruchow Welcome to the podcast.
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Joe Boruchow
Thank you. It's great to be here.
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Rob Lee
It's great to have you on and thank you for hopping on and being a part of this this series. It's a I like it realize it was something someone told me recently that not everybody comes on here, So it's just like it's kind of like cool to have a really interesting people want to share their time with me where, you know, you have a busy schedule.
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Rob Lee
I have a disease schedule, but you're making the time for me, so I appreciate it. And you know, it's really, really cool. And before we get too deep into it, even better, you know, doing a paper and a mural of the murals. I share your story like, you know, where you grew up. What was your first, quote unquote, art experience?
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Rob Lee
And to talk about some of your inspirations?
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Joe Boruchow
Well, I grew up in Arlington, Virginia, outside D.C. Both of my parents are psychiatrists. And my my father was a art collector and would take us in his own collecting, would take us with him on his on his studio visits and whatnot. And there was one artist that I was really smitten with. I loved her work and it was Patricia Tobacco forester, and she's a clean air watercolors, these huge, hyper realistic watercolors on paper that she did outside in like capturing nature and visiting her studio just blew me away.
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Joe Boruchow
I was nine years old and I remember going home and passing out the watercolors and trying to do the same thing. And I knew from that moment on that's what I wanted to do, except for like a brief period in my young adulthood where I thought I had to do something else. But I always knew I wanted to be an artist when I was also, my dad used to take us up individually.
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Joe Boruchow
I have two sisters who's from New York and would take us up to New York, one of us once a year, and to galleries and stuff. And I was a big Keith Haring fan. This is when I was 12 and we went to these hearings Gallery, Tony Schaeffer's Gallery, and asked the receptionist if Keith was around, and she said he'd be here 15 minutes.
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Joe Boruchow
And if you wanted to wait around, he'd be cool. And so we sat around and waited for Keith Haring to show up and invited us up to his studio. And it was a that was an amazing, amazing experience for me going to see his studio and talk with him. He signed all kinds of stuff for me. I still got tons of swag from that experience.
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Joe Boruchow
Oh, wow. Picture.
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Rob Lee
That's amazing. That's that sounds really good. And yeah, I mean, having that, I kind of want to replace my experience of just living in the projects. Like we're going to New York. When you know, it's it's great. And I think like, I had an uncle and I never met him. Right. But my because he passed a few years before I was born in I my my relatives who saw him and sort of the work he was doing these like large scale like paintings, they were like, no, you had what he has because I was like a comic book guy.
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Rob Lee
It's always like every year, like during what's called pencils, Jane's going to need his drawing manual and all of that. And I know I got hit with this sort of I go to the art school, go there, try to get it as a, you know, 13 year old, 12 year old, and one of that good crushes, they killed it.
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Rob Lee
And it shifted into something else like creative, whether it was writing poetry or rap, no one is ever going to hear my rap songs. Right. In the late nineties or even doing this like and doing this almost 14 years. It's that sort of through line, and I think there's a kinship with it of what you would describing that you knew art was kind of going to be your thing.
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Rob Lee
I knew something creative because I think I I'm very apprehensive to say this is art. You know, people say this is journalism, this that so much I just like. It's something creative. And I think in those terms, so touching on being born in the nation's capital and living in Philadelphia, I feel like there's a liberty, but it's something I don't know, but it's part of iconography.
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Rob Lee
How how is living in these places like affected like how maybe you go about your work, maybe some of the subject matter or some of the thinking that goes into your work?
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Joe Boruchow
I feel like I was politicized at a really young age, just being in near DC. My parents were very interested in politics. A lot of their clients were politicians and people that worked with politicians, so I was very aware of it very, very early and that's definitely stuck with me and also that the seeing Keith Haring's activism was also a great influence on me.
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Joe Boruchow
As far as Philly, I've actually never seen the filth, the Liberty Bell, and I've never been to.
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Rob Lee
The to the Washington.
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Joe Boruchow
Monument either. I've never been to it, but I've never been out of it in.
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Rob Lee
The same shape.
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Joe Boruchow
It's it's like it's funny how you grew up in a place and then you don't you don't see the main tourist attractions. But but yeah, definitely. I definitely feel like by osmosis I, I absorb the history and feel some, some of the burden of the, of having to, to relate my work to that there you know.
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Rob Lee
I think that was one of the things that really caught my attention and you're aware of the shirt with the the the images on there the British runner And I just remember like, you know, seeing it, who see this because is catching my attention and I think you would be the third and I think the third person with like a paper cut sort of background of interviews and getting everyone in all of you.
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Rob Lee
And it's just like, let's let's have the conversation. Let's see where it goes and kind of doing some of the research as opposed to on Internet stalking. I like to call it research one in the same place so your paper could work, right? Explore sexuality, politics, history and art amongst other things. What does an artist play? What role does an artist have in that sort of conversation?
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Rob Lee
Like you touched on being politicized early and things of that nature, like what role does an artist have? They have a sort of responsibility. Like from your vantage point, you have sort of responsibility to comment on this stuff, or should they as some people have told, stay in their lane or the sea, the basketball or the head, just show up and dribble, you know, shop and paint.
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Rob Lee
So what is that role for an artist?
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Joe Boruchow
I think it's personal decision on any individual artist. For me, I've always been, you know, I've always had a real, I think real acute sense of justice and outrage, sense of outrage at injustice that I've always felt like I had to share with people, for better or for worse, to take this piece, for example, the Brittney Griner piece.
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Joe Boruchow
My goal for that was really just to raise awareness. I felt like the story was so quiet for so long. It still is. And I'm still shocked at the amount of antipathy that she gets from from people that I know that say she shouldn't have been carrying anything. There's like or it's hurtful stuff like that. So I just wanted to put something out there to let people know that there are people thinking about it.
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Joe Boruchow
You know what I mean? Yeah.
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Rob Lee
I get that you're.
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Joe Boruchow
Trying to find sympathetic people, you know, I guess it's another part of the reason I do it, just trying to vent my outrage, my anger, you know, try to find a good outlet for it in a yet.
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Rob Lee
Again, you know, the sort of kinship thing where, you know, in this sort of story I was telling you, describing what was behind this podcast is starting out. You know, mine was this this indignation of like, how dare you talk about Baltimore that way or this city or that city? And being a data analyst or data professional almost as long as a podcaster.
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Rob Lee
So having in a real sense the storytelling capabilities and the data knowledge to back up both of those things, one hand washes the other and just look at it like this is not true. And it's like these things, these sort of politicized talking points of the murders here, that is the that the so on looks like they're all racially coded.
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Rob Lee
And I was like let's let's not do that. And then it was like, how do I instead of just getting mad because I was like, that's not going to help anyone. I think mad in the sense that it's destructive or if this guy or that or whatever, that doesn't really help in a big scheme of things. And, you know, I remember down in Baltimore we had Freddie Gray and all the fallout with that.
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Rob Lee
I was wrapping up a podcast and then news came over my phone and it was kind of like, Oh, well, this is what happens here. And I was like, now, like this feeling, I need to really cross that process that and really pick out that a little bit. And it is that thing that you were touching on. I think Brittney Griner is like, Oh, well, moving on.
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Rob Lee
There's a justification that some people try to create that it's just like, oh, this is a person more, you know, I could be, you know, really wild about it. It's like, let's not let you know. Trump went in this regard as you got out a U.S. citizen, just from the standpoint of, like you said, Rocky does something goofy in another country and you got them out.
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Rob Lee
At the end of the day, it looks like. So we're not going to do this for black women for something that might be less offensive if we're doing that sort of what is it like behavioral politics of this? You did the wrong thing. Drugs are bad, so whatever you get, you deserve. No, we're not doing that if you want to.
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Rob Lee
You know, people talking about patriotism. Let's go from that standpoint.
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Joe Boruchow
Yeah.
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Rob Lee
Let's just protect our people, have rights over you. Let's get our people back. And I don't know, I think like, you know, there was this thing that I remember, you know, seeing my therapist using years ago, and I was told they only get mad about things, but I do get passionate about it and it looks a certain way.
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Rob Lee
And he's like, well, you know, anger's energy for change. And I was like, okay, then I am angry and I am going to do this podcast. And I and I do this sort of I am motivated and kind of obsessed with it. And that comes out in this sort of work and this amount of stuff, because the the driving point is what's really happening in the place.
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Rob Lee
What are the thoughts that go into the person's word other than it looking really cool, really interesting. So what now? This is a question I've had to put in because of the name of I guess, what role is this? This concept or this idea around truth plays into your work?
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Joe Boruchow
Um, you know, I always just try to, to shoot from the hip, you know, and sometimes, for better or for worse, I don't know if that really means truth or not, but I guess it's kind of an impulse. You know, you something makes you feel a lot of feelings, so you feel like you have to exercise that and work it out.
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Joe Boruchow
You work it out in your drawings and and then you refine it to the to the final, final, final piece. And somehow it helps you digest that those feelings, you know, to me, the other thing I wanted to make a point. Let's circle back on the Brittney Griner thing. I think the reason her case is also really moved me is because it's it feeds into the whole global threat of authoritarianism on people who are different.
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Joe Boruchow
You know, I mean, she's a tall lesbian black woman in a in another country who's just been is held as a political prisoner. You know, it's like I don't think you can get a more perfect symbol for what's going on in the injustices of what's going on in the whole global authoritarian rise. You know?
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Rob Lee
So I want to I want to I want to talk about so I have another paper called Question, and I want to talk about process a little bit to the next question is probably going to be in process if you can, you know, work that in as well, because on the MO process they'll be great. But so I see a lot of the paperwork is sort of this black and white thing, which I feel like is intentional.
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Rob Lee
So like, why are you only working in like from what I was only working in like though those colors and, you know, and I have another bullet point with it, but I at least want to start there.
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Joe Boruchow
It's even more than just black and white. All the black has to connect. So it's even more of a constraint. Right? I was actually listen to one of your podcasts with the guy from Christie Painter. I can't remember his name.
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Rob Lee
I think that was Elijah.
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Joe Boruchow
Yes, exactly. And he's talking about about constraints using just very limited colors in his painting. And that's something I really connected with that. For me, it's always like the limits are where all the possibilities are. Yeah, I remember I like to write as well, and I took a lot of creative writing classes. One of the best creative writing lessons that that I ever had was where they gave you the first line.
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Joe Boruchow
In the last line, you had to fill it all and, you know, and that kind of constraint I really feel like I thrive under. So I mean, I've tried to move out of the the, the black and white paper, cut out stuff, but somehow in that box, I just can think better. I can I can just flow, you know, And I think that's a way for a lot of artists some some I guess that's not true.
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Joe Boruchow
There are some who just do everything. Do everything very well. That's not me. So, I mean, I like like to really, like, hone in on on a really specific craft as well. You know, just get as good as I possibly can at it. You. Yeah. Yeah.
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Rob Lee
As you remember, like sitting down with a few different photographers and the most recent like photoshoot that I did a talk for was like, do you, do you do photos all the time? It's like, no, I do not. I was like, I break cameras, actually. It seems like you are. And, and she's like, she's like, don't mind me.
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Rob Lee
I'm just in my process of trying to figure everything out. She's like, What piece of furniture shall I champion? What piece of furniture here, like, speaks to you? And because we're doing this photo shoot inside of, like, basically a furniture warehouse and and so on, and I was like, this one, it was like this, this big lazy. And I was like, Oh, Jesus.
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Rob Lee
Like, I'm going to be looking at you strangely. This is just my process. And I'm like, Oh, this makes sense. And this is how this, this person works. And I just I think there's a lot of allowances there. So when they talk I was telling you about earlier, you know, I was asked, are you going to go on to video?
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Rob Lee
And I was like, I don't think that's my lane. No, I think that's my space. That's like, I think this is my space. I think I have more control in it and I make it I keep it interesting, like, you know, before we got together here, pretty much strangers, actually. I could have come from from robbing a bank before I got here.
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Rob Lee
You're like, I have no idea where all that money come from. So I think that's what keeps it really interesting for me while having sort of these restrictions. Like I try to have as minimal contact with the person. And if the interview goes really well, great. And but if it doesn't also great, like, you know, it's just how it works.
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Rob Lee
But I think having those those restrictions and that sort of process that makes sense for you at that time, you can either go really far with it and you had this sort of at least from my standpoint, this version of that's a stupid question or even from the guest standpoint of I've already answered this before, let me give them something a little bit more juicy.
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Rob Lee
Seasonal well sees.
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Joe Boruchow
Rather.
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Rob Lee
So in what other parts like when you get into thinking about your process, like what is the you know, sort of the that start to finish make whether it's in a mural, whether it's in sort of your paper work, like how are the like similar and like what is like how that process goes, the thinking that goes into it.
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Rob Lee
Like where do you start with something in the middle and when do you know that? All right, we're getting towards the the ninth inning here. The closers like warming up.
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Joe Boruchow
Yeah, well, that just walk you through my process. So it always starts with a thumbnail sketch. Always drawings is the core of my practice and they can be the most the quickest little messy thumbnail or they can be pretty well rendered. It depends, but you always I always go back to that thumbnail throughout the process and all the information is always there.
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Joe Boruchow
It's just about refining it and getting it, getting it to where it needs to be to be presentable. So the thumbnails are really important because they're done quickly and just under the flash of inspiration, and I try to carry that through to the final process. So I always do my thumbnails. No, no protractor, no ruler, no compass. Real quick drawing, then I'll go from there.
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Joe Boruchow
I'll work out a line drawing using those tools. Love it. Definitely use a lot of rulers and compasses and, you know, scientific perspective, stuff like that to really try to create a space. And then from that line drawing all then work out all the blacks and whites figure out how the black, how all the black connects, figure out how to do any kind of rendering I need to do or like push things to the back, things forward.
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Joe Boruchow
How do you know there's a lot of different tricks to doing that with just black and white graphic tricks, And then once they get that all figured out, they'll go back to the line drawing tricks that and put a piece of like carbon paper between that black piece of paper, trace it onto the black piece of paper. So all my lines work there.
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Joe Boruchow
And at that point, when I'm ready to cut, I know everything, every shape then I'm going to do pretty much in every ever. There's always a question here in there, but pretty much I know every every shape that I need to cut out and I just go at it just sizing each each white space. It's a very time consuming process.
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Joe Boruchow
It takes my my work is also very small and I blow it up. Like for for instance, the Brittney Griner piece is only like four by six is like that Big eagle. And I like doing that because it reads from far away, you know? So when you do working really small, you can get a sense of what it's going to look like in the in the in in the environment, you know, from and it reads better if you work really big, you tend to put too much detail in and things get lost.
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Joe Boruchow
With all the stuff going around, it can work small, blow it up. If you get real graphic effect. But yeah, after I completely cut out, I throw it on a scanner, scan it. I usually have to do some because the scanning always picks up some shadow of the paper cut out like the relief between the white paper behind it and the actual paper cut out.
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Joe Boruchow
And so I always have to go and correct that stuff in Illustrator. It's the only thing I know how to do on Illustrator. I hate working on the computer, but yeah, blow it up, print it up and paste it, or paint it or whatever, whatever I need to do. That's I don't know if that answers your question.
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Rob Lee
No, it does. And I have a paper cut for friend that's going to probably be listening to this because she gave me a gift as my logo. Like that little bit isn't that bad, but as a paper cut. Cool. I was like, How long does it take you to decide? I think they're long sleeve, no paper cuts. I was like, You guys are out here.
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Rob Lee
Here's like, what do you have a preferred like blade or have you did you use you? Yeah, yeah.
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Joe Boruchow
Use an Excel number 11. It's the best blades if he's an executive every time Zach those tips break. They do. They do. Yeah. You got to get the Excel New Jersey's own.
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Rob Lee
I want to have that nice plug it Eric again I know people are about there almost like it's like going to Texas and saying where you get to barbecue. It's like duct tape paper, not razor blades.
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Joe Boruchow
Yeah, yeah. People always ask me that. You I used to break blades all the time like that. Used to go through like seven or eight blades of paper cut out. I don't anymore. For some reason, I think I've just got better technique. Now I can use one paper, one blade for two paper cut outs now. So very economical.
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Rob Lee
So also read that graphic novel. Oh, yes, I read about that a little bit in addition to the Bureau of Labor code word like do you sort of like try to dive into other like creative practices to kind of like take not necessarily break, but more of a like, I need to work on this and it's going to help me in this in the long run, whether it's working on like a sketch, working or painting things of that nature, like speaking of graphic novel a little bit too.
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Joe Boruchow
So the graphic novel again was just a flash of inspiration. I started working on it and it just grew and grew, took me over a year to complete. It was 100 paper cut outs and I submitted it for a grant for the Xerox Foundation, which I don't believe is around anymore. I think it was run by the one of the guys that invented the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did a self-publishing grant, which I got in 2008, I think it was, so I was able to actually publish them.
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Joe Boruchow
But yeah, it was it was just kind of a psychological kind of noir story that just came to my head. And it was a real long project and I think I got scared away from jumping into anything like that again because it was so all consuming. It took so long and it's so I feel like it's hard to get any kind of remunerative for renumeration, remuneration from something like that without unless you have something set up ahead of time like someone's paying you to or, you know, you have some sort of way to get it out there and I get something back from it.
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Joe Boruchow
So I've hesitated to get back into that. But yeah, it's always what I'm whatever I'm inspired to do is what I'm working on, you know, or whenever someone hires me to do.
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Rob Lee
Which is it's almost it's a it's almost a natural segway. There's it's like you get the question for it. So you talk about only sort of that commissioned and noncommissioned work and creatively like what are those like non-negotiables for you? Like, I don't know if I'm the right person for you. This is your project and what have you because people come to me, they want someone to be the voice for it or they want them to be the consultant for it and to help them realize this sort of podcasting voice or their storytelling and a lot of times they'll have a sense of what they're looking for.
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Rob Lee
And then through the conversation, I realize that I'm not the guy for this. Yeah, So tell me about that for you.
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Joe Boruchow
Well, an easy tell is when they ask me to add color, they ask me to add color. I know I'm not the.
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Rob Lee
Guys that I know.
00;24;45;26 - 00;25;10;03
Joe Boruchow
I always do a little research on whoever I'm working for and make sure that we're pretty much aligned ethically. You know, most of the stuff that I get hired to do are people that know my work and they know they've seen it. They know what I'm about. So I don't really have a big problem with with getting on the same page with them.
00;25;10;03 - 00;25;36;04
Joe Boruchow
You know, I like to keep them in the loop of my process to make sure, because it's because it is so time consuming. It is so in the nature of the paper, cut out is it's impossible to change once it's done, you know. So I try to keep them in the loop and make sure that we're on the same page all the way through before I actually really put the effort into making the cut out.
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Joe Boruchow
You know, Does that answer the question?
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Rob Lee
No, that's okay. Yeah, because, you know, I'll get a sense of, you know, what someone wants and, you know, you've probably heard it. Everyone's doing a podcast now and it's just like, all right, I'm available, I'm around and so on. But it's like, really? What does this look like at the end of the day? Am I a hired gun?
00;25;59;07 - 00;26;17;09
Rob Lee
And I'm coming in to kind of help facilitate this? Am I consulting, am I running the whole thing? And you just you and doing each one of those probably in the last like, like six months. And I think the one when it's just like, we just want you and, you know, we're hiring you to do these and we're going to sponsor it.
00;26;17;09 - 00;26;18;20
Rob Lee
Those are the ones that I sort of knew.
00;26;18;20 - 00;26;19;03
Joe Boruchow
Like that.
00;26;19;13 - 00;26;36;06
Rob Lee
Because, you know, I'll give them a sense of where I'm at. We have very understood like the sort of memos of understanding of this is how we're doing. And to your point of here's the process as we're going along. So it might be eight interviews. Okay. Like, you know, you can have one interview for one. Listen to what we're doing.
00;26;36;06 - 00;26;52;15
Rob Lee
But for the most part, once the episode is ready to go, use this next one and so on. And this is kind of what I'm doing. Here's the questions. Maybe you want to see those. And then there are others that we were just kind of looking for you to answer. Ask the questions that we write for you and it just doesn't sound like me.
00;26;52;15 - 00;27;05;15
Rob Lee
Yeah, it doesn't quite work. And it's like and I kind of struggle with it at times of do I need, you know, full creative control over something in, you know, being told that that's not what you should ask for, but really that's probably what I need.
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Joe Boruchow
Yeah. And, you know, it's weird too, now with the way people expect you to be able to go back and change things digitally.
00;27;16;14 - 00;27;46;00
Joe Boruchow
And it's that's kind of pain. But now, you know, I guess when people have that expectation. So I really like to work with people that know what I'm about. What I'm doing have seen paper cutouts, actually seeing them, see what the actual the art object is, you know, And I think once they have an understanding that I'm sure if it's with your work, which they listen to podcasts you care about, they know what they're in for when they when they hire you and they like that.
00;27;46;06 - 00;27;46;18
Joe Boruchow
Yeah.
00;27;46;19 - 00;27;58;17
Rob Lee
I think the next thing that I'm going to do to be like even more pretentious, I think I'm on record to your sense of cool that they're going to do that and they out of like I go back digitally a change of you that like here's the tape what's I've done.
00;27;59;17 - 00;28;02;01
Joe Boruchow
Drop a cassette don't have anything play that I'm like.
00;28;02;01 - 00;28;24;20
Rob Lee
It's my demo. Yeah. So this is the last real question I have. And the other ones is if I was so in again, I want your take on this, aside from money is I think money is, is too obvious because it's kind of like you get someone drops $1,000,000 on me right now, I'm probably going to buy something ridiculous like a gold suit, like a suit literally made out of gold.
00;28;24;20 - 00;28;32;27
Rob Lee
Like, Oh, that's chain mail. What are three things that from your base or you think are the A need time?
00;28;33;03 - 00;29;08;05
Joe Boruchow
The time is the number one thing you need a good room, space, studio, whatever you want to call it, to make your art. And you need inspiration. You need to be out and about and keep learning. You need to be reading and talking to people and going to coffee shops and chatting and never That was one thing. It was hard about COVID, you know, like not being around people is that I found very difficult.
00;29;08;05 - 00;29;09;22
Joe Boruchow
I really missed my coffee shop.
00;29;10;19 - 00;29;11;00
Rob Lee
Shop got.
00;29;11;00 - 00;29;38;26
Joe Boruchow
To times. Yeah, yeah. Those are the three things that I feel like really fuel my I think people really don't realize how much time you need. There's so much time to reflect that you have to have as an artist that time you're staring out the window is time well spent, you know, the time spinning your wheels. Those are that's that's really furtive moments.
00;29;40;01 - 00;29;49;11
Joe Boruchow
And they turn into they turn into to to real, real ideas. You know.
00;29;50;08 - 00;30;10;14
Rob Lee
I agree with that. Yes. I think that you were revealing earlier and I think the less like a multinational between. But the last place that I actually went to do like the trip, like this wasn't work. It wasn't something else. It was going to it was going to road. I was going on our gas it and it was actually private as we wanted our gas later.
00;30;10;14 - 00;30;27;05
Rob Lee
But it was it's private lives and really doing the things that I would do like to have this small chain there and no coffee shops. I went to each one. I was like, you know, we don't like each one of these. And I worked on a few questions, but, you know, I was kind of just taking a walk, just walking and just kind of doing nothing.
00;30;27;05 - 00;30;44;22
Rob Lee
Not with I need to be here by this time. It's like I'm going to do a few things today to accomplish a few things, but I'm going there to kind of enjoy from the sort of social standpoint. I'm going to go to a few nice restaurants and then go to an art gallery, might even go to a zoo.
00;30;45;02 - 00;31;00;16
Rob Lee
But I think that it opens up so much different thinking and how I go about things like the the trip I was telling you about earlier when I was in Austin, I was just walking. It was six degrees, you see. I was there right away. So right there I was like, Is this a mirage?
00;31;00;16 - 00;31;02;10
Joe Boruchow
And then the blackouts, too?
00;31;02;23 - 00;31;21;04
Rob Lee
I think so, yeah, man. And there was a bumper sticker that walked by and it was talking about like this kind of this idea of magic. And it's like art is magic. And literally, I bought my notepad and wrote down this idea and I got three questions just off what bumper sticker? And I was like, I wouldn't have that if I didn't take this walk.
00;31;21;11 - 00;31;29;23
Rob Lee
I went and met the person at the antique shop. If I didn't take this walk, which eventually turned into a podcast. So yeah, absolutely. Any time they like kind of do it.
00;31;29;26 - 00;31;32;13
Joe Boruchow
Yeah, you do. You really do.
00;31;32;22 - 00;31;43;12
Rob Lee
So in this this last question here I guess I'm Rapidfire questions for you Ready? And don't overthink it. Don't overthink it all. Think so. Here's the first one. What is your go to snack?
00;31;43;26 - 00;31;51;11
Joe Boruchow
Go to snack is these days I like oyster crackers. Those are good. Yeah.
00;31;52;09 - 00;32;00;21
Rob Lee
When is your favorite time to work? During the part of the year. Like I like to work in a season or absurd part of the day, but what is your favorite on the work now?
00;32;00;23 - 00;32;21;22
Joe Boruchow
It's from I'm my all my cylinders are fire in between 11 a.m. and beyond. I could go till probably nine if I didn't have to pick up my my kids, make dinner and all that stuff. But I have a really hard time getting cooking before 11 a.m..
00;32;22;00 - 00;32;23;28
Rob Lee
So we're going to do a peak time right now. Yeah.
00;32;24;07 - 00;32;29;08
Joe Boruchow
Yeah, you are just the beginning of peak. 3:00 is peak after reading Clark is like.
00;32;30;03 - 00;32;44;08
Rob Lee
So, so people need to get that involved. So I got to come back. I need to return on, on the train up. I was like, I did not have coffee. Have a coffee guy like that. I need like a either a red eye or a black eye or something to kind of get everything kind of like locked in.
00;32;44;20 - 00;33;06;07
Rob Lee
And I was your partner. I was telling her I was like, Look, we get smelling salts before. She's like, I'm going to She's like, I'm not allowing that. I'm sorry. Describe something that you must do, like every day for like the day to feel like this is gone. This is gone, right? For some people, it might be like running, go to the gym, some sort of physical activity or mindfulness practice.
00;33;06;22 - 00;33;22;09
Joe Boruchow
I'd say go for a walk. I need to walk, get some sort of physical activity every day to really feel like I did something. I wish I used to be much more, much better at it. But yeah, that definitely some sort of exercise for sure.
00;33;24;00 - 00;33;29;28
Rob Lee
So what is the number one for you? Best thing about being an artist specifically?
00;33;30;15 - 00;34;01;05
Joe Boruchow
The best thing about being an artist in Philly is the accessibility of just the street. This the the, the city itself. I find it really easy to navigate. It's super easy to find your way around. You can get it small enough that you can get to know all the pockets, all the clicks, all the you know I'm not I've never one to like just get tight with one click.
00;34;01;05 - 00;34;07;12
Joe Boruchow
I like to kind of float around, you know, And Philly is a great place to do that and not feel like you lost.
00;34;07;12 - 00;34;23;06
Rob Lee
I definitely agree with the sort of street thing. I usually time like how long it takes for me to get from where I'm coming from to where I'm going. And I think once I can kind of like find multiple ways to get to that point, it's like, okay, no place now. Yeah, and I'm coming from 30th Street Station or have you?
00;34;23;13 - 00;34;39;16
Rob Lee
And initially it was it was like a 30 minute walk. As I walk there and now it's like I'm down like about 20. And I was like, okay, I'm moving. I got it. I know where I'm at. I'm not going to worry about getting lost in business construction because I'm coming down. Lavaca, maybe Walnut and then taking like ninth across.
00;34;39;16 - 00;34;45;11
Rob Lee
I was like, Oh, I'm good. I know exactly where I'm side streets. I had to worry about all that. Is that Ali Oh, good.
00;34;45;13 - 00;34;53;17
Joe Boruchow
Got to love that grid and see so, so ridiculous. Oh, my gosh. I grew up there. I still I can't find my way around that city.
00;34;53;29 - 00;35;12;05
Rob Lee
And they have this sort of like house design, that straight line that you can't get to the White House directly. And it's just like, this is just a maze. Yeah, this is intentionally a maze. It is. So this is the last question that I got for you. And I want to right for the way this is worded because I think it's very good.
00;35;12;13 - 00;35;26;11
Rob Lee
Okay. Starting tomorrow is now only 20 hours. What's something that you cut out of your day? Compatibles over the back of a whole. Well, what's something you cut out of your day? If you are driving down 20 hours.
00;35;26;23 - 00;35;43;04
Joe Boruchow
You know, it doesn't make that much of a difference to me. I'm a night owl. I like. I like when it's dark out. I like having the lights on in the house, the heat on and get cozy and turn on my music and get to work. I don't think I cut anything out. It doesn't. I like the winter winter months.
00;35;43;23 - 00;35;49;19
Joe Boruchow
Yeah, I get sick of them. February, March. You know, I'm ready for spring at that point. But this is a great time of year.
00;35;49;19 - 00;36;15;19
Rob Lee
Yeah. Because it's like, yeah, we've had this a little bit too. I'm more of like, it's my, my birthday's in the 3rd of January and I'm like, Yeah, once we're after January 20th, everything else can go. Can we just be back to spring, please? That's what I'm doing. So that's it. That's all the questions. So I want to thank you for being on the podcast, taking the time with me, and I want to invite encourage you to tell the fine folks, the listeners, where they can check you out, your website, social media, all that good stuff.
00;36;15;19 - 00;36;16;23
Rob Lee
The floor is yours.
00;36;16;24 - 00;36;31;09
Joe Boruchow
Well, the easiest place to find me is on Instagram, and I find that's the the site that I get the most value out of. I'm off Twitter now, but I never really had much of a Twitter presence to begin with.
00;36;33;16 - 00;36;50;04
Joe Boruchow
Yeah, or just hit me up. I can always email me of the old school email. It's for show at Yahoo dot com VR. You know W And if you're in Philly, keep your eye out for some weird black and white paste ups.
00;36;51;15 - 00;37;07;29
Rob Lee
So they have folks. I want to again thank Joe Bhatia for coming on to the podcast and I'm Rob Lee saying there's art and around your neck it words you just got to look for it.
