The Art of Environmental Empathy: A Conversation with Christine Forni

Hey friends, welcome and welcome back to noseyAF conversations about art, activism and social change. It is a beautiful day here in Chicago and I hope you have been enjoying your summer.It's been a decent summer for me and actually next week's episode I'll be giving a recap on my summer on my world and just like what's been going on and I hope you'll enjoy that. And we'll check that out because it has to do with summer. And today I have a conversation from my radio program, noseyAF Live at Lumpen Radio.And Lumpen Radio, if you are new here, is a community radio station here in Chicago. It has a lot of civic minded shows, political fun shows, art shows. It's a great radio station and you can always listen to it live.Right now, even if you want to hit pause on this conversation, you can go over there to lumpinradio.com or if you're in Chicago, it is 105.5 FM and you can hear lots of independent artists and journalists sharing their thoughts on a bunch of different topics. I am there every second and fourth Saturday. So, you know, tune in live sometimes and see what's going on.I've been really enjoying being there to talk with people in person, you know, artists and community makers who actually live in Chicago versus just, you know, talking remotely. And plus I get to learn a new skill, radio production. And so it's been such a fun challenge. I like to learn new skills.That actually leads me to today's conversation that's gonna be with Christine Forni that we recorded this past Saturday Live, August 23, 2025. Something fun about this interview with Christine is that it's my second time I'm producing live by myself, which is wild in its it is live radio.If I'm messing up or if I'm not talking, it is going out on the airwaves. And it's one of those projects, this show like that I'm building in public and learning live.So hey, you know, you want to see me trip up and figure things out as I'm like a super duper newbie. Would I be like a radio host slash producer? You should head over there. It is a wild time.But you know what, when you put in the reps, as they say, you just get better and better. So. And each time, the second time I learned something new that I didn't learn the last time. So you know what, it's all good and I am enjoying it all.So I'm just excited that I have the opportunity to be there in addition to having the podcast as well. It's pretty cool. I feel very, very Oprah. Bonnie Deschamp, Martha Stewart. I just feel like a baddie, you know what I mean?So before we play the theme music, let me tell you a bit about Christine. So Christine Forni is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, alternative photography, drawing, and installation.And Christine's art has traveled the globe and she's exhibited everywhere from Tokyo to Italy, Boston, just like a couple places, to name a few. She's been everywhere. What I think makes Christine's story particularly fascinating is how into nature and science she is.Her artistic journey really mirrors the very themes that drive her work. She was born in Cleveland and raised in industrial landscapes of Pittsburgh and Detroit.She grew up in an apartment complex that bordered a small forest preserve.And this unique childhood geography where, like, smokestacks meet, meet tree lines created what Christine calls a dichotomy of industrial backdrops along with time spent in nature. And it's this tension between the built and natural worlds that continues to inform Christine's practice today.Christine brings to her art a rare combination of rigorous research, scientific curiosity, and deeply personal reflection on how, as humans, we relate to both our natural and constructive environments. Christine, like I said, is based in Chicago. We recorded this live at Lumpen.And she continues to create work that challenges us to see connections between industry and ecology, between the specimens we collect and the stories they tell about who we are. And one of the things that we will talk about is that Christine courageously uprooted her life to move to Paris with her husband James.And we also talk about her new artist run project Green Garnet Press. And Christine is like such a nature science lover. And I really love that because I am not. And did you guys ever see the show Mr. Wizard?I think it was on Nickelodeon. And Mr. Wizard was like this man who was always doing science experiments.And the kids in the neighborhood would go and stop by, be like, Mr. Wizard, what are you up to? And he's like, hey, kids, you want to learn how clouds are made? And they're like, yeah, sure. And he would show them.So they would spend, you know, this hour or maybe like 30 minute workshop workshopping about how clouds were born or how clouds were made. And I feel if Christine was a child actor, she would have been a perfect fit for the show. That's what I'm getting at.But anyway, here comes the music and then we will talk to Christine and you will hear me live produce on Lumpen Radio. So let's go to the whole world. You will win a winner vision of a star with a mission in the cause what you doing, how you doing?What you're doing and who you are? Flex yourself and press yourself Check yourself, don't wreck yourself if you know me then you know that I be knowing what's up.

Hey, Stephanie.

Graham is nosy. WLPN LP Chicago 105.5 FM Lumped radio. Welcome, Chicago to Two O'. Clock. This is Stephanie, and you are listening to noseyAF Radio Live.I am excited to have Christine Forni here. Christine Forni is a artist, sculptor, sort of a Renaissance woman who doesn't like to put herself in a box. Christine, welcome to Nosy af.

Hi, Stephanie. Good to be here. Yes.

I'm so happy to have you. So your work is very. When I think of your work, I think of the body of work that was the pretty plexi with the rocks.

You know, it's actually glass.

Glass. Oh, glass. Okay. People are so worried to work with glass. And so. Yes. Okay. So glass. Can you tell us about that just to sort of get a sense of your work?

Sure.I call them kind of like landscape paintings, even though they're kind of sculptural looking and they reference back to possibly like slides or specimen slides. A lot of my work deals with kind of histories and archives that are within my. My own work.So I would say that they're like a collection from my studio, past projects I've worked on, maybe things that I didn't actually end up using. And they began in 2020 during the pandemic.

And so one thing that I really wanted to talk about with your work is. Well, actually just in general. So, you know, with the current administration, a lot of people are, let's leave this country.I actually had friends that just recently relocated. You once lived out of the country. You had lived in Paris. And I'm just curious, when you lived in Paris, what did moving to Paris unlock for you?Not just as an artist, but as a human.

You know, it was an interesting time. There was a lot of things happening in my life at that point. I would say going overseas, it was really hard.I would call it more like a midlife crisis. I mean, a midlife adventure.

Okay.

Both my husband and I were creative people, but we had always been working in jobs in the creative field and we wanted to go back to school at that point. His father had passed a year before that.My mom was starting to get Alzheimer's, and so it was A point in my life where I was like, it's now or never. We might as well go do something that we both really wanted to. So we sold everything that we owned.We sold our condo, we sold our cars, and we ended up using that money in order to go back to school overseas. And what was really cool about that is that being over there, I actually got to appreciate Chicago even more. Like, I love living in Chicago.It's one of my favorite cities in the United States. I think it's a place where people can actually uplift themselves. You know, like, being an artist here, there's a lot of opportunities.It depends on if you give back to other people in the art field, too. But I really, really enjoyed being back here. It didn't make me not want to come back to the United States.I kind of wanted to come back to stand up for what I believed in versus running away, because I believe in this country. And so it kind of means a lot to me to be back here. And I have to tell you, there's a difference between going to Paris and living there.And James and I, James Forni, my husband, we both didn't have, like, a company doing this for us, and we're not, like, millionaires or anything like that. Basically, we use, you know, the finances from selling our place in order to go back to school there.And it was kind of cool because the school was, like, 50% of what it costs to go to an art school here. We could actually live overseas and go back to school, and it was less expensive.So that was part of, like, you know, if I'm going to go back to school when I'm 50 years plus, I think I want something that's gonna really change my life.

Yeah, that makes a big difference, to be in, like, experiences to change your life. But when you. When you moved back, did you feel like.Did you feel different when you came back outside of just being like, you know what I believe in this country? Like, how did you feel when you came back?

Well, I mean, the reason why I felt more like that was because, I mean, I loved living in Paris. I love eating in Paris. I love the culture in Paris. I found the people to be extreme friendly and extremely intelligent.There was none of those, you know, stereotypes that I found there. But it was a little bit more challenging. I learned to be a little bit more patient. I learned that I had to wait in longer lines. I did. I'm serious.I learned that, like, if I wanted to, like, get a package that was being shipped to me from there's not really the Amazon, like, we know in the United States. It would be like, okay, so a package is coming to me.It's not going to get here till like, like, two on Tuesday, but they're going to leave it with, like, the Laundromat down the street because there's no one to collect it at my building.Well, the Laundromat might not be open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but they're open on Tuesdays at 2pm and Fridays at 3pm So I have to make sure that if I'm going to get my package, you know, so the convenience aspect was very different. So it made me really appreciate being back in the United States. Yeah, you know that part. And then can you repeat your question?Because I feel like I answered about Paris when you were asking a question about Chicago, and vice versa, just like.

Wondering, you know, being back in Chicago, which is in the Midwest, you know, if you felt like a different kind of Midwestern artist.

I guess I've always been a Midwestern. I'm a Midwestern gal. Yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm not as sophisticated. I'm like, really quite down to earth.But I appear maybe to be sophisticated, but I don't know. I thought Chicago was beautiful. You know, it was different. It's not as ornate, maybe, as Paris was, but the buildings here are so cool.I mean, I love, like, the greystones and I really love the industrial factories. Like, I have my studio in one of those and, you know, we've lived in those before.I just think it's a really cool space and it's definitely more affordable, more approachable. I don't know. I kind of think I'm going to be here forever.

Yeah, it's a great place to be. So, Christine, you draw. One of the many things that you do is draw. And I'm always so envious of people that can draw because I cannot.Well, you know what? It doesn't matter. But, yeah, so I'm always envious of folks that can draw, such as that yourself.And I'm just curious, like, how did you even get into. How did you learn to draw?

That's a really good question. And it was like, something I was thinking about that maybe we would talk about, and maybe this is a good lead for that.So my mom was like a single parent when I was growing up, and so she was always gone. She would have to leave work early in the mornings, and I would be by myself.And then I had to get myself to school in grade School, and I was telling you how I was walking through the woods all the time. When she told me to take the long way, I'm like, no, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna go walk through the woods.Why would I take the long way to get there? And it was so cool, like, going through the woods.I would experience things that were kind of like seeing tadpoles growing and, like, the way the sunlight was going through the trees and stuff like that. And I would come back, and I'd always just draw things that I saw.We didn't have a lot of money, so I didn't have, like, paints and, you know, crayons and other things like that. But there's always a pencil and paper around.

Yeah.

And sometimes I'd have coloring books and things like that. And versus actually coloring in the book, I would always draw whatever I saw. So no one really taught me. It was just, like, an innate thing.I think that, oh, wow, I could do. I have a really unusual skill, too. I can write with, like, both of my hands upside down, backwards.

Oh, wow.

Flipped. And I'm sort of dyslexic, so, like, when I have to write these, you know, proposals and these grants, it takes me a really long time.So I can kind of see around space pretty well. Wow, that's a long answer for yeah.

No, it's like a gift. It's a gift that you've been given.

I guess so. Yeah. I'm not sure. It can be confusing sometimes when you can write with both hands both ways.

Is that called ambidextrous?

Yeah, I think so.

Yeah.

I mean, I do all the sports with the right, and then I do all my drawing with my left.

Huh. Interesting. That's really cool. Wait, was your mother like that, too? Could she do that?

No.

Oh, just you, the gifted one.

I guess so.

Yeah. I love that. What's your favorite thing to draw?

I love drawing nature, and I love creating depth and space when I'm drawing, if I want to. I mean, I can draw like Leonardo da Vinci, but I don't really want to do that.I want to draw with emotions and feelings or conceptually what relates to something else.Like, the drawing tools that I use in my studio practice right now are from my project I'm doing drawing outside, where I make my own charcoal from sticks.So I like using charcoal lately because I'm using these sticks of charcoal that I've made from across the country at different state, city, and national parks.

You're like your own blick.

That's what someone said to me one time. That's hilarious. They're like, why are you making charcoal? You can just go buy it at Blick. And I'm like, what are you talking about?It was a good friend of mine who was doing, like, a wood fire burning clay session. And I'm like, hey, can I come out? You got hot flames there.I live in an apartment building, and I also have no, like, yard or way to do anything in my studio. So I went out there, and he's like, why are you doing that? I'm gonna just go buy it at Blick. I'm like, just let me do it.So then I made him, and he went crazy. Everybody went crazy. They all picked up the sticks. They were drawn all over everything.

Wow. So wait, so is there a difference from buying the charcoal versus you making it? I've just never heard of anybody making their own charcoal before.Maybe because I am not. I don't draw. Like, you know, my mediums is photo.

And film, so I'm always interested in different techniques. I was. Oh, I hope I get the name right. Cennini Cianino from the Renaissance time. So I investigate things in different time periods.And he had written this treatise about how to make different things in the arts. You know, they were like, talking about leaving lead straw drips on the top of the roof for five months.And then eventually you get, like, white cake down there, and you can make it in white paint. I'm like, that's ridiculous. But that'll go buy a Blick, and it won't have lead in it.

Right, okay.

But I did read about, like, making charcoal, and it was pretty cool. I base how I make it off of that treatise, but in a modern, contemporary way. I'm like, I kind of cheat a little bit somewhat. They were using.I think it was grapevines. And he was peeling the bark off of it, and I tried to do that. Like, oh, my God, this has taken forever.And then I realized if I just made the charcoal with the bark on it, when it came out, it looked really beautiful. It looked like a sculpture that was black and gorgeous, but you could just, like, peel it off with your hands. I'm like, oh, the bark's gone.So, yeah, I kind of do things a little bit different, but I base it off of something from the Renaissance time.

Yeah, I like that. And it's being out with nature. So you're drawing you outside project. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Well, nobody really quite understood what it was till I finally have some pictures on my website. I kept writing proposals for grants and things like that. And I think it was like two years ago. I finally got something after like, three tries.And I couldn't believe it. I'm like, oh, finally they get it. So the project is like, what I do is I want to bring people outdoors not to just like, walk and look at nature.Kind of a passive way. I want them to engage a little bit. So what I do is I find sticks that have fallen.I'm not cutting off tree limbs or anything like that to make the charcoal. I find things that have fallen on the ground, I collect those, and then I follow what Cennini Cianino did. And I take binding wire.Cause I used to be a jeweler. So I have copper wire in my studio, bind it with my jeweler's tools, and then I make the charcoal.And then when people come to the drawing outside project, I supply them with all the materials they would need to draw. So I give them drawing boards, paper, gum, erasers. And then I let them choose which stick that they would like.You know, it's a charcoal stick that they'd like to use that they can take one that they can draw with, and they can have a second one. Because people are like, oh, I don't want to draw with it. It's so cool. I'm like, no, here, take two then.

Yeah, that's nice of you.

Yeah. So it's really fun.And so I think by looking at nature with something that's actually part of nature there in front of them, that maybe it'll give them a moment to connect. And I think by connecting with nature more, that there'll be a better appreciation to maybe take care of the environment more.So I'm doing these projects that I make just kind of in subtle ways to get people to kind of think about how we interact in nature versus being really didactic. And, you know, mine's more about environmental empathy. Kind of getting back in touch with that.

Yeah. Because I feel like my only access to nature is just going on like a walk, Like a walking path.

I'm gonna take you on some good walks here in Chicago.

Okay. Yes. But I do think that, you know, make. It makes you stop in your process with the drawing. And can the people who participate, can they draw?Are they doing a nice job or what are they making?

No, I don't judge em on that because it's more about, like, I give them some prompts so that they have things to. And I show them how to. First thing I do is I dirty their whole sheet of paper up with charcoal.

Okay.

But now I'm giving away some of the secrets.

Okay, we'll just have to check it out.

But that way there's not that intimidation, you know? And I have them draw light instead of just thinking of lines.So I start with the eraser, and they have to draw with eraser to see the highlights and the shadows. And, like, give them prompts on sounds, how you can make marks with that.But I also sometimes, just in case people feel really intimidated, I also give them prompts for, like, writing poetry and ways to, like, draw things or write about things that they're seeing, hearing, experiencing. And you'd be surprised. I'm like, I love the adults being in it because they haven't drawn since they were younger.And it's amazing how beautiful some of these drawings come out. We keep moving through nature, and I tell them we're not gonna focus on making perfect image.We're gonna keep walking and moving and drawing the whole way on the same sheet of paper. So it becomes sort of an abstract landscape. But you can still tell some.You know, there's still trees, but it's not necessarily, here's your tree, here's a leaf. We don't kind of go through it like that.

I like that. So you're like, walking and drawing at the same time versus. Cause that was when you said you dirty up their paper. That is me thinking.Another thing I think about nature is like. Like, I don't wanna get dirty. I don't wanna. I don't wanna get, like, dirt on my clothes.

Are you serious?

Yes, I'm like that. I try. I'm trying not to be like that. So then. So then when you're like, I dirty up their paper, it's like, oh, my gosh.Okay, so that is, like, taking that out. Cause, yeah, like, when the walks, they're like.You know, even in school, when they tell people, oh, we're gonna go out into the forest, like, you know, wear, you know, just a T shirt and jeans. But the jeans shouldn't be too precious. Like, that's how they prepare you to go out there. Like, as a. Like, not put together.

That's hilarious.

Oh, my gosh. Maybe I'll dress up for the nature now.

Okay, Well, I have to tell you, I was like the kid that was younger in Girl Scouts, and I would go stomping through the middle of the pond, and I would jump in.

My Girl Scout leader was not like that. She had us in hotels in Bougie oh, that.

No, no.

Yeah, we weren't doing any. And I wanted to join Boy Scouts because I'm like, at least in Boy Scouts they learn the knots. We don't know the knots or anything.Cause we know we're like, at br.

Yeah, they made us do cooking and stuff like that, and so.

Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, you guys, like, learn, like, life.

Skills kind of, sort of. But I did. When I went to Girl Scout camp, I kind of like got into the ponds and out in nature, you could go hiking. And I loved it.I mean, I just like, I don't know, getting out there. You can shower after you're done.

No, it's true.

You know, like, when you're out there, it's fine.

Yeah, we didn't. Yeah, our. Our girls go camp. We were in cabins and we did tie dyes, and we walked through the forest preserve holding hands. And we had to. And we did.We had wintergreen lifesavers. And in the middle of the night, if you chomp on them, they don't, like, make your teeth sparkle.

Oh, really?

Yeah. So we, like, got to see that with each other. But then we walked back to the cabin. Like, it was no camping. It was all like, glamping before.

That's hilarious. No, mine wasn't like that.

I feel like I missed out because. Yeah, I think that I'm like, you.

Were in the city, right?

I was in the suburbs, but yeah.

I was back in Cleveland in those days.

Yeah. I hope. Hopefully Girl Scouts is how you had experienced it versus how you did. Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, I was. I. I didn't like having to wear my Girl scout outfit to school, though.

Oh, I didn't like that either. That was so embarrassing.

Me too. I'm like, I. I had to drop out of it because of that. I'm like, I don't want every to know this. I don't know the.

There was a super popular boy in my high school, and he was like, really into the goth stuff, but he was really into Boy Scouts. Like, he had. He had a high level of boy Scouts and he lived around the corner from me, so I would always see.

Him with his outfit.

Yeah. And I don't know if he ever. If people really knew that, but I knew that about him. That, like, he was a high level boy Scout.

That was cool though, you know that he had two worlds happening.

Yeah. So, like, okay, so with your work, you've done like residencies in gardens, museums, and now you run your own press.What's like One moment from one of those spaces that have completely changed how you think about making art.

I would have to say that the residency that I had in Paris at the Comparative Anatomy Gallery there, that one really changed how I view getting residencies, because I actually created that one on my own. I wrote a proposal. I created artwork that I thought would work for having a residency there.I found a translator, and then we set up a meeting together to meet with a director there. And I realized I can make residencies and do this anywhere versus being in a competition with, like, a thousand other artists.I can align the residency to be fitting my practice more. And, you know, going back to that girl Scout thing, you know, why I was in the pond?I was looking for fossils and stuff like that when we were out in the woods. And I just love the Comparative Anatomy Gallery. It has a huge floor of fossils, and it's a smaller museum, and it's so cool.There's like, all these old kind of specimens and bones.

Is that in Chicago?

No, that's the one that. Well, there is a surgical science museum here. That's really cool.

Yeah.

But this one was in Paris, where I created that residency. So I think that one was kind of life changing for me because now I like.I'm like, you know, Evergreen Conservancy outside of Pittsburgh is kind of where my family grew up. And I remember there were coal mines and things there, and there was like, amd, which is acid mine discharge coming up from the mines, which creates.What is that? Iron oxide pigment. So I was kind of like, you know what? I want to try and create a residency there. So I have been.Both my husband and I, we go there and we film, we photograph, and then I'm creating artwork in my studio space. So this has been going on since, like, 2019, 2020.I was supposed to have the residency, but, you know, we all know what happened in 2020, so it kind of put things on hold. And then since then, I've just been going almost every year, maybe once a year or something like that.

Oh, that's so lovely.

Yeah, but not as a residency. This is the first time I've been invited by the director to come back and stay with her.And I'll be there for a longer period of time where we'll probably do some interviews, and probably next year, I'll be making the artwork that aligns with that, maybe looking for a place where I could share that here in Chicago.

You said iron pigment or iron.

Iron oxide.

What color is that?

It's like an orange Color. It's like rust.

Oh, wow.

Really cool. What happens is like. And I'll be able to talk about this a little bit better. I mean, I love. I have to say, I'm a little bit of a nerd.I love science and how things are put together and how things are made. But I guess what happens. There's this AMD which, the content there at Evergreen Conservancy.It's not as bad as some of the other AMD places where there's. It's called acid mine discharge coming up from underground. But they filter it. And what happens when they filter?They push oxygen into the water and it makes the iron oxide come out of the water. They have plants that actually are filtering the iron oxide that's coming through too. And so they have these holding pools.There's like I think five or six of them before it goes into. I think it's called Crooked Creek. Then that goes into the Allegheny River.So this little community is making a huge difference, which I think is really cool. It's a small group and that's what I think that we can do here too, in Chicago with these artist run places.I love the fact that we're changing the community for our own well being.

Yeah, I really like that too. There was something that I was gonna say as you were talking that I'm losing. Oh, so you were.Wait, you've gotten all into all the science from your mom having you. From you walking through the forest.

No, you know that's not true. My mom. No, you know, my mom gave me a lot of praise on things that I did, so it was really wonderful. She thought I could do anything in the world.But I think I got some of my intelligence from my dad. My dad was a chemist. Oh, he was a paint chemist, but he was also colorblind. So he used to work in the automotive industry.And as a kid, every other weekend when I was growing up, I would be staying with him. But on Sunday nights we would go to the chemistry labs where the paint was located. And they didn't realize.I don't know why they hired him to be in the color division in the beginning, but as a kid in grade school, I was always checking the reds and the greens for him to make sure that, like, I am not going to say what companies.

Yeah, no, don't.

We don't want no smoke. No, no, no.But I'm just saying I had to make sure that the greens were aligned, that they matched the run so that week's run would be the right color. Or the reds. And so when I was a kid, I would get in hazmat suits.We'd go up into the freight elevators, and I would go look and make sure that the colors were right for the next run that week.

I really like that. That's very sweet.

That was in grade school. That was, like, nine years old doing that stuff, so.

Yeah. I just love, like, how you're into, like, the science and the nature.

Yeah. I think it's inquisitiveness and being. Being inquisitive makes you want to figure out how things work. So I kind of have physics as my hobby. Ooh. Wow.So I can't really speak to it too much, but it's more of a hobby for me.

Interesting.

Yeah, we can talk about that.

Yeah. It's just, like, an innate thing in you that just brings that out.

Well, I want to know how things work.

Yeah.

And I want to know how they work so I can utilize that. Like, I wanted to learn how to make charcoal. I'll tell you, the first couple attempts weren't successful. But I don't give up, up.And I keep changing until I get what I want, and then if somebody else did it, I can do it. So I keep adapting and learning. And so I think that part of me wants to understand how things are made so my artwork will have more meaning to it.I think by using things that are from places I've been or histories will somehow come through the artwork. It's like the DNA of the artwork. Possibly.

Yeah. And you don't have to buy any charcoal because you could just make your own.

It does take a little bit of time, but you're right on that.

Yeah. My girlfriend. My girlfriend Tracy makes her own laundry detergent.

She's like, are you serious? How the heck do you do that?

She says it's very simple. I don't know, but she's like, a laundry detergent is so expensive. I just make it myself.

Does she put, like, lavender oil or any kind of smells?

Yeah, she does, like, different smells and everything. And I'm just always like, wow, I should learn to do that one day. But I don't. I just go to the store.

Well, I got too much going on right now.

Yeah.

That I would probably learn that I'm never gonna retire. But if I did retire, then I'd wanna learn how to do that.

Yeah. As you talk about it, it's like, oh, maybe I should learn to do that.

Cause you just got to think about.

These things that you don't have to go to.

The store and buy something that's in a plastic bottle, you know, that's kind of cool.

Yeah. And that's your lines, too, about, like, being more environmentally friendly.

I like that.

Yeah. I'm really interested now in things that, like, folks just make. I have a friend that makes his own cameras. He makes his own cameras.

Okay.

Pinhole or four by five?

Oh, cool.

He'll make his own four by five cameras. Panorama cameras.

Awesome.

So shout out to everybody out here that's making stuff, because let me tell you, I don't.

Oh, come on.

I barely will. I'll make a salad.

You'll make a story.

Yeah, that's true. You know what I mean?

That's true.

That's true.

You want to get.

But that. Not like with my own camera that I built from the rental house.

This is like, with your own mind. Like, you want to, I don't know, film people. You want to tell their stories. Like you're trying to tell my story right now.

Yeah, I love it.

So you're interested in that, you know?

Yes, I am, very much so. Because I think it's. I think I'm really drawn to. With your work, the whole love of nature and the environment.

That's cool.

Because at that I was not brought into that, you know, outside of just going to the forest preserve for a walk.

Yeah, I mean, it's my spiritual place in a sense, you know, So I really enjoy it. It's a quiet moment. It's a place to be at peace. Cause there's a lot of noise here in Chicago, too.

Yeah, that's true. There is a lot of noise. And I guess just thinking about forest preserves as, like, could be a spiritual place, you know?Cause especially, like, in the middle of Schomburg, is the Woodfield Forest Preserve a spiritual place? But I guess it's.

It can be, you know, if you're there by yourself. And the way the lights come through the trees, I mean, there's moments where you're just, like, in awe of the beauty that you're seeing.

Yeah, I'm sure people are like, wow, Stephanie, you're such a bozo.

No, they're not. They're like, you know, there's mosquitoes out there and there's ticks.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I have the off. Off, you know, all the different mosquito sprays. Yeah, absolutely.It's like you're taught to protect yourself, you know, from, like, protect your clothes, protect your skin. Don't really embrace it.

Yeah, I really wasn't so much into the protection until I went to the east coast and we were hiking over there. That's where the bugs get serious.

Uh, oh yeah. Scary. Well, listen, we had to take a quick break so we will be right back after this with Christine Forni. Foreign.

News and interest Chicago. All news is good and interesting. Chicago's local pan option, Awcy fm.We report the headlines you missed, the interest that you didn't know that you had and the thoughtful commentary you're ready for. Join our sponsor and true, true local Chicagoans just like you as they report the good news. Because all news is good news. Chicago.Saturday 8 to 9pm on WLPN LP 105.5 FM Lumpen radio.

Take a trip through Latin America's vinyl pipe past circa 1950s and on. Get ready for hard hitting comeyes. Eccentric pop, garage rock and tropical sounds with a few surprises here and there.

Every Tuesday from 8 to 10pm here.

At Lumpen Radio 10505 FM Chicago Sonorama Vintage Latin Sand. Buddy gives artists and small manufacturers in Chicago a place to showcase and sell.

Their goods and artworks.

Buddy retails to a vast audience of Chicagoans and visitors at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Buddy is a shop as local as it gets. Buddy is part of the non profit Public media Institute.

Visit hi-buddy.org for more information. Okay. WLPN LP Chicago 105.5 FM Radio Lumpen Radio. Welcome back. We are here with Christine Forni.And Christine by the way, thank you for being on Nosy af.

Thank you for asking me.

So tell us what are, what's like something that's not art that you do regularly that keeps your creativity flowing?

Well, what I'd like to do regularly but I haven't done in a long time, which is not answering your question properly. But I love going outdoors and hiking and I love going to the national parks or state parks like ideas. Just really, really enjoy that.But on a day to day basis I love cooking. I mean I love cooking in general.And I don't have a garden, I just have like spices, you know, in a small garden on my little teeny tiny deck by my apartment. But every night I cook a whole meal.

Wow, that's amazing.

Yeah.

And that keeps your creativity flowing?

Well, I have to be creative cause sometimes I don't have everything that I need and I have to kind of go oh okay, I know that we have this, we have tomatoes, we have a little, little prosciutto, we have some mushrooms and I've got stewed tomatoes up there and I know I've got some garlic and you know, olive oil and then like. Okay, I'm gonna whip together a homemade pasta. Wow.So if I don't have, like, and I don't do this as regular as I want, but I love making homemade pasta too. It just makes a whole difference. So I have a little thing by. In the kitchen area that I can make my own homemade pasta.

Oh, yeah, those. Is it like those desk things and you could put the dough through?

Yeah, it's kind of the. It's not the one that automatically, you know, pulls out the pasta. You kind of crank it and choose the different thicknesses.So like, usually during every holiday season, it's like I go in and I make that for James and I. Because it just tastes so much better.

Yeah. Yum. That sounds really good. I love pasta.

You know, I have invited you out for dinner and you haven't come over.

I know. I need to. Will we have homemade pasta?

Well, it depends. Do you want homemade pasta?

Why not?

Okay, you got it.

If you were an artist, what kind of life do you think you'd be living?

That's a funny question. I'd probably be a little bit more restful and have more money. But if I wasn't an artist, I would probably be in the field of environments.Environmental science, somehow or archeology would be really cool. I think those would probably be the two places. I mean, if I was not in arts right now, I'd still be in the art field.I'd probably be doing design work if I want to be in a realistic state, not a dream state of, you know, being an archaeologist or something like that.

You really love the environment? I do, yeah.

I love it. It's so cool. I mean, I guess. I don't know. I don't watch contemporary TV very much.I do watch a lot of, like, I used to watch through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. That used to be one of my favorite shows.

Come on. I've never heard of that show.

Oh, you haven't heard of that?

That's how I. Morgan Freeman had, like, a TV show he did.

It was on science. It was called through the Wormhol with Morgan Freeman.

Oh, wow.

It was very cool.That's how I found out about Adrian Bijon, who's a scientist, a physicist, that came up with constructive laws, how, like, all the flow systems through nature and how we process things work. So it was pretty cool. That's how, you know, you wrote about me being from Bucharest to Paris. Bucharest was kind of crazy.I was in Paris living, and I have, like, this. I used to on my website, had something that was, like, called Construct a Law.And it was something that Adrian Bijan, who got his PhD at MIT and is like, a professor at Duke University or something like that. I mean, very well known throughout the world. I thought, oh, my God. His philosophy and everything that he's talking about aligns with my artwork.So I'm like, I'm gonna make something on my website that was Constructal Law. And somebody must have seen it when I was, like, overseas. He sent me an email, and it's said, congratulations on your constructible.

Oh, no way.

And I'm like, what is this. This fake thing I'm getting? You know, because you get those emails where it's like, congratulations.And then I read through, and I was like, oh, my God, it's from him. And James was like, who? And I'm like, nobody in the art world's gonna know this. But it meant so much to me. I was jumping up and down.

That's very cool.

And so then I just kept writing him back and forth, and he invited me to go speak in Bucharest at their conference. Wow.

Oh.

So that's how that kind of came. I didn't really know anybody.

Yeah.

And then I just spoke again at the Energy center in Turin, Italy. I think that was 20, 23 in the fall to a group of physicists there.

Yeah. So in a way, you do live out this, like, other, like, environmental science life, in a way, speaking.

Yeah. I do it for enjoyment.

Yeah.

And it filters into my art.

I love that. That's really cool.

It was kind of a strange path, though. I wouldn't. I mean, I didn't want to contact him because he's so famous around the world. I didn't want. I'm like, he's too busy for me.And so I was shocked that I got an email. And then he thanked me. In his last book that he wrote, Get Out.

That's amazing.

I don't post everything all the time. I felt like maybe Throwback Thursdays. I got to throw some of these things in there.

Yeah. You know, there's nothing wrong with doing things in the cut and just sort of living life, you know? And not everything has to be on there.

I know. And that. But then it's. To other people. It's not a reality. And then they're like, oh, my God.

Yeah.

It just needs to be a reality to me, I guess.

Yeah, that's it.

I like that how you said that. Throwing on the cut. Is that what you said? What's the.

Not everything has to be shared.

You're so cool.

It can be in the cut. Yeah, yeah, in the cut, meaning that you're like, chill, laid back, nobody knows.

I'm not really chilled, but. But nobody knows.

Yeah.Or like, you know, the person that's like, always at the party, they're walking around socializing, somebody that's just like sitting chill and like, that could be like.

Okay, that's me, the club owner, or. Well, I'm not the club owner.

Well, you almost are, you know, with these, you know, famous, you know, scientist folks reaching out to you and putting you in their books. That's pretty cool. That's another cool word coming towards you. That's a flex.

Oh, a flex. Oh, that's cool.

Yeah.

Thanks for like, keeping me, you know, a little bit more up. Up on times, I guess. Yeah.

You know, it's just, it's just words that you just get to choose, you know, really quick. George Jefferson, you know.

Oh, yeah.

So he would do that famous. He always did that dance.

I. I was just gonna say that. I love that dance.

So he, in an interview, he said that everybody did that dance, but by the time he learned how to do it, it wasn't cool anymore. And so, but he, like, it became popular through him again, I guess. So I'm like, so do you.I say, you know, what's, what's timing with words, you know? Yeah, just say whatever you want, as long as it's kind, you know.

Yeah, I do try to be kind.

Yeah. You know, speaking of, like, Instagram and stuff, how it's always like so fast paced and it feels like you have to stay, you know, on the up and up.And people are leaving Instagram also, like, people are leaving the country, they're leaving Instagram and trying to sort of.

Just.

Figure out their relationship with Instagram. And with that question, with that in mind, I'm curious, like, what's your relationship to boredom or slowness, you know, in your work even?You know, like I told you, I.

Think I never get bored. I'm not. I mean, for me, it's almost like there's too much going on, too much I want to do.And when I was younger, I was left alone a lot because, you know, I had a working parent. You know, she left before I left for school, came home for dinner, you know, maybe six or so.So I had a lot of time on my own, so I always had to occupy myself. And I also do remember my grandmother on my father's side when I was younger, she had told me, if you're bored, you're boring.I'm like, I'm not boring. So I always made sure that I was just. Always had something going on and I was always making or creating something.As far as slow, my whole practice is slow. Like, I have projects that I've probably five or six years ago, and maybe they'll evolve and change and then maybe I'll bring them out to the public.Like maybe in this next exhibition. I have worked. That was from 2016 that I worked on again in 2018 and now worked on again in 2024. So I don't know, slowness.I kind of appreciate it because everything else around me, so fast paced, gives me a moment of meditation or calmness. But when there's a deadline, the slowness isn't really so efficient. That's when it gets uncomfortable because I'm like, I gotta get this done.That's what exhibitions are good for. They make you complete your work. You know, they force you for a deadline. It's accountability.So, as you know, with my friends, I give them homework sometimes. Yes, you do. If you're my friend, don't take. You do get homework.And then I check on you, even if it's a year or two later and you're like, oh, you remember? I'm like, yeah, I remember.

But do you give yourself homework too? Well, like, how are you with that for yourself? That's hilarious.

You know, I did because no one was giving me any homework. So I said, hey, this is my homework, right? I'm gonna get, you know, I put it way too high. I said like, maybe 30 prints done.Cause I had for this exhibition coming up. So I sent you a text on that. I'm like, hey, I just wanna let you know what my homework is.And then when my homework had to change, I think I sent you another text. I said I have to adapt that because I only done in two weeks. And yeah, it's not really gonna happen. So maybe it'll be 15.

It's so crazy how like, external accountability makes people get stuff done. Like, but there are a group of people that don't need that. Which I'm always like, wow, scared of you. Because I'm not like that.

Well, they probably are doing it somehow within, you know, themselves. Like, you can set timers for yourself, you can do different things. Or you say by Friday and you write it in your notebook.I would like to have that done by Friday. Yeah, yeah, you know, things along those lines.

But do you do anything to like, quiet your mind? If you're so busy. Like if you have stuff going on or it doesn't bother you as much.

To my mind, does not quiet down. I do like a glass of red wine.Occasionally I go for like the Tuscan or you know, something that's from the northern Italian region that's in my budget.

Yeah.

Which isn't that big.

Can you talk about like generosity in your practice?You know, like you have your practice and you know you have like these other community based things like just what do you think about like being generous and sharing and stuff like that? Especially in an area where I feel like people can be, you know, it's very kind.Even the artist run spaces that people, you know, they share other artists work and have exhibitions and like you're doing that work right now. Maybe. Do you want to talk about that work that you're doing now, like your community artist run practice work?

Yeah, I mean, I guess for the. I have a couple different projects like that going on. But I would say I really enjoy giving to other people.I love seeing them succeed, but I don't always enjoy. I have to say if you know you're working with someone like you had said, that just keeps taking all the time, but doesn't necessarily give back.So like for this new project I'm doing for Green Garnet Press, which is an artist run project, I'm kind of giving back not just to artists that give back to the community in Chicago, but artists that I truly respect their work and they give back to the community.That's one of the questions in the prompt that I've made in a Google form where it's like, okay, before you can move forward in this form, what are you doing for the show Chicago community?How do you give back or how do you give back environmentally to, you know, it doesn't have to be necessarily Chicago be, but in our area, you know, I have some artists that are outside of the area but they're really giving back and building Chicago up that I'm working with. And I have one of my dear friends who's part of the residency. She actually rescues birds locally. It's so cool. Yeah.And I really want to have it more inclusive. She's like 83 years old. Nora Lloyd, she's American Indian here. She just had her, I think an exhibition woven being with a group of other artists.And I want to make sure that I'm tapping into all age groups. Everything that makes our community so cool. You can be very inclusive. Yeah. And share.

Yeah. There's so many art worlds on top of Art worlds on top of art worlds and subcultures and there's all sorts of people out here.

It's really cool.I mean, I love the fact that, I mean, I think we met because we are artists and I'm not sure if our circles would have, you know, and I think you're a great person. I really enjoy, I mean, because you're a really good person giving back to other people all the time, thinking about other people.But I'm grateful, you know, the arts did that for me. Like, I got to meet some really wonderful people, some younger artists that I appreciate their work and they're wonderful, you know, to work with.

Yeah. You know, going back to this environment, you said, you know, folks like artists who might give back to the environment.

Yeah.

How can, you know, maybe I'm talking about myself, maybe not. But for the listener who is, you know, you know, likes to go to brunch, hang out.

Yeah.

Do their walking club in the forest preserve. How can.

And you're not talking about yourself.

No, this is for the listener out there who. How can that person give back to the environment?

I think, you know, it's just like small ways. I think people get, they get stuck because they're like, oh, I can't do anything. Everything's, you know, gonna turn out bad anyways.But I don't believe that. I think that we need to look at it in a different way. Like every small amount makes a difference.Like I sort of shifted how I do printmaking by using soy based inks, not using any petroleum products in my studio. I don't use any turpentines. I try, you know, I just keep trying and not everything's perfect.Like, I still have plastics in my studio, but I try to use reclaimed plastics. You.Sometimes I'll get something that's in a frame or something that's, you know, if I wanted some kind of food product or something left behind, sometimes I use those as plates. Just little things, I think, just, you know, small things make a big difference. And then you just do that slowly. It's kind of like going on a diet.You don't just go, okay, I'm going to lose, you know, 20 pounds in one month and I'm not going to hardly eat anything. I'm like, I don't think that'll work for me. I still think it's good to have a spoonful of ice cream occasionally. Otherwise you're going to go off. So.

Yeah. So like a little bit.

Yeah, just a little bit. Like, you know, go to the farmer's market don't have plastic bags when you're there, you know, support the other local farmers. I mean, I don't know.I don't think we can make huge changes, but I think the more that we get closer to nature, we'll really appreciate and think about that more. Because I know, like, now that I've tapped into, I think, think I have seven or eight artists, it's maybe a little too much for one person.Me, myself, and I running all this. But it's more about organizing the times. I'm like, oh, my gosh. To make sure everybody knows their time and scheduling.But each of those artists I've tapped into just slightly like yourself, to maybe think about it. And that's kind of like the first thing. It's like, oh, well, she's doing that. Maybe I can do something to. That's just slightly different.I mean, I switched to using, I think it's called lavender spike oil, instead of using turpentine. And that was kind of by accident.Another painter said, oh, I can't use this because I'm allergic to flowers, because it really smells like flowers, like lavender. And I'm like, oh, my God, I love the smell of this. It's so much better than turpentine. And so I've just switched using that in my studio.

Yeah, that's nice. I like that. Small, small steps.

Small.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? And don't be too harsh on yourself about things.

Yeah, I'm so easy to be harsh on myself. Do you have, like, a favorite art project that you've done of yours? Like, you've done so much.

Oh, I haven't done. I mean. Yeah, well, I've been around a long time. Yeah.

I mean, I've been doing so much going on, you know, like, do you have, like, a favorite. A favorite project?

Well, the thing that I really enjoy doing, that I don't really share at all, is I love painting.

Yeah.

I mean, I just love mixing colors. I don't know if that comes back to, you know, working in the factory. I didn't really work in the factory.I just went there to go make sure the test dress of the colors. Yeah, yeah, that was about. We'll leave it at that. But the. I think that, like, working with color, I shifted my practice.Everything used to be more black and white and really big black drawings that were like feet by seven feet and things. I mean, they were charcoal, they were black oil sticks. They were graphite and ink, and they were just huge. But going through the Pandemic.I couldn't live with those as well. They were too. They didn't. I don't know, ominous or something. I mean, I still love them. They have a lot of power.But I realized, I think I became a little bit more fragile during the pandemic, and I really enjoyed looking into, like, color and making things that I would enjoy. Enjoy being a raft. So I have to say, my practice changed. I'd say working with color is kind of my favorite.

Do you have a favorite color?

Well, only lately it shifts all the time. I don't believe in horoscopes, but I am a Gemini, so it's always kind of shifting. But I think lately I love the color.In the springtime, there's this bright green color when the buds are just at the ends of the trees. So, like, the little leaves on there and you can still see all the lines in the forest. I love that green color.

Yeah.

But I can't say that that's always been my favorite. It shifts.

It shifts.

Yeah.

What is one thing, and you could tell me if you don't want to answer this, but with your. With green garnet press, your project. What's something about running an artist press that nobody warned you about?

Oh, no. Well, we just started. I don't want all the artists, if they're probably the ones listening. I don't know. What is it like, you know, like.

About running your own space that maybe folks don't haven't told you about?

I would have to say, each time someone comes in, I learn. You know, I learn little things. You know, I really have to be specific.Each time someone comes, I shift the way the space is and the prints that we're making because a lot of the artists haven't had much experience. I like working with artists that haven't done printmaking before. So we're doing more black and white prints.And I did have an artist come in and go, oh, I want to do color, and had everything all organized and had an idea. And I'm like, okay, we'll try and do this, but I don't have right now.I've written a lot of grants to try and get some money to get, like, brayers and rollers. And I funded it with my own money to get paper and things like that.But if you want to get really good tools for printmaking, like, a brayer can be like 300 to 500 bucks. You know, it's, like, kind of expensive. So that I'm kind of waiting for, if we have some sales and Then I'll invest back into the project more.That's one thing that I realized, like, having other people come by. But it's kind of cool because, like, I get my studio kind of a little cleaned up before everyone comes.I'm like, wow, this is really nice going in my studio with three people coming this last week. I'm like, wow, this is. I could work in here a little bit better.

I love it. Yeah. It gives you accountability.

It was. And I could figure out how to get the music on. I'm. Wow. I like having the music going when I'm printmaking, but I never used to do that.I always was in silence, but it seems like I'm enjoying that much more.

Yeah. What do you have coming up in your own practice? Like, exhibitions and stuff like that? What do you got going on?

That's a good question. I have a solo exhibition coming up at Parlor and Ramp.

Okay.

And that's where I'll be curating the Green Garnet Press artists residencies. Well, the Green. It's a long name, but I love Green Garnets, the actual Stones. So Green Garnet artists residency. I'm curating exhibitions for them.So we're gonna have their prints in the front room. And then it'll divide into, like, coming into my exhibition, which is curated by Samuel Schwindt. It's the Alchemist's Den.And you can probably check that out coming up. It's in November sometime.

Okay. Which will be here before we know it.

Yeah. And fall show. I would check out Parlor, Ramp. They're doing some really wonderful.

They really are.

You know, they had a fundraiser that I went to last night.

Oh, fun.

It was really amazing. They had a really wonderful band that was playing there.

What kind of music?

That's a good question for James. He'd be able to describe it better than I could.

Swing dancing or something? No.

Swing dancing. It was really cool. No. But I probably was the oldest one in the room, but I was, like, with the hip kids. It was really nice.

I love it.

Yeah. And so then I have a residency coming up. Right. It's like the Monday following the opening of that. That's gonna be at Evergreen Conservancy out in.Just outside of Pittsburgh.

Oh, okay. How long will you be there?

That will probably be seven to nine days. It's gonna be a shorter residency. Cause I'm a working artist.

Yeah.

And that's why I created this residenc artists here in Chicago, that the times are flexed so that if you are working or you're A professor, you know, it's not like you have to go away for two straight weeks. We meet together at different times and we can shift it. And let's say you can't meet this.You know, I think it's like three to four times during a three to four month period. It's so cool that you could shift it to the next session so that you can complete this. I don't want to put pressure on artists.I want them to have some freedom and especially ones that are having to, like, work and have other. Other obligations.

Yeah. Sometimes when people are like, oh, I'm on a six month residency, I'm like, wow, you go, I know, that's amazing.

I was gonna ask. Yeah. I've got another one coming up this spring and they've offered me, it's a paid one for like four weeks.I'm like, gosh, I don't know if I can do four weeks because I have to work.If they have Internet, then I can go there and I can do work, you know, while I'm at the residency, which I do a lot of the times because I have to keep working in order to, like, keep my studio space going.

Yeah, no, of course. I had a residency where a girl was working. Like, she was.Thankfully, they have the Internet here and, you know, we'd come by and like, knock on the door like, you want to go for a walk? She's like, I'm working. It's like, oh, my gosh, I'm sorry.

Well, it's cool because you, like, maybe you don't have to work the full seven or eight hours that day. Yeah, you just put in your three and then you can go do your part of the residency again.Yeah, I mean, I'd rather make that sacrifice than not have the residency at all.

Yeah, of course. And you can just be someplace else too, which is also very nice to be, like, at home in her apartment, working from home.She got to be, you know, in Canada working from home. So that's like always so nice.

Yeah, I like that.

Yeah. I have another question for you. You know, this is a fun question, though.

If you had.

If you had to make a sculpture about the state of the world right now, what would it be of and where would you put it?

Oh, you know. Okay, I'm gonna throw you for a loop on this one.

Okay.

Because I think I'm moving maybe more into 2D.

Okay.

You know, I'm moving more into painting. But that being said, whenever I say that I go against. It's really about Conceptually, what the work's about. Gosh, that's a really good question.What would it be? I don't know. Everything's so fast paced, and I think people are kind of missing the point on our existence on this planet right now.So I just wish people would kind of, like, be kind to each other. So I don't know, maybe I would do something where I'd make them come see it outdoors.I mean, that's the only thing I can think of, like, in the woods someplace, something that was quieter.And if they couldn't get there, maybe since my husband's a film director, I'd do some sort of a film project where they could see it, but they couldn't be there.

Yeah, I like the idea of having some sort of, you know, painting that's, you know, positioned throughout the forest that people would see that they have to go see.

Yeah. You know, that would be kind of cool.

That would be, like, where you could put it in the forest, you know?

Well, I think it'd be cool to, like, have the forest be a collaborator. That's what I hope to do when I'm on a residency, so that maybe I would leave it out there to be weathered.Maybe I would take it into, like, the pond and stomping it like I did when I was a kid and Girl Scouts.

Exactly. Bringing it all right back to there. I love that. I love thinking of the forest as a collaborator. I'm not gonna think of the forest anymore.You know what forest? You're my friend.

Exactly.

Yeah, I like that.

It could be your friend. You know what? I'll introduce you.

Okay. Oh, my gosh. I love that. I love that. You hear that? That's to the listener. It's not to me.It's to the listener that's at brunch that think going to the forest is dirty. Christine is going to introduce you to the forest as your friend. There's no need to.

And then you can take a shower and, you know, when you get back home.

Yeah, exactly. Just think of it just like making sure you're spending time there in the.

Forest, kind of quiet, just listening to the different sounds. Like how you can hear the birds. But in the city, it's kind of cool, too. You get to hear the street noise along, living side by side.

Yeah.

So I kind of like that versus thinking about it as competition, even though it is between us and nature sometimes. But maybe we can live a little bit more in unison.

Yeah, I really like that. Well, Christine, as we wind down. Thank you so much for being on noseyAF at Lumpen today. I really appreciate your time.

Thank you for having me. It's been really fun. I was kind of thinking we wouldn't be able to keep talking, but I'm sure we have a lot. We could probably do 10 episodes.

And on the next week with Christine, we'll talk about showering after the forest. What happened? Oh, my gosh. Well, christineforney.com for more details on your work. And then you're on Instagram. Hristine Forni.

I am. And drawing you outside. And maybe Green Garnet press soon.

Okay.

I just. I don't know if I can keep up with it all.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here here.

Yeah. Thank you, Stephanie. It's great.

This has been another episode of Nosy af. I'm your host, Stephanie Graham. What did you think about today's conversation? I would love to hear your thoughts.Head over to the noseyAF website for all the show notes related to this episode. You can also find me on Instagram, Stephanie Graham, what would you know?Or online@missgraham.com where you can sign up for my newsletter where I share exclusive updates about my studio practice as well as this podcast. Until next time, y' all stay curious and take care. Bye.