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Episode 5 Heidi T.
Episode audio and synced transcript are available via Descript here.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Hello and welcome. Art RADIO is a podcast hosted by the Siskiyou County Arts Council located in northern California on the land of the Achomawi, Karuk, Klamath, Konomihu, Modoc, Okwanuchu, Pit River, Northern Wintu, Shasta, Winnemem Wintu tribes. We offer recognition and respect to these tribes and all others, as we connect on native land.
With Art RADIO, we aim to uplift the creative voices of the county through this podcast medium. With the geographical landscape being a large challenge of connecting with each other, the podcast radio waves will be the connecting thread. Our priority at the Siskiyou County Arts Council is to cultivate strong and creative communities in Siskiyou County because we believe the arts are a societal cornerstone that celebrates diverse cultures and a shared history.
To keep up with grant opportunities, or our projects such as the art cart, subscribe to our newsletter by visiting our website siskiyouarts.org. S I S K I Y O U A R T S . O R G. Thanks again for listening to Art RADIO; have a creative day!
Today on Art RADIO we have artist Heidi T. Heidi T. is an artist, traveler, and owner/operator of Handsome Hand Signs. Influenced by punk rock, graffiti, and unconventional approaches, her creations possess a charming and unruly spirit that catch the eye, but still play by the rules. Heidi painted her first sign in 2009 as a barter for a hostel in Central America and officially joined the world of small business in 2018, with a brick and mortar in a rural mountain town. Her business model remains fluid as she prefers to travel for projects, whenever possible. Hello Heidi and thank you for joining us today.
Heidi T: Hello Bridgétt, thank you so much for having me. I’m excited.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Me too. Okay. So if we can sit together before before we begin. That’s the sort of meditation and grounding and to ground ourselves.
So if you’re listening, go ahead and just make yourself comfortable, slow down, and take a pause. So stop whatever you’re doing and just take some time to breathe. Turn your attention inward. Notice your body sensations. Get curious and interested in what’s going on in your body with your head, your neck, your shoulders, your torso, your hips, down to your legs, and finally your feet. Do you notice any emotions? Do you feel anxious? Do you feel calm? Make room for images to pop up. Listen in to your thoughts. And as you do this invite any adjustments as needed, physical or mental, and then we’ll have 10 seconds of silence for us to just meditate on these things we just mentioned. Then I will bring you back in. Starting now.
3, 2, 1. Great. Okay, Heidi, what is your day been like today?
Heidi T: My day? Let’s see; it’s overcast today. I had a really nice run this morning and then I made my green smoothie and came into the shop and I’ve been prepping a wooden sign for Salt and Savour, which is a sauerkraut maker in Dunsmuir. And I’m also drawing some patterns, some ideas of sketches for Moonrise Canyon, which is a little awesome store in Mount Shasta, that I love.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Awesome! The last person we interviewed, Jess, mentioned Moonrise Canyon with Tyrus.
Heidi T: Yeah. Tyrus totally. I was going to shout her out later.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yes I loved Tyrus. One of the first people I met here was Tyrus too so.
Heidi T: No way. Yeah, she’s super magical. I just met her through, commissioning a sign from me. And just got to be in the shop for the first time recently and it’s got me really excited about all the local artists.
It’s a great space. And she offers a safe space to just create really, just to be yourself, express yourself. I love it.
Heidi T: Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Where do you live right now? What city?
Heidi T: I live in Fort Jones, which is part of Scott Valley.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: And how long have you lived in Siskiyou County?
Heidi T: I actually came to Siskiyou County in 2017 to study herbal medicine here in Fort Jones. And I stayed. I was living in Etna for a while, which is also in Scott Valley. So I’ve only ever lived in Scott Valley in Siskiyou County, but yeah, going on four years.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Awesome. What are your favorite landmarks to visit?
Heidi T: I think anywhere on the PCT, I think it’s great that we have the trail going through here. Anywhere up high, Castle Crags is really intriguing to me, although I haven’t been that close up to it yet.
I really want to see Pluto’s Cave. There’s still, I’ve got a list going. Yeah. I love the main stem of the Salmon River as well. Just the nature. Oh, something I wanted to say in this question.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Of course.
Heidi T: There, it was recently deconstructed, but there was this really rad little ramshackle pyramid bus stop on Old Stage Road, just south of Gazelle. And I used to like to pull over, they just, yeah, they took it down, generally bummed about that, but I used to like to pull over and go inside and people would leave pictures, notes, just random ephemera, random stuff. It was really cool. I wasn’t sure if it actually served as the bus stop, but it had bus stop on the side. That was really rad. Nice view of Mount Shasta and the railroad coming through right there as well.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah. I really like that area. It’s towards where the Sisson Museum is, right?
Heidi T: Yeah. A little. Is that in Weed?
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: No, this is Mount Shasta Old Stage Road. I was thinking Mount Shasta Old Stage Road.
Heidi T: Yeah, the Old Stage Road, the section I’m talking about, goes from between Gazelle, which is like south of Yreka to Weed.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Oh, okay. Wow. Yeah.
Heidi T: Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That sounds so neat. I think what surprises me most about Siskiyou County is there’s a lot of art in unexpected places. It’s not like it has a sign that says ‘museum here’, or ‘art show happening’. It’s like you encounter it in the wild literally.
Heidi T: Yeah, totally.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I’m glad that you said that it existed at some point and you’ve documented it here in this episode because I feel like that’s important.
Heidi T: I actually made, I think the only renegade sign that I’ve done yet, done so far, in Siskiyou County is a bus stop sign for that.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Really?
Heidi T: For that little hut. Who knows where it is now.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Oh, wow. That’s true. I wonder what are well, so what have you what have you done in Siskiyou County that you can’t do anywhere else? Do you feel?
Heidi T: That’s a good question? Cause I feel like you can do most things in other places. I would say afford a storefront. Be able to pay rent on a storefront. Affordable rent feels like that’s pretty impossible in most other places now.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’s true, and actually, and every year it just keeps the rent keeps skyrocketing. But yeah, I think so, too. So if the next question is: if the mountain were a person, how would you describe it?
Heidi T: I would describe it as wise, commanding, maybe a little moody. And I think if Mount Shasta were a person, I would ask her where all the hot springs are at. I know they’re around.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah. There’s a lot of exploring to do in Siskiyou County. Whenever you visit somewhere outside of Siskiyou County, what does it feel like once you’re back or the drive back coming into county lines?
Heidi T: It’s always, I would say increasingly more so, it’s a relaxing experience for me unwinding from my trip and I do leave a lot. So I get to experience this a lot, which is nice. But going over the hill going over Forest Mountain from Yreka and like dropping into Scott Valley. There’s this gorgeous view. It’s just like the expanse of the valley floor. And it’s just surrounded by mountains and it just feels like a big hug. And when I see that view, I always just feel really lucky to live here where I live. It definitely feels really peaceful. And the smell of the cedars. I remember last time I came from the bay area, it was close to midnight. It was pretty late. And I stopped at the headwaters in Mount Shasta on my way back, just to fill up my water bottles, and the smell of the air was just, it was just so pure and beautiful.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, thanks for sharing. How do you feel the art scene in Siskiyou County is right now? And you can say, you can talk about pre pandemic too, cause I know this is a weird time.
Heidi T: Honestly, I haven’t connected that much with the art scene yet. I’ve gone to a couple shows at Liberty Arts Center in Yreka, and they have some really cool events that they put on there. And the town seems to really be enthused about, like their art walks and all that stuff. But haven’t participated in much. I would like to do more.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Awesome. What do you think that you fit in the county in terms of being an artist or a maker?
Heidi T: That’s been a hard one for me. I think my first couple years here, I really wanted to fit into the culture of Scott Valley and not being from here and not being like a…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I know what you’re saying though, it’s because there’s a longest, people have been here for a really long time, right?
Heidi T: Yeah. Yeah, totally. And it’s…
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Right, there’s the people that have been here for a really long time. It’s different. It’s like transferring versus like to a UC versus kids who’ve already been there from the beginning.
Heidi T: Right. Yeah. I think I cared a lot about fitting into the culture that was already here when I got here, but now I’m more interested in making my own culture or connecting with folks that are, that can relate to me who are most likely also transplants as well.
Yeah. I don’t know yet where I fit in.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Well, thanks for sharing that, that was a good answer. So if you could tell me a little bit about what you do and where you have some of your pieces. that just come to mind, just a couple of them, so people can visualize.
Heidi T: I have made a handful of signs on Main Street in Fort Jones. Most notable is all of the Five Mary’s branding and signage for their restaurant and farm store, which is now an office. And then in the little town of Etna I’ve done a handful of signs there as well. This year we got some new signs hung up at John Thomas Fine Jewelry in Mount Shasta. And I’m most very proud of the signage I’ve done for the Chevron in Dunsmuir on the beer cave door.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Oh my gosh. I have to see it.
Heidi T: Totally one of my favorite. Yeah, go check it out. It’s trippy.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I’m excited, I definitely will. When did you start making signs? Do you remember your first sign? It can be, even when you were like, you know, a kid.
Heidi T: That’s a good question. I’m sure that I made signs when I was a kid. I was very, I’m just going to go with my first like actual signage.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, sure.
Heidi T: I painted, I started painting signs in a small tourist town called Bocas Del Toro in Panama when I was in my early twenties. I was doing a barter, like you’d mentioned in the intro. I was doing a border for a hostel and they did like really crazy themed parties every night of the week. And so my first set of signs was like advertising the different parties that they would have at the bar. Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’s really great. And when did you decide to bring it, that, that skill with you? When, why did you feel like, I’m going to take this with me and start creating signs in other places?
Heidi T: It was pretty organic, to be honest, I think the moment of crossover was working in kitchens, restaurants, and cafes as a barista.
These are places that always need like refreshed menus or specials and I would always elect myself to make the menu, do the chalkboard, or whatever. I was working, when I first started calling myself a sign painter, I was actually working at a cafe in near Union Square in Manhattan. And they, my boss there was really rad though and he let me paint their windows. And so that was my first like USA…. that’s not true. I had other signs too.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’s super great. so what are all the different skills that have to go into making a sign?
Heidi T: You definitely have to have a trained eye, which means that you’ve, and this is something that you gain just by observing signs in the wild, or just looking at how things are spaced. There’s less skill now that like everybody’s doing graphic design or anybody can kind of create an image that’s seen online, but you have to know about spacing of the letters. Optic optical spacing is a big part of it. And then I guess the, the, the biggest actual physical skill is just brush control and learning how to move the brush. Everything else there’s a tool for, be it a ruler, protractor, or an overhead projector or something. There’s tricks and tools for everything else. But yeah, I would say the main skill is brush.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: This is a or abstract question. What is art to you? And the second question part second part to that question is, is being an artist, a lifestyle or a hobby or both?
Heidi T: Okay. So this is kind of a round about answer I actually listened to one of the episodes from your other podcasts, How You Frame It. And it was the episode about you, because I wanted to get to know you a little bit before this interview. And you mentioned Jerry Saltz, the art critic who has a list of how to be an artist, basically. And that piqued my interest, so I looked it up and there’s one, embedded in his article about these like 30 something rules for being an artist, was this quote by a lady whose name I can’t remember, but it said like ‘you can’t just run up to beauty and kiss her on the mouth’.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’s true.
Heidi T: And I was thinking about like, well maybe for someone like me, maybe that’s what my art practice is like doing is like trying to find ways to kiss beauty on the mouth. Without being too direct, you know?
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I’ve never heard of that. I’m going to be thinking about that now. That’s really interesting. Thank you for sharing that. I’m going to continue looking that up.
Heidi T: Yeah. And that’s in the same section Jerry Saltz was comparing artists to cats and that’s why, that’s what the context of the quote is that, like a dog will just come up and lick you in the face, but a cat wants this third object to interact with you through. And he was saying that artists are kind of like cats in that way, that they want to interact with you through an object.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’s very true. Definitely, I feel like after reading that review, like I said, the way I found you is through a review that someone had posted and they were really happy with their sign. They just, you created a memory for them, and you created an experience for them, and also for their customers.
Heidi T: Do you remember what sign it was?
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: You know what I want to say? It was for the…
Heidi T: It’s okay.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: No, I think it’s for the what’s it called? Farmer’s market. Someone’s farmer’s market. Mount Shasta maybe.
Heidi T: In Weed?
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, I think it was because it was more of a sandwich, a sandwich board type of sign. Right?
Heidi T: Yeah, she just picked that up I think this last weekend.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Well, there you go. Yeah.
Heidi T: Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It must’ve been.
Heidi T: That was totally it.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It was in the bright sun and I remember the sandwich board and I was like, that’s really nice. And then kept going.
Heidi T: Cool.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It’s really awesome. I really am. I’ve always admired people that can do calligraphy, hand lettering. It’s just fantastic.
Heidi T: Yeah. If you know, my father has calligraphy skills and I’ve, I’ve taken a couple of classes. I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t ever say that I’m a calligrapher, but I know what you mean by that.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah, for sure.
Heidi T: Yeah. It’s like a time tested, age old, really, really beautiful, yet useful craft.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: It is. And like you said, in the age of digital design, it’s very special that you’re doing it with your actual hand versus, you know, through the computer, the machine, you are the machine in a way.
Heidi T: Yeah. Yeah. And it’s, I think it’s it infuses a certain energy into the, the work too. When a human is spending, in this case me, is spending so much time with it.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yes. And I think that’s really, it’s going to resonate even like it’s already probably resonating really well with the people here in Siskiyou County, but even further because you know, internet and TV are not a big thing out here. And so I think they might appreciate it. And in different ways, other than someone like in a city might. Just a different perspective, not good or bad, but just different. Yeah.
Heidi T: Totally.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: What do you hope that your, your signage does for other people? What do you hope the outcome is? Or the impact is?
Heidi T: There’s so many ways to answer this question and I’ll just grab a few different things that come to mind. But as far as rural communities and small towns, I hope, I think that my signage does, and I hope that it will continue to bring a sense of dignity back to this part of the country that has been kind of forgotten. I think that, you know, in general, I want my work to just add beauty to any given landscape, whether it’s, you know, it’s usually like a commerce commerce landscape, but you know, in these moments of, in these moments of monetary exchange, You know, like within capitalism, it can be kind of like a, just a depressing thing that you have to do day after day, like spend money, make money, spend money, make money.
But when there’s something that is like involved in that process that’s like handmade and has soul it’s, I don’t know, can bring humanity back to late capitalist landscape, which can get pretty bleak.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Right. I’m glad you’re here. I appreciate you and your work.
Heidi T: Thank you. I’m glad to be here.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: What does art do for you personally; consuming art, experiencing art?
Heidi T: It makes me feel when I’m, when I’m consuming art and seeing art that other people have made, it makes me feel really alive. Again, it’s just this object that this really special, unique human has spent a lot of time with. And it’s, it’s priceless. I think art in general has given me my dreams. You know, my, my dream is to travel the world and to create with other people. And I’ve seen that done. I’ve seen that being done in other artists’ lives. So it’s, it’s inspired me to reach for something that I want. Art connects me to really inspiring and weird and awesome people.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah. I agree. Thanks for sharing.
Heidi T: Yeah.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: What is your favorite spot in the county to experience art? And this can be nature or it can be something like food, which is art too. Anything.
Totally.
Heidi T: Yeah. I would say nature wins out for me on that one. Again, Liberty Arts has some cool stuff and I’m mostly like, I’m just excited. I’m ho… I’m hoping one of my intentions for this coming year or this coming chapter in my life and here in Siskiyou I really want to experience more art and more of other people’s art and collaborate and see what other people are up to. So hopefully more of that will happen.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Yeah. I hope so, too. Do you have a message of hope or encouragement to offer the fellow artists of Siskiyou County or like a recommendation or you can dedicate a song, even if you feel like it’s a message of hope. Anything?
Heidi T: I mean, it’s, I think it’s just important to acknowledge that like there’s a need for a message of hope. Like, I feel like I need that a lot of the time. Like, I’m almost like, what do you guys have to say to me? But I did think, I did think about this question. And it reminded me of this book that I’m reading. The book is called The Spell of the Sensuous and it’s by David Abram. The opening chapters are all about the role of the magician and the shaman and indigenous cultures. The book argues that the role of, that this person’s role, isn’t primarily to heal the people, but it’s to maintain this really special relationship with the natural world. And then this person kind of becomes like the mediator between the village and the wilderness. And because, because they’re in that place and they’re sort of translating the two cultures, the wild and the domesticated, there’s the hea… the healing, you know, like the idea’s then nature offers healing to all people and through the shaman or through the magician or through the artists, people can receive that. So I think any artists living in a rural area has got to be in love with the natural world. And I think that relationship is really important, especially now. And it feels really crucial that like we don’t all just congregate in cities that we do kind of spread out. So I don’t know. I see, I see this role as very important and I hope that the other artists in Siskiyou County also feel that.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Great. Thanks for sharing that message. What, here’s the shout out portion and I know you wanted to shout out to Moonrise Canyon. Is there another group of artists or people that you just wanted to acknowledge here?
Heidi T: Yeah. I wanted to shout out my good friend who makes, she loves rivers more than anybody I know she’s actually, she’s also, my neighbor here in Fort Jones and like sometimes just my lifeline. Anyhow, she creates hand stamped, silver jewelry under the name, Broken Arrow Art.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Okay.
Heidi T: And I think her Instagram is also Broken Arrow Art but yeah, she’s, she’s spending a lot of time in nature and the jewelry she makes really reflects that, so.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Awesome. I’ll have to look her up. Where can everyone find you online?
Heidi T: I would love to be found through my website, which is handsomehand.com. I also have an Instagram under Handsome Hand Signs, but I don’t, I don’t love Instagram. So visit my website or stop by my shop.
Okay.
Please, to do before the internet, I’m in Fort Jones, across from the post office.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Perfect. It’s easy to remember.
Heidi T: I love visitors.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Okay. And if anyone wanted to have a sign made what are some questions, people will ask you, maybe you can answer them here a little bit. Maybe like I know I might ask like the timeframe it would take.
Heidi T: Right, right. Yeah. It depends on what I’ve got on my plate, but window signs are the quickest, cause I can just kind of show up with a pattern and paint them right on there.
Wooden signs take a little bit longer. And yeah it’s all done by hand. I don’t use stencils. I don’t use the computer, although I do offer logo services and I’ll just, I hire somebody to do like the, the illustrator part of that.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: That’s awesome. And isn’t, I’m sure everyone’s welcome. Even if they’re not, they don’t need a sign just to come in, right?
Heidi T: Yeah, totally. Yeah. I have lots of cool books here and I always love talking about my process and showing people hands-on how it’s done.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: Awesome. Well, thank you for spending time with us today on Art RADIO and thank you for making Siskiyou County an even more beautiful place to live in, and happy creating.
Heidi T: Thank you so much for having me. It’s yeah, it’s it’s a joy that you found me and I hope this brings us all closer together.
Bridgétt Rangel Rexford: I do too. Thank you.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Art RADIO. Be sure to check out our Facebook page Siskiyou County Arts Council to see this month’s upcoming Art RADIO guests. We create a Facebook event page for each episode and each guest to make it easy to remember. Every episode drops on Mondays at 8:00 AM through various platforms, such as Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
Arts education is an essential ingredient for creating a social arena where ideas and feelings can be communicated with and without words, healthy human development, increasing self-esteem and self-awareness, developing creative, critical thinking, social, emotional, and observational skills. So we therefore invite you to join with us in playing an instrumental role in fostering the arts.
Siskiyou County Arts Council is a 5 0 1 C3 social profit organization. Tax deductible donations will support local arts education, creative social change, and community participation in social and cultural events. To donate, simply click the green donate button on our website, Siskiyou Arts dot org. S I S K I Y O U A R T S .org. Happy creating, and thank you for listening to Art RADIO.
Editing and production help is thanks to Aaron Levine. You can find him on Instagram at Acovado underscore toast. That’s the v and c of avocado switched around and then underscore toast. You can also find him on Twitter at Kabuto justice. You can also email him, jaaronlevine@gmail.com.
Big thanks to David Blink for creating our beautiful theme music. He is the current music instructor at College of the Siskiyous. You can find him on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/davidblink. You can even go to his YouTube at youtube.com/c/davidblink. Also, if you just type them in in Google, great links come up. Enjoy.
