1) Your shop name:
fiftyseven-thirtythree
2) Your real name:
James Patrick Dawson
3) Your favorite breakfast cereal:
It used to be King Vitamin, but I think they stopped making that. I really love Cap n' Crunch. It's absolutely delicious, however if you don't let it sit in the milk long enough before you eat it, it cuts the roof of your mouth.... I guess every rose has its thorns
4) When did you begin creating?
Ever since I can remember. My Dad liked to draw, he was a compulsive doodler, he sketched all day long, while he was at work, on the phone, in meetings. We'd draw together. I use to have a binder full of the drawings we did together. He was much better than me, but he always told me I was really good. One Christmas I decided to help decorate, so I took out my crayons and started drawing pictures all over the living room walls. I got my ass whooped for that (yes, a long time ago parents actually smacked children for misbehaving).
5) Got a day job?
I'm a photographer mainly, I shoot a lot of music stuff and fashion stuff. I've been published a ridiculous number of times all over the place. I've had pictures in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, countless music mags. I've met all kinds of great people, it's a great job. I photographed The Killers, The Arcade Fire, The Back Street Boys, Scott Adams (dilbert), Billy Beane (the oakland A's) all kinds of people who are very accomplished. I just started shooting music videos. Back in the day, I used to hang sheet rock and do construction, I even had a job working for Clairol answering phones at the help line. I'd help people who messed up their hair. That was hilarious. It was a great job for meeting women because there were only like 2 straight guys in the whole office.
6) Your inspirations:
I get inspired by the strangest things, some artists, but more often stories. I like people who've done things that others said were not possible. That's why I use images of people like Anna May Wong and Josephine Baker. They were way ahead of their time, and they lived their lives as they wanted, not as they were suppose to. I live in an old industrial neighborhood in East Oakland; I find that inspiring. The decay and abandonment are beautiful in a way. These things that remain from a time that is long gone. They tell the stories of that time, they stand as monuments to what was, when this country was very different. There is something inspiring about the fact that these things (buildings, railroad tracks, machinery) still remain despite there neglect. They endure.
Josephine Baker silkscreened embroidered Hoodie with applique
7) Weirdest thing you've ever made
I'm not sure what the "weirdest" was but a few stand out. I wrote an illustrated book called "A Brief History of Gender Relations for Children". People liked it, but no one ever let their children read it, so I guess it was a failure. I also did another book called "My Miserable Life and Flatware" All the pages were made of duct tape, and it was a mixture of cartoons of terribly traumatic things happening to me and bad illustrations of fine flatware. I also painted a nude portrait of Pat Benatar when I was like 12. I hid it inside the record sleeve so my Mom wouldn't find it. It seemed reasonable at the time, but looking back it's a little weird.
8) Creation that you are most proud of:
I can't really answer that. I have created so many things and I have attachments to all of them. That's like asking a Mother which is her favorite child. I'll say this though, I've made a couple of books of vacation pictures for my girlfriend. You know, of trips we've taken together. I don't consider them particularly creative or works of art. My girlfriend, however, LOVES them to death. So maybe I am most proud of them because they make her so happy.
9) Explain your shop name:
My studio address is 5733 San Leandro St. I like where I live.
10) Final thoughts?
Should you ever be walking through a rain forest in Hawaii and come across a gorgeous 40 foot waterfall that local kids are jumping off. You'll probably think "Wow that looks Fun! I wanna do that." Resist the urge to climb that waterfall and leap off it like those kids....
'cuz it's a lot trickier than it looks.
Please go visit fiftyseven-thirtythree, and keep checking back for more interviews with amazing Etsy sellers!
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