Oliver Casillas

Gabriel Flores  0:00  

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the shades of entrepreneurship. This is your host, Mr. Gabriel Flores. Today I'm here with a very special someone because this is an individual I've actually met in person, we're actually going to be collaborating together, this individual is going to be at junto. So if you actually listen to the hookless episode, Oliver, what's going on, bro? How are we doing? How are you doing?

Oliver Casillas  0:22  

First of all, thank you for inviting me for being part of this. And, well, I'm here.

Gabriel Flores  0:29  

Yeah, and so you're an artist so you you create you know, actual paintings. But before we get into all of that, introduce the world to Who are you given some backgrounds? Where are you from?

Oliver Casillas  0:42  

I was born and in this city called Wadala Hara, it is in the Mexican Western. I was born there. And my, my parents, they are my mom, she's from LA Jara, and my dad, his cheek Gangnam. He is from Santa Monica in Los Angeles. So since I was little, I've been like, having this both cultures involved in in my life, coming back and forth from Mexico to the states. Having also this dual citizenship and, and yeah, since a little I've been like, like, involve in those two cultures. Also, like to give you more background about about me. I started with the G Suites when I was little also. And I had this out say big opportunity to have contact with their way to teach people to give education and I mentioned this because I really think this is something that shaped my life. And yeah, because later on, I got a really good scholarship to keep on studying with them. And the college or the university there in Mexico. And with all of this open doors I have also the opportunity to study abroad and Belgium and this is like the path that was opening the doors in my mind at least for realizing that what I wanted to do it was what I'm what I'm doing now art

Gabriel Flores  2:56  

so what what you mentioned you know, your your kind of teaching what were you teaching?

Oliver Casillas  3:02  

I was teaching I have had the opportunity to teach in. And college degree art art versus painting courses. Yeah, clearly it's oil, diverse techniques.

Gabriel Flores  3:29  

So what what you know, throughout your travels, you mentioned you've gone to Berlin, la make all these different locations, what throughout your travels kind of inspired you to get into art.

Oliver Casillas  3:42  

They have inspired me a lot. Those were just a few. I've been really into more places. And I don't know all of the travels always give us a different shade of reality of reality. You can see you can see what's going on in other places. But only if you if you travel with a different mindset as a common tourist and if you are experimenting more they live situations. So basically what I display in my art is that like the life situation so it has shaped me a lot. Not only also because of knowing people and also knowing different art styles and art possibilities that we sometimes cannot see if we stay in the same place.

Gabriel Flores  5:01  

Yeah, that's a great point, you know, creating diversity and getting out there. And getting experience allows you to kind of see things quite differently. You know, you mentioned in fact, there are different forms of art, what would you consider is your form of art,

Oliver Casillas  5:17  

my form of art. I always say, to open up parenthesis, I always say that I'm doing whatever that comes to my mind. And that thing that comes to my mind right now is art. And it's more in the shape of murals, and paintings right now as fallen in there. And maybe later it's going to fall in other shapes. But yeah, what brought me here are the murals. So what

Gabriel Flores  5:51  

what what do you draw on your murals you mentioned, you know, you kind of get inspiration from whatever your thoughts are, you get inspiration from your travels, but then you kind of draw whatever you think. But what is it that you're thinking, let Give me Give us a kind of a generalization of what, what these pieces might look like.

Oliver Casillas  6:09  

More for my background, my dad is an artist is a photographer. And also, some of my dad's family members are also artists. And since I was a little, I got contact to art as something natural, like a way to play a way to just know the world through through that through the art. And I remember when my dad used to go to take pictures, he has his pictures depict some of the Mexican they live some of the realities of poverty, really raw things, and also some beauties of the traditions, the culture. And I remember that I used to, to go with him. I don't know maybe right after school, he wanted to go to take some pictures. And I was with him. And that was like, the way that I spend like that I spent some of my days just being next to my dad. Look in him taking pictures and also looking at that reality in first person looking at those realities, looking at those pictures. In in person, so I didn't realize that, since I was young until I was I don't know, I don't want to put a number but since I was like, more into art since I was an adult. And I started then painting that I started on putting those images in my murals, those images that I already have done. And I also consider part of my life and consider part of the like an essential part of me. So some of those scenes that I like to put on murals. Are those pictures they met that that my dad took when I was little.

Gabriel Flores  8:53  

Now how can one How big are these murals? And how long does it take you to create them?

Oliver Casillas  9:00  

Well, it depends. It depends some some murals are really small. But also some others are really big. I have had the opportunity to be involved in in small and as well big murals. I don't know to put a number. I will say it in meters because the other measure I don't manage it very well but in meters and meters it will be the biggest I would say like 50 for 20 Wow meters. Those those heights are the ones that when you're up in the lake If your legs, your legs are shaking, so sometimes it is really hard. Yeah, sometimes it's really hard to do a mural. Not only because of trying to put the image or the the sign your, your willing to put in the wall, it's more because of how you do it, and how you transpose the art to something more physical. I've always said that the inner mural, it's really physical, you have to be also really creative to solve problems in the moment. And well, the time that it takes to do a mural depends, of course, on the shape of the mural, and also the size of the mural and also the complexity of the design. So it is, it really depends. Because the, I could say that I spent. Yeah, and I spent two weeks, then my biggest mural, and also spent two weeks doing my smallest mural. So interesting. Yeah. That's interesting. And that's like, really overview of how it is.

Gabriel Flores  11:32  

Yeah, yeah, that totally makes sense, you know, the complexity it meant, doesn't matter how big or small it is, if it's complex, it's going to be going to be difficult. Now, you mentioned, you know, creating problems or solving problems. Can you kind of, what are some of the problems that you run into as a painter when you're painting? And then that you have to try to solve?

Oliver Casillas  11:50  

Yeah, well, to make it easy. To start with this, like an analogy, when you when you do a painting, or when you want to do a design, for example, in a paper, you just have to transpose it, from your mind to that paper, is just have to pass it into those two variables. When we are trying to do something in the wall, it's going to happen more things, more things, some things that you can imagine and some other things that you could never imagine. First, the wall, sometimes they will, it's not flat, sometimes full, has their own shapes, their own their own things, their own. Also their own. textures, their own. Yeah, many things. So that's one of those things. The second one, it's the rest that mostly all of the time, it's in public spaces. And public spaces are in movement. There's people always walking around, there are cars, there, there's noise, there is the elements, there's wind, there's, there's many things happening when you're doing a mural. That is like the second thing, and those are the things that you cannot control the people that is in there and the people that surrounds there. And second, that second thing, it's one of the beauties of doing a mural. The third thing I would say, as your logistic for doing a mural, you always have to plan it very well. You always have to, to know how you're going to do it before doing it. This just was with the purpose of finish it in time because always, always, always. There's a timeline and there's a there's there's, well always when you work with someone, when you are commissioned to do a mural, you have to finish it in you have to finish it by time so you have to plan it very well. And here is when it comes that third problem if I can say it like that, because always happens something that puts you out of that logistic Gotcha. Yeah, always Come something that everything that you plan it disappeared and you have to solve it in different ways. So yeah you have to have this ability this skills to solve those problems and try to match your logistic your way to do things with with the universe thing way to do things

mo most basic problems you can like face when you're doing a mural, but of course there's there's many other things that may come up when you're doing a mural.

Gabriel Flores  15:56  

Now, what would you say? What piece that you've created? are you most proud of?

Oliver Casillas  16:07  

I think I have one. And that piece doesn't exist anymore. It was in Guadalajara. Maybe it was the first PSA well Allah Hara that when I finished it. I was proud of it. And not only because it was B, but also because of what I intended to show to depict and to share through that artwork. To to my people. So this piece I call it an ILS is Sophie Lotus dancer Alana Sian that it will be translated to, in between eagles and vultures dance to the nation. It was an image of those done Santas, those like indigenous. Yeah, dancers that they used to, they still is to practice it. When that's like our religious celebration. They used to dance with those indigenous clouds with those gasca bellies, something in their legs. And it's something really common. And, and they are, I don't know, dancin for something, in this case is specifically they're dancing for religious events, but the thing is that I wanted to depict not only this, this this tradition, but also make an analogy to to what we are as Mexicans as as as a country and try to open that possibility. I guess, to say that maybe we are not eagles. Maybe we are vultures. Yeah, maybe we are both. Maybe we are just eagles. We don't know. But that's the dance. That's the dance that we are in between those animals that they both have their own gear good and bad things. But that's a possibility that maybe we are not just eagles. We are also vultures.

Gabriel Flores  19:06  

That's great. That's a great piece. I really like that now. What did you charge for have you do you charge for your meals? Do you do you get a compensation or how does that go?

Oliver Casillas  19:15  

Yeah. Well, you know I have to pay the bills. Yeah. As as all the people so i do i do i do charge for then murals. But also, sometimes I don't it depends on on what what I want to show and what's the purpose of that mural all of the Commission's are charged for them commissions via there's no option to not charging for that. But thanks stuff that I do by myself, or things that I do, along with projects that I really liked, and they are nonprofit projects. Sometimes I don't, sometimes I just asked for my food or transportation or things like that. And also, what I like to do, as well as applying for grants. Because this allows you to, or this allow me to, to be paid in a certain way, but also have that up and possibility of, of doing not a commission doing something more free. And, and see it as as a gift to the people while period.

Gabriel Flores  21:03  

Yeah, and I envision you know, getting a grant like that to allows you to have the freedom to be creative and kind of do your own design versus the Commission where you're kind of, you know, segregated to saying, Okay, this is what I want, here's the commission for it, paint me this, right. So you can kind of be a little bit more. That's, that's pretty amazing. Now, you kind of talked about some of the difficulties of doing the murals, right, the logistics of it, and the elements of the earth and things of that nature. What's easy about doing a mural?

Oliver Casillas  21:34  

I would say nothing. And also, also, well, we'll listen to you, I just realized that I only told you log to

how can I say it like they're seeing things, but there's also some things that are not seen, that you cannot see. And those are the things that always shape the projects, that always projects going on. And those are the things that mostly all of the people never know that that happened. For example, logistics, sending emails, looking for grants. Yeah. Yeah, trying to apply for projects present in those projects, to people to be supported to be sponsored to do whatever, no. So there's many, many, many things behind a mural. Yeah. The ones the problems that I told you are just the ones that you face when you are in the process of doing a mural, when you have that green light for doing that mural. Yeah, but there's a there are many, many things behind behind. Focusing more now into and to your question, Can you can you repeat it again, please?

Gabriel Flores  23:19  

What has been easy?

Oliver Casillas  23:23  

Nothing is the same nothing is. And I say this, because if we see that something is easy. It's not because it's easy. It's because there's many work behind that. There's many, many, many things behind that to make it look easy. Because I was I was really thinking in that yesterday because they really thought but I, but I set up and give me time to think of that. And I fell down in in the in the answer that. No, it's not that it is easy. It's because having done it, and I've been practicing, and now then studying and now I've been doing many things for making that look easy. So I would say that nothingness you see it has always many things behind. And yeah, there's there's a lot of work behind all of behind all of the process. says

Gabriel Flores  25:00  

yeah, and I think I think that's true about being an entrepreneur, right, just as being your own business owner and leader, there's so many things that are behind the scenes that people don't see. Right, the emails, the late at nights, not watching the Netflix, you know, one of the things I think you're doing right now, you mentioned is these behind the scenes things. So one of the things you're doing behind the scenes is you're actually working with hospitals PDX, right, the Hispanic Heritage Month event that's going to be taking place. Love to hear a little bit more about that. What are you going to be doing with those PDX give me a little background of what you're planning to do. And I believe there's there's some art that you're planning to display now, will you have also will you have any art on sell?

Oliver Casillas  25:40  

Well, basically, I will be doing a mural, a mural that will show yeah, the manly purpose of hunters. That is show that hunters word that all together. Word. So yeah, I will be doing during a weekend, a mural that I will be planning since well, I have been planning it since like a week ago. So yeah, basically, that's what I'm going to be doing. In terms of displaying my art, I don't know if this time I will be displaying something but the mural, it's, it's gonna be there.

Gabriel Flores  26:33  

Perfect, perfect. That is I'm excited to see what you have that now what what motivates you, you know, you talked about your traveling, but what continues to motivate you to keep you going

Oliver Casillas  26:45  

to keep me going on travels or keep me going in art in general

Gabriel Flores  26:50  

art in general.

Oliver Casillas  26:51  

Okay. I don't know if that happens to you. But I'm a person that I have a lot of ideas in my mind, I have a lot of things to do. In my mind, I have a lot of projects that I want to do, I have a lot of paintings that I want to paint, I have a lot of murals that I want to, to execute. So I think those are the things that motivates me the most to, to give a legacy to give a to give something, something to the people, something to the people because what I do, I also really think that touches people. And that's not because I want to, to be a vote of any others. And in in have that word. It's because I have seen it while doing murals, I have had the contact with the people. And I have seen that people likes what I do. People are really, really happy. They really enjoy the things that I do. And that's one of those things that also motivates me to keep in having that opportunity to share with the people and the make those feelings appear in them.

Gabriel Flores  28:43  

Nice, what, what what's what's some advice you would give some of the listeners, either artist or folks that are thinking of becoming just, you know, entrepreneurs themselves?

Oliver Casillas  28:54  

Yeah, well, there are many that I will give. But I think one of the most important things is being creative, being creative, not only in the product, or not only in the thing that you want to give, be creative also, in the processes, be creative also, in trying to find in the ways for making it happen to make it real. Being creative for shaping your life in order to accomplish those goals. Being creative. Yeah, I think that's the main the main advice I will give and that create creativity. It's not an inherent thing that humans are born with. It's something that you can train It's something that you can develop is so don't be afraid of being creative.

Gabriel Flores  30:08  

Nice now for the listeners at home how can they find your art? How can i Where's the can you find them online? Where can they find your your in stores? Where can they see your art?

Oliver Casillas  30:16  

Yeah, well, it did. There's, they can find it in many places here in Portland. They can find it at different stores. If you go through my Instagram, Cassius underscore, Oliver, you could find my artwork, you can send me a DM over there and I can I can direct you to the places that I'm displaying my art and here are also if you Google my name, if you Google Cassius Oliver moralist, or Oliver Cassius muda Lister, you will find something awesome.

Gabriel Flores  30:58  

In fact, folks, I will make sure that on the news a letter there's going to be a I actually watched one of Oliver's YouTube's videos of him actually doing one of the murals. It's dope. It's the coolest thing you're gonna ever watch. I'm telling you, I'll make sure that's on the newsletter and make sure that folks, Oliver, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for coming on the show talking about your art talking about your murals. I'm excited to see what you draw for Hispanic Heritage Month. I'm excited. I'll also be out who knows for those that are interested again, who knows is going to be starting September 17 is going to run to about October 15. For Hispanic Heritage Month. It is going to be a five part series down in Portland at Chinatown so we hope to see you all there. And please again, follow the shades of entrepreneurship at the shades of E on Instagram LinkedIn, Twitter tick doc. Yes, I do. Tick tock folks go go and follow me on the tick tock. Other than that, thank you and have a great night.