Seven Questions with HUMAN INTONATION Founder Verneda White

During this past Fashion's Night Out in New York last September, I attended the Style Thirteen launch party where I got to meet the beautiful Verneda White - a fellow LL lady and London expat. As we enjoyed the collections that were on display and helped ourselves to some refreshments at the event, I got a chance to learn about Verneda's global background and her altruistic clothing collection called "HUMAN INTONATION." For someone who is still only in their 20s, and has gone through some trials and tribulations in their life, she has made quite an impression on me. Verneda is one of those persistent, vigilant folks who still have hope for this world by trying to make it better than it is through social awareness on global issues. What better way to give this young entreprenuer and social activist crazy kudos than featuring her on the Ladies Lotto blog?! 

What is your name, age, occupation(s), location(s)?

"My name is Verneda Adele White, age 26, and I am the Founder & Creative Director of a charity-driven apparel brand called HUMAN INTONATION. I am based out of New York, with reach to London and Hong Kong."

Why do you do what you do? What inspires you in general and in your work? What makes you stand out from other artists?
"I started Human Intonation after two life changing experiences: My family’s survival through Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the loss of my 22 year old first cousin and best friend Wesley to AIDS five months later. In the last 2 years I launched Human Intonation to use fashion to raise social awareness and funding for a number of social & human rights issues including rebuilding New Orleans, LA, youth & minority HIV prevention, and have expanded into children in Darfur and Haiti.

I love fashion and I am obsessed with men and women graphic tees, tank tops and jersey dresses so I decided to create my own tees and tanks from scratch. Everything from Human Intonation is made from our original patterns and fabric. Most t-shirt brands buy their tees from a warehouse; we make our own! It is a privilege to take what I love and use it in a way to help make a difference in the lives of others. What makes my line stand out is that it is a fashion statement with the power to get people to start the conversation about these issues in a way that can change perceptions, change choices, change lives. We donate 20% of the proceeds from each sale to one of our non-profit partners working in the causes we support and create community events to get people involved."

What are some current projects you are working on?
"I am very excited about December 2nd when Human Intonation will host its first Co-Ed HIV forum and fashion presentation to generate an engaging, informative, and controversial discussion linking the tie between the dynamics of today’s male/female relationships and their impact on the epidemic of HIV among Women of Color. The event is titled “Protection is the NEW Black: Sex, Love + Lies in the Age of HIV” set to commemorate this year’s World AIDS Day."

What are you hoping the future will bring for yourself and your career?
"At the end of the day it is my goal is to get people to think about these issues in a way that they may not have done so before and to take action in how they live their lives. I hope my career lends itself to re-directing 'The NEW Purpose of Fashion,' to making an impression on others, and hopefully help another family avoid the type of loss my family has experienced.


When I think about myself in the future there are an endless number of things I aspire and look forward to. My sights are on Dubai and Egypt for travel, writing a book, becoming fluent in Spanish, and one day having a family too!"

 What are your favorite places in the general NYC area?

"I am such a foodie! I live in Brooklyn and love checking out neighbourhood haunts to eat at like Song for Thai food in Park Slope and Madiba for South African in Fort Greene. But you can find me anywhere in the city with great food, cocktails, and friends."

What's it like to be a creative in a city like NYC? Do you feel happy, sad, stressed, paranoid, etc.?
"I used to live in Europe and Asia but I am grateful everyday to create in New York City. The pulse of the city both motivates and encourages me to keep pushing forward even when times are tough. I love being surrounded by other creatives and find more often than not that people are genuinely interested in thinking of what we can accomplish together. It is great to live in a place where I have received support for Human Intonation from the likes of Wyclef Jean and Harriette Cole. You definitely have to be tough skinned to live here but if I did not love it I would have moved already!"

Do you have any advice, life tips, suggestions for the Ladies Lotto community?
"With all of our drive, ambition, and constantly being on the go, please take time to care for yourself. Down time is so important where you just do nothing. We are an amazing group of women doing so many things, sometimes we forget to put ourselves first without feeling guilty about it. It is ok to unplug when you need to so you can stay healthy, avoid burnout, and keep kickin’ ass. Love you all!"

Join Verneda White on Thursday, December 2, 2010 as HUMAN INTONATION hosts a discussion about the dynamics of today’s male-female relationships impacting the increase of HIV in Women of Colour during their first Co-Ed HIV forum and fashion presentation culminating their 2010 campaign.
Dwyer Cultural Center Gallery
258 Saint Nicholas Ave.
(enter @123rd St.)
New York, NY 10027
Doors Open at 6:30PM

No Cover

Wine Reception to Follow

For more information on Verneda and Human Intonation, be sure to visit www.humanintonation.com.  Feel free to send Verneda an email at Verneda@vernedaadele.com.

Seven Questions is a Q+A segment I, Susie G, will be doing EXCLUSIVELY for Ladies Lotto. Seven Questions will be featuring female artists, creatives, and the like from various locations worldwide. The goal of this is to introduce creatives to the LL community and the interwebs, and hopefully create potential collaborations, networking opportunities, etc. All interviews are done via e-mail correspondence. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have suggestions for future interviewees @ d j s u s i e g [at] g m a i l [dot] c o m.

Seven Questions with Vintage Stylist Sammy Davis

 
What do you get when you take a sweet Pennsylvanian girl with a panache for vintage clothes and plant her in one of the world's most hectic cities? You get one Miss Sammy Davis! Entrepreneur, vintage stylist and specialist, and host to her own online TV series, Sammy wears a lot of hats with lots of spunk.  Her website, Sammy Davis Vintage, is the online HQ for all things Sammy and has attracted a bit of a following as well. Even though Sammy always seems to have a new project she's getting herself into, I managed to steal her attention for a hot second so I could catch up with this Vintage guru.

What is your name, age, occupation(s), location(s)?

Sammy Davis, 24, vintage advocate + web series host, New York City

Why do you do what you do? What inspires you in general and in your work? What makes you stand out from other artists?

I do what I do because I believe that fashion can be fun and that experiencing it can make you feel great and inspire you to DO great, too. That's why I love vintage clothing and thrift culture. It's a creative, intellectually stimulating way of pursuing a wardrobe that's not average -- it's awesome. And because of how it makes you feel (awesome) you are motivated to do awesome -- whether it is by treating others with compassion or just donating your time to contribute what you can to the happiness of the people around you.

I believe that my clothes feel better. That my styling looks better. That working with SDV is a 360 experience of feel-good fashion. It's like when you have a loving, Italian mother making you a home cooked -- she could be using the exact same ingredients as Olive Garden, but  because she is infusing her food with love, it just tastes so much better!

That's how fashion with SDV is. It just feels better, because I infuse it with love.

What are some current projects you are working on?

I just launched my web series all about living the totally vintage life. Check it out at youtube.com/sammydavisvintage

Here is where you can see how I not only live the vintage/thrifting/DIY lifestyle, but how I love that life and pursue positive thinking everyday, in all shape and forms. I hope that you won't only be inspired to seek out the style I promote, but to feel *better* after watching one of my videos. 

What are you hoping the future will bring for yourself and your career?

The immediate goal is to grow as a web series on YouTube and offer everything all-about-vintage to existing and new fans. The future is wide open -- I can't wait to write a book about thrift store style and to go on a vintage-hunting road trip. Maybe that road trip will turn into another web series -- or a show on the Home & Garden Network! The future is bright.  

 

What are your favorite places in the general NYC area?

I live in Spanish Harlem, and I represent the area to its core. I love walking below the Metro North, which begins at 100th Street. The Northern end of Central Park is where I begin my morning runs. Nothing is more beautiful than the ripples of the Harlem Meer at 7 in the morning!

I also love hanging out in Morningside Heights/UWS area, near Columbia University. Great people, great eats, low-key environment.

And when I need some stimulation? I'm a sucker for the Lower East Side. There's just too many beautiful, fashion-forward people to admire!

What's it like to be a creative in a city like NYC? Do you feel happy, sad, stressed, paranoid, etc.?

I have highs, and I have lows. But my lows are always on the way to another high -- they are growing pains that I need to carry forward with focus and with fortitude. I am so grateful to be a creative in a city where people understand and respect what it is that I want to accomplish with my time on this earth. It's a blessing that I hope to pay forward to other young, blossoming creatives in this city. 

 

Do you have any advice, life tips, suggestions for the Ladies Lotto community?

Do one thing regularly everyday to keep you centered. Whether it's reading an inspirational quote in the morning or pushing yourself to run 6 miles in Central Park like me -- find an activity that awakes you to your day with a balanced mind and great vision. 

Want to get your hands on some of Sammy's vintage duds? Be sure to visit www.sammydavisvintage.com and enter the "21 Dresses Giveaway" for your change to win 1 of 21 vintage dresses that Sammy is giving away from her own vintage collection.

Seven Questions is a Q+A segment I, Susie G, will be doing EXCLUSIVELY for Ladies Lotto. Seven Questions will be featuring female artists, creatives, and the like from various locations worldwide. The goal of this is to introduce creatives to the LL community and the interwebs, and hopefully create potential collaborations, networking opportunities, etc. All interviews are done via e-mail correspondence. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have suggestions for future interviewees @ d j s u s i e g [at] g m a i l [dot] c o m.

Seven Questions with Pelin Pelin

 Photo by Frederic Aranda

 East London, along with Berlin and Paris, has become the locale du jour for many young artists and musicians in Europe.  Musician Pelin Pelin is just one of these many creatives, who has carved a unique presence for herself on the gritty streets of Hackney. Her musical style is a blend of R&B, hip hop, and indie dance pop.  The result - pure aural awesomeness!  Pelin Pelin (or just singular "Pelin" as she is known as to her pals) takes some time out of her busy schedule to let us know what this musical maven is all about.

What is your name, age, occupation(s), location(s)?

"My name is Pelin Pelin. I'm a London musician. The music I  write would best  be labled as 'rhythm and blues music promoting violence,' I guess. I have been producing beats for a few years now and I play the piano from when I was a six year old Mozart fanatic. Somehow I have quite a loud voice (I'm rather a petite person) which I try to combine with a bit of rough beats. But I also include the piano in my performances to allow myself to be vulnerable  for approximately 5 (OK, let's say 6) minutes of  almost every show I do."

Why do you do what you do? What inspires you in general and in your work? What makes you stand out from other artists?

"I regard the ability to entertain people with my music as part of the job. So I wouldn’t do this if I was only a good singer or a talented piano player - that's not the point. I really believe that I have a story to tell and that is why I do what I do (pathos alert).

If people come to my shows they really feel entertained afterwards; they feel like I have given them a new perspective on things, that's just ... GREAT! I reckon what makes me stand out from some quite original artists you come across is that I am not only an artist but a musician - so if you ask me to write a song for a singer I dont even like (that would be...lets say Lee Ann Rimes) I could do that in 10 minutes (chords, lyrics everything! By the way I did that just a few weeks ago, I wrote a country ballad - so if she calls me one day, she will get it). I have absolute pitch and it takes me 3 minutes to memorize the chords and key of any song I hear on the radio (and I could even tell you the key of them years after I heard it - so freaky, I know). But on the other hand that’s only half of the performance. I come from an artistic background - I started to paint when I was 13, I have worked as an artist assistant and did performance art in a few galleries as well. And you can sense all that when I'm on stage I believe. Many creative musicians I find convincing are often bad singers, and many good singers are just boring artistically speaking (yes, I'm talking to you 'wannabe next Jill Scott'). I guess with me you get the whole package - a big voice and an artistic mind - HOORAY!!! (OK, end of ad announcement).

And with regard to what inspires me, I guess that would probably be avocado spread. And my lipstick collection. Probably also my neighbour’s dog, whenever we meet he never seems to be quite decided about whether to absolutely love me or hate me. (I have made that enumeration to people who asked me this before, by the way - so it seems  I'm not THAT original after all, eh?)"

What are some current projects you are working on?

"I am doing a track with Ximon from TEETH!, a band from London (they're the ones that hacked into LadyGags Twitter btw).  The stuff he produces for the band is great - but he shouldn’t read this, he gets spoilt so easily if you tell him these things.  Also I'm working  on tracks with one half of the techno duo COMA which I met whilst gigging in continental Europe. I don’t know anything about that music genre but the boys are very polite and handsome.

With regard to the years to come, I have been asked to do one or two residencies in galleries, putting my music and paintings into context, and I will start doing the first preparations for that soon."

 What are you hoping the future will bring for yourself and your career?

"OK, first of all: Is there a way I could run into Elton John and Mobb Deep on a night out? We would then instantly feel THE VIBE between us, go to the studio, do this incredibly bohemian midnight recording session and write the song of my dreams? Because that would actually be  my biggest, and at the same time, most realistic hope."

What are your favorite places in the general London area?

"OK, I'm not sure your Boston readers want to hear this but in spite of what happened in 1773, if you ever come here, you need to have afternoon tea at the Lanesborough Hotel. Also go and have as much cake as possible at Patisserie Valerie once (preferably the one on Queensway). And you need to absolutely go to Fortnum & Mason ice cream parlor, no 'buts' allowed! (Sorry about the cliché, but yes I am a girl and I have a sweet tooth)"

What's it like to be a creative in a city like London? Do you feel happy, sad, stressed, paranoid, etc.?

 "I have to admit I find the competitive environment rather inspiring. As long as you're  able to just shut yourself away every few weeks and only work on your stuff and remain focused, it's all fine.  Just don’t compare what you create to others too often, or don’t show it to them all the time, seeking their instant approval. Many successful musicians living in metropoles, sometimes wrote their best songs when they were outside the hub, like somewhere abroad on tour in a city where no one knows them, or they have their studios in smaller cities. Basically to put it in patronizing words: don't distract yourself from working and you're a happy artist."

Do you have any advice, life tips, suggestions for the Ladies Lotto community?

"I bet you all know there is this idea that women natively can never be genius because they give birth to children which is their way of bringing newness to the world, whilst men need to put all their energy into art, for they envy women for their ability to give birth. Their energy is thus bigger and the art better. (What you think? Is it true?) However I'd prefer that the collection of female ingenuity you put together on your lovely blog will prove Freud wrong..."

 

To listen to more of her tunes and get the latest info on what Pelin Pelin is doing in the musical landscape, check her out on MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/pelinmusic

Be sure to send her some fan mail at pelinmusic [at] gmail [dot] com.

Seven Questions is a Q+A segment I, Susie G, will be doing EXCLUSIVELY for Ladies Lotto. Seven Questions will be featuring female artists, creatives, and the like from various locations worldwide. The goal of this is to introduce creatives to the LL community and the interwebs, and hopefully create potential collaborations, networking opportunities, etc. All interviews are done via e-mail correspondence. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have suggestions for future interviewees @ d j s u s i e g [at] g m a i l [dot] c o m. 

Seven Questions with Artist Autumn Ahn

Autumn Ahn is a Boston-based artist who works with various medias including painting, printmaking, glass art, and installations. With a degree from the College of Fine Arts at Boston University, her works have appeared in many exhibits all over Massachusetts, and even down south in Virginia and across the pond in Italy. This pretty lady has also been known to do a bit of fashion modeling on the side for Boston-based publications and businesses like T-Shirt company Dance Party Massacre. To find out more about this amazing femme fatale, I decided to interview her only to discover that she is truly one of Boston's hidden treasures.

What is your name, age, occupation(s), location(s)?

My name is Autumn Ahn, I'm 24 and work as an artist in Somerville, MA. I also work in arts administration with organizations focusing on digital and experimental art.

Why do you do what you do? What inspires you in general and in your work? What makes you stand out from other artists?

I make art to celebrate the ridiculous nature of modern human interaction and it's often my own everyday experiences that I bring back to the studio. Those experiences can be really powerful. Social culture today takes place in so many different arenas that encourage indirect communication. My work is a response to this flux.

I believe that there is an inherent desire to learn from socializing and communication. It's a common game that we all understand and I try to make work that encourages shared experiences and that fosters conversations. My goal is to diversify and enhance the environments I work within and to challenge those who occupy them to adapt and be imaginative.

I have been especially inspired by religious art. Religious art was made for the illiterate. It turns visual art into a narrative language. It's organization and narrative structures are qualities that I like to reference in my own work. I believe that art should evoke beauty and curiosity without an accompanying handbook for explanation. Once my work is seen, its ideas change at the whimsy of those who see it, and when this happens my work also belongs to that person.

What are some current projects you are working on?

I am getting back to making some 2D work for an upcoming solo show/installation at the Lily Pad in Inman Square (Somerville, MA) for November. I just finished my first public installation called "Carousel" for Union Square Plaza (Somerville, MA). The project was built on site in about 2 weeks with help from the wonderful folks at Somerville Local First, some friends from Other City Builders and members of the community.

What are you hoping the future will bring for yourself and your career?

More of what I'm doing right now, and some travel. The community in Somerville is so active and inspiring. I'd love to see where this is also happening in new places.

What are your favorite places in the general Boston area?

Sitting on the train bridge on the Charles. Riding my bike to the wharf via fountain-hopping. There are great playgrounds all over the city (my favorite swingset is in brookline). The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Open Studios events; Bodega/ Fourth Wall Gallery; Stel's - any activity outside on the river (there's free Beethoven & movies!) and Central Square is great for dancing :)

What's it like to be a creative in a city like Boston? Do you feel happy, sad, stressed, paranoid, etc.?

Boston has often gotten a reputation for being conservative. I don't disagree with this statement but it implies that the people are conservative. This is not true. There is so much growth and creativity going on all the time here, but it's not quite as hyped as other cities. Because of this I don't have to go to my studio to escape the spectacle that can surround a creative scene. I love that here, an artist, a designer and any other creative professional can co-habitate without one group predominantly taking over. Being in a city is stressful enough, the low-key atmosphere maintained in Boston gives me a chance to work without any influence making too much noise.

Also, the seasons really help me regulate a structure for balancing working with everything else. I would like to travel to other cities, but Boston has treated me well, it is my home.

Do you have any advice, life tips, suggestions for the Ladies Lotto community?

Pursuing something that you love is work. Self-discipline is really difficult to maintain and requires a lot of practice. You must work honestly and passionately for yourself. We can all start projects--lots of them, but finishing something is hard and when you do, take pride in it. Explore constantly and if you use the experiences you have proactively you can't become jaded.

The global community is bound to create a polarizing effect on our generation. Although this community is important, where you are, the world you can see with your own two eyes, is not just another video, it's real, and should be used as a resource. Be involved and you'll get more of a response back than you can imagine. Let the immediacy of your surroundings surprise you and be celebrated.

For more information on Autumn's works and upcoming projects, please check her website out at www.autumnahn.com. Also, feel free to contact her autumnpatricia [at] gmail [dot] com.

Seven Questions is a Q+A segment I, Susie G, will be doing EXCLUSIVELY for Ladies Lotto. Seven Questions will be featuring female artists, creatives, and the like from various locations worldwide. The goal of this is to introduce creatives to the LL community and the interwebs, and hopefully create potential collaborations, networking opportunities, etc. All interviews are done via e-mail correspondence. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have suggestions for future interviewees @ d j s u s i e g [at] g m a i l [dot] c o m.