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♪♪

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-How do my art
communicate to the world?

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You know,
people create something,

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and that visual affects
people's feelings and memories.

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And, you know,
art and mural doesn't talk,

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but it speaks to you, and it
have some kind of communication.

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My name is Shogo Ota.

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I am an artist, designer,

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in Camano Island.

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I have been printed with my art

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into scarves, jerseys,
wine bottles.

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I recently did a gin and vodka
for a local company,

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silkscreen printed
posters, mugs.

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Yeah, everything,
everything you see, yes.

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My hometown is Gifu Prefecture.

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I actually wanted to go
to university in Japan,

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but I failed all exams.

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Went to Idaho
and started studying English.

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Never thought about it being a
professional artist or designer.

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Five years later,
I moved to Seattle

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for this internship for
graphic design company.

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I made a poster for just fun.

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I submit it to the local
newspaper called "The Stranger"

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in Seattle, and then
they used it for cover art.

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Then I started my own studio.

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I decided to use the name,

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the name of the guy, Tireman,
and Tireman Studio.

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And it's been
like about 12, 13 years.

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Lots of people ask me my style,

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which I do not have
just one style.

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One person called me, "Oh, you
have a style like a chameleon."

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I have drawn chameleon
before, yes.

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There's a big mural in SODO.

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It's like 100-foot-wide
big chameleon piece

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on the warehouse.

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I do love making things
to surprise people, yes.

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I like their reactions,

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and I like my art becoming their
memories and surprise moments

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and, you know,
even like small gift,

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you know, make them
a little happy, you know?

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I love that.

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I work with Sounders
and Krakens,

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Seattle Krakens,
and now Seattle Reign.

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When my art becomes
jerseys and scarves,

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yes, I feel really special

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and being a part
of the community and the team

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at the same time.

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That's, you know, one of the,
you know, achievements

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every time I work on it.

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♪♪

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So, I have done
World Cup poster,

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Seattle poster
that was competitive work.

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So I have to submit my portfolio
and a sketch first,

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and I heard
over 200 people submitted.

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I was really proud and surprised
that I got selected

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and won that competition.

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So this is my original sketch.

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You know,
I usually write down the theme

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and what they're looking for
and key, you know, words.

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That's the orca tail with Lumen
Field arch on top part together

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and then Seattle map inside
in really abstract way.

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I like those visual ideas that
gives you answer right away.

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So it almost communicates
right away,

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and then, "Oh.

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I think that's one of the
biggest achievements I've done.

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World Cup is I think one
of the biggest sports events

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in the world. Means a lot,

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and I feel really lucky
about that.

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I do love seeing my art
actually in the real world.

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Sometimes I see
people wearing it

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randomly in the city.

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That makes me really happy
and feels my art is alive.

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Going to FIFA World Cup was
definitely one of my bucket list

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you know, since I was little.
Many people will see that

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and then, like, especially
for younger kids,

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might come visit Seattle
for the World Cup

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or sightseeing around that time.

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If my poster became
their kind of visual memories,

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like, you know,
10, 20 years later,

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"Oh, I remember I went
to Seattle with my parents,

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and the World Cup was going on,
and I saw that orca whale poster

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and I used to have that
in my room," you know?

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So my art can create that kind
of memories for small kids

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or, you know, any people.

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I think that's really amazing.

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So, this mural project is
for the city of Bellingham.

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I'll be working on that
next couple weeks.

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I'm thinking some kind
of cool, high contrast,

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like, Pacific Northwest animals
in there.

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The movement of pencil
helps me a lot.

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It's almost
conversational process.

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I can use that visual
for giving myself some feedbacks

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and then draw something new
and then edit a little bit

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and make it better and better
little by little.

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I think it's pretty close
to that sketch.

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I didn't change
the concept much.

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It's just the little details.

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So, it's like a big
circle shape,

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and there's two animals,
a big salmon on the bottom.

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You know, tail is on the top,

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and then Mount Baker
because this is Bellingham,

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a little sun there,
and the eagle's flying over.

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People usually check our works
like on a cellphone or computer.

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But if you actually be there
and then see how big it is,

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and the energy from the art is
totally different from screens.

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Yeah, I love what I do. That
makes me keep going and happy,

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because I cannot do this
by myself.

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I always need
to work with the team

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or clients or community,
you know?

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And all my projects
are different,

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but always with someone.

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So I love the connections
and teamwork and the results.

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Already, like, people, you know,
they're kind of walking by here

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and gave us lots
of good compliments,

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like, "Oh, that looks so cool."

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They already
taking photos of it.

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Yeah. [ Laughs ]

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Art is really part of
the community and people's life

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and good inspirations
and everything,

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like really good vibes. Yeah.

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♪♪

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♪♪