O'hara Kamis Episode #7: Powerful Beginnings

Coming from Lebanese roots O'hara Kamis has a uniquely original perspective, and she loves every minute of it.  Especially her groovy lifestyle that she has created over the years on various landscapes she has called home. Using her love of research and detail she throws herself into every new medium she encounters, from shoes to jewelry, to phone cases and apparel. There really is no limits she sees to her creative capacity

O'hara has a vibrant fun loving personality that shines through her work. Creating captivating bold pieces that resonate with her community. Being a self taught Canadian Artist has its benefits, while she embraces her Pop art influences, she draws her audience in with her energetic kaleidoscopic universe.

Living in Vancouver B. C. Canada has had some profound influences, O'hara sees herself expanding her market internationally. However family keeps her local for now. Her confidence to take on new challenges as an Artist are inspiring when you browse her online content. Her community of commissioned pieces has given her an anchor, however she sees the potential abroad and will keep it in mind. 

O'hara Kamis Podcast Credits:

Audio Links from https://freemusicarchive.org/
Podcast by Carolyn Botelho

Connect with O'hara Kamis:  https://www.staygroovycreations.com/

Transcript

(0:03 - 0:23)

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Creatively Thinking Podcast. Join Carolyn Botelho as she uncovers the inspirations behind some incredibly creative minds that are orbiting our local communities. Hi O'Hara Jamis.

(0:27 - 0:39)

I'm happy to have you on the show and delighted to meet you. Yeah, hi. You are a Lebanese acrylic painter living in Vancouver.

(0:40 - 1:04)

I found, I found you on Instagram and when I saw your work, I wanted to chat with you. Yeah. Your technique really stands out with the use of perspectives, colors, and your use of abstraction.

(1:06 - 2:12)

How did you arrive at this as your career choice? Was it working with your hands, your emotional insights, or something else? Yeah, so I've always been really interested in being creative and how to have like a creative mind since I was young, and I would doodle in class and I just found a strong attraction to just expressing myself through art. So I kind of just kept experimenting with it, painting, and my grandfather was a painter so I think I maybe had some inherent skills from him, which is awesome and I really appreciate it and I feel like since I also have like anxiety and other aspects in my life and I find that like just being able to create and reflect back on it is just an incredible feeling and I just absolutely love it and I love the challenges that come with it and like the endless possibilities. Your work is vibrant, dynamic, and bold with rich colors and nostalgic imagery.

(2:13 - 3:22)

Would you say this comes mostly from your Lebanese background or from where you are contemporarily living in Vancouver or from somewhere else primarily? I do think some of it does come from my Lebanese background a lot. I've been surrounded by a lot of those kind of designs, especially in the clothing and that kind of intricate interconnect designs have been attractive and I've been surrounded by that since I was young. I also find with my personality is pretty like fun and bubbly and I have a lot of energy and I think that shows through a lot of my art as well, hence a lot of the different colors kind of just resonates with me and I get a lot of inspiration from festivals and just being around endless possibilities and just being around so many like-minded people who are also kind of creative and enjoy those same elements and I've kind of just always have had like an eye for color matching and noticing what colors go well together and been doing that kind of since I was young in my like earlier drawings.

(3:23 - 3:46)

So I feel like the world is just sometimes almost too black and white and I think it's fun to just brighten it up with a bunch of color and vibrancy and energy. Yeah, the world can be too black and white at times, very drab and grave and sometimes Exactly, especially in Vancouver here. It's pretty gloomy, especially today.

(3:47 - 4:01)

So it's just kind of nice having that little vibrancy and that energetic atmosphere. Yeah. While researching you, I found you like to work in a number of mediums.

(4:01 - 4:40)

How did you discover working with turning shoes into art? Did it start with a commission or experimentation on your part? Yeah, so this was definitely a whole new world for me with experimenting. I was during COVID that I started doing this. So the pandemic and I was, we were in lockdown for quite some time then and I remember just being like going on social media and these videos of people painting on shoes were coming up and I was like, oh, that's pretty interesting and it's a really great way to get exposure because people are wearing your art and it's something kind of niche and new.

(4:41 - 5:21)

So I did a bunch of research on it and educated myself and then just bought some Nikes and tried painting on them and I made them for my best friend and I posted that on social media and it gained a lot of traction and a lot of people were super into it and people who really love shoes, like they love their shoes. So yeah, I tried experimenting with that and I still do them to this day and I've been doing more, experimenting more with canvas shoes instead of leather, but it's been a lot of fun. Yeah, I bet you there's a lot of, a lot of people who really love their shoes and making them into art just makes that, makes them, makes them that much more important, right? Yeah, totally.

(5:21 - 6:15)

And then like, they kind of like, they get to express themselves with their own design that they choose from me, which is really cool and we get to collaborate and kind of make their dream shoe that they would most likely not be able to get elsewhere. While we are discussing your mediums, I saw you also like to work with accessories, specifically glass and earrings. How did these come about in your creative practice? Was this also experimentation or commission? Yeah, so this is also around the same time I experimented with the shoes was during COVID and I wanted to make smaller pieces that were more affordable than doing giant canvas paintings and something that was easy to ship because the shipping canvases can be a lot of work and they're expensive.

(6:15 - 7:02)

So I started experimenting with, it's actually epoxy, so it's like a resin, it's like a hard, hard plastic, but it kind of looks like glass, which I found really interesting. So I started making earrings and posters and keychains and just decorative trays and a lot of people actually really wanted them and I was surprised considering I just was kind of making this on a whim. So then I started experimenting with that, but the only, I just don't make it anymore, which is because it's super messy and it's pretty toxic chemical, you have to wear a mask and you have to have a big, like large enough space to be able to make the resin and do it and have all the little intricate parts in making it.

(7:03 - 7:15)

It was a lot of fun. It did become pretty repetitive near the end there because I was getting so many orders and I found that my limits with creating with it weren't as broad as painting. So I kind of just switched back to more of painting.

(7:16 - 7:28)

Yeah, the epoxy is pretty toxic. Oh yeah, like I remember I was doing it in my parents' basement and they were like, this has to end. Like, you can't keep doing this in here anymore.

(7:28 - 7:53)

I was like, it's fine and then I was kind of realizing I was doing it like every day for like a month and they're like, okay, that's it. Like, that's gotta go. Yeah, that'd be funny.

(7:56 - 8:32)

What would you say is your biggest or most important insight you have gained as an artist? Supporters, your mediums, or your experience in creating the work? Yeah, so this, like there's a, there's a kind of a story to the background of me becoming an artist is that I am mainly a self-taught artist, but I did take a, like a painting class in high school and at the beginning of that class, I was terrible. Like I was so bad. My teacher knew I was bad.

(8:32 - 8:45)

I knew I was bad, but I just like loved painting and I loved creating. So I just kept at it. And near the end of the course, she was like, my teacher, who was amazing, was like, oh, like you've actually like exceeded my expectations.

(8:45 - 8:58)

Like I never thought you would be able to achieve like these kind of pieces of art that you've completed. And she was like, it's just, it's inspiring to see how much your dedication and your skills have advanced. And she recommended me to go to an art school.

(8:58 - 9:14)

So I love telling people this story because you don't have to initially start out with the gift of arts. It's something you can process and build over time if it's something that really interests you. Though I like to tell people that because a lot of people get discouraged and oh, I can't ever make that.

(9:14 - 9:28)

I can never do that kind of thing. And I think this is just kind of a gentle reminder that you don't have to initially be good or don't be afraid to just start experimenting if it's something you're interested in. Yeah.

(9:28 - 9:44)

You need to just experiment and see what you really have a passion with and see if you can build on it. Yeah, definitely. And there's definitely been a lot of times where I started painting and I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't do this.

(9:44 - 10:04)

Like this is going to be too hard just because of the initial layers don't look as great. So if you kind of just overcome that and see it through and just keep at it, it can turn out completely drastically different. And then you reflect back on all the feelings and emotions you went through, like making that piece of art and how it's just a really gratifying feeling.

(10:10 - 10:40)

On your Instagram, you indicate that you listen to your ADHD brain about your art projects. Have you found sharing this has benefited your practice? Have you found the public's awareness of mental health encouraging or slightly annoying because there are more opinions on the topic? Yeah, that's a really great question, too. I kind of recently only started posting about it on social media.

(10:41 - 11:20)

I have a lot of other friends that also have ADHD and sometimes we are able to bond and communicate about how we struggle to start something or that we aren't able to finish something or you're like jumping all over the place with different projects, which happens sometimes. So I think it kind of is great because it opens up that conversation and shows support with other people. And you're able to kind of build a community and have those other supporters there during processes like that or seeing what other people do to help get them to get started on a project and inspire people to create.

(11:20 - 11:53)

So I think it's a good thing to acknowledge and talk about. If you were to say your art was influenced by someone from art history, who would you say it would be or would you say your influences are more abstract and more found in styles like pop and modernism? Yeah. So I think when I was growing up, I did a lot of the pop art style and a lot of it was influenced by Andy Warhol.

(11:53 - 12:08)

That was when I was in that high school class for arts. So a lot of my work, I got inspiration from that kind of artist. But nowadays, I think a lot of my inspiration is from mostly animation movies.

(12:08 - 12:21)

There's this one called Belle and it's an anime movie. And it's kind of like a spin on the original Belle Princess movie. But the colors and the art in it is just so cool.

(12:21 - 12:32)

And it's futuristic and glitchy and modern. So I think I get a lot of it from that or I have. And there's also the Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse.

(12:32 - 12:50)

That animation movie has really cool graphics too. And more recently, I think those kind of movies have sparked my interest for cyberpunk, more futuristic and having those glitchy elements in some of my pieces. So yeah, they've definitely played a big role in my paintings today.

(12:53 - 13:35)

That's awesome. When you went to school for environmental science, were you aware of your love of creativity and you were suppressing it for economical purposes? Or was it something you discovered later on? Have you incorporated your previous love of science in any way into your current art projects? So I think that my environmental science, I've always throughout my, whether it's my undergrad or my master's program currently, I've always still been practicing doing my arts. But it's been really hard to focus on balancing the two.

(13:36 - 13:50)

I was considering going to art school after high school and complete an undergrad. But my dad is Lebanese, of course. And he's a little bit more like, you know, like you've got to do the academics, you've got to go into sciences.

(13:52 - 14:07)

Arts might not turn out how you want it to be. There's just a lot of unknowns with it. So of course, I didn't go to pursue my art school, but I did go into sciences, which I'm glad I did.

(14:07 - 14:28)

But sometimes I think back on how would my life be if I were to go to art school and actually be trained and educated more and see how my future would turn out. But it's something that I'm able to balance right now, which is really great. And then I also, in the sense of paintings, I do try to recycle canvases.

(14:28 - 14:44)

I'll paint over top of old ones if I don't like them or want to change things. I try to just recycle any material as much as possible. And currently in my program, in my master's of sustainability forestry, we go on a lot of outdoor walks.

(14:44 - 14:57)

So I tend to take a lot of pictures. And there's a more recent painting I did of a tree, and there's these berries on the tree, which I took a picture of one of our field tours that we did. So stuff like that's really cool.

(14:57 - 15:08)

I can get a lot of inspiration from my education. My life is crazy with how busy. I love being productive and I love doing a lot.

(15:08 - 15:20)

I'm actually in that master's program at UBC here in Vancouver. And instead of it being a two-year program, it's condensed into nine months. So it's been very, very hectic and busy.

(15:21 - 16:11)

And we'll be right back. How would you say Stay Groovy as your social platform name has impacted your brand overall? Has it positively influenced your sales as an artist or has it confused some of your clients? If you were to rebrand your name, have there been any potential ideas you have considered? Yeah, so I named it Stay Groovy because when I was growing up, my nickname was Oh Groovy, like O apostrophe Groovy, kind of like my name, O apostrophe, H-A-R-A. So I wanted to have something that represented me.

(16:12 - 16:43)

But when I was researching about the algorithms and how do you get exposure and the best way for your name title, most artists have their name and then creativity or painter or paint list, something that's more specific. So I have reconsidered multiple times changing it to something else like that. But I've built this brand now for so many years and I really do like the Stay Groovy aspect and the name and what it represents and the story behind it.

(16:43 - 17:13)

So I haven't decided to change it, but I added the word creations at the end because that helps with exposure and significantly showing that it's a creative platform or business. Yeah, it identifies it a little bit more because Stay Groovy, you could think it was like music or dance or singing or yeah, there's a few things it could be. Yes, yes, it could be.

(17:16 - 17:59)

Yeah, right? Yeah, so that's why I add the creations and I think it does help a bit. And then, yeah, obviously in my Instagram bio and everything, I specifically state that it's a painting brand and digital art and custom shoes on there as well to help with that kind of connection with the algorithm. Have you found using an iPad almost daily in your creative practice to be taking over the actual manual labor part of your artistic content? Or do you see it as being more of a tool that aids in assisting your creative practice? How would you say it helps you in your practice? Although it's too many practices.

(18:01 - 18:22)

It's okay. Yeah, so with the iPad, I actually didn't have an iPad until about five years ago. I always would just kind of go with the flow and kind of just would have an image in my brain and go ahead and start painting it.

(18:22 - 18:33)

I'd have like no colors figured out or I just have like a general idea and I would just go ahead painting it. But now I constantly use my iPad. I'm obsessed with it.

(18:33 - 19:09)

It's just, there's so many different things you can do with it. I don't see it ever overtaking my painting aspect, but it's definitely assisted me in where I can draw up a design or an image and then it helps me kind of make a cohesive piece and I can visualize better where I want to place things and how I want to paint them and the colors I want to use. It's also really helpful for when I want to take a picture of a painting and I'm considering changing something of it and I can go in and just draw right on the picture to see if I want to move forward with that before completely potentially ruining the painting.

(19:10 - 19:33)

And it's also really helpful to make mock-ups for clients. So I will usually draw up a painting to show them how it would look and I will hypothetically put it on their wall to see if they like it and same with the shoe idea. It's just another way for me to make the mock-ups and show people what I'm designing, what I'm talking about and ensuring that we're on the same page.

(19:34 - 19:55)

And I also use it to make my logo and to do a lot of stuff for my website. And yeah, it's just, it has definitely changed my art career. Yeah, it sounds like it's really improved sort of the tool, like as a tool, it's just helped you along with all of your processes.

(19:56 - 20:10)

Yeah, definitely. I did honestly never thought like it would have been this impactful on my art, but it's like, it's just so amazing, especially like the social media posts. I can go in and edit things and draw over images for posts.

(20:11 - 20:26)

So it's yeah, it's just so versatile. I was reading through your Instagram journey highlights. In this section, you say how much exploring new mediums you can't get enough of.

(20:27 - 21:07)

Is it the tactile quality of these explorations that are addictive? Or are you able to see materials as a vehicle to creativity rather than a possible chance of failure? Is finding the right medium for the project superior? Yeah, I find that the, just my ADHD does help me and it makes, well, in the sense that it makes me want to try new things. And I'm constantly just seeking out new techniques or new styles or how to achieve different things. And especially with texture paintings, I find that really interesting and it just makes things really exciting.

(21:07 - 21:26)

And like I said, the art is so endless and the possibilities you can do with it. You can combine different like mediums together and just create a totally new painting and it makes it really exciting. And then when you get that addictive feel, it's like, oh, and you accomplish something and it's something new that you've accomplished.

(21:26 - 21:48)

It's just such an empowering feeling and it makes you want to pursue more of those kinds of aspects and test new things. You could be better in one technique or medium than like what you've already been currently doing. It also kind of helps to develop those skills and potentially incorporating those, like those techniques or mediums into future paintings.

(21:48 - 22:18)

And it gives you an idea of how they were done, how the elements that are needed to achieve those. So I definitely find trying new things very addictive and my ADHD brain definitely facilitates that. Well, that's really good because I would have thought just having some sort of challenges would make you sort of more reserved on trying new things.

(22:21 - 22:45)

Oh, I find that I fall in love with trying the new techniques and I really like challenges. So it kind of motivates me to experiment more and then experimenting with different techniques and mediums kind of helps you see how you might want to create a painting in the future or how you could combine different mediums. And it just gives that kind of exciting new feel, especially when you achieve those certain mediums or techniques.

(22:45 - 23:31)

It makes it so addictive that you want to keep trying new things and see if you can accomplish new things. So yeah, I find that that's one of the main reasons why I tend to explore different mediums and different textures and kind of just exploring what other people are doing as well as inspiration to kind of spark those kind of insights and try new things. Where do you see yourself or your career in like the next 10 years? Was it in Canada or sort of North America, the States or in the Middle East? I think that in the next couple of years I plan to kind of stay mostly in Canada.

(23:31 - 24:00)

I did get, I was offered an opportunity to have my art displayed actually in Madrid, Paris and where else was it? Oh, Miami to have my art displayed there which I wanted to do. But since I'm in my program right now for my master's program, I thought it wasn't the best time because I would like to go travel there and see it in person and be more a part of it and have a better exposure and connect with more people. So I do see my art potentially growing.

(24:01 - 24:21)

I deferred that offer and hopefully I'll be able to pursue it in the next couple of years because it would be really cool to have my art elsewhere. I do have a few pieces in the States right now from commission work but also being displayed in LA, which is awesome. And I do, like my partner and I we want to have kids eventually as well.

(24:21 - 24:28)

So it's kind of hard. We want to be close to family. So we're actually moving back to Calgary in a couple of months.

(24:29 - 24:37)

I got a job offer there in my environmental field. So I plan to, yeah, move back there. But my, yeah, yeah, it's exciting.

(24:37 - 24:48)

I'm going to miss it a lot here, the weather here. I'm not going to miss the snow back in Calgary but maybe there'll be some other opportunities. Yeah.

(24:48 - 24:53)

Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Aw, thanks.

(24:53 - 25:10)

Yeah. I think a lot of it, I think a lot of it comes from my dad just kind of always being like, you can do it. Like I struggled in my undergraduate degree and in elementary since I was little because I didn't know about my disabilities and it kind of was a big drawback.

(25:10 - 25:19)

And my dad has always kind of been there being like, you can do it. Like we're Lebanese, we're the Caymus's like you can get through it. You just got to keep trying kind of thing.

(25:19 - 25:32)

And so I think that's really stuck with me. And I always just tried to be the best version of myself and it shows when it comes into new challenges. I'm also the oldest sister out of the two younger and my dad.

(25:32 - 26:09)

So I think just kind of trying to be tough and overcoming certain challenges has just been a nature of myself from growing up. I was offered an opportunity to have my art displayed actually in Madrid, Paris and where else was it? Oh, Miami to have my art displayed there which I wanted to do. But since I'm in my program right now for my master's program, I thought it wasn't the best time because I would like to go travel there and see it in person and be more a part of it and have a better exposure and connect with more people.

(26:10 - 26:28)

So I do see my art potentially growing. I deferred that offer and hopefully I'll be able to pursue it in the next couple of years because it would be really cool to have my art elsewhere. I do have a few pieces in the States right now from commission work, but also being displayed in LA which is awesome.

(26:29 - 26:36)

But, and I do like my partner and I, we want to have kids eventually as well. So it's kind of hard. We want to be close to family.

(26:36 - 26:47)

So we're actually moving back to Calgary in a couple of months. I got a job offer there in my environmental field. So I plan to, yeah, move back there.

(26:47 - 26:51)

But my, yeah, yeah. It's exciting. I'm going to miss it a lot here.

(26:51 - 27:08)

The weather here, I'm not going to miss the snow back in Calgary, but maybe there'll be some other opportunities. Oh yeah. Yeah.

(27:08 - 27:19)

It's definitely, it is more sunny over there which is great in Calgary compared to here. Oh yeah. Vancouver is a bit more gray, isn't it? Yeah.

(27:21 - 27:29)

Yeah. Yeah. It's, it can be gray for an extensive amount of time but I'm going to miss the ocean here as well and just all my friends.

(27:29 - 27:45)

And I feel like the art community here is a lot like more prominent. There's a little bit in Calgary, but like not to necessarily the degree that it's here, at least that I've found. Or maybe you just haven't met the connections of all the people that are there that you just haven't, you know, you haven't met them yet.

(27:46 - 28:00)

Maybe there is a bigger community. You just haven't, haven't found them yet, right? Yeah, that's so true too. And like, I think once I move back there and connect with my friends and everything again because I haven't lived there in like I think three or four years.

(28:01 - 28:24)

So yeah, it'll be nice to connect with them again and like just see what other kind of events are going on and displays and how I can get involved. And I find actually my friends in Calgary are more creative. Like a lot of the girls of my friend group are also creators and it's kind of nice because we can kind of bond or like do event, like vendor events together or like displays or, you know, just kind of collab together.

(28:24 - 28:29)

So I'm excited for that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

(28:29 - 28:32)

And that's great. Cause then you get more exposure. Yeah.

(28:32 - 28:40)

And you get to like connect with other people and that would be great. Collaborate. That's the big thing now, right? Yeah.

(28:40 - 28:43)

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you both like, yeah. And you're both helping.

(28:43 - 28:51)

Like I also want to get into sewing. That's my new thing. I've been kind of experimenting with, of course, because I'm always trying something new.

(28:53 - 28:59)

And my mom is a sewer too. So it'll be nice to move back home and have her with me. And then my other girlfriend sews a lot and she's sewing a lot of bags.

(29:01 - 29:13)

Like, yeah, festival bags. And so I'm excited for her to like kind of teach me and hang out and just kind of explore that more. Because I feel like out here, I've been really focused on school and not as much in the arts.

(29:13 - 29:24)

And a lot of my friends out here just aren't into the same creative outlets as me, which is okay, but yeah. Yeah. And you're helping each other out at the same time.

(29:25 - 29:31)

Yeah. It can make a huge difference. And it just inspires you to create more and to be doing it more as well.

(29:31 - 29:45)

So I'm excited for that. Yeah. Exactly.

(29:45 - 29:50)

Yeah. All right. Well, we got to the end of our questions already.

(29:51 - 29:54)

Yeah. Yeah. I know.

(29:54 - 30:04)

It went by really quick, actually. It's easy for you to talk about what you love, right? Yeah, that's true. I'm just so passionate about it.

(30:05 - 30:10)

Yeah. I love it so much. Yeah.

(30:11 - 30:32)

Well, yeah. And like some artists, they're just like really reserved and really, really, I don't know, maybe that's just too many years of being really cautious with what they do or I don't know. Or maybe that's their personality, right? Like you said, your personality is more vibrant and just, and groovy, right? So.

(30:37 - 30:41)

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

(30:41 - 30:47)

Now you can kind of like see how it all fits together. Yeah. Yeah.

(30:48 - 30:56)

All right. So I will get this to you in the next couple of weeks. And if you have anything else you'd like to add, now's the time.

(30:57 - 31:03)

Perfect. Yeah. I just want to say thank you for having me on this show and this talk.

(31:03 - 31:13)

I've never done anything like this. So it's really cool that you're able to reach out to me and we're connecting. And I'm really excited to hear the end results and just kind of reflect back on our talk.

(31:22 - 31:51)

Perfect. Exactly, yeah. And I will include your contact information in your podcast and yeah, get more people in your community and just keep spreading the creativity and getting more people excited about your work.

(31:51 - 31:57)

I appreciate it. Oh, O'Hara. O'Hara.

(31:57 - 32:00)

O'Hara, you got it. Yep, you got it. You knew it.

(32:07 - 32:14)

All right. Well, thank you so much, O'Hara. And maybe we'll touch base in the future and see where you're at.

(32:14 - 32:18)

Yeah, sounds great. Thank you so much. You're very welcome.

(32:20 - 32:30)

Join me next time as I go down another rabbit hole with another creative professional on their insights, their inspirations, and their ingenuity.