(upbeat music) - Will you consider this?

You've got this right brain thing going on.

You're artistic, but you have kids, and so you have to kind of shovel things into the back alley, I guess.

And then you rediscover yourself.

And this is Nikki Gillespie-Strahan, and not only did she discover herself, but discovered on a much wider basis.

- Oh, yes.

- Welcome.

- Thank you.

- Now, you're from Galesburg, so tell me a little bit about Nikki Gillespie before she was married.

- Okay.

Well, like you said, it was the kids, you know, schools and school functions.

Not a whole lot of time, I guess, to do my art, but- - And you grew up in Kewanee?

- Yes, primarily.

- All right, and then went to Kewanee High School?

- Correct, yep.

- All right.

- I actually graduated out of Bradford.

Bradford, super duper, super small.

But, yeah, my senior year, I graduated from there.

But primarily, yeah, I grew up in Kewanee.

Moved to Galesburg a few years ago, and I love it.

I've always visited there 'cause my grandma lives there, and, you know, it's just... When you live in Kewanee, there's not a whole lot of shopping, and so.

- Right, Galesburg is a major metropolitan compared to Kewanee, I guess.

- Yeah, oh, gosh, yeah.

Yeah, things are hopping compared to Kewanee, yeah.

- All right.

Well, so in high school, you found art.

Did you always doodle when you were a kid?

- Oh, yes, yeah.

I mean, I was drawing before I was writing, you know?

- Okay, and then pictures were up in the kitchen and on the refrigerator, everything?

- I remember drawing little mermaids and Snoopy and yeah, little, yeah.

Just my first memories of drawing.

But high school, let's see.

Mrs.

Blake, she is great art teacher, and kind of what she's taught me to this day, you know, it's really stuck with me.

But I never went to college for it, so, I mean, I don't know if I'm considered self-taught, you know, I guess.

- Well, in a way, I guess.

Yeah, so, Mrs.

Blake, so she recognized that you had this artistic ability, and she encouraged you.

- Oh, yes.

- So what was that little something that she told you to keep you going?

- Well, I mean, she just, you know, was... That's a tricky question.

I mean, I can't remember.

That was quite a few years ago.

But, I mean, she was just always really enamored and, you know, complimentary, and, you know, it made you feel good, you know?

- So then you had a couple of kids.

You have three children?

- I have three girls.

Yeah, yeah.

- And when did you decide to pick up a paintbrush again and practice your talent?

- Gosh, well, before that, it was, I guess some maybe arts and crafts, and maybe some assemblage art, which is like junk art, kind of.

- You mean, with leftover, recycled things?

- Yeah, kind of, yeah, yeah.

- And so was that kind of for craft shows or something, or?

- No, it was just sort of fun for me to do, and then later, I sold wreaths.

But they weren't your average wreaths.

- [Christine] Okay, so tell me about these.

- Yeah, they weren't.

They were, let's see, very kitschy or themed.

They were like Stephen King's "Creepshow."

That was one theme, with the head on the birthday cake.

"Pee-wee's Big Adventure," KFC, Colonel Sanders.

There's one of those in a toy store in Kentucky that they- - Well, that's a good place for it.

- Yeah, that they display, so.

- Yeah, good.

- Yeah.

They're in Airbnbs, and some were more classic with the old shiny brights and, you know, the ornaments.

So then to answer your question, painting, gosh, just a couple years ago again, yeah.

- So, well, show us some examples of what you have right now.

So, you picked up a paintbrush, and so, you know, I try, and every once in a while, something turns out kind of good.

- Right, right, right.

- And now, so, who's this?

- Well, I haven't named that one yet, and it got a little boo-boo on the way here, but that's okay.

- Oh.

- That's okay.

But just kind of an alienesque type of creature - Oh, yeah, does look alien.

- (laughs) Right?

- Well, now, in today's world, we're talking about aliens all the time.

- Oh, I know it, yeah.

- [Christine] So that one's pretty timely.

All right, let me put that there.

- This one's called Laughter Is Contagious.

- Okay, well.

Oh, boy.

About ready to cry on this one, laughing so hard, yeah.

All right.

- And I never did name her, but that's another.

- But she's beautiful.

- Thank you.

- Yeah.

Okay, so you haven't... Do you sell your paintings, or you just- - I haven't, no.

I haven't really tried to, I suppose.

- [Christine] And you haven't been in a gallery anywhere?

- No, no.

I applied to some artist calls, they call 'em.

Art Cafe, through Art Cafe.

- [Christine] All right.

- And won some, or was entered into different... They do it by themes.

So it's like, I'm published in Monochromatica Magazine.

- All right.

- It's issue 008, and it's the color yellow for that month.

- Interesting.

So then they pick the color, all right.

- Yes, yes.

And so they're kind of like challenges, you know?

- [Christine] What can you make yellow?

- Exactly, exactly, yeah.

They do some with animals.

Smallest paintings, you know, things like that.

But all kinds of challenges.

And you can choose and enter whatever you want.

- Did you know about all these things when you started this?

Or you just found out as you were- - It was kind of fluky.

So, somehow I found out, I just googled, "Galesburg, Illinois art competitions," and one popped up, and I didn't get accepted, I wasn't invited.

- Darn.

- Invited, I know.

- [Christine] But you didn't get discouraged.

- No, no, not at all.

- That's good.

- Not at all.

So, it was through that, and it was the platform of the cafe art calls, artist calls.

But, yeah, so this one- - The laughing one?

- Yeah, that one was one that won something.

It's more just accolades, you know?

- All right.

Was this a pink competition for Monochromatic?

- No.

- Because there's a lot of pink in here.

- There's a lot, there's a lot, yep.

Nope, but maybe I will.

if the pink one pops up, maybe I'll reenter that one.

- There you go, yeah.

- Yeah.

But this one got a lot of attention.

- Okay.

- But originally, I called it I Thought I Saw the Dead, But I Saw Fred Instead, because I was seeing like... My daughter saw it too, "It's like dead people," she said.

"I see dead people," you know?

And then it was like, "Oh, I see Fred Flintstone."

- Oh, now I see it.

- So I was like, well... But then I renamed it Crowd.

It sounded better.

- A little bit better than, yeah.

- Little, yeah, fancier, so.

- Is that the toughest part of creating something?

Once you've got it done, then you have to- - It's knowing when to stop.

- Well, and that's just it, yeah.

Have you done too much?

- Exactly.

- Do you turn it upside down and look at it and everything too, and back away from it?

- Yeah, not as much as I should.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

I need to be a little more disciplined.

I think that's, you know, I can get lost in a painting.

But, yeah.

I need to step back a little bit more and kind of assess and say, "Okay, it's done."

- So, on any given day, do you paint?

- Yeah, just about every day, yeah.

And sometimes, like, that one took me maybe a half hour.

And some of these I'll work on for months and just kind of put 'em down and come back, yeah.

- [Christine] Because it's just not there, the inspiration's just not there.

- Exactly, exactly.

- Well, one of the biggest things that is in your wheelhouse now is this Johnny Depp competition.

- Yes.

- So, tell our audience in my living room here.

- (laughs) Right.

- What this is all about.

- Well, first of all, I entered it and I completely forgot that I entered it.

And it says I got a email, it says, "You're in."

I was like, "All right."

- For the Johnny Depp- - The Johnny Depp Presents the People's Artist.

So it's all based on the people's votes.

And it goes, there's several rounds.

It goes up until, let's see, the final round is, that would be July 3rd, July 3rd through the 9th.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- That's the final round of voting.

- Yes, that's the final, final one.

And August 9th will be... I'm sorry, August 6th, they'll announce the winner.

- Okay, that's cool.

- So, but yes, it's based on votes, and so everybody gets one free vote per day.

And with the option of, like, if you want- - Donations.

- Donation, you can, yeah.

$10, 10 votes.

- And there's different categories for the people's artist as well, or just one category?

- I'm not sure, and we're all kind of just not- - Sure?

- Yeah, we're not sure.

We're not even completely sure how many people are in it.

And there's some, like, you know, not controversy, but some, like, some people say 2,000, some people say 200.

But now this Thursday is the last day for top five.

- All right.

- Voting.

- So that means, so today is- - More eliminations.

- June 3rd, and you are- - It's the 4th.

Is it the 4th today?

- Today is the 3rd.

- No, tomorrow's the 4th, and tomorrow is the last day, yeah, sorry.

So, this is gonna air at the end of June.

- [Nikki] Right.

- So we're hoping that you make it into the top five.

- Hopefully I'm still in it.

- Yeah, exactly.

So, let's assume that you're still in it.

- I like that.

- So where do people go and find where to vote?

- Well, you can just Google search, you know, Johnny Depp Presents the People's Artist.

Other than that, it's through Facebook.

I mean, it's on there.

Yeah, I mean, I have links, but you know, it's- - You just don't know.

- Kinda not.

- It's a pretty big deal.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So did you enter all of these different paintings that you brought with you?

- Yeah, because it was... The entry was like, "Bombard us with everything you got."

You know, "Show us what you can do, you know, from sculpting, whatever, any little thing."

So, I did.

(laughs) - So your husband has a home improvement company.

You also work for him.

- Yes.

- Did he build you a nice studio so that you can- - He did, actually, yeah.

- That was nice of him.

- Yeah, he did.

- So, once you do the books for him or whatever you're helping him with, then you get in there and use your creative brain rather than your not so creative brain.

- Yes.

Well, I could use creative brain at work too, but- - Can you?

- He's the resourceful one.

I mean, he's very resourceful, so that's, yeah.

- That's a nice combination.

- Sometimes I'm the gopher, but, you know, that's okay.

- That is okay.

So then, now tell me, what do you enjoy doing most?

Do you enjoy doing that kind of abstract, or would you rather do... See, I'm a dabber when I... When I've tried to do real, doesn't turn out very well.

But if I start doing dabbing and, you know, smooshing, turns out pretty good.

- Right, like Monet?

- Yes, Impressionism.

- Impressionism?

- Yes, that's me.

- Oh, that is pretty.

- It is pretty.

- I've never really done that.

- Really?

- But, you know, it just depends on my mood.

- Okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

But if I had to pick, I would say something more like this.

- Okay, realism?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- And then, so when do you, like, shut it down at night?

- Oh, gosh.

- Or is that really hard to do?

- It is.

It can be.

And it's like when you're flowing, you don't wanna stop sometimes, you know?

So it can be, yeah.

But sometimes just like, "Okay, I got things to do.

I gotta put the brushes away."

- Well, and these are so much different than that one.

- Yes.

- So, how many of those do you do?

- Only a couple, yeah.

- Okay.

- Maybe three.

- If the mood hits you.

- Yeah, yeah.

But yeah, that one got a lot of attention.

It's been in... Well, there's like, it's not really winners, but a group of winners.

There's not just one single.

But we have where we do online galleries, our stuff's in online galleries, stuff like that.

So I guess, you know, they're kind of in a gallery, but I don't know that they're for sale kind of, you know?

- And Galesburg is a fairly artistic community.

- It is, it is.

I actually, like, was writing down, because there's no way I was gonna remember.

- [Christine] Okay.

Tell me what you wrote down.

- Gosh, yeah, there's, I mean, it has a lot of art dealios going on.

It really does.

- Okay.

(laughs) - There's the community arts center gallery.

Public library, they support local artists, and they have a rotating exhibit.

- Okay, that's nice.

- And they also have, like, the programs for all age people.

The RMC Art Studio.

Music Maker, and they also offer lessons.

Stray Cat Art, she's a gal who recycles, repurposes, and she focuses on metal work.

Art Defined Art School, they do, like, events and offer classes, but they do like birthday, bachelorette parties.

Discovery Depot, I think that's what you were thinking of.

- Right, yes, uh-huh.

- The Children's Museum, and they do have a little arts and crafts area.

Knox-Galesburg Symphony, the Prairie Players Civic Theater.

The Orpheum.

Performing Arts Academy Theater.

Of course, Knox College.

And then we have Dick Blick, so.

- Right, exactly, yeah.

Well, a lot of places have lost Dick Blick too, which is kind of sad.

- Oh, yeah, that is.

- But you have supplies right there.

- Yes, yes.

- Lucky you.

All right, so now tell me about, you know, this isn't your only paintbrush thing.

You also hear music, and you are a lyricist.

- [Nikki] Yes, yes.

For Premium Lyrics, yeah.

- So tell me about how that came about.

- Uh, just got a wild hair and just said, "Huh."

'cause I've always kind of wrote, you know?

I mean, poem-ish, kind of whatever.

But I've always written things, so I was like, "Eh."

I don't know how I ran across it, I can't remember, but it was probably about four years ago or so.

And so I submitted something.

It's a German based company.

And they cover Spain, France, US, and Germany.

And there's only like 400 and something of us lyricists, so it's kind of hard to get in, so it was an honor, it is.

- So they send you the tunes.

- No.

Actually, no.

- How does it work?

- So, not all musicians necessarily write.

So, maybe they're good at making music.

I'm not.

You know, I love music, but I don't know how to play an instrument.

But I can write the lyrics.

So, it's a forum that... It's a platform where they can purchase lyrics, and however they do it, maybe they hear their music and then they know when they read the lyrics, or vice versa, they read the lyrics and then the music comes to 'em.

- [Christine] So it's like the chicken and the egg.

- Yeah, exactly.

- What comes first?

- [Nikki] Yeah, exactly.

- Have you heard any of your- - I have not, I have not.

- All right.

- And I go in stints, you know?

It's like I get bored, and then I move on to the next thing.

I do.

So, I only have a handful in the, you know, whatever they call it, but- - And how long has that been going on, lyricist?

- I haven't done it for a year.

You know, I said four years, but I think maybe not quite three, actually.

So, yeah.

- But that's another form of art.

- It is, it is.

It's very creative.

Very cathartic, you know?

- So, are they romantic lyrics or are they- - No.

- Fun, party?

- No.

(laughs) No.

Some of them are a little bit okay kind of rap.

- [Christine] Okay.

Oh.

- Yeah.

I know, that's a little surprising.

- It is very surprising.

- That's what I find that I enjoy writing the most.

- Huh.

- I know, It's bizarre.

- So do you listen to rap music, or your kids like that?

- Not a whole lot.

I mean, some, some.

I'm a big Chili Peppers fan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, so.

- And that was like a transitional time.

- Kind of a funk.

- I understand that.

- And rap and a little bit of everything, but yeah, yeah.

But yeah, I guess some are maybe more fun, but some are not, you know?

Some are darker.

- So, what are you listening to when you're painting?

- Chili Peppers, Highly Suspect.

I mean, but I like Nat King Cole to, gosh, I mean, some '70s.

Beatles, you know, up to... I mean, current music, even some things that my kids listen to, they kind of, it's like, "Ooh, that's catchy."

- I like it.

- Yeah.

- [Christine] How about Santana?

- I like Santana.

He's good, he's good.

- I remember when, I don't know, I heard one of his songs, I said, "This is good."

And my kids are going, "Oh, Mom."

And it won the album of the year, so.

- [Nikki] (laughs) Oh, so you knew, you knew, yeah.

- But it's interesting, it's good to have a little bit of a mixture of genres, because that also can inspire.

- Yes.

And there's no genre that I don't like.

I mean, there's some that I don't care for, like, in totality, but there's always some songs from country songs that I like, or whatever.

I don't necessarily like country, but, you know, I mean, there's Patsy and, you know, there's songs here and there.

- Some of the classics.

Yeah, exactly.

- Yeah.

So, every genre.

- I just taught my grandkids "I've Been Working on the Railroad" the other day.

- Oh, right.

- So, you know, they don't see trains very much anymore, so they just don't have a clue.

- Come to Galesburg.

- I know, I know.

We need to do that.

We need to come to the depot.

We need to come see your studio.

- Yeah.

Oh, it's a mess.

(laughs) It's always a mess.

- But that's how it should be.

- It should be.

- Because you're right-brained, and you can just pick it up and do it.

- Exactly, I'm not gonna put things away as I'm doing, so.

- No, because it'll take too much time to try to find it.

- Exactly, yeah.

- I got it, I got it.

So, what is the prize, back to the painters- - So, the Johnny Depp Presents the People's Artist.

The prize, and only one artist will be chosen, there's no second or third place.

25,000, a two page spread in the Art Forum magazine, and being showcased, your pieces being showcased in the Art of Elysium.

That's in LA, and it's the art salon there.

And it's a non-profit.

And so this is also a fundraiser.

So it's like, yeah, the artist gets, you know, life-changing prizes, yeah.

- Money, right?

- Yeah, but to be in the Art of Elysium is- - Right.

Well, that leads to much greater things.

- Yes, yes.

But it's also the fundraiser.

And so we are all raising awareness and raising funds at the same time, so.

- Well, like you said, there's one free vote, and then you can make donations as you go.

So that's where they're raising the funds.

- Yeah, exactly.

Yep.

- Now, did you ever find out how Johnny Depp got involved in this?

I mean, he's the pirate of the Caribbean.

- I know, he is.

- He's Jack Black, come on.

- He's Jack Black.

Exactly.

No, not really, just that he's into art and he is all about... And his art's beautiful.

- Is it?

- I didn't realize, yeah.

- Yeah, I had no idea.

- He really is good.

- Huh.

- Yeah.

But just that he supports the arts and, you know, there's not enough, I don't feel, out there.

You know, a lot of us feel that way.

Especially in schools and stuff, but I won't get into that, you know?

But it's sports, sports, sports, and you don't hear much about, you know?

- About the arts.

- Yeah.

- Well, for a long time, arts were taken out of the schools just because it was another teacher, another classroom, you know, another expense.

- That's sad, that's sad.

That's like cutting off my leg, you know?

- I bet.

- I mean, it's, yeah.

- But you made, talking about cut, you made the cut before that because it was happening in schools after you had already graduated, probably.

- Yes, exactly, exactly.

But, I mean, if it was me, you know, it's like those kids that that's their life, that's their passion, that's who they are.

- Right, right.

- That's tough.

- Well, same with shop and that kind of thing in the schools.

I think people are starting to realize we need to bring those things back.

- We do.

I mean, there's a lot to be said for learning skills, you know?

- Exactly.

- I mean, and it carries over in different aspects and parts of your life.

- They sure do.

I wish I would've learned how to change oil and a tire when I was growing up.

So, what do you hope to do from here?

Let's say you win.

- Okay.

- And then what do you hope to do?

You get to go to LA and get to go to the museum.

- Yes, yes, yeah.

- And meet people.

- Yes.

I think it'd be cool if I got to meet Johnny Depp.

I mean, I don't know if he'd be there.

I doubt it, but that would be neat.

- You just never know.

- Gosh, you know, I haven't thought about that, honestly.

I don't know.

I mean, I know what I'd do with the money.

You know, that would go fast.

- What would you do?

- I mean, 25's a lot, but it's not a lot, you know?

But I would help kiddos, you know?

- Develop their skills.

- Exactly.

I would donate 1,000 to some art related foundation in Galesburg, preferably, yeah.

So, something along those lines, but- - Well, that's your roots.

That's where you found out that you could really do this.

- Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And I love Galesburg.

It's like, I don't know, my heart's there.

I love it.

It resonates, yeah, with me.

- 'Cause you've been there for so long.

- Yeah, yeah.

It's just, it's a neat little, it's a perfect blending of a bigger city feel, but, you know, smaller, you know, all the same time.

- It's a city with small town flavor.

- Yeah, exactly.

- There you go.

Well, I would like to thank you very much for being here.

- Thank you for having me.

- For finding me, letting me know about... What a great honor.

- Yes, it is.

- Yeah.

And no matter what, whether you win or not, you're on the map.

- Exactly, I could say I did it, I was in it.

- Exactly.

- Down to, I was top 15 and top 10.

Well, I'm sorry, top 20, top 15, top 10.

- Top 10.

- Hopefully top five, but I'm at number eight, so I don't know.

- Okay, well- - Get those votes in.

- (laughs) Okay.

Thanks so much for being here, and thank you to your husband for bringing you here this morning.

Got here safely, construction and all.

And thank you for joining us.

Don't forget to look her up on Facebook.

It's Nikki, N-I-K-K-I, dash Gillespie?

No, no, Nikki Gillespie-Strahan, as in Michael Strahan.

- Exactly.

- No relation.

- No relation.

Nothing, no.

- And see what you can find out about her art, and visit Galesburg to check her out.

All right.

And thank you for joining us.

Hope you enjoyed meeting her.

Until next time, be well.

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