An Interview with Michael F. DuBois (Creativity Over Coffee)
I’m excited that after a year and a half long hiatus we’re brining the Creativity Over Coffee series back! I missed it and so did you!
Creativity Over Coffee
I couldn’t think of a better and more inspiring person to help me kick off a new year of Creativity Over Coffee than my friend Michael, founder of Dream of the Woods. His work inspires me on a daily basis. We have never met in person but often chat back and forth on Instagram and have done for years. If you don’t already know his work, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to him! Be sure to read until the end of the post for a special gift from Michael!
An Interview with Michael F. DuBois
So grab your coffee, tea, or beverage of your choice and join us!
I’m so excited to bring Creativity Over Coffee back and to have it begin again with you! Thank you so much for deciding to join me for coffee and chat about your creative process. When I had just graduated from film school in London and couldn’t find work, I found inspiration through the many biographies I read from the library. I used to go there each week and take out more.
Many people believe they are not creative. I hear this all the time. It is my hope with these conversations with my talented friends that I hope to inspire my readers to believe that they truly are creative. That creativity is just sitting inside of them waiting to bubble over.
Michael– Thanks so much for having me! During this conversation I’m drinking Snowy Owl Coffee, ground and brewed at home, with just a little bit of cream.
Hi Michael, your work truly inspires me and I’m so excited to share your story with my readers. Can you tell my readers a little more about Dream of the Woods and how you started it?
Michael– Well that is a huge honor — to have inspired YOU, one of the most creative people I know. Dream of the Woods is a company that I run with my wife and best friend Larissa, and it’s a platform through which I share all of my work. To date we have published a coffee table book for ocean lovers, produced a feature length documentary on grief, and have sold thousands of my art prints and home decor items both online and wholesale to independent shops around the country. We’re a small company with big goals, and we’re determined to add some hope and human connection to the world.
In one form or another Dream of the Woods has been around for quite some time. I “started” the company when I was in high school. I was obsessed with filmmaking and planning on a future in the movie industry, and I wanted to write and direct films with purpose and meaning. I went on to study film at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and interned under the former president of Paramount and Disney. In 2010, just at the end of college, my mom died of a decades-long battle with cancer, and I lost my footing in the world while surrounded by grief. After moving around a bit and struggling with my creative voice I moved to a small apartment on Cape Cod where I found the space to fall apart and begin to heal. I met my wife on Cape Cod, and between falling in love with her and daily visits to the ocean I found my way back to my art. Larissa and I picked Dream of the Woods back up together and it’s been a defining piece of our lives since.
Aw, I loved hearing more of the origin story! So wonderful! Michael, Be The Ocean, is my favorite poem! It’s so beautiful. I cry (happy tears) every time I read it. I know you wrote it all in one sitting. Can you tell us more about writing the poem?
Michael– Again, honored! Thank you!
Be The Ocean was written when I was still deep in the grief of losing my mom and searching for any bit of creative motivation. I can’t explain the experience other than to say I had been asking the universe for some sort of sign that I hadn’t lost my voice forever. The words “Be The Ocean” came into my mind one night, and after sitting down and writing them out, the rest of the poem just followed over the course of a few hours. It is the least-edited piece I’ve ever written — I only changed a single word. It would be less than a year later that I would move to Cape Cod, now my home, and my life would change forever.
The pandemic was really hard for all of us. If you’re comfortable can you talk a little about this and how it affected your work and viewpoint?
Michael– The death of my mom was how I misplaced my creative voice for a while, but the pandemic was how I lost my love for the world. My work, for as long as I can remember, has been about the good of humanity and trying to find connection with others. And the pandemic just kind of broke me. Remember when the world basically shut down and we responded to fear by championing teachers, doctors and nurses, and frontline workers? When we talked about caring for each other as a major part of the solution? That was the world I’ve always known, that was the core of the human race that I always believed was there. But then awfulness just crept in. The pandemic itself was already tragic and painful, but watching the way people began to treat each other just broke my heart. I firmly believe we’re all still grieving from that.
My job now as an artist is to find ways to fall back in love with the world, and luckily I’ve stumbled across the greatest teacher — my one-year-old. August, my son, is meeting everything for the first time and he is in awe of the beauty and magic that surrounds us. He seems to just notice it naturally. This has become an unexpected opportunity for me to learn how to love the world again and to face things like anger and grief and bitterness that have veiled themselves over my view of the world. It has become so clear to me this past year that if I brought my son here, and he’s going to inherit this world, then he deserves a world I’ve given my whole heart to. That has become the new motivation behind my work.
When do you feel most creative or happy?
Michael– I feel most creative in nature — or more specifically, when I’m able to slow down the chatter and busyness in my brain and feel like I’m a part of nature. That’s where the magic is. I swear the world is just waiting to hand you beautiful things to write and make art about, you just have to be able to listen.
Who or what inspires you?
Michael– People who face their demons, people who work to heal their mental and emotional health, people who learn forgiveness, who try, who put effort into personal growth.
Michael– How has becoming a father changed and inspired your work?
Becoming August’s father has done two things to my work — it has given my work new meaning, and it has given me better perspective and drive.
I knew a big part of my job as a parent would be helping my son learn every day, but I never could have imagined how much he’d be teaching me as well. It seems to be a nearly equal exchange these days. The way he sees the world, the way he’s able to become completely consumed by the tiniest detail, the way he so unabashedly makes mistakes and uses them to move forward — all of these things have given my work new meaning and inspiration.
Secondly, being a father has given me a much clearer look at my mortality. I’m still young, I know that — but never has the fragility and preciousness of life been stated so boldly to me. I have so many things I want to share with my son, and so many pieces of my heart that I want to give to the world. There’s an energy and an urgency that exists now, in the most positive way.
You published Be The Ocean as a coffee table book and it’s gorgeous. Can you tell us more about this process?
Michael– Thank you! A coffee table book is something Larissa and I had talked about forever. Since the beginning of our relationship we’ve brought our cameras along with us on adventures, so when we decided to move ahead with the book there were plenty of images to choose from. We wanted to self publish because we both want to write and release some non-fiction someday and figured this would be a great chance to see how we felt about the process. The Be The Ocean book contains edge to edge photographs on each page, with the poem broken up into pieces and painted over the images. I wanted to find the perfect balance between feeling handmade and looking professional, and I think we definitely hit that. To achieve the look Larissa hand wrote the poem multiple times, then I chose what I liked best and used a light pad to trace and paint each word. I then made high resolution scans of everything and built each page by layering the paintings over the photographs, and then layering other design elements on top of that. The final product feels like salty, sunny, handcrafted art wrapped up in a professionally published case.
What’s your favorite colors?
Michael– I am really influenced by the seasons, and find myself falling into their colors and moods. Overall my favorite color is blue — just about any blue — but I easily find myself stuck on the green of a summer sun through leaves or the pale pinks of a winter sky.
Do you have any funny stories from any shoots or video / film projects?
Michael– I do! And one of my favorites involves Marcia Brady from The Brady Bunch. During a college internship I was filming an event with some notable people from movies and TV. The former child star Maureen McCormick was apparently being introduced to people as “Marcia Brady” all night, which I don’t think she was all too happy about. I don’t blame her. Anyway, we were the last ones to say hello, and by that time I think she was just exhausted. Things were really awkward and she didn’t seem to be in the mood to shake hands anymore…so for some reason I figured “I guess that means she wants a hug.” She absolutely did not want a hug, and instead what she got was a stranger holding on to her while she had her arms trapped down by her side like I was her biggest fan. And yet, all these years later, I’m still assuming people just want hugs.
Ha! Ha! I love that story! My readers love learning more about art supplies and products artists like. Do you have some favorite materials you use in your work?
Michael– My absolute favorite tool is my light pad. It reminds me of those big chunky light boxes I used in elementary school to trace things in art class, but with LED lights and a slim, light body. I use it for a whole bunch of things. Not only is it helpful for actual tracing when that’s needed, but it also allows me to practice new types of handwriting and calligraphy.
I love your poem Because I am a Mermaid. I know it was inspired by your mother. Can you talk more about this and about your mom?
Michael– Of course — any chance to talk about my mom. She was the best, just the absolute best. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was pregnant with me, and initially given a few years to live. She ended up going into remission for a bit, and then battling it again, along with brain cancer, when I was about fifteen. She passed away just a month after my twenty-first birthday. She was a mermaid — truly beautiful, with curly hair. She was strong enough to survive in dark, lonely depths, and wise enough to soak up every bit of sunlight she got. I learned so much from her, talking about things like mortality and gratitude and why it’s important to love and care for yourself.
Writing Because I Am A Mermaid was my way of getting to spend time with her again. The poem is a conversation between two people, and is meant to resemble me, at different ages, talking to my mother about life’s difficult questions. What I love, though, is that the mother/son aspect of the poem only exists because that’s my perspective. The piece so easily fits into friendships, marriages — really any type of relationship. It serves its original purpose by letting me talk with my mom again, and it also gives the reader the opportunity to process mortality and fullness in a way that’s relevant to them.
Loved learning more about your mom. What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps or who would like to live a more creative life?
Michael– Make bad art. Make bad work. Waiting for the exact right moment, or feeling, or for a perfectly formed thought is one of the quickest ways to find yourself in a creative block. I should know, I’m constantly struggling with this exact thing. Make bad work, because what follows is usually better work, and then better after that. It can feel really uncomfortable and discouraging to make things you’re not happy with — but I like to remind myself that making this work also means I’m getting it out of me. And what a relief that is, because then it’s no longer weighing me down!
Growing up I was a huge follower of INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO. At the end of the program, they would ask the interviewee these questions:
- What is your favorite word?
“And.” I have had to work for years on not overusing it and just creating run on after run on after run on. Also related, I love the Oxford comma.
- What is your least favorite word?
“Crevice.” Well, that’s my least favorite word based on the feeling it gives me. My least favorite word based on its meaning is “should.”
- What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Being in nature, feeling my purpose, being impressed or inspired by others.
- What turns you off?
Lack of compassion or self awareness.
- What is your favorite curse word?
Fuck. It’s just so classic and can be adapted to fit so many situations. “Fuck!” “Fuck.” “Fuhhck.” “Well, fuck.” “Fuck, that’s beautiful.” “Fuck (said quietly under your breath with a smile and a slow head shake).”
- What sound or noise do you love?
The ocean, and a good, loud gust of wind.
- What sound or noise do you hate?
Those TVs that are now on every gas pump screaming ads at you. Noise pollution is real, and we are getting fewer and fewer quiet moments to sit with our thoughts.
- What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
There’s a small island off of Scotland called North Ronaldsay that’s famous for its sheep that live entirely off of seaweed. There’s a stone wall that surrounds the island and it’s someone’s job to walk the shoreline everyday and fix any holes in the wall. I would love that.
- What profession would you not like to do?
Teaching. I have deep, deep respect and admiration for educators. It is one of the hardest jobs, undoubtedly the most important, and with highly disproportional recognition. Educators are superheroes. I paint one piece at a time, they paint by the dozens or even hundreds and shape the world for generations. I can humbly say that I’m not built for that job.
- If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“You helped.”
A huge thank you to Michael for sharing so much of himself and his work today. His writing and art are so beautiful and so inspiring.
Michael has gifted Finding Silver Pennies’ readers with 10% off his online shop with the code findingsilverpennies now through Sunday 3/12.
Be sure to follow along with Michael:
If you’d like more Creativity Over Coffee you can read the full series here.
* Photos courtesy of Michael F. DuBois
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