Today we’d like to introduce you to Dorie Pickle.
Dorie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Yes- I am CreativePickle’s Founding Owner and Creative Director. I started my career in the frenzied dot-com boom in the late nineties in Austin, Texas, as a project manager and graphic designer in one of the first dot-com start-ups. With that experience and a desire for more autonomy, I then started CreativePickle in 2001 and have spent the past many years assembling an experienced and highly effective in-house team as well as a broad network of highly skilled subcontractors with talents to suit all client needs. In 2007, my husband Ben joined as our lead web developer and creative consultant. Under our leadership, CreativePickle has grown to become one of Austin’s best creative agencies and is celebrating 25 years in operation. (And, 25 years of marriage!)
I am also an author and an artist. My book Dawn (DawntheBook.com), which is about my mother’s end of life dreams, thoughts, and visions, is a cathartic expression of grief and exploration of the other side. I am currently working on spreading the word about Dawn through speaking engagements and podcast interviews. I am also an artist focused on the use of media from nature, like bones, skulls, feathers, and wood.
Inspired by nature and the need for creativity, Dorie founded Shapes in the Clouds (ShapesintheClouds.org)– a nonprofit raising money and awareness for Art, Music, & Nature therapy to help with life’s challenges.
I serve on the Austin Community College Graphic Design Advisory Board as well as the Advisory Board of Candlelight Ranch, a nonprofit in Central Texas serving kids and families through Nature therapy. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s Degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT. I live in Manchaca, Texas with my husband and teenage boys.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have been fortunate enough to have had a career in the creative arts. As part of my main full-time job, I love designing logos and creating a brand from the ground up. Creating something from nothing – going from zero to one – that is my passion. It has always been a dream come true to work in a creative field. I always hated the non-creative parts of it – the billing, the administration, the taxes, the forms. But, the creative brainstorm sessions, the laughing about bad or ridiculous ideas together, throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. That’s the fun part. Logo design, graphic design, thinking about how to present information in a way that’s compelling, and, well, “sticky” to the user or the audience. That’s the fun stuff.
But, it’s all on a screen for the most part. Even the things we design for print, we hardly see. It is typically shipped straight to the client or the conference or whatever the end point may be. So, even if it’s a bus wrap, a magazine, or a billboard, we mostly just see it on our computers.
In recent years, I’ve been drawn to things that are more tangible. Things in the real world. As my sister put it once to me “I’m looking for a more tactile experience.” I’m craving analog things – radios, newspapers, printed books. Nature, stars, real in-person conversation.
It feels like to me that in this new world of AI, we almost don’t seem to have an “opt out” – like it feels like it’s being shoved down our throats whether we like it or not.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
About seven years ago, my mother, Carlie, asked me to promise to write a book called Dawn about her end of life dreams, thoughts, and visions.
Her death and writing the book connected me to the real, physical world in so many new and beautiful ways. For one, my grief made me crave being in and close to nature. Watching the birds and squirrels and butterflies and trees seemed to be more important than scrolling a feed or checking my email.
I’ve been so inspired by nature that I love working with it in various ways. I have been working with feathers, bones, skulls, leaves, and other media to create sculptures and various art projects. I’ve been exploring the idea of transformation – big changes from one thing to another. For example, I transformed an 8-point deer skull into an octopus, each antler extending and curling into tentacles. One thing morphing into another; Life beyond death, if you will.
My art and writing Dawn have both taken me on an unexpected journey of discovery and inward exploration of creativity and how it relates to our human experience- especially grief and loss.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
One thing my mom really emphasized at the end of her life was the importance of creativity.
My mom showed us when we were kids how to see shapes in the clouds. You know, like when you lie on the grass and look up at the sky, and imagine objects taking shapes amongst the various cloud formations. Like that one looks like an elephant, or that one looks like a baby lamb.
Years later, while she was having these beautiful visions about our spiritual journey, two days before she died, she brought up shapes in the clouds again to me in the hospital. She emphasized to me how important creativity was. She said that the things she was witnessing while at death’s door – her ability to see this new perspective – was using her brain in the same way as when we see shapes out of the clouds. In other words, she was able to see things from a new vantage point that was using the same brain function that it uses when we are looking up and making shapes out of the clouds – it’s our innate use of our creativity and imagination.
And, it’s not just shapes in the clouds – other things use this kind of imagination work as well- seeing faces or shapes in the grain of a wood panel for example or a bathroom tile or a complicated rug.
My mom shared the shapes in the clouds metaphor with me at the end of her life because she believed that using our imagination and creativity can lead us to a larger understanding of why we’re here- a larger perspective on life.
The way my mom talked about it was like seeing the shape in the clouds – being able to really EMPLOY our creativity and USE our IMAGINATIONS like that – could be some kind of antidote to the despair people feel in the world and to be able to COPE with the massive and ongoing losses that we face.
Creativity is like a muscle- the more you use it, the stronger it gets. The more you do it, the better you get at using it. The left brain / right brain theory is actually a myth. Creativity is actually the interconnectivity of different regions in the brain. When we engage with music, art, when we “see shapes in the clouds” and other creative acts it builds these connections and those creative muscles grow and strengthen. And, creativity is NOT just for fun. These are NOT things just for kids or just for amusement. It’s critical to our survival.
AI is a threat to our creativity. If we outsource our creative thinking to a machine, our muscles will become atrophied. If we become reliant on this easy-to-use exoskeleton, our creative muscles will become weaker and weaker, leaving us not only without the proper creative muscles to thrive and get through tough times, but it could potentially threaten our survival. Creativity isn’t just art or music, but also the ability to come up with innovative solutions to dilemmas. We need this ability to thrive and survive whatever the future throws at us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.creativepickle.com and www.dawnthebook.com, www.shapesintheclouds.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/picklelovesnature, https://www.instagram.com/creativepickleatx, https://www.instagram.com/dawnthebook/, and https://www.instagram.com/shapesinthecloudsproject
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativePickle/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorie-pickle-b89b3a7/
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Fresh-Perspective-Death-Other/dp/B0GVVN65RC/
