Meet Tim McMullen | Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tim McMullen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tim, why did you pursue a creative career?
Pursuing art never felt like a choice but more of a calling. I have tried to work across other industries and hold positions that haven’t related directly to being creative, the results have been clear. If I’m not functioning in a creative capacity, then I’m gonna end up miserable. My current project is concerned less with making a product or art object, and more concerned with creating connected experiences through play and experimentation.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I spent most of my life pursuing what it meant to make a compelling abstract painting. Woven between this activity was lot’s of experimenting with sculpture, performance, and sometimes animation. In recent years I have had a major shift away from wanting to make objects, artworks and things. Those modes of expression are all wonderful and provide a certain kind of experience, one that unfortunately very few can afford. After a while I felt like participating in the gallery system seemed like I was just making luxury items. I now make experiences that can be shared with and experience by anyone. Blue Dot Studio is a mobile creativity studio that I set up at local coffee shops and the farmers market. It is a project that is concerned with play through experimentation, creativity and a dash of abstract painting. I have building games and also contemplative card and object games.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Trails Cafe for pastries and coffee followed up by a hike up to the observatory. Only I would veer them off the main path in order to take the sneaky side trail that is twice as hard.

Little Dom’s because the food’s good and the restaurant’s design is perfect.

Museum of Jurassic Technology because it’s a hidden gem and also the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.

Two Kids Coffee in South Pasadena followed by a visit to the original Pewee Herman house down the street.

Corn snake diy skatepark down by the river

We would go throw eggs at The Broad

Catch a live show at Zebulon

And last but not least, let’s drive down to San Pedro and go over the Saint Vincent Thomas Bridge.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to recognize Humnkind Collective and specifically the founders Lela Roy and Dani Beutell, I think that the work they are doing in de-stigmatizing loneliness and mental health through social groups in Los Angeles is vital and dynamic. They consistently create safe and inviting spaces with a focus on authentic interaction across all their events and programs. It is timely and very needed in this post-ish pandemic moment when a lot of us are finally able to examine the fractures that the lockdown experienced created in our social lives.

Instagram: Blue_dot_studio

Image Credits
Tim McMullen