Visual Arts and Handcrafted Products

Professional, tenacious and dignified. I met Devin LeBlanc at this years Arts Center of the Capital Region annual gala. There was an earnest nature, insistent. Brimming with focus and determination. I had seen a few flyers for Collar City Coterie sketch events before, they stuck in my mind. Creative, quirky even. After a few misses we were finally able to connect. What I thought would be a standard interview about a project became a much deeper and more meaningful review of a subtle and sensitive approach to a craft. A passion for meaning through creativity and the beautiful bonds created by creators in community. I decided to leave this one less edited than normal, it is a touching journey that remembers the excitement of why we do what we do and pays respect to those that came before us, adding to a forward path laid. As such…this is our first long read format story.

Can you state your name, company and title. Please feel free to give us some experiential background including educational, career experience and personal.

My name is Devin LeBlanc and I go by the pen name D. M. LeBlanc in my artist and writing circles. My current project is Collar City Coterie, with myself having the title of Creative Director and Founder.

I found the first threads of that at the Fine Arts program at Hudson Valley Community College, through a curriculum designed and implemented by the professors Thomas Lail and Tara Fracalossi. It was there that I received a solid foundation in the fundamentals of drawing and painting, along with art history, gallery management and–most importantly–abstract and experimental thinking, which gave me the tools in which to create works on a highly nuanced and conceptual level. It was, however, during these early college years that I experienced a few hardships.

The year was 2012, and at the time I didn’t believe the Capital Region of New York had what I needed in regard to an education in illustration. With a long-term partner, I packed everything we owned into an old Subaru Outback–including the cat; Chase–and left the area for Sarasota, Florida. I had been accepted on scholarship to Ringling College of Art & Design, a well-regarded competitor on the international stage when it came to design and the visual arts. To someone like myself–aspiring, but with little means–Ringling was like entering into a magic, fairytale land, where all of my peers were just as inspired, enthused and dedicated to the craft as I was. Studying under the guidance of Hodges Soileau, Mike Hodges, Thomas Casmer, Caleb Prochnow and Don Brandes, I developed a strong appreciation for the figurative arts, book illustration, concept art, the history of illustration and traditional approaches to physical media.

Ringling invites many large names and studios in the commercial field to their campus and I was fortunate to have my portfolio reviewed by Geogina Melone, a VP from Hasbro Toys, who hired me as an intern for the Girl’s Design Team.

In my senior year of Ringling, however, I experienced something which presented as a health complication and it had me reconsidering the direction of my life. Instead of pursuing the commercial field, I decided to enroll in a master’s degree program for Arts Education at the Rochester Institute of Technology. It was a very fast-paced program, and I developed a foundational skill-set in childhood development, teaching, curriculum design and classroom management. To my surprise and before graduation, Hasbro reached out again and hired me onto their newly formed Future of Play team. I was given new responsibilities in relation to research and development, art directing, developing brand blueprints, networking with ‘external’ as well as ‘internal’ creatives, encouraging cross-department collaboration and pitching more blue sky concepts, but this time to senior level management. The position I held was exactly what I had run myself ragged for and set out to obtain, and could have been considered a once-in-a-lifetime dream job to many creatives.

My health, however, hadn’t kept up with my aspirations and after a series of hospitalizations in the following years, I voluntarily resigned from that fast-paced and competitive position to refine my personal values, focus on my health and stabilize. I returned to the Capital Region of New York, where I experienced the loss of my dynamic illustration community and series of personal setbacks, while also educating myself in topics related to psychology, sociology, spirituality, metaphysics, world history and personal ethics, under the guidance of several health providers, my own curiosity and the development of a long book series. I had considered myself a futurist while working at Hasbro, but in this period of retreat and self-reflection, I began to realize that it takes a much deeper knowledge of the patterns, structures, visions and machinations of human history to inform what may lay for us ahead.

It was through my research and the cathartic writing of this book series–which is still very much in the preliminary draft phases–that I discovered a dormant part of my creative voice which had been nudged aside during college and my time working for a large company. I found something of myself that I had neglected in order to climb the ladder of something I saw as success, but were instead the toeholds of someone else’s hierarchical and capitalistic system, in disguise. In brief, I had found it to be a model of life which doesn’t support the claim of liberation and equality. During this time, I went through a process that many deem as a ‘transition’, but was for me a returning to the self; my innate and true self. I changed my name, presented myself very differently and learned a few more things about the way in which external perceptions shape the world around us, particularly when those perceptions only reach as far as the façade.

Emerging from the lockdowns, however, I still had the sense that something was missing from the Capital Region in regard to illustration, particularly as it pertains to traditional approaches and the exercising of the imagination–fanciful exploration, one could say–, and so, I began to lay the foundation to the Collar City Coterie; not only for my own creative interests, but for those in this area who may be like me. Something I often tell my creative peers is that while the education I received was incredibly valuable, it shouldn’t have cost as much as it did—monetarily and to the detriment of health. It is my aim to found something in the Capital Region which will serve the needs of those creatives looking to pursue careers on a professional level, but without the pressures and narrow margins of today’s commercial market or with the objective of making a profit off of its members and students.

As a part of my health journey, I also joined a small figure drawing group called the Riverfront Artists, operating primarily under the wing of a local artist named Norman Strite. Although Norman never pursued his work from the commercial side, he was an illustrator at heart and we shared much of our interests and inspirations in common. I found a new community there and worked on refining my visual voice, preparing it for a new portfolio of work. When Covid hit in 2020, I joined the online community at Visual Arts Passage, an unaccredited school for illustration and fine arts under the guidance of John English and Timothy Trabon, drawing with them in weekly zoom sessions and participating in one of their mentorship courses. I learned a lot about the fostering of healthy creative communities and the preservation of artistic legacy during that period of global uncertainty and isolation.

Norman fell ill in 2022 and I spent some time with him while in hospice before he passed away at the grand, old age of 88. It was a very different experience to slowly lose an older friend and it was during that stay that I truly realized the value of a strong creative community, not only for those starting out in their careers and are seeking mentorship, but also for those who are facing the ends of their journeys and would like their works to be preserved before they depart.

Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration and mission of COLLAR CITY COTERIE? How long have you been official?

While the inspiration for founding the Collar City Coterie stemmed initially from a personal need for creative community, I drew upon many models and sources from history for its formation. Because I live and plan on staying in Troy for some time, I naturally began to look into its history and found overlaps in my own areas of creative and intellectual interest.

As many know, Troy is called the Collar City due to its significance in the invention and manufacturing of detachable collars during the turn of the last century and it was an illustrator named J. C. Leyendecker, referencing his partner Charles Beach as a model, who was the powerhouse behind the major ad campaign called The Arrow Collar Man. These ads, along with much of J. C.’s work was featured in the Saturday Evening Post and he helped to put Troy on the national map during the 1910s-1930s. There is a line in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in which Daisy says to Gatsby, ”You always look so cool…. You resemble the advertisement of the man.” This is in reference to those famous ads, and while The Arrow Collar Man featured the ideal of a closeted gay illustrator, he was considered a major sex symbol of the era.

J. C. Leyendecker’s illustrations, along with his brother F. X., have had a significant impact on my own work not only in regard to style, but also in regard to process. Although he was producing at a time in which photography was becoming more accessible, J. C. worked off of live, costumed models in his studio, in the tradition that he was taught at the Académie Julian in Paris. This approach was also passed down to Norman Rockwell, whom Leyendecker mentored and helped to reach The Saturday Evening Post fame.

It is because I contemplated these linear footsteps of creative legacy that I began to think of forming the basis to a social club, with the toes of its branding steeped firmly in the waters of the area’s local history. But my inspiration doesn’t stop short with iconic Americana. Looking back further and into those artists who inspired the Leyendeckers is the Art Nouveau and Belle Époque movements of Montmartre, Paris. I think of Toulouse Lautrec, Sargent, Mucha, The Moulin Rogue, Le Chat Noir, and many, whimsical more, and I often wondered how it was that they convened in the same city that they did, partook in the same entertainment and helped to develop its rich culture, and particularly, its night life.

Collar City Coterie’s Mission Statement: Collar City Coterie is a peer-supported artist fellowship, reminiscent of guilds, social clubs, and artist salons of times past, operating out of Troy, NY. Despite being modeled after exclusive society clubs, the CCC is made to be an inclusive and affirmative space and we welcome creatives of all skill levels, backgrounds, and monetary needs through our doors.

In a world of AI generated art, why do you feel these types of events / approaches are relevant and important?

AI art didn’t really hit my radar until after I had left Hasbro and entered into a personal period of what I would call ‘low tech’. It had been exhausting chasing the most innovative and cutting edge technologies and trends for a large commercial company, trying to find ways to implement them seamlessly into product lines and after many years of staring at screens and making digital art, I began to experiencing excruciating pain and issues with my neck, shoulders and drawing arm. Because of these complications, I made a hard shift away from computer-based creation and returned to traditional media for my work. When I began to see what was coming out of AI software such as Midjourney, I was curious, but also disappointed. I had the inkling when I was at Ringling that the production of digital art was carving some sort of trench between the artist and the end product, as it didn’t leave a tangible, physical artifact behind, and while I firmly believe it is still a craft to create digital work, for someone like myself, there was something lost in the value. I felt that artists who were still able to work traditionally would have an advantage over those who could not, primarily due to longevity.

AI art can hardly be considered a form of digital art as there is very little human input and expression, which I see as some of the purpose of art, but at the end of the day, there was someone who designed and programmed the software, and in a way, one could argue that there is something of humanity behind the product. As someone with a background in concept art, where you often employ the abstraction of form, color and composition to envision new characters, creatures and worlds, I can see AI’s use as tool in the brainstorming and ideation stages, where an artist may be able to use the generated images as a source of initial reference to then extrapolate and build upon.

But back to the loss of tangibility… I feel that the costumed figurative sessions at the Collar City Coterie and the traditional approaches I encourage fill an important niche in our society. In some ways, I feel that I take a few steps backwards in time, calling upon the methodologies, processes and language styles of eras bygone, but I do this retracing of the steps with purposeful intention. To me, there is something magical about the idea of creatives convening together under the same roof, occupying the same halls, observing one another in person and sharing stories without the distractions caused by sensory and information overloads.There is a certain kind of discipline and a depth which I believe can only come from deeper concentration and meditation. Many of us know this as creative flow and it seems to me that there has been something of that skill lost when our minds and attention spans have been trained for quick rewards, obsessive consumption and easy entertainment. And I do not take this stance lightly, as it stems from the perspective of someone who participated for some time in the creation of products which were designed to do just that.

I do not believe that physical labor and exertion brings more value to the art, but I know for myself, I have found something spiritual in the processes and nuances of working with the material. Like a theatrical production, the Collar City Coterie’s sets require a sense of spacial awareness and design, and an idea of the way in which lighting and sound radically changes the atmosphere of a scene. We tell little stories on our stage, often featuring antique pieces from history, props that have sentimental value and costumes designed by the models themselves. There are multiple layers of collaboration between myself as the director, my peers who partake in the set design, the models who propose the costumes and characters, and the artists who attend. Not unlike a commercial studio which produces animation, video games or toys, many voices convene around a shared vision, but what is unique about the Collar City Coterie is that the end product, or rather, the artwork which is produced, is incredibly unique to each attending member. Individual voices do not get lost in this process. Instead they get promoted, as everyone has their own interpretation on the presented scene. Our conversations during these sessions also have subtle effects upon the work, as the atmosphere of a room will naturally influence the mood of the working artist.

This is an organic and mutable experience and process that I do not believe that AI art will ever be able to achieve and there is a touch of magic lost each time creativity is a little further removed from the human mind and hand. Perhaps it is uncouth of me to say, but I consider AI art to be derivative dribble. It will only ever be able to cannibalize the voice of the individual into a smeared collage, and will not be able to create something wholly unique on its own. Wherever our unique voices originate from–as I do believe in something of spirit and the source(s) of inspiration–the machines that we create here on Earth are only ever going to be a given to us, in the sense that they build upon what has already been established throughout the generations of those who came before us. In a way, the body is an instrument that we each learn how to use and then play and hone, and the artwork and writings that we make from these temporary physical forms are unique to each and everyone of us.

You have a strong commercial business background, how is that helping you to make the endeavor sustainable from a financial perspective?

Despite having worked in the commercial field and having a decent sense of branding and marketing, I have not approached the Collar City Coterie with the intention of it turning a major profit for those who run it. There are good reasons–hinted at above–that I steer clear from the hierarchical models presented to me through corporate creative and for-profit education. They often create environments and cultures of Machiavellian-style competition, which are incredibly damaging and unhealthy not only to those creatives involved, but also to society at large. It is very challenging for someone with little means from the outset to ‘make it’ in the creative industry, regardless of passion and skill, and it is often so that the voices which manage to reach the public via mass and social media are those who came with some sort of societal competitive advantage. For these reasons, the current market doesn’t reflect the lives of those who pay into it, with equal measure and representation. Many stories of lived hardship, trauma and tragedy get lost along the way and in the metaphorical ‘climb’. This disparity and inequality of representation is part of the reason why the Collar City Coterie is looking at establishing itself as a community-based fellowship and nonprofit.

Of course, for our group to establish its own foothold in the greater community and begin the process of proliferation for the careers of those involved, financial minutia will need to be taken into serious consideration, but money is not the starting point or driving force behind this experiment and venture. We are still very much in the blue sky phase of our development, but I believe if the vision is clear enough, and others can see something in it of personal value for themselves–that is, something they can share and step into–then we are carving out a special niche and needed space in which to invest, for the long run.

The vision is being shared–ala the pitch–to creative friends in the local area and with the subsequent interest that has been generated, we are beginning to take the next steps into consultation. Since some of our inspiration stems from unaccredited and atelier school models, along with creative fellowships, and nonprofit and historical societies, we will be contacting those institutions next, to gather advice and get a better sense of operating models. The goal is to turn this fanciful concept into something which can not only be beneficial to the community, but also sustaining, fulfilling and long-lasting.

What are your short / mid / long term goals for CCC?

Our short term goals are to establish the nonprofit, reach out to members in our community and get the ball rolling on ideas related to real-estate and renovation. It is our ideal to move into a townhouse-style building, transforming it into a small, multi-level studio. This may still be a few years out, but is one of the next big steps. In the meantime, we will be developing the portfolios of our members, and refining our offerings, making sure that they will service the needs of those who plan to join our community, and consulting those who have experience with the formation of nonprofits and ventures which operate on a sliding scale.

In the mid-term, we would like to establish the official center and fellowship, helping to expand Troy’s artistic scene and particularly its night life. In addition to this, we would like to offer specialized classes and continue networking and branching out into the fields of illustration and gallery arts. There are conventions such as IX Arts and LightBox Expo which we would like to have yearly attendance, showcasing the talents of our local community and helping to generate more interest in our unique, little city. We would also like to form relationships with galleries and maybe even a few companies, helping local artists to get a foot in the metaphorical door.

In the long-term, I have been eyeing the model of established private social clubs and professional societies, not in terms of exclusivity and competition, but in terms of long-lasting legacy. It is a goal for the Collar City Coterie to become a trusted foundation, in which its Fellows can be assured that their work, life stories and legacies will be preserved for those who will come after us to learn from and enjoy. It would also be a huge personal achievement if our model of establishment changes some of the direction of the cultural needle, in regard to cultivating respect for our contemporaries the arts and away from the aspirations of tycoons.

EXTRA CREDIT: Care to give a shameless plug or share a random tidbit of wisdom or levity?

Since I am also a writer, with several manuscripts in the works, I will share with the readers a short quote from one of the series’ main characters.

“Do not assume what you may only suppose.”

To find out more or to get involved:

WEB: collarcitycoterie.carrd.co | IG: @collarcitycoterie