Art, music merge for ambient collaboration
Watching Caitlin Lindsay paint is an ethereal experience.
Her brush moves along the canvas as her partner, Leigh Rose, strums his guitar. Together the two have coined the name Vela Nora, a project that stems from both their love of each other and love of arts.
“We’ve been together for five years. Vela Nora is how we communicate, express ourselves and solve problems together,” Lindsay, 24, said. “We put our hearts into what we do, and you can definitely see that in our work. No matter what’s going on, we can always sit down and write a few words or brainstorm together. We’re blessed to have that kind of bond.”
Lindsay is a graduate of C.E. Byrd High School and Centenary College of Louisiana. When she’s not producing art, she is an administrative assistant for a security system company. She is also working on becoming certified to teach art in Louisiana.
Lindsay and Vela Nora are working on their EP, with no mention yet of a release date. Lindsay said she knows she’s passionate about what’s she’s doing, she just wants more people to know.
“My heart is fueled by art. Art is about inspiration. I’ve been so inspired by my teachers, family and fellow artists as I’ve grown into the artist I am now,” she said. “All I want to do is spread that inspiration.”
The Forum sat down with Lindsay to discuss Vela Nora and her art.
Q: What is Vela Nora and what does it mean?
Lindsay: We wanted to depict the infinite possibilities that creativity can have. Vela Nora is a name that Leigh has saved for something special for a while. When we first started this project, we had a hard time naming it. Just like naming a work of art or a song – it’s hard to capture the meaning of something that’s so close to you. Vela Nora is a name that can be interpreted in so many ways. It represents the endless journey that we are on. It represents the power of creativity, and the strength of our collaboration. While it means so many things to us, we want our audience to hear us, watch us and create their own meaning as well.
Q: How did you decide to collaborate on this project?
Lindsay: To put it in short terms, we love what we do. Art and music have always been our passion. Collaborating helped us grow closer. One day we just thought, ‘Hey, why not show this to other people’ – so that’s what we did. We had out first show at the Naked Bean. The incredible support that we received from our friends, family and the Bean was enough to show us that Vela Nora could be bigger than we imagined.
Q: Now let’s get personal. How did you two meet?
Lindsay: I believe it was in 2006, back when 516 Soundstage was the place to be on Friday and Saturday nights. Leigh was in a band called Where Moon is. I was a big fan. I still have the T-shirts and CDs. That sort of started our journey with music in Shreveport. I’ve always been a big supporter of local music, and Soundstage helped us all stay connected for awhile. I ran into Leigh years later at Soundstage, right before they stopped having shows there. We were kind of inseparable after that.
Q: You’re the painter and Leigh is the musician. How did you get introduced to the arts?
Lindsay: I was the little kid that carried coloring books and crayons in her backpack — even in high school. Art has always been ‘the way’ for me. I’ve had a lot of amazing teachers to guide me and inspire me. I fell in love with painting while at Byrd, and I began to find myself in my art during my time at Centenary. I mainly work with acrylic paint on canvas during Vela Nora shows. However, I love experimenting with different materials. I’ve recently gotten into oil pastels. I’m also a big fan of crayons (of course). You can find my work on the Vela Nora website (www.velanora.com).
Q: And Leigh? How did he get into playing music?
Lindsay: Leigh has always loved music. He took piano lessons as a kid and gradually fell more in love with music as he grew up. He was always inspired by his friends wanting to start bands. He played bass for awhile, but his real passion started when his dad bought him his first guitar.
Q: Are you musically inclined?
Lindsay: I leave all the music ability to Leigh. He’s a natural. I took lessons with Jerry Beach in high school, but I was more coordinated with a paintbrush in my hand. We collaborate in writing lyrics to our songs, but the rhythm is all Leigh.
– Derick Jones
