Written by Cait Deane
Pineal Paradise is an artist-owned company that produces high quality, visually stimulating clothing. Created with intention to contribute to raising awareness through their positive artful apparel, it is their hope that the designs aid in elevating our collective consciousness through the spreading of the ideas represented on their attire. I had the fantastic opportunity to interview Cherish Danford, Pineal’s forerunner, to get a more intimate view into their process and their objectives.
What was your inspiration to start this company?
Pineal Paradise started as a moniker for me, (Cherish Danford) given to me by my partner and muse, Drew Miniear, while he signed me up for an online store as a surprise for me one day in early 2010. From there it grew and evolved into an apparel company to get my works off the walls and out into the streets for more to enjoy. Now I am even designing some of the apparel items as well!
When did you decide you would like to include other artist’s works on your products?
As the company grew I was unable to keep up with the demand for more designs as spending life on the road vending the festival scene for 7 months out of the year and managing the business end of things became very draining. So we developed our Artist Series line after speaking with a few of our artist friends to see if they wanted to collaborate with me or wanted help releasing their Art in new forms! For the majority of the Artist Series line I like to intentionally choose lesser-known artists to help them gain more exposure, however I would love to work with a few of my predecessors & inspirations in the future as well.
Do you think artful clothing has an effect on collective consciousness/ how do your creations positively influence the scene?
Yes, of course! It is our intent to provide the community with mind-stimulating art in the form of the best quality Dye Sublimation apparel products at the fairest prices so that the works can be seen and hopefully more awareness of these ideas spread.
To quote my mission statement from the website:
“Our purpose and dreams are to help contribute to raising awareness through art and positive energy. To share and spread knowledge, love, and light. What we hope is to contribute to these ideas and representations of what we and many other cultures throughout time believe to be divine, thought provoking, and sacred. Thus these ideas should be shared and spread to help elevate a collective consciousness. We look to the past wisdom of ancient cultures for they understood more so about things we are only beginning to realize today, we long for the days when humankind and nature work in harmony and hold out hope that with spreading awareness that we can set forth manifesting these dreams into reality. We hope to spread these ideas in good light, to share and teach, to be shown and taught as well. We set forth on this journey with pure hearts and open minds, grateful for what we have in each other and in all of us, for we are one. We are all reflections of one another; we are like that of drops in a sea; rippling throughout eternity.”
Where do you find your best sources of inspiration?
That’s a loaded question… I was trained in fine arts so I have had the opportunity to be exposed to many different styles, cultures, techniques, etc. I am most inspired by Nature & the Geometric patterns that are ingrained within the infrastructure of that Nature; Terrestrial and Extra Terrestrial, Ancient Cultures, Surrealism, Geometry, Symbolism to strengthen the ideas expressed, and personal pleasures or hardship experiences.
What kind of products do you sell?
I sell my art on apparel, mostly athletic wear. (since the festival scene is one with lots of movement) It started as typical t-shirts but I wanted more than that. The technology at the time (2011) was so new that I could only produce what the factories already manufactured as far as sewing patterns were concerned. After several years, I was finally able to find a factory that produced high quality items and was willing to take on my clothing designs for production as well!
What items do you find to be your best-selling products and why?
Well, art-wise unfortunately, the simpler works sell the best. I believe the simpler designs draw more attention because there is strong geometric lines. Typically the darker colored or more ‘toned down’ works sell the best. My personal color palette is darker, rich colors like deep purples & teals, but when I create, I feel as if I am merely a vehicle in which the message translates. And if you’re familiar with the realm of the ineffable mysteries, you know it’s a vibrating vibrancy that just refuses to be toned down. I tend to get carried away with the fine details of my works and simple becomes challenging for me to achieve. The initial stages are always the most difficult. I begin with a very loose concept and start the build-up of the work with a few key images. From there the artwork reveals itself to me and the message becomes clear. As mentioned earlier there is a lot of symbolism in my works and in some of the more elaborate pieces there is even a narrative.
How do you decide to pick or make a new product?
There are a few factors that play into this. These would be: customer feedback of course, as the market floods with similar products we like to raise the bar for ourselves and come out with more high-quality original art & apparel for our beloved supporters, and ever since I’ve been able to submit patterns to the manufacturer I’ve been able to produce more fashion forward designs. Nothing extremely fashionable by any means, but more than the standard t-shirt & basketball shorts. Essentially I find items of clothing that I or Drew would like to wear or are inspired by and try to develop them to fit our line.
Where online can we view or purchase your work?
My website is www.PinealParadise.com but I also have the usual social media sites as well, such as Facebook, Instagram (Pineal_Paradise), Tumblr, twitter, and Pinterest.
This last link is for my newsletter I send out when we put new items online & there’s usually discount codes or sales offered only to our readers.
