CLEVELAND, Ohio - After seven years spent in California, Chad Fedorovich didn't expect to one day be among the first artists working at Lake Affect Studios in downtown Cleveland.

The Cleveland native began his art career painting high-end and custom cars in San Jose. Later, he was part of a vibrant art scene where he co-hosted bi-monthly parties, Community Rebirth, that brought together local graffiti artists, tattoo artists and painters to create new works. There he helped form the San Jose Artisans Guild, a live-work space he shared with 12 other artists.

That all changed when he and his wife drove cross-country for a wedding in Cleveland in 2012.

"I saw so much potential, and the ball was already starting to roll with people my age doing things in the city," he says. "I showed my wife the price of living. I could be an artist and have a studio. Here we are five years later."

He reconnected with longtime friend Dan LaGuardia, who along with his now wife Amanda, were in the early stages of opening Lake Affect. The renovated space at 1615 East 25th St, which was once home to mop factory, is now home to more than a dozen artists, concerts, markets such as Cleveland Bazaar and even the occasional movie shoot.

Soon after opening, Fedorovich helped found a collective of alternative artists, "Lab Cab," with Dakarai Akil, Brent Krumrei, Merrick Presser, Alonzo Wright and Zay Williams. (The name comes from the album "Labcabincalifornia" by hip-hop group The Pharcyde.) Today, shares his studio space with Williams, Alexa Indriolo, Pat Bishop and Frankie Gallo. At the studio, and throughout the city, Fedorovich creates paintings, murals and album covers.

"We inspire each other, we bounce ideas back and forth, we collaborate on projects, we all share techniques with each other," says Fedorovich. "I really like the community and working with other artists. Sometimes we'll just go play on the basketball court or on the ping pong table. We don't take ourselves too seriously. We just want to make art. It's therapeutic."

Fast car

In California, I used to paint custom cars. I started at 18, influenced by the Fast and the Furious car culture. That, and hanging out with a lot of graffiti and visual artists, were how I learned. I took a little bit of everything and implemented it in my own artwork.

On coming home

Coming back to Cleveland, I was inspired by something new. It was just so raw; an untapped city. I felt like I was able to do something. At that time, I was really into Flying Lotus, Madlib and J Dilla. I asked around about whether there was any kind of experimental hip-hop scene here, because that's what really inspired me. It all tied together well, because I liked their music style, and they like my art style and needed album covers.

Cleveland connections

It all changed when I walked into the store Heart & Sole on Coventry Rd. and met Vince "Eso" Manzano and Eric "Ghost" Sarley, who connected me with local artists and musicians. For our first event at Lake Affect, we threw a release party for the new music project of Antoine "Twizz" Franklin. This event was a major turning point in our creative scene. Soon after, Lab Cab started creating album artwork for artists from the label Alloy-X, like Smoke Noises, and artists from the label Long Division Records, like Marcus Alan Ward and Corey Grand. It also led me to do art for DJ EV and Tezo.

Studio space

It was just a fresh start. Having an actual studio forces you to make art. Before, it was just a hobby and I did it for fun. Now I'm doing this full-time. Coming to Cleveland has really developed and inspired me. Since being here, I just attracted a lot of other creative minds.

East vs. west

When I came back, my biggest thing was wanting to bring the east and west together. I feel like we've done a pretty good job with it. A lot of events were at Heart & Sole, B Side or Grog Shop. We started hanging out on the west side and throwing events like [the dance party] Heaven Is in You at Now That's Class.

West Coast

I believe the colors I use in my art come from my time in California. Anyone who goes says "Oh, I see where you get your inspiration from." I just like bright, vibrant and colorful things.

On style

I'm inspired by music, fashion and colors. It made me want to paint and recreate my collages on a larger scale. All of us here incorporate music into art; it's all design. Seeing the recent Hi-Fructose exhibit at Akron Art Museum verified that I'm doing the right thing right now.

Fashion and music mix

You can't deny the influence of high fashion in music right now. Especially hip-hop, like you see with Kanye West. People drop off books and magazines at the studio all the time. I'm more DIY and tend to wear my friends' brands, but I wanted to do something that might catch the eye of the fashion world. Because I see how they get a lot of their influence from the art world. Andy Warhol was into that, and of course Jean-Michel Basquiat painted in Versace suits. I just wanted to give my own take on it. As of lately we've been heavily inspired by the music of Soulection.

Scaling up

With every painting I do, I try to outdo my last piece. I like to do a handful of really large-scale pieces in a year's time span, along with mid-size work. I want it to be affordable for people to buy. I want to make artwork that people can obtain and not feel so intimidated.

Film and video

We share our studio with two photographers and videographers, Frankie "Frisko" Gallo and Pat Bishop. We were doing all this work, but no one was seeing behind the scenes, and we wanted a more professional look. They saw our space and they loved it because whenever they do shoots or music videos, all their clients love the space. Everyone who's been in here always say how inspired they are and how they feel welcome. We make it comfortable.

In the Studio is a cleveland.com series that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the personal spaces where local artists create.

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