freelisa designs... um yeah.

Upcoming

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my neighborhood?  No, I don't think that I have taken the opportunity to discuss this topic quite yet considering the fact that I moved here just after my February 2009 post.

I promise to take you on a tour one day- but in the meantime, just trust me on the fact that it is awesome.

I live in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas.  No- I am not a drug dealer, and no, I am not in a gang. 
My neighborhood is beautiful and friendly- creative and unique.  I have never felt so much a part of a community before moving here.  It is fantastic.

At some point I will divulge a little more about the things I have become involved in here in Oak Cliff, but in the meantime, I wanted to share with you a project that I just got accepted into...

Drum roll...

I get to paint a mural!  Here in Oak Cliff!

This mural project is headed up by the owners of the Cube Creative gallery, and you can read more about it here: (link)

The owners of The Cube Creative, Kevin Obregon and Vanessa Neil are two of the many reasons why Oak Cliff shines.  They are such wonderful and talented people with enormous hearts and admirable passion.  I feel lucky to know them and to be a part of the same community.

There are so many other amazing people here in Oak Cliff worth sharing with you- and I will do so in future posts...  I promise, there will be future posts.  :)

... and we're back.

So, I have put off updating this blog long enough (as pointed out to me by numerous lovely friends- some more pushy than others).  Here we are in 2010, and I was so close to 1 year without posting.  Let's put an end to this drought, shall we?

Yesterday I took down my most recent show at Suzana Gordon Design Studio.  Overall, it was a fantastic show- and I got a great response for my new mixing of screen printed art with my oil paintings.  My mind is already swimming with ideas for my next show (currently unscheduled).

On the FreeLisa tee front, 2009 ended with many successes- and I look forward to amping things up a bit.  This week, in fact, I will be completing a new screen for a new line of hoodies.  The hoodies I am using are made from recycled cotton and recycled bottles.  Sounds strange, but they are awesome.  The Trinity River Audubon Center will be the first to carry them.  I'll post a heads-up when I deliver them.

On the Dr. Sketchy front, things have been lagging.  However, thanks to the persistant prodding of one of Dr. Sketchy Dallas' most loyal art monkeys, it looks like the next session will be next month.  I will be partnering up with him to get things going again- and this time things will be even more awesome.

Thank you to anyone who still checks in on this page despite the lack of updates.  I promise that I will check in quite a bit more frequently.

(more adventurous)

Goodbye Blackbird

I just wanted to pop in really quick to share the painting I just completed for the "For the Love of Kettle" show this Saturday, February 21. 
This show should be amazing.  Over 30 Dallas artists will have paintings for just $50.  All proceeds go towards keeping Kettle's doors open.
This economy sucks, and art just isn't on the top of the shopping list.  Lots of artists and galleries are really feeling it along with everyone else.  I really love Kettle- and honestly owe a lot to them.  They are the first gallery to let me hang my paintings on their walls.  And I have been completely grateful for every time they invited me back to show my work.

Don't miss out on this show.

(really crappy photo of "Goodbye Blackbird"... Go to Kettle on Saturday to see it in full glory)

But baby it's cold outside...

... I love that song.

So here I am still cozy in bed and not at work.  Why?  Cuz it's cold outside.  Really cold.  Frozen cold. 
MNS decided to close their doors because Dallas ISD closed their doors- and who am I to complain?
Bonus about this snow day is that it is supposed to thaw around noon. 
What does that mean?  Play day!

So before I start making my plans for the day- I wanted to share a little bit about my friend Ginger Valentine.  You may recognize that name due to the fact that she has been so involved in our Dr. Sketchy sessions (she is our model for February!). 
I am super proud of this girl.  She is a very talented freelance writer and an even more talented dancer.  She has been on the fence about making a living doing what she loves to do for a while now- and has just recently taken the plunge.  And so far, she is just wowing and amazing me daily with all that she is accomplishing! 
I love that she is part of the movement bringing old-school burlesque back to the forefront of pop culture.  It is such a strong statement on the strength of women and confident sexuality. 
One of the ventures she has started up is a Burlesque Charm School here in Dallas.  It is run out of the Girl's Room, and seems like tons of fun.

A description:
Classic American burlesque is all about humor, tease, glamour and showmanship. So exchange your Blackberry for some opera length gloves, boa and a sassy attitude and master the art of the tease and charm in our new Burlesque Charm School. These are lifestyle specialty classes that go beyond the mechanics of striptease. Discussions on history, culture, costumes and vintage style will inspire you to discover your inner Bombshell, and you’ll gain flexibility, confidence and work towards achieving a lean dancer’s physique.

Check it out online: https://www.thegirlsroom.us/pages/burlesquecharm.html

Sounds like fun, right?

my oh my. how time flies.

hello world.  hello again.

we are on to a new year and new things on my end.  so many exciting things to cover in just one post.  hopefully i can actually stay on top of posting?  yes?  yes.

To start, Dr. Sketchy is coming along very nicely.  It is a ton of fun to produce, and the feedback we are getting back from the artists is outstanding.  If you live it Dallas, check it out.  Our next drawing event is February 7.  Otherwise, if you are out of town, check out the Dr. Sketchy main website and see if there is one in your area.  It seems that new ones are popping up all of the time.

Also next month, I will be participating in 4 shows.

February 7
7pm - 9pm
"El Corazon"
The Bath House
521 E. Lawther Drive, Dallas

February 14
7pm - 11pm
"Love Song"
The Art Hotel
1112 S. Akard St, Dallas

February 14
7pm - 11pm
"Clockwork 2"
Nomad Arts
Janette Kennedy Gallery
1409 S Lamar St, Dallas

February 24
7pm - 10pm
Kettle Art
2714 Elm Street, Dallas

It will be my second year to participate in the El Corazon Show- which is now in it's 15th year!
It is such a wonderful collection of Dallas artists - and I was thrilled to be asked to participate again.

"When I saw my Heart" 2009

As promised: Dames, Games, Drinking, and Debauchery...

... and oh yeah-  Drawing, too.

The fantastic Scotty Mankoff posted to his blog a sampling of the shots he got at Dr. Sketchy's on Sunday.
I just thought I would share them here...

Behold: a group shot of all of our modest group of art monkeys.

A great shot of our two models: Jacqeline Mae and Scarlett Fever of the Red Devil Revue.

Awesome drawing by the uber-talented Larry Carey.  This one got Model's Pick at the end and won Larry a free pass for himself and a friend to have a table for two at a future Dr. Sketchy session.

Look!  Art Monkeys in action!

... and Mr. Crazy Picture Guy, Scotty Mankoff with the gals.

Our next session is scheduled to be December 6.  If you live in Dallas and are interested in hearing about our upcoming sessions, send me your email address, and I'll add you to the list. 
If you are not in Dallas, check out DrSketchy.com to see if your town has a Dr. Sketchy session, too!

Another Dr. Sketchy's success

Yup.  Last night we pulled off another Dr. Sketchy's event.  The vibe was great- and from the feedback I got, the art monkeys had a good time.
No doubt there will be lots and lots of photos to share.  The infamous Scotty Mankof (Crazy Picture Guy) stopped in to take some shots and see what it was all about.  Apparently it was way cooler than what he expected, and he took tons of shots and had a really good time with it.
Thanks very much to Scarlett Fever and Jacqueline Mae of the Red Devil Revue who posed for us.  They did a great job.
Our next Dr. SKetchy is scheduled to be Saturday, December 6, same place same time.  However, Diablo Texas pointed out that bumps up to Art Conspiracy the same night (at which both Diablo Texas and I will have art up for auction).  Whoops.  We will be figuring out this week if we want to move the session to Sunday again...  Either way, the lovely Courtney Crave will be modeling.

Also, this weekend is a busy one for me.  I will be heading up to Oklahoma CIty for my third year at The Girlie Show, and I will also be showing at Artizen for the Design on Dragon art walk this Friday.  Unfortunately, I will not be around Dallas for the Artizen show, but I am super thrilled about it!  It will be my first show on Dragon street.

All for now... (as get a late start on my NaPoBloMo attempt...)

Now Showing @ Suzana Gordon Studios...

Yesterday I hung most of what was remaining from my show at The Cedars Gallery at Suzana Gordon Design Studio.  I also added one more painting that I have completed since August.
This painting was purely inspired by my encounter with a real live pony at The Show Pony Show last month.  She was so lovely and nice.  There is a certain presence of a horse that cannot be matched.  They are remarkable creatures.
Little unknown fact about me:  yes, I am a city girl, but my sister had a horse growing up- and in high school I started riding him.  I really miss being around horses.  I guess it took hanging out briefly with that pony to figure that out.

If you are around town on Friday evening, there will be little party at Suzana Gordon's - it is not really an opening, but you all are welcome to stop by and check things out.  I will be there- so just come by to say hi if you wanna.

Suzana Gordon Design Studio
3406 Rosedale
Snider Plaza
Dallas, TX
6pm-9pm
September 19

If you can't make it by for the party, you should make it over there some other time.
It is a really nice space, and Suzana has beautiful work of her own worth checking out.
I believe my paintings will hang there for about a month.

Well, in case you were wondering, I actually did NOT fall off the face of the earth...

But yeah, it has become a trend of mine to not post things here.
But rest assured, life is wonderful.
There is much happening in the realm of art, screen printing, graphic design, photography, etc. 
Yep, I am keeping busy on MULTIPLE projects.

One in particular that I am suuuuper excited about is Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School.  It's a wonderful thing that started in NYC and has since spread all over the globe.  I was bummed a few years ago when I found out about it, and there wasn't one in Dallas.  There was already one up and running in Austin and Houston in Texas, and I kept hoping someone would step up to the plate and launch a Dallas one...

So finally, I sucked it up and thought- dang, why don't I just go ahead and do it?

Here's the deal:  it is a life-drawing class, but with a twist.  We host the session once a month.  It is a 3-hour session of drawing a model with a typical break-down of 1-20 min poses with breaks.  The twist is that instead of using the traditional naked model, we use local burlesque models and other interesting local talent.  People with an interesting look, and wonderful costuming.  There is also lots of drinking, fun, games, and prizes.
My cohort for this undertaking is Johnny Hardy of Holy Diver (aka Machismo Foghat the Crotch Machine).  He will be the emcee for the thing, while I will hopefully help keep things running smoothly.

It will be interesting.

Here are the details for our first session:

Check out www.mypace.com/dallassketchy for more tidbits and a way to reserve a seat or table.

If you aren't in Dallas, check out the Dr.Sketchy website to see if you have a session in your city.

(Also, for the truly curious, I posted a plea here as part of my application to run the Dallas sessions.  It's a little bit of an introduction to Johnny and I...)

show postcard!!!

I am typing this blog post from my sweltering studio, where I have been spending looooong days producing a new series of work for my next show...

... well, back to work!