Painting My Life Away...the Recap.

Finally, the pictures have been sifted through and edited and I am ready to share with you my art work from SING 2011! To learn more about this check out my post, Whoda Thunk, where I talked about getting this awesome opportunity to work with so many people and groups at my own home, Baylor University!

From sketches to CAD (computer aided drafting) work to renderings to painting these monstrosities, it is quite the experience and is all worth it when you finally see the group perform. From costumes to choreography to singing to props, my backdrops were just one supporting actor in the grand scheme but it still feels great to continue to be a part of it!

Here's some recap!Starting with some rough sketches, the group tells me what they like and I take it to AutoCAD to ensure accuracy in perspective and proportion...

Next is the full color rendered drawing. This is done on an 11x17" bristol and drawn to a scale of 1/2"=2 feet on the actual backdrop! Crazy!
This particular one ended up with some seriously longgg days (most of them did but this one had a couple exceptionally long and in closed quarters with high chemical concentrated paint...) These finished backdrops are about 26 feet tall and 56 feet long! Whew.
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This group had some troubles too when the warehouse we were using was attacked by a monsoon! What a mess when half of a nearly finished backdrop gets soaked...like watching paint dry...oh wait...__________________

As the last group I worked with, I faced the least difficulty with this one! Simple, bright, and fun, I was able to finish in a shorter period than with any other!___________________

I set myself up for stress with this design...lines lines LINES everywhere. By the end, the boys were even saying "Ohp. Lisa's got her ruler again...watch out"...but I conquered. I did.__________________

This was the first backdrop I completed early on in the process and I actually painted this one in a BACKYARD! Have to admit I missed the grass when it came to my poor knees on unending concrete...but I did not miss the freezing cold and the outdoor weather uncertainty! Survived!___________________

I began work with this group late in the overall SING process so they had already done a design of sorts. I ended up redrawing it to my preferred scale before painting but haven't gone back to render it yet. These guys REALLY challenged me with wanting the stands to be filled with audience members and when I proposed black and white to add to the 1920's nitty gritt of their act, they said "we trust you"! Scary words!...in the end I did it and was very pleased with the results on both the frontdrop and the backdrop!



Hopefully this fun adventure will add some interest to my portfolio and it has already opened up doors in the painting world as I just completed some commissioned art work for a nursery!
Doors keep a openin and I'll keep a creatin!

All the Buzz.

If you look at my very first blog post you will see that I went downtown to get my DBA (Doing Business As) at the courthouse. That day, I went to get the rights in Bexar County to The LID while my friend, Lyndi, got her DBA, Sew Bee It! Lyndi sews aprons of all kinds and they are flawless, fun, and each unique! Yea okay, so today is a plug for my friend but this girl is amazing and has incredible sewing talents!

Last week, I got to help Lyndi set up her brand new booth in a San Antonio local handcraft mart, Homestead Handcraft. Looking around at the hodgepodge of various booths, each individually owned, each selling their own goods...some good goods...some not so good goods, I wondered how she intended to transform this 2 foot by 4 foot space to get her aprons sold! But she brought the goods and we got it together!

Here's what the booth looked like before with the previous tenant...not so cute...

It was tough work to get striated fabric to lay straight and attach to peg board!...
Good thing Lyndi is tall and not afraid of heights! This took some strategy...The beautiful handpainted window sign and all the fabric finally up. We used an ice pic to place and punch through the clothing hanger bars...
The finished space! Aprons aprons everywhere! And no two alike! And dont forget, the mannequin, Kate...she's fancy.All her aprons are reversible, hand sewn and come in a wide range of colors. Being a perfectionist like me, I know her work is GREAT! So stop by her booth at Homestead Handcrafts or send Lyndi an email with your inquiries at LBrewer10@gmail.com.
And like Sew Bee It on Facebook here!

Mardi Gras Highlights.

Welp. I have returned from celebrating a little Mardi Gras action in New Orleans. While I was not there for the actual Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday in English, I did get in on the celebrating, parading, costuming and general merriment that is the city of New Orleans...

Rather than gather all my thoughts at this very moment, I will simply leave you with some highlight images from the weekend. I. Love. This. City.

My sister lives in a perfectly located shot-gun style home, oozing with charisma and that amazing New Orleans feel...oh and Jack, the pup.

This lil Hacienda was on a street with wonderfully colored shot-gun houses parading down the block. This particular one has a lil Hispanic/Texan flair...puts me right at home...

I like color and artistic flair in almost every other aspect of my life...why not your car too, I guess?

This building looks like a painting. Looking to be worn from the start and screams New Orleans to me.

We toured Mardi Gras World where the Blaine Kern Studios make the magic of the 54 annual parades happen! From design to carpentry to artists to "krewes" of riders and bead throwers. We saw so many floats queued up and ready for their debut and saw them parading the NEXT day!

An artist hard at work painting a prop for a float to parade in the next couple days! Most of these artists simply answered adds in newspapers to get where they are. So. Awesome.

The seemingly empty artist's studio that I claimed as my own for when I get a fun new job as a float designer and artist. Clearly.

Dressed (in hats and face paint by yours-truly) and ready for a night out to celebrate this fun tradition and city!

Look forward to more fun details on the amazing artistry behind Mardi Gras in the next issue of BLEEP Magazine!

Bigger. Better. BLEEPier.

It's March. And that means BLEEPmag has dropped its 2nd issue! The first issue was a great success and you can still check it out here! The March/April issue is jam-packed with even more exciting things!

Food critiques, jumping out of planes, the latest on lighting, performers doing what they love, inspiring photo essays, men on fashion, Oscar recaps and more...the cover itself should be enticing enough!

Hop on over and take a look at the free digital magazine, BLEEP magazine. And don't forget you can always get involved, yourself, if ya think you've got something to say!

^click here^

Don't forget to like BLEEPmag on facebook and follow on twitter!

Calling All Textile Enthusiasts.

Ever been searching and searching for the perfect fabric and then come to the conclusion that it just doesn't exist? How many times have you had the best idea in your head and just wished a designer was producing it in their latest line? Welp. Now YOU can be the fabric designer and have that idea come to fruition.

A friend of mine, and avid seamstress, brought this great site to my attention! Spoonflower is a "community for people who are passionate about fabric, design and making things". Through digital textile printing, the company is able to produce your custom designed fabric in a variety of textiles. Spoonflower prints with eco-friendly, water based pigment inks on natural fiber textiles. Inkjet printers allow for infinite use of color and more finite details in the designs so you get exactly what you want!

You can upload, order and share your designs all in one place. You can even earn some money if your design happens to be what someone else is looking for and they order it. Weekly design competitions will test your ability to creative problem solve genres like 'leprechauns' or 'pointillism' and give you a chance to get your ideas out there in a new and fun way and maybe even become the fabric of the week!

Create your custom fabrics and see what other people are creating across the world. And while the name seems to leave something to the imagination, you can set that very imagination free with endless fabric possibilities at Spoonflower.

Blueprints for Barbie. ?

Well they've done it. Mattel has surely out-down themselves in strange efforts to make Barbie appealing to all audiences...

Yes, I myself begged and pleaded for every new Barbie, with the latest and greatest accessories and hot little Ken to compliment at one point in my life. But babysitter Barbie and School Teacher Barbie are a thing of the past as Mattel looks to bigger and better professions with their "Barbie I Can Be..." line. From veterinarian to gym coach to racecar driver, Barbie is reaching for the moon now. Art teacher and computer engineer even appear to fall on her resume!

So it should be no shock that Architecture Historian, Despina Stratigakos joined forces with president-elect of New York state's AIA chapter, Kelly Hayes McAlonie, to campaign to bring architecture into the playrooms of little girls everywhere. In an effort to bring more attention to the opposition that is still met for females in this male-driven architecture field, even as the ladies take over undergraduate and graduate programs everywhere, the concept for Barbie I Can Be...an Architect was born.

And now she is preparing to hit the shelves Fall 2011, blueprints and all! Describing her get up as a simple dress and jacket being "symmetrically stylish with bold colors and clean lines", Mattel claims she will be ready for anything the day in a life of an Architect will throw at her with her blueprints and her hard hat. Throw in a paint fan deck and a some fabric swatches and hey, I might even buy those 11 inches of plastic. It's an interesting concept...a little wierd...and unnerving...but I'd love to know how Architecture Barbie pans out...

Photos from toyXplosion.com where you can learn more about the launch as well as in this article from the Design Observer.

Painting for the Planet.

The sustainable living and green design epidemic over recent years is no big secret. A key player in steps towards less harmful design being low VOC paint? Again. No secrets there. Ohp. Did I just throw those letters out there? I guess VOC means nothing to some people. Don't worry. I'm not judging you. Lemme explain...

VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. Volatile. Yeap. Anyone can derive that that implies something bad. Welp these can be natural or man-made and when it comes to design, these little buggers come to play mainly in paint due to the high concentration of solvents. Bored yet? Okay okay, I just wanted to make sure we are all on the same page. In a nutshell, VOC's are slow acting but attack allergies, respiratory and immune systems, especially in small children and are bad for any environment, especially indoor.

So where was I? Oh right. Low VOC paint. Great great. Less harmful chemicals. Mmm better for the atmosphere. Good stuff. But what about paint with NO VOC's? That's right. I said it. Anna Sova has recently released a healthier paint line composed of ZERO VOC's and food ingredients! With up to 94% composition of food ingredients, this paint makes for a yummy solution to environmentally friendly design.

Easy to apply, easy to clean and easier to eat? Well at least it smells like it could be easy to eat...for the first few days before the aroma fades away. With customizable tints and shades, stuccoes and textures, and a plethora of existing color options, this fun product makes for a breathable difference, especially for pregnant women, children and elderly with breathing deficiencies, oh and for the planet!

Paint is not the only place Anna Sova is saving the planet though, check out the site for a world of healthy paint, organic textiles and tips on keeping your home up to par with sustainable trends. I personally wouldn't mind my own set of these luxurious Eco Silk sheets. Sign me up!