Any fans of comics or hiphop or street art on your list? Get them a copy of the new issue of GhettoManga magazine created by local artist Samax Randolph. This is a VERY fun book with incredible energy.

Unique gift. Blesses a local artist.

buy it at http://www.ghettomanga.com

On December 11th ArtLoveMagic will partner with a new venue – It’s A Grind (Deep Ellum Location), with a cozy, aromatic and delicious new concept.  Some of Dallas’ finest Acoustic musicians will play along side It’s a Grind’s toasty fireplace surrounded by a few hand picked Dallas live visual artists.  While the music is all acoustic, the individual acts couldn’t be more different.

Zachary Scott Pohl has become a Dallas favorite of the singer/songwriter genre through the fine craft of words and story telling to moving music with memorable melodies.

GaydenLee, an indie pop male/female duet is coming out to celebrate the release of their latest EP, “Songs for Thursday”.

The three members of Lenny’s New Legs lead by Deborah Driscoll, will remind you of times gone by with their original soulful, jazzy numbers.

Finally, Parallel Play will be playing their first show back together since the ‘Zombie Hand incident’.  These guys will make you laugh.  ‘Nuff said!

And then there are the Visual artists…

Connor Muldoon – Sculpture

Joe Townson – Abstract Painting

Charlise Hill Larson – Painting/Mixed Media

Jen Sulak – Photography

December 11th * 7:30 – 10:30 pm * Free * It’s A Grind Coffee * 2901 Indiana Blvd, Dallas, TX 75226

Wow, where has the year gone?   Can you believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving???    It’s amazing how fast time flies and how much fun we’ve had together this year at all of the Art Love Magic events.  We truly have a LOT to be thankful for in this community. 

A special thanks to the leadership team, participating artistsans/musicians, and volunteers that have made each Art Love Magic show a wonderfully rich experience for everybody!             Y’all ROCK!!

And finally, a special THANKS to the audience; your loving support encourages us to continue creating and pushing the boundaries in our work.   Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I pray that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we look forward to seeing you next Friday at the 12/04 Art & Coffee.

- Michelle McSpadden

 

If you haven’t attended an Art Love Magic Open House yet, you’re missing out on a fabulous night of fun, creativity and music.   Last night was great…we all came together and helped Melody Hay with a  project she was doing, which was decorating ‘Blessing Bags’ that are used to give fruit, deodarant, gifts, etc., to female prisoners for Christmas.

How did the evening go?   To start with, I arrived late and exhausted…And it was ONLY Wednesday.  I was tired when I arrived and energized when I left.    Amazing how that happens, huh?   When I got into the Art Love Magic office people were already busy working on the Blessing Bags.  I don’t know how many bags Melody brought for us to decorate, but it looked like a thousand+, so we had our work cut out for us.    Southern Karma and Zach Pohl did small sets for us and blessed us with their musical talents and by the end of the evening, we had completed several hundred little bags to be given away.   It was a blast and I’m so glad I went.  There was wonderful music to listen to, a creative project to do, pizza to snack on, and lots of fun energy; what more could an artist ask for?    

 While every Open House is different, they do contain the same ingredients: creative people willing to share their gifts, fellowship and laughter which equals a good time to be had by all.    We hope you’re able to join us for the next Open House so that you can experience the great community of Dallas artisans that make Art Love Magic truly unique &  AWESOME!

-Michelle McSpadden

Recently, an artist buddy and I went on the White Rock Artist Studio Tour to see how others organize their work space to inspire us to make our studios more efficient.   Before we ventured out, we made some mental notes of what we wanted to pay attention to so that we could learn how to make our studios better.  One of the things we were both interested in was art supply organization, so whenever we saw something that would make life easier, we pointed it out to each other.  Two weeks after our artist studio tour & research outing I decided to re-organize my supplies.  This ended up being a day long project, because the last time I had done anything like that was in 2003 when I decided to clear out my furniture and turn my living room into a studio.  Going through everything was actually fun and interesting.  I found a lot of stuff that I wasn’t using and wasn’t intending to use any time soon, so I put those items in a box and will be giving them to some artists this week.  This will help somebody else do something beautiful and it has helped me to de-clutter my studio some.    : )

Do you have a special space set aside that’s just for you and your creative work?          If not, why not?         If so, is your studio currently arranged & organized to help you be the best at what you’re doing?  Some people may not be able to make their entire living room a studio, but here are some ideas:

Spare bedroom – Sell the extra bed and get an air mattress for guests…you can use the extra $$ to buy art supplies…besides, how often do you have slumber parties? 

Garage – You may want to get a window unit for the Texas summers : )

Storage Shed in the backyard – Don’t forget the window unit….

Formal Dining Room – You only use twice a year for family meals anyways.

A small section of the living room

Your Media/Theatre room 

And as an added perk, as long as your studio is NOT in your bedroom you can write off the square footage of it for business expense.   Woohoo!  

Organizing your studio doesn’t have to be a difficult task.  We saw how one artist was using an old plastic closet door shoe organizer to keep different supplies in, but instead of hanging it on a door, she nailed it to her studio wall.  One lady had all of her stuff in an old mechanic’s tool chest on wheels so that she could roll it wherever she needed it.  Another artist had her work table suspended on the ceiling via pulley system to make more room in her studio for other things.  When she needs to work on the table, she simply clears the area and cranks the handle to lower the table.  You don’t have to spend an arm and leg either…you can find great deals on storage cabinets, carts, shelving units, containers, etc. at garage sales, estate sales, going out of business sales, thrift stores, holiday sales, etc. 

By having a special creative space, you’ll also be encouraged to create more frequently.  For me, since my studio is such a large portion of my residence, I constantly see paintings that are in progress and it sparks ideas for new work, helps me with creative problem solving in pieces that have me “stumped” and keeps me focused on my short and long term artistic goals.    If you don’t have a studio space, now may be a good time to create one and bless yourself with a special place that’s set aside for your creative endeavors.    If you have a studio, now may be a good time to go through things and take inventory of what you have and move things around so that your space is more efficient than before.  You may decide to bless other artists with things you don’t use/need OR you may want to donate them to a homeless shelter, church, or school for kids to use.  Either way, it’s all good, so have fun and enjoy the process of making your studio unique, inspiring, and one of the coolest places to hangout in your neighborhood!     

-Michelle McSpadden

***Click here to see more pics of my studio***

I recently sat down with Justin Nygren, Co-Founder of Dallas’ own ArtLoveMagic. Justin’s passion is producing live events for artists and art lovers. Here he talks about his thoughts on production and the magic behind the “magic.”

CH: What do ArtLoveMagic’s live events do for the community?

JN: Simply, when we produce a show, we believe we’re changing the cultural landscape of Dallas [more on that later in the conversation].

CH: What led you to this point in your life, your work with ArtLoveMagic and your passion for promoting artists?

JN: A few years ago, I had an experience where my whole perspective on life completely and totally changed. We were coming back from an artists’ gathering in Colorado, and a friend of mine was driving the car.We hit a patch of ice, at 75 mph, and found ourselves between two semi-trailers, spinning between them. We were thrown into a ditch where the car tumbled end over end and finally stopped on the other side of the road. We all walked away – me, my wife, my 11 month old son and our friend who was driving the car.

I had been pastoring a church at that point for seven years, and it caused me to ask myself this question. If I had died, if that day had marked the end of my life, would I actually have been satisfied with the story that my life told? It wasn’t a bad story, but it wasn’t my story. My life to that point was a story someone else had given me. When I’d experienced a desire to lead, to make changes, I became a pastor. However, the whole time I was in that role, I was fighting, punching the confines of the box. I just wasn’t satisfied with pastoring a church.

CH: So, you experienced a transformation, trying to find your life’s purpose?

JN: Yes, I’ve gone through different seasons. The latest season has been since the wreck in Colorado, when I basically had to take inventory of my life and discover what I’m supposed to be doing as an individual.

Coming to know my life’s purpose informs all that I do as a producer. For me, production stems from identity, who you are as an individual, because what you create is an extension of your heartbeat. When I work with people who want to produce, I begin by asking them: “Why are you doing this? Why are you creating this event? What do you want to see as the result?”

Our tag line from the beginning of ArtLoveMagic was simply that our live events would tear down the wall between the creator [artist] and the spectator, thus changing the cultural landscape. In a standard gallery, you walk in and find art on the walls, but where’s the artist? If you’re at the gallery reception, you may get a few words from the artist, but you’ll never watch them in their element, you’ll never watch their creative process. You’ll never see them bear their soul, if you will, to the world. It’s not our normal perception of reality to be able to see into the artist’s world.

What I’m passionate about is artists. My art is creating space to understand artists, to create space for artists to live out who they are in public.

CH: I’ve experienced, in the live shows, a real community spirit being formed. Working in one’s studio day after day can sometimes be an isolating experience. Would you agree?

JN: Yes. We are drawn to community as human beings. By nature, we feed off of another’s experience. We feed off of their negative and positive critique. We need that feedback to move forward. So this is also a part of my passion. This is my desire, to create space for healthy artist relationships.

CH: What are your thoughts about The Girl Show?

JN: The Girl Show came from the realization that, in the first two years of ArtLoveMagic, 75% to 90% of the people who stepped up to make the organization solid and help it move forward were women. We try to keep a good balance of men and women in all the shows. Yet, we’re also aware that women experience exclusion in our society. Look at the workplace, churches, everywhere else – typically the men go to the forefront of the organization. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. We’re all human. We’re all beautiful. Let’s make it that way. We realized that our sisters were making this organization happen. We decided that we needed a night just for them. We needed a night that would make them shine. It was a great success. Why? Because the heartbeat of the show was to celebrate our sisters. This is the message. These women rock. I see it as a celebration.

CH: Tell me about production in general.

JN: When we create shows at ArtLoveMagic, there’s always a theme. When people come to a show, whether it’s Underground, Girl Show or the monthly Art & Coffee gatherings, people walk away with a good understanding of what we’re trying to do. They understand the spirit and the theme.

I encourage producers to (1) figure out what you love to do, what’s your personal passion and (2) who do you love as a people group, that is, who are you drawn to and who do you want to encourage? Finally (3) what tools do you bring that can drive you to create something magical?

Good organizational tools are key to good production. For the producer, that typically means pulling together diverse people and connections to make an event happen. You also have to have a vision, decide what your big picture is and work to make it a reality.

To summarize, those who are interested in producing have to ask themselves “What am I passionate about? Who do I love? What skills do I bring to the task?” For production, all these elements go into creating an event.

CH: Thank you Justin. Enjoy the magic!

- Original article posted on Art & Life Deep in The Heart of Texas, by Charlise Hill-Larson

If you’ve noticed a lull in sales over the past year due to the economy, you’re not alone.  A lot of artists are experiencing a decrease in sales these days because of what is going on in the job market, but alas, we can still expand our businesses in this economic drought and look forward to a lush future. 

What can you be doing to expand your business? 

Well, you could….

Update your website, refresh your artist statement (that’s supposed to be done about every 2 years anyway), update your artist resume, re-evaluate your pricing, revise your marketing strategy, experiement with a new style, technique, theme, or medium, start a new series, study with a mentor,  update your portfolio with new imagery, re-organize your studio space and give away art supplies that you don’t use (be a blessing to another artist), organize your sketches by date for easy future reference, stretch canvases, do an inventory check and determine how many new pieces you want to create in the next 6 months, set your creative goals for the next year (16 new paintings completed, website overhauled, studio redesigned, etc.),  research the local and regional art scene, read biographies on successful artists, consider new ways to promote your creative works and get exposure, do business/marketing research, etc.   

You see, even if the economy is a little rough right now, there’s still a lot of work that we can do to get prepared for a thriving market that is around the corner.  We can use this valuable window of time to get ready to go up to the next level by using it as a stepping stone to get to where we want to go in our careers.    I want to encourage you to chase after excellence in your creative business and dream BIG…there are great things on the horizon for us!

-Michelle McSpadden

The Intelligent South presents ‘Mileage’ from GOAT & three6t.

In the current landscape of redundant music, a compelling CD has been made by Dallas-based independent artists GOAT (Justin Griffith) &
three6t (Ricky Cantrell).   Mileage is a 14-track collection of captivating songs that showcase their talents and astute ability to bridge the gap between multiple genres of music.  Mileage is unique in that it is accessible to mainstream and underground music fans alike.  Narrowly defined genre barriers do a disservice to the broad and exceptional songs. Indie Rock, R&B, Blues, and Hip Hop sensibilities are seamless throughout the contextual and sonic approach of this CD.

Dirty South music, as a subgenre, has been widely successful for many years, but is limited in focus and lacks topic diversity.  Mileage takes a different path and offers interpersonal insight from GOAT with varied lyrical content as a foundation.

“When I listen to music, I want to feel like I know the artist and go through life with them. My music is alike in that way.
People can relate to what I’m going through and feel as if they’re not going through their trials and tribulations alone. At the
same time, it’s a needed outlet for me to stay halfway sane,” GOAT explains.
In addition to broadening his core fan base in Dallas, GOAT seeks to expand that base to a larger regional and national level
of exposure. Many of the songs were debuted during his recent summer tour. The early reception of songs from Mileage was
received with immediate positive feedback from audiences at venues such as Babylon in Fresno, California, and Copper State
Tavern in Glendale, Arizona. 

The official CD Release Party for Mileage will take place on November 7th at the Curtain Club in Dallas, Texas.  Also releasing records on this night are Elle and Jack Rabbit James.  Three individual, independent CD’s that will surely rock your world. 

For more information, contact:
Justin Griffith, The Intelligent South
http://musicbygoat.com
info@musicbygoat.com
214-212-5763

The amount of money you receive is a measure of how many people you have helped and how well you helped them.

“You must come to see that part of your goodness, part of the benefit you bring to others, is your daily conduct in operating your business enterprise. You have to come to understand and utterly absorb into your being the fundamentally true idea that your activities in your business are virtuous and moral. You must understand the nobility inherent in going to work each day.” (How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist by Caroll Michels)

Earn a living while offering the world your artwork. Your art accomplishes this:

1. Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. ~Stella Adler
2. To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist. ~Schumann
3. Great art picks up where nature ends. ~Marc Chagall
4. What art offers is space – a certain breathing room for the spirit. ~John Updike
5. Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization. ~Lincoln Steffens
6. Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable. ~George Bernard Shaw
7. I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum. ~Claes Oldenburg

Come and enjoy my class, Why Selling Your Art Is The Best Thing You Can Do, this Saturday, November 7th at the Mokah Bar. Find out more on ArtLoveMagic’s website: www.artlovemagic.com

Nathon Hay

Did you hear? Kids Creative is FREE for the whole day with donations at ArtLoveMagic’s Artist Workshop (valid to attendees during their classroom time). In this class your child will learn to think and produce in a creative way. They will be taught various forms of art by professionally certified teachers with years of artistic experience. Kids will be able to enjoy projects such as: mixed media collage, Van Gogh art, water color tracings, and more. Children between the ages of 5 years old to 12 years old are welcome. All classes will be held at Life In Deep Ellum on Saturday, November 7th, 2009. If you are attending any workshop classes (please check out www.artlovemagic.com for further details) and would like to encourage creativity within your children, make sure you note their attendance when you register for your classes. We look forward to seeing you there.

Written by David and Nicole Rodriguez 

Pictures by Nicole Rodriguez