More Art & Coffee (March 2012) photos from Kelly Underwood

Kelly Underwood, who set up as an illustrator in our latest coffee show, also brought her camera with her and snapped some beautiful pics of the event. The comments below each are from the event’s producer, Michael Lagocki. Enjoy!

This was actually our first Art & Coffee in quite a few months. The show had grown insanely popular last year, but when the location that hosted it unexpectedly closed down we decided to take the winter off and find a new home in spring.

That place turned out to be Buzzbrews in Deep Ellum. Wow. The space and staff vibe are perfect for what we want to accomplish with this show. Spacious, friendly, and open to doing crazy creative things. I’m excited about how Art & Coffee, which is monthly, will grow here.

Local songwriter Eric Tipton was a guest on the national TV show THE VOICE just days before being the feature musician at the show! Eric’s a friend, a great guy, and an amazing performer. It was a blessing to be able to have him at the show.

…as it was to have the Just.Us.League. They’re a live collaborative painting crew that does monthly jams all over Dallas. For Art & Coffee, their founder Jerod Alexander sketched out a large Alice In Wonderland Tea Party on an 8 ft canvas and let the audience go at it. Yeah.

Outside the front door, poet Amberly Russell and airbrush painter Eddie Walker presented a unique collaboration. Eddie’s been illustrating several of Amberly’s poems, adding a new dimension to the words. Amberly even mounted an Ipod and headphones outside so audience members could hear the poems as they watched Eddie paint.

I love it when we really have a variety of artforms at the show. Artist Leighton Autrey brought a scratchboard to his first Art & Coffee. He used an exacto knife to “carve” an image out of the black background as he met and talked to audience members.

It’s always good to have Kylun Rodriguez in the house. He’s the son of my founding partner, David Rodriguez, and is the youngest producer on the ArtLoveMagic roster. I’m secretly hoping he becomes a lead producer this year and runs his own show sometime.

A huge part of the success of Art & Coffee is not just the feature artists, but the open mic, where audience members can perform. I believe we give young musicians and writers a strong opportunity to grow in their skills. Many local performers who now gig regularly got their start at an Art & Coffee open mic.

Thanks, Kelly for taking the photos! And thanks for sharing your art with us.

The next Art & Coffee show will be at Buzzbrews (Deep Ellum) on Friday, April 13th at 7:30pm. The show is free to attend and all ages are welcome. See you there!

-ML

Art & Coffee – a whole new brew

Art & Coffee is back! We’re proud to announce that our popular monthly live art & open mic show returns on the first Friday of March.

Buzzbrews is a wonderful new home for us. They’re very community oriented and really into supporting local arts. They have their own free parking lot (if you get there early enough, and they serve a full menu, full bar, and brilliant coffee. Perfect! full menu at www.buzzbrews.com

As usual Art & Coffee is completely free to attend and open to all ages. You can feel good bringing your friends and family to this free show. We’ll have live artists, feature performers, an open mic, and interactive art for kids and adults.

Bring your cameras and sketchbooks. Poets and Musicians are welcome to sign up for the open mic starting at 7pm. Help us kick off our new season in our new home with a BANG!

The line up for this show is fantastic:

Feature Artists:
Robert Hold (Photography)
Desiree Mazzola and Chris Small (hemp jewelry)
Eddie Walker & Amberly Russell (art/poetry colab)
Leighton Autrey (painter)
Joshua Boulet (brush & ink)
Eddie Medina (Illustration)
Kelly Underwood (illustration)

Special Audience-Interactive Art by:
Cori Berg
The Just.Us.League

Feature Musician:
Eric Tipton!!!
(millions of viewers of tv’s THE VOICE saw Eric perform on Monday)
special performance by Jordan Davis

Feature poet:
Konichiwa Zach Schrotter
special performance by Amberly Russell

Host:
Deborah Driscoll

This show will be produced by Michael Lagocki.
See you there!

To RSVP for this event on facebook, click here:

http://www.facebook.com/events/391949824154737/

It’s A Grind, we’ll miss you…

Post by David Rodriguez

Photo by Michael Lagocki

FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011, ART & COFFEE IS RELOCATED TO MOKAH LOUNGE 2803 TAYLOR ST. DALLAS, TX 75226  7:30PM – 10:30PM  FREE!!!

It saddens us to have to share that It’s A Grind in Deep Ellum is having to close its doors due to unsustainable profits. On December 11th, 2009, ArtLoveMagic began its new partnership with a bang at It’s A Grind with an introductory event called Fireside Sessions. And since then we had been producing successful monthly events under the heading of Art & Coffee, which was previously branded when we were doing similar monthly events at Saxbys in Farmers Branch. Here are a few moments we would like to share…

Photo by Jenice Johnson

“We’re big Spencer Garland fans around here. Spencer brought out some of his older material that artlovemagic founder Michael Lagocki is crazy for. Great to have him around and hopefully we’ll see more of him now that he’s back in Dallas.” – Art & Coffee February 5, 2010

Photo by Vanessa Bates

“One of the most fun things about Art & Coffee these days is how many local photographers show up with cameras, shooting all the cool stuff that goes down.” – Art & Coffee March 5, 2010

Photo by Scott Dorn

Photo Michael Lagocki

“Art & Coffee is a great first show for artists new to ArtLoveMagic. This was Adele Caunce’s first show with us and her BIG UGLY FISHIES sculptures were a hit with our audience, especially the kids who Adele took the time to teach her technique to.” – Art & Coffee August 6, 2010

Photo by Michael Lagocki

“Parallel Play is one of our favorite local acts. This weekend marked the last shows that banjo player Jason Miers would perform with PP. We were honored that they chose to spend two of their last three shows together with us. Parallel Play will go on with this new lineup: Jeremy Drake, Tomy Lee, and Erin Gayden. Can’t wait to see their new look!” – Art & Coffee December 3, 2010

Photo by Bobby Hitt

“We even pulled a few new tricks out of our sleeve, like a live DJ covering the It’s A Grind’s outside porch area.” – Art & Coffee March 6, 2011

Photo by Bobby Hitt

“One of the highlights of the night was a huge artist jam that went down outside. The team shown above is a pretty impressive lineup of local painters: from the front, Kelsey Kincannon, Daniel Perez, Ixchel Aguliar, and Eddie Walker.” – Art & Coffee March 6, 2011

Photo by Robert Hold

“Art & Coffee has grown to become a regular destination for those who love creativity and hanging out with creative people. In recent months, we’ve expanded the show to cover a second outside stage. It’s given us room to grow and stretch out a bit, while adding new talent and new artforms.” – Art & Coffee June 6, 2011

This is really just a taste of all the incredible memories we’ve collected in such a short amount of time. We appreciate the time we’ve had at It’s A Grind and we are greatfull to have worked along side a wonderful staff and management that supported us all the way. We wish you the very best.

ART & COFFEE WILL STILL BE GOING ON THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011. IT HAS BEEN MOVED TO MOKAH LOUNGE 2803 TAYLOR ST. DALLAS, TX 75226  7:30PM – 10:30PM  FREE.  See you there!

-Dr.

Community – A twist on the Art & Coffee model

Each month, on the first Friday, ArtLoveMagic hosts Art & Coffee. It’s a great event to get to know us at. Live art, live music, and an open mic that allows the songwriters and poets in our audience to perform.

This month, on August 5th, we’re presenting a new take on the model. Instead of inviting out individual artists to create live, we’ve invited local ART GROUPS. Each group will set up and create live art, and share information about what they do to help make Dallas successful.

The groups involved are-

The Sunshine Store – handmade jewelery in Deep Ellum for nearly 20 years. The store’s owner, Ruth, will create live custom jewelry on site.

The Artistic Push – a Dallas arts group dedicated to bringing local art into homes, schools, and galleries. They will bring both a gallery of painting and artists who will create live.

The Just.Us.League – a massive art collaboration experiment. The JUL will be bringing painters who will team up to create a large painting…together…live​.

Audio Warfare – AW is a music collective dedicated to creating and promoting local music. Lead DJ Dean Dillenger will head a group of musicians who will entertain us on the outdoor porch.

FUEL.ph – a small crew of local folks who have pledged two years of their life to go to the Philippines to open a coffee shop centered around creating a thriving art and music community. They”ll be leaving Dallas for the Philippines in just a few months.

Rec Shop – an amazing community of skaters and graffiti artists. Their artists will be on hand to do some amazing live painting.

The Circus Freaks- a local crew of live circus performers. They will roam our event juggling, spinning, and hooping and will have a few surprises in store.

In addition to those groups, we also have a feature musician – Carlos Young, and a feature poet – Jay Bookworm of Mystical Misfits.

And local artist Cori Berg will bring supplies and set up a “community-themed” interactive table that every attendee can roll up their sleeves and create art at.

We’re expecting an amazing event filled with good people who do good things. This is a great opportunity to understand your local art community in a BIG way in a single night. Hope to see you there!

Art & Coffee
Friday August 5th
7:30-10:30pm – free to attend
(open mic signup at 7pm)
at It’s A Grind Deep Ellum
2901 Indiana Blvd Ste 2d, Dallas, TX, 75226

Here’s the facebook page for this event in case you want to see more, or share the good news.

Thanks!

community flyer design by Jerod Alexander

Art & Coffee – July 2011

Photos by attendee Robert Hold.

Art & Coffee has grown to become a regular destination for those who love creativity and hanging out with creative people. In recent months, we’ve expanded the show to cover a second outside stage. It’s given us room to grow and stretch out a bit, while adding new talent and new artforms.

The open mic continues to surprise. Each month new performers sign up to share their work with the crowd. Local songwriting, poetry, and gorgeous vocals are always in the mix.

Every single Art & Coffee has a total unique line-up of local artists. Each show has a lead producer who picks a team of diverse artists. We try to strike a balance of many different visual forms so that each time you attend the show, you’re likely to see something you haven’t before.

Even artlovemagic co-founder Michael Lagocki got in on the mix this month, doing a live charcoal drawing.

Because artlovemagic works with such a wide pool of artists, we have the privilege of creating a lot of connections between cool people. If you attend a few Art & Coffees, you’re going to meet a LOT of people who impact the local art scene.

Art & Coffee is every first Friday at It’s A Grind in Deep Ellum from 7:30-10:30pm. The next one is August 5th, 2011 and features the special theme: COMMUNITY.

More of Robert Hold’s photographs can be seen at http://www.roberthold.com/portfolio

***ATTENTION Creative Thinkers***

Do you have unique ideas for interactive projects for Art Love Magic events that you would like us to try?   If so, you’ll want to get in on the following contest:

Art Love Magic Interactive Idea Challenge

The winning idea will be selected from the Board of Directors and used at the November Art & Coffee.   The creator of the winning idea will get mad props and a free coffee beverage at the event.

Interactive Art Projects:
* need to cost less than $30.00 in supplies
* need be family friendly
* need to be environmentally friendly (no harsh toxins please)
* need to take up a relatively small space during the show
* need to be somewhat easy and not too labor intensive for participants

How to enter your amazing idea?

Simply email it to:  almideas@gmail.com 

(You’re more than welcome to enter more than one idea and if you don’t have a “new” idea, just remind of us an oldie but goodie you’d like to see make a comeback….it’s all good!)

-Michelle McSpadden

Art & Coffee photos

post by Michael Lagocki

Art & Coffee, our monthly open mic and live art show has been really good lately. The microphone has welcomed plenty of new talent and built a steady stream of talented regulars. Our mission to provide you with new lineups of live artists every time has created some gorgeous displays.

August’s Art & Coffee was a great time. I walked around a took a few shots (through the lens of my cracked Iphone…sigh) and wanted to share.

Enjoy!

We moved the microphone inside for this show, because it rained on and off throughout the night (sound equipment + water = baaaaaad). Our host, Konichiwa Zach held it together as always, bringing up a slew of poets and musicians to the microphone. Personally, I liked the feel with the stage inside. It kept the coffee shop crowded all night and opened up the porch for those who wanted to take a break from the event.

Mitsubishi brought out the car that our artists painted during the LakeSide Market Summer Festival. Four of us who painted it (myself, David Rodriguez, Eddie Walker, and Joshua Boulet) were in attendance, so we took a minute to snap a few more pics with the canvas (I mean “car”).
Very cool.

ArtLoveMagic co-founder David Rodriguez joined the lineup of live artists and worked on a commission piece that was huge. This is a small details of the four panel piece, that when finished, will be viewable as four separate painting or one large image.

One of my favorite local musicians, Erin Gayden, was our feature. She played two sets during the evening.

Josh Dryk brought the fire. Always a cool spectacle.

Josh’s technique with fire painting is evolving. Lately he’s been trying some figurative images that he burns into the wood, like drawing with a small flame.

Local comic book artist Jose Esquivel joined us and drew this Batman while he was there. We encourage many artists who create live with us to work just like they would work at home or in the studio. It’s one way we tear down the walls between the artists and the audience.

Another way to really involve the audience is to set up interactive displays. Carolyn Collins set up a Photo-Ink challenge that encouraged audience members to pick up a pen or marker and interact with her photographs. She put about a dozen images on a huge butcher paper back drop, and audiences wrote captions for them, or drew around and on top of them. It’s good to be creative.

Art & Coffee is a great first show for artists new to ArtLoveMagic. This was Adele Caunce’s first show with us and her BIG UGLY FISHIES sculptures were a hit with our audience, especially the kids who Adele took the time to teach her technique to.

An open mic means there’s always a surprise. This collaborative spoken word piece from our feature poet Darryl Ratcliff and DaVerse Lounge founder Will Richey was a treat.

Great audience, great artists, great performers, great show. Thanks to everyone who participated, particularly our producers Nicole and Kylun Rodriguez. The next Art & Coffee is Friday September 3rd at It’s A Grind. As always it will be an open mic with a fresh lineup of live artists. See you there!

New Art & Coffee photos by attendee Morgana Willborn

I love it when people come to ArtLoveMagic shows and take brilliant pictures. At our last Art & Coffee (every first Friday at It’s A Grind in Deep Ellum), a local photographer named Morgana Willborn showed up and took these images of our artists and attendees having a blast. Enjoy.

And if you show up with your camera to one of our shows and get some great images, let us know!

-ML

The rest of Morgana’s Art & Coffee shots can be see here:

http://morganawilborn.com/blog/?p=332

For more info on Art & Coffee, click here.

http://artlovemagic.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/the-evolution-of-art-coffee/

More of Morgana’s photography can be seen at:

www.morganawillborn.com

The evolution of Art & Coffee

post by Michael Lagocki
photos by Kelsey Paine, Josh Dryk, and Eddie Walker

I imagine most of you reading this have been to, or at least know of, Art & Coffee. This is our longest running show, a monthly Open Mic and Live Art experience that we do at coffee shops. The idea first started in 2008, when I met Bill Priestly, the owner of a new coffee shop, Saxbys, in North Dallas. I loved the shop and after talking to Bill, I wondered if artlovemagic could be impactful in bringing an audience out to a new establishment like his.

We were. For the next year or so, we did monthly shows there that were a little bit of a twist on the artlovemagic model. We opened the mic up to the audience and brought out a handful of live artists for a free show. Attendance was strong right from the beginning.  And we noticed several people would show up month after month. Art & Coffee was a success.

These days, we’ve moved the show down to Deep Ellum and we do it at the wonderful It’s A Grind. Again, this just came from one of our leaders walking into the place and having a conversation with them. They asked us to come and do four shows (that were very successful) and then we contracted for the rest of 2010.

One of the great things about this monthly show, is now that we have a few HUGE shows under our belt (see Underground & girlShow), we’re pretty comfortable doing a show this size. (Art & Coffee usually has about 6 artists in it- girlShow this year will have 60). We’ve become masters at setting it up, and especially tearing it down. We’re usually out the door 30 minutes after Art & Coffee closes.

It’s also become a learning ground for new producers. Melody Hay,  Amanda Davis, Josh Dryk. Michelle McSpadden, and many more first learned the ropes producing A & C before moving on to our BIG shows. Producing A&C entails selecting a group of artists, running a pre-meeting, supporting their team through marketing and getting ready for the show, and then being the lead person on the floor night of.

Producing is a blast. I always say that the production role is where you really get to author the stories in ArtLoveMagic. It’s not for everyone, but I’m thankful that we’ve found a few really great producers who love putting these shows together. And I’m thankful that we have a few dedicated souls who love this show and help it happen every month. Deb, KZach, Mario, Bookworm, Hammer, Eddie, Dugger and others… thank you so much.

But the best part of Art & Coffee is the talent. I LOVE scheduling talent to do these shows. There are two groups to schedule each time Art & Coffee rolls around- the live artists who will create during the show, and the feature performers who hold down the mic. While most of the mic is open to the audience, we always have a feature poet and feature musician, who each perform twice during the night.

I believe having a feature performer does two things that work well within our mission. First, it ensures the mic will have some strong performances. Usually this isn’t a problem as our audiences are pretty talented. More importantantly however, I believe it can grow the artists. It’s easy to find an open mic to perform at. It’s less common to find a feature spot, where you’re asked to be a lead performer and to set the tone, performing multiple times, and being annouced as someone to pay attention to. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to find performers who play solo shows all the time, other times we get to bless someone who hasn’t been honored this way and they get to grow.

So where are we now? Mid 2010 and the shows have been incredible lately. Last night Josh Dryk produced an Art & Coffee that I thought was just fantastic, everything it should be: a strong group of diverse artists, great crowd, incredible open mic with excellent features.

The show goes on. I’m producing the next Art & Coffee myself (July 2nd, 2010). It’s a veteran show. Given that it’s only one week before girlShow, I needed to staff it full of Art & Coffee vets who already know what they’re doing (including people like Justin Nygren, Eddie Walker, Rachel Deniger, and Tim Dugger).

Josh and Kelsey are lined up to produce an upcoming Art & Coffee, as is Michelle McSpadden. We’ve talked about doing a “family” Art & Coffee that would happen mid-day and focus on stuff kids and adults can do together. We’re talking about bringing back the “painting with coffee” interactive that was so popular at Saxbys. We’re looking for new talent that want to create, sing, recite, and produce. All in all, we’re loving it.

Art & Coffee continues to happen first Friday of every month at It’s A grind. It’s a great show, a very welcoming show, and I’m proud to say it’s become an important puzzle piece in this crazy story that is ArtLoveMagic. Come hang out with us and see if you love it to.

-ML

Handmade Arts and Open Mic at Art & Coffee

Our March Art & Coffee show focused on handmade arts, like crochet, woodworking, jewelry and facepainting. It was a chance for us to feature some new and rarely seen artists who make functional, personal arts. We also brought our open mic back, inviting audience members to perform poetry and music.

One of the most fun things about Art & Coffee these days is how many local photographers show up with cameras, shooting all the cool stuff that goes down. These images are from audience member Vanessa Bates. Beautiful!

Thanks IT’S A GRIND for hosting us, and thanks Vanessa for capturing it all.