Preparing the Studio Space

Yesterday, I spent my first day in my new studio space. I was just there for a few hours to assess the damage to walls, windows and floors (this space has been empty since November) and to clean up a bit before I start painting the walls. I can't quite put into words my level of gratitude for the opportunity to work in this space. It's in a vibrant part of town and will allow me to widen my reach with gallery exhibitions, studio visits and ample room for classes and workshops.

This space is the brain child of Jay Bailey. He is already a staple at the Continental Gin Building and is currently in the process of expanding his studio work and classes. I'm thrilled that he's asked me to be a part of it. I've included some snap shots from my time in the space yesterday. I hope you enjoy watching the transformation of this space over the next few weeks!

Below is the main teaching space:

And the gallery space on the opposite end of the room:

Jay and his wife knocked down this doorway last week to expose the beam above and open the space up a bit. This breezeway connects the main room to my gallery space and studio:

A corner of my private studio:

The double doorway at the end of the hall leads to our studio:

A very cool old and functional freight elevator down the hall from our space:

Our studio is on the third floor of the building:

Here's a shot of Elm Street, looking towards downtown Dallas:

And here's a shot of the Continental Gin Building and its iconic water tower:

More to come!

Home from CAMP

I spent the weekend in the Texas Hill Country, just outside of Austin with a group of marvelously creative women. We were all attending CAMP: a Texas Style Council blogger's retreat. I was definitely one of the camp "elders", but their verve and vitality was really infectious. (Listen to me, I sound like an old rickety vampire sucking the youth juice from bypassing fashion bloggers).

The grounds were beautiful, although mostly cloaked in sheets of rain for the weekend. But we made the best of it and huddled around fireplaces, craft tables and iPhones. The camaraderie was certainly the highlight of this weekend of sisterhood, but the breakout sessions were also a nice bonus. I was also able to connect with my dear friend, Valerie, whose baby I helped deliver here in Dallas 3-plus years ago. She was my bunkmate, along with the extraordinary best-friend-team, Savannah and Jenny of Maiedae.

Photo by Chelsea Laine Francis

Every morning we were met with coffee, provided by TOMS and some sort of a social mixer or class. There was yoga, fireside chats and early morning lab sessions with the talented Angela Cruz from Squarespace. I've been hoping to unify my work, art, blog and art shop all in one place, and Squarespace is going to help me to do that! In the next few weeks, you'll see some big changes here at La Maison Boheme - and all for the better. Now I won't be spread across 5 separate platforms! No more bouncing between Blogger, Big Cartel, Tumblr, Paypal and Passionfruit Ads. Squarespace is a one-stop-shop and I couldn't be happier to be making the transition.

In addition to the social networking and crafting, we had a few wonderful keynote speakers who talked to us about thinking big, honoring your own voice, fearlessness and emotional breakdowns. The speakers were Jenny Lawson of The Bloggess, Bethany Joy Clark from TOMS, Caroline Recktor of Unfancy, Jess Lively of The Lively Show and Sophia Rossi of Hello Giggles.

We finished our time together with a really beautiful trust exercise. 

Sisterhood. It's so important.

Now I'm back home in Dallas with countless business cards, Instagram feeds to follow, all sorts of new inspiration and best of all, the creation of a cohesive blog and art website. (Sigh). Thank you to Indiana Adams, founder of the Texas Style Council, for one lovely last hurrah at CAMP. You and your team of volunteers did a beautiful job!

Me and Valerie

Houzz Tour | David & Jennifer Lancashire

After a six month hiatus, I'm back at Houzz.com this week with a new home tour article. I took some time off after the death of my brother in early fall. But spring is coming and its the perfect time to get back in the game.

This week, I featured an opulent and luxurious Dallas home owned by David and Jennifer Lancashire, designed by Suzan Davidson. This place is off the hook and it was such fun to photograph. Check out the full article and lots of other photos HERE.

See the full article HERE.

Artist Jay Bailey

I used to love painting figures and faces. For some reason, however, I let that part of my work fall away in lieu of more abstract and impressionistic work. But lately, I feel a change coming on. I'm at a point in my work where I'm ready to reinvestigate the human figure. I have a few portrait commissions on my plate, which I'm really enthused about, so I've been looking at the work of Lucian Freud, Gwenn Seemel, Valentin Serov and Modigliani for inspiration.

I've also recently begun following the work of Dallas figure artist, Jay Bailey. His work couldn't be more different than mine. He works on paper with watercolors. His restraint and specificity is phenomenal. I love his use of line and gesture to suggest something beyond the painting. He leaves the viewer to fill in the rest of the story. His haunting portraits highlight the subject's humanness and possible disenchantment with their circumstances. His work has a lilting, dark quality that I find truly interesting.

I'm so excited because Jay is teaching a figure drawing class in Dallas at Oil & Cotton in the new year. I haven't taken a technical art class in a million years, so I signed up!

All photos via Instagram - JayBaileyArt

For more information about Jay Bailey, see the sites below:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Instagram


Interested in other artist features here at La Maison Boheme?

America Martin
Marta Whistler
Isabelle de Borchgrave
Toby Klayman
Claire Basler
Jenny Andrews Anderson
Gween Seemel
Paco Camús
Phoebe Wahl
Anne Laddon
Constance Chantilis
Flora Bowley