Last full day in San Antonio

8/20/14

Day 100… just kidding it's only day 11!
Today started off with some sketchbook doodles and coffee on the balcony of our lovely hosts', Carlos and Bri Lozano's, apartment. Then we ventured back to the Southwest School of Art to interview Doerte Weber. Doerte was born in Germany but moved to Texas in the 80's, she had some great things to say about how her German background has pushed her to be organized, determined, and hard working and how the opposing culture of Texas has allowed for her to be more open and susceptible to change, life, and color in her work. She was working on a large scale weaving during the interview made of plastic. Weber is inspired heavily by the environment and also how people use news and media to communicate. The piece will be an interactive installation "The Yellow Brick Road" at San Antonio's art event, Lluminaria, in November. [more info: http://luminariasa.org]












After the interview we met with Casey, the exquisite woman we met/interviewed yesterday and the four of us girls went out to lunch at this awesome pizza joint that we can't remember the name of! But as soon as Andrea took a bite she said "Wow, this is good pizza for the south." So… it was good.

This trip has been opening so many doors for us, and it has taught us so many lessons and introduced us to so many wonderfully inspiring people thus far. Thank you to Doerte and Casey for welcoming us into this city, showing us around, and just being yourselves- strong, independent, & artistically inspiring women!

After parting ways, we went to the historical Alamo! Neither of us are big historians and it was way to hot to stand there and read all the panels with information... so we honestly can't tell you anything of importance about it…. BUT they had some AWESOME cacti and gardens. We walked around sunny San Antonio, ate some gelato, went to an awesome art store and bought some supplies we've run low on, and headed to a hiking trail for our weaving! Andrea sang and played on the ukelele while Rosie made the weaving for Texas. We haven't taken photos of it yet because the sun had already set when we finished so we will do that in the morning.

Now we are getting ready to pack up and go to New Mexico tomorrow early in the AM- a full 12 hour drive over there. But we're staying with Andrea's aunt, Eugenia and her partner Stefanie. SO EXCITED for the desert and sun, family and good vibes. We are going to bed early, so goodnight ya'll! Texas you have been great to us, and maybe we will return in November for the Luminaria!

Goodnight everybody~

SoapSkeptics
Andrea + Rosie

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@soapskeptics

8/19/2014 San Antonio

8/19/2014

Howdy Ya'll !

Today we started the day off early and got some work done on our sketchbooks. We were able to make some breakfast and start exploring San Antonio by 11 am. Doerte Weber gave us many suggestions on where to go and what to do, so we began with the Southwest School of Art.

Public Library- awesome architecture!

At the Southwest School of Art, there is a public library filled with public art including a beautiful glass blown chandelier that was just MIND BLOWING! Then we made our way to the gallery space of the school where we saw some impressive fiber arts, ceramic works, paintings, and mix media art works. The Southwest School of Art has recently become a credited university for one to obtain a BFA, but prior to that, it used to be a place to learn about paper making, printmaking, fiber arts, ceramics, and painting via workshops and classes. This school is the only real art school in San Antonio, and based from our own personal observations, it has a very open minded mentality which allows for students and faculty to express themselves uncensored by "high brow art culture/institutions" which we found really inspiring.

We walked around sunny San Antonio for a bit and grabbed some food at The Cove where we were pleased to find $2 PBR's and some delicious burgers… and outdoor seating! Doerte got us in touch with a fiber artist around our age named Casey Galloway.

Casey Galloway @ Southwest School of Art Gallery

Casey was interested in our project and was more than willing to do an interview. So after lunch we met with her at the Southwest School of Art and got to see more of the fiber studios, talk to her about fiber culture, San Antonio culture, and how she gathers inspiration to create her art works. She is a native to this city and was brought up by a grandmother who was very knowledgable on herbs, natural dyes for fibers, and gardening and she has carried most of those young seeds into her practice. She has recently been given the position to be the head of the department for the Bachelors of Fine Arts in the Fiber Arts department for the Southwest School of Art which is a HUGE DEAL and we are SO EXCITED for her to make some awesome positive changes. Casey expressed to us that most of the people who take these fiber arts classes tend to restrict themselves into the traditional technique of fiber art and weaving, but we all seemed to agree that in 2014, SO MUCH can be done experimentally, artistically, and sculpturally with yarn and a loom. We can go on and on about our conversation with her today, but we'll save it for the documentary.


But check out Casey Galloway's work here: www.caseygalloway.com || and also check out her company Wool Tree Yarn hand dyed yarns: http://www.luckyeweyarn.com/wool-tree-yarn.html





But check out our MAMAS! They got together today and had a nice little dinner on Andrea's porch and texted us this picture. #1 SoapSkeptical moms <3<3

Downtown San Antonio

Exploring little shops at El Mercado

After our interview we hung out, explored some stores at El Mercado, got some ice cream, and made out way back to the Lozano's apartment to get ready for dinner. Carlos was talking about some real authentic Mexican seafood restaurant called El Bucanero, so we went…. and it was GOOOOOOD. Good food, good music, and good company all around!




We're living the slow life here in San Antonio, there's not much else to report on except that we have been enjoying this sunshine, enjoying the friendly people, observing the plants, nature, and culture and just soaking it all in.


Hope you all are having a good weekend and stay tuned because tomorrow we will interview Doerte Weber and explore some more of this beautiful city before heading out to New Mexico on Thursday!


Peace!

SoapSkeptics
Andrea + Rosie

Pitstop in Mobile, AL then to New Orleans!

8/14/14

Today was yet another great day. We woke up in Atlanta and now we are about to fall asleep in New Orleans but let us tell you all about what went down today! First we had awesome breakfast burritos made by the one and only Hannah Holst (thanks, girl!) and then we were back on the road heading towards Mobile Alabama. The south continues to amaze the both of us with their beautiful landscapes and outrageously friendly communities!  We met up with Ally Clements who has been living in Mobile for most of her life and makes beautiful jewelry out of animal bones. Ally is always on the lookout for roadkill because thats where she gets her bones from! This girl is pretty badass… she finds these dead animals and tries to use every part she can to incorporate it into her work. If the skins are salvageable shell keep them for other projects, like practicing her taxidermy, or just as a nice conversational decoration piece but her main focus is on the bones! She has been really pushing the art community in Mobile to become more lively and explosive. She will be at the RAW ARTS festival down in New Orleans next week- so if any of you viewers are in the area, look out for her boutique jewelry made of bones.



You can also buy her beautifully crafted gems online at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BarelyBonesBoutique





















Now we are staying in New Orleans with a friend from our hometown in NJ, Tessa! It's gonna be a fun weekend down in NOLA. Can't wait to share it with ya!

Keep up with what we're doing on Facebook and Instagram as well!
@soapskeptics
Facebook.com/soapskeptics.1

Peace ya'll!!

Andrea + Rosie
SS

Hotlanta: Days 4 & 5

8/12/14

Indigo leaves from the Garden at Appalachia Center for Craft

So we'll start off saying that the trip to the river failed. We were packed and ready to go walk the trails and enjoy the morning but the spiders and their webs forced us to turn around… Spiders: 1 SoapSkeptics: 0. Instead of doing that we visited Kelsey and Jeanne in the Fiber arts studios. Kelsey showed us some of her amazing work! All of it was so beautiful and delicate you couldn't help but feel relaxed around it. Very inspiring. Our time at the Appalachian Center for Craft was amazing. We got to experience some great nature and explore wonderful studios, met with Jeanne Brady who has been supporting us since the beginning, and also Kelsey who inspired us in so many ways. Thank you ACC for accepting and welcoming us into your community. Hopefully we'll be back sometime soon!

Our TN weaving

Next stop, HOTlanta! Avondale Estates to be exact, where we met with Lynn Sisler. Lynn creates some great paintings/collages involving animals. Her reasons for incorporating animals into her work are pretty eye opening and definitely force the mind to think a bit. You can check out her interview in the next couple of days to find out what exactly she has to say.

One of Andrea's friends from school, Hannah, is from Atlanta so we just met up with her and her friend  Mel. Although it's only been a few hours, we must say that it is so lively, fun, warm, and eclectic! Definitely feeling some good vibes over here. Got to relax for a bit then hopped over to MOTHER, a cool little bar and taco joint near the heart of Atlanta. Mel offered us a place to stay and we couldn't be more thankful! The road has been good to us.

Although Andrea did all of the driving today, I think its safe to say that with all the running around and altitude/climate change we both are beat. Tomorrow we plan to explore the city and see more of this glorious place.




~~~~

8/13/14


So last night, Andrea has an accident and spilt half a bottle of sumi ink on her laptop, right on the key board, after a night of draining it out and cleaning it, and putting it in rice, it still doesn't work. It's unfortunate, but we are going to be unable to edit and post videos, Rosie's computer is too old to update the iMovie software. It's an obstacle we'll manage to overcome for sure. Aside from that…


WE ARE IN LOVE WITH ATLANTA!
Today was a good day! We started off at Highland Bakery for brunch with Hannah and then went back to her place in Buckhead. You guys… the SoapSkeptics gals were stunned! Hannah's mom welcomed us into her gorgeous home with open arms and was genuinely interested in our mission on this road trip. It doesn't cease to amazes us how supportive so many people are of our mission.










We spent the afternoon adventuring through the Glass Objects Studio, Gallery, and Smoke Shop space. Mel works there and gave us the grand tour, she then demonstrated blowing glass into marbles. It was awesome. Then Hannah and Mel showed us around Atlanta's street art murals. There is an event happening on Saturday called Living Walls so a bunch of muralists are hanging around Atlanta painting on the walls. We decided for dinner we needed fried chicken from the south. So

Mel took us to a spot she'd been wanting to go to called Harrold's Chicken and Ice- but it also has the name Harold's Chicken Shack. Luck for us, it was comedy night at Harold's so we also got a live comedy show to accompany our friend chicken, mac and cheese bites, and fried okra. After dinner we went to a local with signs that say: "CHURCH it's a bar". We met some really amazing folks here in ATL. Hannah and all of her friends were so sweet to us, so open, friendly, caring and helpful! The south sure knows about hospitality.

Something about the liveliness and influx of art and culture in this city really made us feel comfortable and inspired. Would love to come back and explore this city to even greater depths. Thank you to everyone who has helped us thus far, this experience has already been life changing and it's only been 5 days.

Now we are going to head to Mobile, Alabama for an interview then end the day in New Orleans where we plan to stay for the weekend. Until then, goodnight and be well.

Andrea + Rosie
SoapSkeptics
@soapskeptics

Artist Perspective: Tegan James

Artist Perspective: Tegan James

This week's featured artist is Tegan James, an artist based out of Metuchen NJ. Tegan James takes inspiration from the rainbow after the storm, listen as the journey of transgender and LGBT issues influence they ways in which Tegan James creates lively abstract paintings and how spirituality and acceptance has brought the artists to all of the right places at the right times. Creator of GALA Magazine, featuring LGBT artists online, and exhibiting in the local book store which we also filmed the interview in, To Be Continued... Tegan James has a very open mind about what art is and CAN be.

Keep up with what Tegan James is up to:
Teganjamesart.com
facebook.com/jerseytaurus143
twitter.com/teganjamesart
twitter.com/gala_magazine
instagram: tegan.james77

SoapSkeptics is made up of Andrea Garcia and Rosie McNeill, we are embarking on a road trip August 8- Sept 15 to continue to create interviews and documentaries such as this one with other local artists across America. Stay tuned with what we are doing and have done in the past:

www.soapskeptics.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/soapskeptics.1
www.vimeo.com/soapskeptics
instagram: soapskeptics
soapskeptocs@gmail.com

Peace~

Artist Perspective: Conner Calhoun

ARTIST PERSPECTIVE: CONNER CALHOUN

Conner Calhoun is a 20 year old artist of many mediums such as printmaking, drawing, painting, fiber arts and many more. He is from North Carolina and currently lives in Brooklyn. In this Artist Perspective, we talk about ideology and Conner's illustrative prints being inspired by culture and how people relate to the metaphors in his compositions.

To see more of Conner's work visit:
www.connercalhoun.com

SoapSkeptics is an art group made up of Rosie McNeill and Andrea Garcia. We are traveling across the country in August 2014 to meet with more local artists [of all mediums] and discuss how culture and society shape the ways in which they make/view art.

Keep up with what SoapSkeptics is doing:

Blog: soapskeptics.blogspot.com
Instagram: @soapskeptics
Facebook: facebook.com/soapskeptics.1
Youtube: youtube.com/soapskeptics
Vimeo: vime.com/soapskeptics
Email: soapskeptics@gmail.com

Help us make this project possible- visit our Kickstarter Campaign to help us reach our goal of $5,000
kickstarter.com/projects/1793708100/soapskeptics-traveling-across-usa-to-film-art-and

New Artist Perspective Interview about Art and Culture with Boat Shoes, a local musician from Metuchen, NJ.

Artist Perspective: Boat Shoes

Boat Shoes is an experimental musician who is more commonly known as Jon Johnson. SoapSkeptics visits his home in Metuchen, NJ and he talks with us about the cultural music of hip hop he grew up with, it's transition into more electronic psychedelic sounds, and how he sees the music game transforming in the future. Boat Shoes also talks about how he makes music, what inspires him, and how he imagines America to be coming into a state of openness with society and new "weird" things are to come!

Check out more sounds from Boat Shoes at: www.boatshoesz.bandcamp.com

SoapSkeptics is an art group made up of Rosie McNeill and Andrea Garcia. We are traveling across the country in August 2014 to meet with more local artists [of all mediums] and discuss how culture and society shape the ways in which they make/view art.

Keep up with what SoapSkeptics is doing:

Blog: soapskeptics.blogspot.com
Instagram: @soapskeptics
Facebook: facebook.com/soapskeptics.1
Youtube: youtube.com/soapskeptics
Vimeo: vime.com/soapskeptics
Email: soapskeptics@gmail.com

Help us make this project possible- visit our Kickstarter Campaign to help us reach our goal of $5,000
kickstarter.com/projects/1793708100/soapskeptics-traveling-across-usa-to-film-art-and

!!! KICKSTART CAMPAIGN TO BE LAUNCHED MAY 14 !!!

Local Metuchen, New Jersey Artists (Andrea Garcia and Rosie McNeill) are embarking on a trip across North America to discover the relationship between our quickly-evolving culture and art practice in 2014.

SoapSkeptics is traveling to and supporting other local artists across America in order to create a documentary on the subject, collaborate with the artists, and create a new form of community which can only be obtained through  human interaction.

We are ALSO publishing a book which will consist of handmade weavings we create out of raw materials in every city/town we stop in along with our drawings and writings from our personal sketch books. The book will be the way in which WE visually represent our journey and experiences across America.

For more details, stay tuned for our kickstarter which will be launched on May 14- help us reach our goal of $5,000 to make this project happen !!!!

Help us get the word out about our mission and if you are interest, please feel free to contact us, follow us, like us.

@SoapSkeptics
www.soapskeptics.blogspot.com
www.vimeo.com/soapskeptics
soapskeptics@gmail.com

Support local artists!!
Peace.

An Interview with Amanda Spinosa

Amanda Spinosa helped SoapSkeptics MAJOR by silk screen printing our business cards. In exchange, we offered to interview her about her views on today's society along with her art practice and work. She was more than happy to participate and gave us some interesting topics to talk about on feminism, nationality, and technology shifting the way in which art is being produced.

To view more of Amanda's work visit:

Instagram: frickinheck

Email: amandaspinosa@yahoo.com

Website: amandaspinosa.com

Here is the final product of our interview:

Andrea Garcia of SoapSkeptics celebrated the end of her studies at the School of Visual Arts

May 1, 2014
Andrea Garcia of SoapSkeptics exhibited her works in the Visual and Critical Studies Program Open Studios at the School of Visual Arts. This evening of art appreciation was the final step until she graduates with her fellow amazingly talented peers.
Here are some pictures of the exhibition along with SoapSkeptics enjoying the installations.

To see more of Andrea Garcia's fine art work visit: www.andreagarciavasquez.com

Our Mourning Mother I & II
Wood, Acrylic, Yarn, Mask

Feelings of White and Tan
10 ft weaving made of wool yarn and cotton string

Placenta
7 ft interactive sculpture
chicken wire and 100% virgin wool

Self Portrait.
Twine and Wire

The Way Things Hang and The Way Paths Cross
Nylon Rope and Linen

Andrea and Rosie from SoapSkeptics with friend, Agatha :)

Untitles Landscape
Rebar, wood, linen, paint