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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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

Bye Houston! Hey San Antonio!

8/18/14

We both had our first hostel experience last night/today. It was interesting to say the least but a good time. We got to catch up on our sketchbooks and relax for a bit and then explored a little bit of Houston. The Rothko Chapel was our first stop. For those of you who have never hear of it, we suggest you check it out. Rothko worked on these large scale paintings to fill a chapel and be used as a spiritual space for all religions and beliefs. It's an experience Andrea had always heard about in her time at The School of Visual Arts and finally got a chance to see it in person! There is no picture taking inside and for good reasons. That building was way too peaceful for something so harsh like technology but we did get some pictures of the amazing sculpture right outside.

We also found a swing next door hanging under a gigantic tree… looking at that just screamed southern stereotype and we were loving it.

The last place we visited in Houston was the Gerald D. Hines waterfall park. It was huge and very beautiful but to be honest I think the one thing we liked about it the most was the refreshing mist coming off of it because it was HOT today!


After driving for 3/4 hours we finally arrived at Doerte Weber's gorgeous home in San Antonio, TX. Doerte is a weaver by nature. Weaving has been in her family for years and she's picking it up again to create some really amazing pieces involving plastic bags and caution tape.

We plan to interview her during our 2 day stay in San Antonio but today she showed us around a bit and it felt like we both got a free tour of the city. Doerte knows where all the great galleries are and local art schools. We even got to see her studio space that is actually in the Southwest School of art. We drove through some galleries, shops, and local event locations off Guadalupe and also got to learn a little bit about the history and culture in San Antonio being so close to the Mexican boarder. We are excited to see what will be experienced in this city!

Until then, Goodnight!

SoapSkeptics
Andrea + Rosie