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

Day 3: 8/11/14

Yesterday was a slowwww day. We woke up in our cabin in the Applachian Center for Craft and explored around. We met with Jeanne Brady, the head of the Fiber Arts Department and she showed us around the campus. We got to see some of her amazing work in her studio as well. She led us to THE BEST RESTAURANT in Smitheville, which was surprisingly Mexican! It was sooo good. Rosie and I then ended up exploring a bit, we walked down to the river that surrounds the area. Soon after it started to downpour for the rest of the afternoon so we just stayed inside and took it easy: painting, napping, watching movies, etc.

Drawing in the rain

The Appalachian Center For Craft

In the evening we met with our neighbor, Kelsey, who is an amazing fiber artist working primarily with embroidery. She was ever so kind and made us dinner! She is the next interview, but it's not ready yet so that will probably be featured in tomorrow's blog post.

collecting plants for our TN weaving

We ended the night with a much needed viewing of Britney Spears' classic, Crossroads circa 2002. We can really identify with her struggles on the road... we also may have a little bit of cabin fever. But that's okay because we're about to go out to the river for a nice little swim today! The weather is beuatiful in TN right now, so we're going to take advantage before we head to Atlanta to interview with Lynn Sisler.

Until then, folks!
~
SoapSkeptics

Day 2 On The Road

mountain Fiesta Pancakes and sausage

Good Morning from Appalachia Center of Craft, TN!

Our morning at Mountain Fiesta was wonderful, had some pancakes and sausage made for us at the sweet B&B! We then packed up, said our goodbyes to the lovely hosts and made our way to Asheville to meet with our FIRST interviewee.

We spent our day with JoAnna Carroll in Asheville, NC; visiting her studio, home, and garden and eating lunch at The Lucky Otter with her house mate Jan. She was a true inspiration to us, talking about life journeys and emitting the happiest of vibes! It seemed to be so serendipitous too because she contacted us the DAY BEFORE and said she was willing to be interviewed- when we honestly didn't even have an interview lined up for Asheville yet! She saved the day and all the while MADE our day. A day so full of human connection that we didn't really take many photos, unfortunately. But we do have our interview with JoAnna uploaded and ready for you all! You can also see it at www.vimeo.com/soapskeptics

After departing with JoAnna, we took a mini adventure down to the French Broad River where we collected some sticks, leaves, plants, and other raw materials to put in our weaving that will represent the state of North Carolina. Here is the finished product:

We put our card on it and left it somewhere in Downtown Asheville for someone to find. We don't have much room in our car, so we decided to just make the weavings then leave them around and hopefully people who find it will appreciate it, the weavings are like us... ephemeral in each city, coming and going and not many people notice.

We walked around and looked at some shops, got some post cards we'll be sending out soon, and got some AMAZING cold brewed coffee. Then, we hit the road for Nashville, TN. 

It was the SUPER MOON! So we had to pull over and take some pictures...

We arrived at the Tennessee Tech university Center for Crafts around 8:30 pm where we were greeted by the security guard and he gave us a key to this wonderful, less humble, abode where we will be staying until Tuesday. Today we are getting ready to meet with Jeanne Brady, the woman who set us up with this shelter and has been supporting our project since we contacted the Center for Craft way back in April.

Time to begin the day! Peace ~

Andrea + Rosie

SoapSkeptics

Destination Moon Music and Art Festival 5/31/14

The Art Work & Installations Exhibited by Andrea Garcia of SoapSkeptics at the Destination Moon Summer Festival 2014!

Andrea collaborated with Mac Milsark to create this fun interactive aquatic trash themed installation for the festival. The installation consists of a large weaving made of scrap materials, packaging materials, and assorted fabrics, plastic bag sculpture, and chicken wire sculptures, along with some crochet bed sheets by Andrea.

To view more of Andrea Garcia's professional work visit: www.andreagarciavasquez.com

To view more information on Destination Moon visit: www.destinationmoon.us

Oh Hey, Rosie!

Between Bands

End of the evening, enjoying some Irish Improv

Irish Singing Circle

~

Peace

 

Special THANK YOU to everyone who has been supporting our project!
We have 28 days to go and $3,459 left to reach our goal. 
Please share this with fellow art supporters and appreciators:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1793708100/soapskeptics-traveling-across-usa-to-film-art-and

For those of you who are new to follow SoapSkeptics, we are two artists from New Jersey. We recently began filming short interviews with local artists about how today's culture influences their art practice and the way they view art.

We are doing this because in the present moment, SO MUCH is happening-- not just in the art scene, but in our society as well. Culture and art go hand in hand. We want to capture a little chunk of today's history and society so that one day we can look back on this time of information overload and maybe try to make some sense of it... or just a little part of it. 

Traveling across America to interviews local artists of all mediums will help us collect a wide variety of perspectives and influences. These interviews and our experiences will be filmed by us, produced by us, edited by us, and exhibited by us as a full length documentary film.

We will also be making our own art while on the road. We plan to make a weaving to represent every state we stop in; each weaving will be soley made our of raw natural materials found in that location. Along with our weavings, we will have our own personal sketch book which we will draw/write in throughout our journey and we hope to even collaborate with some of the artists we meet with. All of these art works will be published into a book that will serve as OUR OWN visual interpretations of our trip. 

So please, check out our kickstarter and help us reach our goal of $5,000 by the end of June.

Thank You & Peace,

Andrea & Rosie 

SoapSkeptics

!!! 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.

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