abby stiglets: may 11th

Get ready! Abby is bringing us some killer works from her newest series. She will have a few of her larger oil paintings and some super affordable watercolor illustrations. The Plaza is also celebrating the Thunder this month so many of the businesses will be offering some limited edition Thunder gear. Come celebrate with us!

Check out Abby’s site here.

klair larason: april 13th

Klair is one of our favorite young aritsts. She attends Harding fine arts and you can guarantee if there is an art show around town she’s got work in it or will be there in person to lend her support. Her works are meticulously constructed from gum wrappers and some of the most original things we’ve seen.

The opening will be Friday April 13th from 7-11pm during Live on the Plaza.

sean vali & jason pawley: march 9th

This month we are featuring works by Sean Vali and Jason Pawley. You have probably seen their work around town a lot. Sean does live art performances around the midwest and has collaborated with many other artists around town. He is also creator of the “OKLAHOMEGROWN” line. Jason is an artist, graphic designer and co-owner of Buffalo Totem in the Paseo. He also has his own line of apparel that features his art work that he will be setting up for the show.

Also try to make it out to Momentum OKC 2012 put on by OVAC at the OKC Farmers Market, March 9-10 8-12pm.

jayce cogburn & jeremy watson: february 10th

This month will we have a killer lineup. Jeremy Watson is a young local artist who is showing his work for the first time and he’s brought a TON, including 15 original watercolor paintings for $20. We met Jayce last year at the Dustbowl artist market and fell in love with his characters he had painted on nesting dolls and canvas. Both styles blend together well so look forward to seeing their delightfully prismatic charicatures this second Friday. You can read our interviews with both artists below..

In shop, we’re almost halfway through the remodel and have added several new artists. We also have a nice selection of handmade one-of-a kind gifts for Valentines day in addition to our traditional line of disingenuous cards. You won’t be bored, promise.

Jayce Cogburn:
How would you describe your work?
I usually tell people its cute, bright, and a little humorous. It’s mostly a bunch of animals or creatures put in scenarios to either make people smile or to illustrate some sort of story.

What inspires you?
My inspiration comes from many different things; animals, folklore, or it could be as simple as a color that I want to use. I see colors somewhere and then start thinking of ideas to use that color in. Little stuff like that will catch my attention, so when I want to think of new ideas, I usually walk around busy places and just watch what is going on. Some of the stories I paint are actually ones I come up with when I narrate people’s lives while lurking around in public.

How did you get started?
I have been doodling since I was a kid, but I had never tried painting until about 6 years ago. My girlfriend Jill got really behind on her school work and asked me to help her finish some stuff for her art class. She got A’s on them all so I figure maybe I should keep going at it.

What are your goals for the future?
I hope to keep progressing with my painting. Maybe one day even get into different galleries and get to do some traveling!

Jeremy Watson:
How would you describe your work?
I would describe my work as that moment when you say something epic but then you realize that the scene is all wrong and it sounded cooler in your head.

What inspires you?
The main piece of imagery I use in my work, the colors on the cheeks and chin, is originally inspired by navajo legend and art. In the legends, whenever someone has a yellow chin or rainbow stripes on their face (which were generally red, white and turquoise), it meant that they had exceptional power.

I believe that there are probably a thousand things that influence my art on a subconscious level, but some pieces that I actively draw inspiration from are things that are cinematic in some way. Whether it’s a real life experience or something I could have read in a book, I like to think of an alternate scenario where one person involved would say an epic line or quote. That is where most of the words come from on my pieces. Of course, the viewer may not understand the meaning, but that’s kind of the point.  I want them to try and create the backstory themselves.

How did you get started?
Art, it seems, is in my blood. A lot of my family is artistically gifted. I really didn’t start doing anything art related until I moved to Oklahoma. At that time, it really didn’t expand beyond me drawing a bunch of bad anime characters.  However, once I started high school I started expanding and exploring my artistic creativity.

What are your goals for the future?
I’m hoping to have the opportunity to do many more shows in the future, and possibly attend college again. We’ll see.

teef & dust: january 13th

We’re beginning the new year with some of our favorite local artists, Tanner Frady and Dusty Gilpin. We showed some of Tanner’s work back in 2008 when we first opened the shop and have enjoyed watching his style grow. Dusty, of course, is a good friend and co-owner of Tree and Leaf clothing , our screen printers. Both have this kind of fun cartoony street character vibe complimentary to one another that people of all ages enjoy.

Over the next couple months, we will be redoing the store to create an actual gallery type space in back that will hopefully improve the flow of traffic during openings and give our artists a space they can feel free to fully customize. One day we hope to have a real gallery, but we are really excited to take that small step towards manifesting our dream. With the new gallery space we also hope to put together more group shows that welcome artists from all disciplines and styles. We’ve attatched a call for entries for our custom toy show this March, be sure to email us if you would like to participate for all the info. This month we are also clearancing out a lot of winter stuff like knit hats, hoodies, gloves etc…

kalee jones w: december 9th

It’s Christmas at DNA! Starting this weekend we will be open 7 days a week (Sunday 1-5) and offer a special weekend discount on a featured item from now until Xmas. Kalee Jones is our next 2nd Friady artist. Her lastest body created especially for the show entitled,”The Gentle Hunt”, is a series of colorful ethereal animals and a glass ornament installation. You can Learn more about Kalee’s work in her interview below.

This month’s featured vendor is Laurie Ingalls, creator of Lumpy Bits! You may have come in the store and done a double take upon seeing her creepy cute creations scowling, smiling crookedly or spitting their toungue out at you. We are totally in love with her work and she’s making us a bunch for 2nd Friday!

How would you describe your work?
Colorful.  Spontaneous.  Energetic.  Busy.
This current series is more narrative than any other body of work I’ve done.
The characters are suspended in a continuum of primordial color that has been stirred up by some sort of “happening.”  They look onward to an inevitable yet uncertain future.  A strange sense of sadness and uncomfortable wonder is present as these beings muster up the necessary strength of will to move forward.

What inspires you?
Being alive.  To be human on earth in this body and mind is a decadent experience.  I know that what comes out during my creative process is somehow a distillation of everything perceptual I have collected in this lifetime and possibly beyond.  The sky.  I have an endless reservoir of awe for the sky.  It is my visual playground.  It is the magnificent container that holds us all.

How did you get started?
Early on.  My mother was an artist who excelled in stained glass.  I believe this is where my extreme love of color was first fostered.  She allowed me to continually express myself through the arts.  It became the number one part of my identity I held tight to; Artist.  It was in my last year of college (2007) that I began painting in a serious way.

What are your goals for the future?
Future goals as an artist include but are not limited to a proliferation of paintings (as the only way to evolve is practice,) sharing these paintings with the world, expanding my repertoire to include installation and movement art, and possibly grad school to equip myself with deeper knowledge and leadership skills to emerge as a teacher or pioneer.  Both “teacher” and “pioneer” are undefined in nature at this point.

april & johnny delucia: november 11th

This Friday we are showing a new body of collaborative and complementary works by local artists Johnny and April Delucia. These two are gifted in expressing themselves with words and visual art while working together and individually on their passions. We asked them a few questions to get to know more about their process and what inspires these two to make creation a part of their lives and relationship:

How would you describe your work?
Johnny- “Heavy on the abstraction, less on the expression. I use music & poetry for expressing and confessing, while painting is my release from the deep stuff. Purely aesthetic …art for art’s sake. If the paintings were to say something, they would talk about asymmetry, balance, value, weight…you know, the elements.”
April- “Playful, Strange, Bright, Brooding, Heavy, Lazy, Loud… Eclectic! A mismatched mess of much.”

What/Who inspires you?
April- “Johnny inspires a great deal out of me, often.
I additionally seem to get rather motivated to create when I’m watching my Buster Keaton. Sometimes, listening to new wave. Other times, watching old cartoons does it…but I can not say for sure why.”
Johnny- “The two things that inspire me to paint are the same two things that inspire me to suck air every day:
The Original Source/Jehovah/God, & my wife April. In them, I have found every good thing. Everything I need.”

How did you get started?
April- “I got into things as a kid, did things I wasn’t supposed to. Overall, I wasn’t very good for awhile there… As opposed to punishment, my rents bought me some crafts & a journal. I went from breaking things to making things. I fashioned little knick-knacks & trinkets, then went on to writing poetry & short stories…& finally did my 1st painting at 15, with discarded house paint & old box lids.”

Johnny- “I’ve always painted but didn’t really know how or why until college, so I’ll say it started there.”

What are your goals for the future?
April- “Primarily, to be happy & healthy, rich in love & warmth, surrounded by family & friends…& our collected accomplishments in art & poetics, with as much drive as we have at this very moment..& more so.”
Johnny- “To reach people…a lot of them. Particularly those who are desperate or hungry. I’ve been there. More importantly, I’m no longer there. I’m on the other side of living, with a map & a megaphone. I have a moral obligation to tell others…and I hope they benefit from my story.
Fine, I’ll just say it… My goal is to change the world. Yours should be too.”

You can see Johnny and April’s work through the end of the month.

We will also have a special sale in store on select shirts and accessories to make room for holiday stuff. Knit hats, scarves and gloves are all out and we are ready for Fall!

Hello friends, we would like to extend an invitation for our 3 year anniversary celebration and group art show. Click here for our Facebook event to RSVP.

This year we are focussing on our city by giving artists prints of several downtown buildings to customize. So much of our downtown landscape is changing and with it the desire for more public art. Some of the places we have chosen for the show are up for sale or have been sold and will no longer exist as we have know and loved them for years and we would love to capture some of our favorite places for posterity.

We will also have lots of new stuff in store including a redesigned limited edition “Support Local Art” shirt in different colors, 10 goodie bags with lots of free stuff from us, Blue 7, and other local businesses for the first people through the door. (One of these bags will have 2 free tickets to the Girlie Show!) Music by the Friskee Dj’s Live art performance and catering by Pachinko and Sara Sara Cupcakes.

We would also like this to also be a kick off for more group art shows that dont fall on second Friday that will happen every few months starting in 2012 and include artists of all styles. Keep an eye out for more group shows in the future.

josh heilaman: october 14th

We are ecstatic to show one of our favorite artists and good friends! Josh Heilaman is known for his fantastical asian inspired characters and colorful furry creatures. His newest series includes some mixed media 3 dimensional reconstructions modeled from his paintings. We will also have handmade costumes from 3 of our local designers Shift 7, Borderline Designs, and Lumpy Bits. Stay tuned for our next post about our 3 year anniversary group show!

buying art, supporting artists

In celebration of our 3 year anniversary this month, we thought it was important to make a case for purchasing local art. You all know we are huge fans of local art but we are also collectors of sorts and have been for years. When we were first married and both gainfully employed we put together a budget for art. $50 a month. It was actually very easy to find work for that much and if we didnt purchase that month we rolled it into the next month. Every weekend we went to art shows all over and that was our exclusive source of entertainment for years. We got to meet artists and network and put together group shows, it was so energizing to be immersed in the local culture. One of the reasons we felt so passionately about buying things regularly was that we are artists as well and the feeling of validation and support you feel when you sell is unmatched. For us it was important not just to talk about supporting them but to give them our support. I never understood how people would say “that’s expensive” or “I dont have the money” then turn around and drop $50-$100 at the bar, or on a piece of clothing that would be out of style the next season. At least with art, you can almost guarantee that the value will increase over time. It doesnt go out of style, it doesn’t just flush through your system the next day, it’s with you for as long as you like. There’s a greater reason as well. If artists can’t make a living they will leave, simple as that, they will go to a state where the culture is thriving and they hopefully get to be appreciated and validated and make a living if they are lucky enough to get noticed. No one has been able to convince us yet that the same culture that exists in New York, Los angeles, Portland, Seattle does not exist here because we have absolutley have seen it! The point of this rant is not to guilt or shame anyone into buying art but rather think hard about where you put your money because you really do vote with your dollar. Are you putting it towards things you feel passionately about? Dont be afraid!

Here’s some ideas for places where art can be bought affordably:

• Salons, Coffee shops, Restaurants- Usually when we see art in these places it is emerging artists that are basically giving away their work
• Retail stores- Certain retail stores around town show artist monthly or carry art on a regular basis
• And yes galleries! I know of one place here in town that does payment plans for purchases and it’s 100% up to you when you pay it off

There are also a few ways to support artists using little to no money:

• Show up to the opening- most of the time you will get free refreshments and get to meet the artist personally
• Tell your friends!- Be a promoter of the local culture and share your favorite artists with friends and family
• Ask about and buy prints, they can range from $5-$200 but usually they will be of good to great quality so you can enjoy the art on a budget
• Many artists these days are merchandising their works so in addition to prints you can also buy tshirts, stickers, buttons, accessories and more.

So that’s it. We are blessed beyond measure to be able to serve our community and bring artists together and are looking forward to more collaborations, group shows and events in the future that bring us all together to support local art.