Artist Feature:

I am excited to present to you this month's Artist Feature!  She is a local artist and designer based in Los Angeles, CA and is inspired by space, feminism, and other cool things! 

I present to you all....

Robin Eisenberg

I found out about Robin through Instagram. I had been browsing through my Instagram feed when I found a picture of one of her alien characters. I was so amazed by the bright colors that I clicked onto her Instagram profile to see what other cool things she had. All I could think of was, "Woah! That's pretty cool!"  Check out my interview with Robin below! Enjoy!

Fatima Alliyani: How long have you been drawing/designing for?

Robin Eisenberg: Since I can remember. I've been drawing (mainly elves and dragons as a kid...) but I started drawing full-time a few years ago.

FA: Did you always want to be an artist? Who or what impacted you?

RE: I definitely always wanted to find a way to work and be creative at the same time. I went through different points where I was trying to make music, or be a writer, but drawing was always a constant. I guess in the end I just gave in and was like "OK I'LL TRY BEING AN ARTIST EVEN THOUGH I'M REALLY KINDA SCARED" and it ended up working out the best out of all the things I tried.

FA: Did you go to school for design or was it more self-taught?

RE: Definitely more self-taught! My mom had a degree in art and I grew up in a really creative environment which was amazing. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. I was obsessed with fantasy novels growing up. I loved the illustrated covers! So I would draw a lot of dragons and elves and other weird, magical things all the time. I did start a minor in art while I was in college, but ended up majoring in English. Then spent most of my time drawing instead of studying. Haha.

FA: So I was browsing through your website and I was really brought in by all the bright colors and just the overall uniqueness of your characters. Tell me more about them!

RE: Thank you so much! I've always been obsessed with people-watching and also with space and aliens. I think my drawings just combine all the things I love [like] space, people, weird colors, sex, food, music, dogs, cities, and beaches, etc.

FA: What are some thing(s) you found difficult in the "create an design" process?

RE: Sometimes it can be frustrating when you find yourself feeling restless with your own work and wanting to re-invent yourself. It's way more fun to always be excited by your own work so when you hit a point where you're starting to get bored of your own stuff, you know it's time for a change of some kind. 

FA: I know LA brings out a mix of different artists and creates this giant arts culture, how do you distinguish yourself from other artists?

RE: I don't really think too much about trying to distinguish myself, to be honest. I just try my best to do whatever makes me feel excited and original. I always feel like if I'm thinking too much about other people's work and where I fit in, it's just distracting me from the more important (and more fun) aspect of being an artist.

FA: When you're not drawing, what are you usually doing?

RE: Driving around California, searching for the best boba in LA, reading in bed, or petting a dog somewhere.

FA: Are there any projects/collaborations that you are currently working on?

RE: I'm working on a super fun project with @fatjunkieshop! I don't wanna give it away but I'm really excited. I'm also starting to look into making clothes so we'll see how that goes! Exciting (and also scary again haha).

FA: Random Question- If one of your friends were to look inside your bag, what would they most likely find?

RE: A boba straw,. Gum wrappers, Business cards. 

FA: Lastly, are there any word of wisdom you want to share for those who are interested in pursuing design or art?

RE: Try to me motivated by the success of others instead of wasting time being jealous or spiteful. Focus on yourself and building up your own radness instead of dwelling on what you don't have or what you're not doing.

. 

Check out more of Robin's pins, patches, and designs on her website and don't forget follow her on social media for upcoming collaborations and some rad apparel!

Website: http://robineisenberg.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robineisenbergdraws

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robineisenberg/

A quick shout out to Robin, thanks for letting me feature you on my blog and allowing me to use some of your photos! Much appreciated.

Until next time,

Fati <3

*Photos courtesy of Robin Eisenber and Google

Artist of the Week:

"Gay Zebra"

William Holland

For local artist William Holland, imagination has no boundaries. Like his animal creations his techniques are pretty unique. With only using the mediums of ink, graphite, and watercolor he makes his doodles come to life filled with a whole lot of personality that makes you wonder how he comes up with his characters.

"Every piece has its own inspiration and it comes from all places"- William R. Holland

 "Drunken Panda"

 

"Radio"

 

Featured on many album covers, magazines, and t-shirt designs, I wanted to learn more about William and his artistic world. Check out his interview!

 

Me: How do you describe your style of art?

William: I leave that up to people who like to describe art.

 

Me: Your animal creations are really interesting, is there a certain theme/story behind them?

William: It didn't start that way. On a road trip I drew a bunny with a gun in a sketchbook that I threw in my closet when we got home. Quite a while later, I pulled out the sketchbook and then gun bunny was born. I started creating other animal characters soon after that with the idea of a comic book one day coming to light. The entire script is in my head but to date I still haven't laid ink to paper. One day.

 

 Me: How old were you when you first realized that this is what you wanted to pursue?

William: As a child I wanted to be many things. I was good at art but I never thought of it as a career. I was never one for structure so I failed almost every art class. I was often told that my artwork was weird. Plus we are taught from a young age that artists are starving and not appreciated until after death. It wasn't the most encouraging thing. It wasn't until about six years ago that I decided I should do something with it since I was starving anyway. I struggled with what many artists filled with angst struggle with... How do I not sell out but still make money?

 

I realized that by doing nothing with my talent and passion I was selling out in the grandest way. Now I am an artist but I also found another career I love working with people suffering from spinal cord and tramatic brain injuries. I started around the same time I started the art career and they both give me balance. Art is very personal and all about me. My work at QLI(qliomaha.com) is not about me at all. I have grown from all of this in ways I never imagined.

 

 Me: Any projects you're working on now?

William: I always have something going on. Whether it is commission work or personal. I am a part of Curbside Clothing (Curbsideclothing.com) which has been growing big and fast. They are a great group of artists to call friends and collaborate with. I also enjoy creating logos posters album covers and tattoos. I have my artwork in a few shops around Omaha and Lincoln as well as online @ Williamrobertholland.com Squcky.etsy.com. I sell my originals and have prints of my entire portfolio.

 

If you are interested in collaborating or want to see more of his artwork check out his websites:

http://www.williamrobertholland.com/

 

Etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/squcky

 

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/williamhollandartist

 Curbside Clothing

http://www.curbsideclothing.com/

 

Thanks again William for letting me interview you!!

 

From LA, With Luv

Fati <3

Artist of the Week:

(Photo by: allaccess.com)

Greg "Hot Boy" Lemons

Whenever I have a shift at the radio station, I always see "Hot Boy" jamming out to his music. It's always amusing just watching him spin and mix, catching the beat as the next song goes on. You'll always find him with his Beats headphones on swaying to the rhythm as he plays Today's Hottest Jamz.

At a young age, Greg "Hot Boy" Lemons never expected to go into radio, "I found myself writing down in a spiral notebook a whole bunch of ideas...I didn't plan on going into radio, radio was never my focus, it was never my goal" he says on a recent interview. But those ideas that he had have become a reality. Through his ongoing talents and skills he has not only become a well-respected DJ but also a well-known on-air personality for the local hip-hop radio station,  Power 106.9 here in Omaha, NE.

I had the chance to interview "Hot Boy" and learn more about his experiences and where he got his DJ name. Check it out.

"I didn’t know that on the inside of me I was really a radio-head". -Greg "Hot Boy" Lemons 

(In studio with Hot Boy)

Me: How long have you been a DJ and an on-air personality for?
Hot Boy: I've been in radio for 10 years and I've been an on-air personality for 8 years.

Me: Did you imagine yourself being an on-air personnel growing up?
Hot Boy: Well, when I was younger, I found myself writing down in a spiral notebook a whole bunch of ideas and I would just write them down because I thought they were funny. I would talk to my friends about them and I would talk to my family about them, not knowing that at the time, just graduated from high school that what I was doing was writing show prep. It wasn’t until years later, I went off to college and came back and I started. I was a DJ in the clubs and I would intern at a radio station and they would use my ideas from that spiral notebook and use them on air. And they really really worked. And it wasn’t until then to where I realized that I was onto something and I had been onto something before I went off to college. But before that, nah I didn’t think I was going to be in radio.

Me: What do you find interesting about radio?
Hot Boy: The most interesting part about radio is the amount of research that goes into it. Most people don’t know that there’s so much more to what comes out of your speakers than the things that you hear. The things that you hear are strategically placed, are strategically done, everything from when the commercials play, the exact time they play, to how many times you hear a particular song, to why you don’t hear certain songs on certain days of the week. It’s very strategic and it’s very very research driven. I was a biology major so I loved research and I didn’t know that radio has so much research in it. It’s a 24 hour a day 7 days a week research field platform.

Me: So what influenced you in being on air?
Hot Boy: The biggest influence for me was people telling me that I shouldn’t  do it, that I’m not going to make it in it, that it’s not a real career, it’s not a real job, it’s just a fad that I'm going through and pretty soon that I’m going to grow out of it. And those people encourage me the most.

Me: I know back in LA there’s a Power 106 and I know Big Boy does the on air personality, What’s the difference between Power 106 here in Omaha? Is there a difference between the two?
Hot Boy: There’s a huge difference, we just happen to be two radio stations with the same, well with similar frequencies. The Power 106 in LA is 105.9 and we’re 106.9 here. Since Power 106 is one of the largest rhythm stations in the country, it's a very, it's a very known brand. It’s a known brand and so for us to be able to use a brand that’s already known it builds some familiarity when people hear the name. When we first launched Power 1069 here in Omaha, there was no connection to the Power 106 in LA. We didn’t run Big Boy, we didn't utilize any of their research tools, none of the things that they've done we did. We were two totally different entities and the only thing we shared in common was a name. The guys that ran the radio station here had different ideas and different ideals than the guys in LA. And we just had a similar name. We just happen to get Big Boy’s neighborhood who was on Power 106 in LA cause he had a syndicated morning show and out of all the morning shows we sampled, he was the best fit for the radio station and the identity that we were trying to create, here in Nebraska. It wasn’t because he was on Power 106, it’s because his personality fit where the direction of the radio station was going here. Now I know that entire team out there and they’re a very very very research driven, brilliant team. But there’s a lot of differences. There’s more things that’s different about us than there’s similar about us. One of the biggest things that we really have in common is our name and our morning show. Outside of that, you know, we’re our own entity and our own brands.

Me: Where did you get your nickname ("Hot Boy") from?
Hot Boy: This is going to be interesting! I went to college in Northern Louisiana and I used to run with a whole lot of guys from New Orleans. In New Orleans, the city is broken down into the different police codes which are called wards. And each ward pretty much had a title and if you listen to a lot of music out in New Orleans it would show. Like you had the 3^rd ward soldiers out back in the late 90’s, the early 2000’s, No Limit made them very very popular, uh with Master P and all of those guys. The group of guys and gals I ran with was called the Hot Boys and the Hot Girls. And so in college, I was the Nebraska Hot Boy, cause I wasn’t from New Orleans but I ran with those guys and so I was the Nebraska Hot Boy. So when I moved back to Nebraska it made no sense to be the Nebraska Hot Boy in Nebraska, so just dropped Nebraska, and Hot Boy just stuck with me.

Me: What advice would you give someone who is interested in being an on air personality, working in radio or even being a DJ?.
Hot Boy: My advice would be don’t do it for the wrong reasons, don’t do it for popularity, don’t do it for money, don’t do it for credibility, don’t do it for self-esteem, do it because it’s your heart and it’s your passion. Do it because if you would never get paid, would you still do it. It could be 7 days a week and the gratitude that you have to get out of it has to be from self, it has to be self gratifying you have to be able to walk out of these doors at 2o’clock in the morning, look back at yourself and say I just did a damn good job. That’s the heart that you gotta have going into radio, that’s the mindset you gotta have going into radio.

Me: (Random Q) If you were to travel around the world, where would you wanna go and why?
Hot Boy: If it’s 2014, I wanna go to Brazil and go to the world cup cause I love Brazil and I love soccer. So to have the World Cup in the soccer mecca of the world, I gotta be there for that. And maybe have a Margarita!!!

A big shout out to Hot Boy for letting me interview him! I hope you enjoyed this good read!

Follow Hot Boy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hotboyradio

On the Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hotboystweet

From LA, With Luv
Fati <3
  



Artist of the Week

(Photo Cred. Nancy Lastra)

Nancy Lastra

Vintage... What is vintage?

 Is it the Old Hollywood glamour that sparks your attention? or Could it be the bright red lipstick that makes you want to pucker up and smile? 

Los Angeles native and photographer of Nancy Dolls Photography, Nancy Lastra, gives us her own definition of what vintage means through her array of pin-up photographs that makes you want to travel back in time to the 1920's, 30's, 50's and so on. Through her experiences as a previous pin-up model, she always felt that women should "embrace their curves and love themselves for who they are". With her ambitious talent and her love of the mid-century, she not only captivates the beauty of the old eras but truly brings out the beauty in every woman. 

"Everything I represent is a marriage of the timeless beauty of Vintage". - Nancy Lastra

Model: Miss Bri
Photographer: Nancy Dolls Photography
M.U.A.H: Shirley Garcia

Here's an interview that I did on the lovely, Mrs. Nancy Lastra:

Me: What got you into doing pin-up photography?

Nancy: I love the beauty of it. It was the fashion that got my attention and the effort [that] women put into looking glamorous all the time back in the 1950's. The hair, the makeup, and the wardrobe were always so perfect! I just love the confidence that [it] brings out in a woman when I do pin-up photo-shoots.

Me: Do you find the vintage era to be influential?

Nancy: Yes definitely! It's a very classy look and at the same time sexy. I feel like this look makes you look confident and also bring out your inner beauty. I have family members wearing hair-accessories in their  hair and rocking the red lips now and they look fear-less and I love it! I brought that to the family I love that I influence people to be confident and sexy and to love themselves. 

Me: How do you distinguish yourselves from other artists?

Nancy: To me pin-up is a lifestyle. I love the culture that brings what our beauty icons went through to become our idols. I love the beauty of it! I have a passion for it [and] I want to relive the 1950's in my photography [to] show the beauty of a woman in  the photo. 

Model: Billy Nova
Photographer: Nancy Dolls Photography
M.U.A.H: The Billy nova

Me: Do you think photography help's with accepting one's self image?

Nancy:  I have worked with many women and honestly [at the] end of the day what they tell me is, Thank You for bringing the inner beauty that I never thought I had. Specially women that had kids and they don't feel like they're sexy  [them]selves. I've seen women cry, because they thought they could never be sexy again. That's when I realized I have a talent that can make someone feel beautiful. [It] is a skill I know I am blessed to have. I DO NOT use Photoshop and people get really surprised when I tell them that I will not Photoshop anything. There are women that tell me to fix their stomach, their nose, fix their arms, and I tell [them] okay and when I show them their [edited picture], [they're] in shock when they see the picture and I let them know that all I edited was the colors. No nose or flatten[ing] their stomach. They cry because the person they see in the photo is really them and it's just a wonderful feeling! 

Me: What does vintage mean to you?

Nancy: Vintage represents the high quality of a past time, being the best of its kind.

Me: What is some advice you can give to mujeres or to anyone on accepting themselves?

Nancy: Follow your own heart, create your own style and be your own person. Because we are all unique and beautiful in our own way! People will judge you and put you down but it doesn't matter because there life lessons we only get ONE life let's make the best of it!

Model: Ms. Andrea- Pink Bow Magazine
Photographer: Nancy Dolls Photography
M.U.A.H: Shirley Garcia

You can follow Nancy on her photography page on Facebook at: 

https://www.facebook.com/NancyDollsPhotography

Instagram: nancydollsphotography

Interesting in doing a photo-shoot? Shoot her an email at: nancydollsphotography@gmail.com 

From LA, With Luv

Fati <3

Artist of the Week

 

(Photo by: William Pitts)

 

Lesley Perdomo

 

Whether it be sketching out a design for a chalk art festival or just hanging out in good ol' Venice Beach, California, Lesley Perdomo  has evoked many audiences with her giant chalk art pieces and her artistic flair. As a self-taught artist, she was introduced to the world of chalk art in 2005 and since then has found it to be something that she really enjoys and has been a growing passion. I had the chance to interview this amazing artist and learn more about her eclectic world of art.

 

(Photo By: William Pitts)

Me: So not a lot of people know about chalk art, can you define chalk art?

Lesley: Professional chalk artists are called Madonnari and that’s because back in the day when the soldiers came back from the war in Italy, and a way to give thanks they would write some things by their doorstep, something saying thank you Madonna for bringing me home. Lots of the local artist kind of started catching on that and they would draw these beautiful Madonnas with their chalk all throughout the city and that’s how they would make their living off of the tips that people would give them.

 

Me: What introduced you to it?

 Lesley: I got introduced to chalk art back in 2005, with my good friend Julio Jimenez, he was my art buddy at that time. The very first chalk festival we went to was in Mission Viejo and we did every mistake possible. We went completely unprepared... We went with an idea of what we might draw but again we went unprepared totally naive to the whole experience, didn’t even take kneepads, didn’t take sunblock, so the first day [we were] completely discouraged...

 

Totally brainstormed, signed up for the next chalk festival which was in Pasadena and we ended up, winning best 3D piece at that festival, so that’s how I got introduced to chalk art. I was complete novice to it and didn’t know but the more that I’ve been doing chalk, the more the I’ve been learning about its traditions.

 

Me: Out of the pieces you've done which one is your most memorable? 

Lesley: The second chalk piece that my friend and I ever did, I’d say that was one of the most memorable ones, because we really put our heart and soul into it and we won something that was just so great . We felt like we conquered it. It was a 3D piece [of a] girl laying down into a pool area. We finished it like super quick and we busted out some really great tricks and techniques and… More than anything I just remember the feeling of it. It was just a great sense of accomplishment and you can say that was a big turning point. I knew chalk was something that I wanted to do. 



(Photo by: William Pitts)

Me: What are some of the struggles that you have faced as an artist?



Lesley: Oh, there’s lots of different struggles, well I know one is say maybe just making a living off of it. I am horrible at pricing my work. 

Me: I know you mentioned this for your chalk art, but have you displayed any of your art in exhibitions or collaborated with other artists in the area?

 Lesley: Yes, actually, out in Long Beach there’s this really, really cool gallery its called The Liberty. Its this beautiful gallery and we have shows out there. Its just the perfect opportunity to show your work there and so that’s been the most recently art show that I’ve displayed my stuff.

 

Me: If you were in a deserted island and had to bring one thing, what would it be?

Lesley: An endless supply of coffee. If I can have my coffee I can start my day.

 

(Made by: Lesley Perdomo)

Check out more of Lesley's work and see where she will be "chalking it up next" on her website: http://www.lesleyperdomo.com/default.html

 

Follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Perdomodesigns

 

Happy Thursday!

 

From LA, With Luv

Fati <3