The Art of the Art Show: New Braunfels event, Art Haus at Pour Haus, has eclectic mixture of artists

The Art of the Art Show: New Braunfels event, Art Haus at Pour Haus, has eclectic mixture of artists

In a nearby historic Texas town sits one of the most unique venues that I've ever seen. With it's swing bar seats to it's indoor and outdoor bar, Pour Haus is a comfy little venue found in New Braunfels, TX. With it's artsy feel and craft brews, it should come as no surprise that this venue would be home to such an awesome art event such as Art Haus at Pour Haus.

Local Artists display their unique artwork at Art Haus at Pour Haus' last monthly event, FeBREWary.

Art Haus at Pour Haus is a monthly event where local artists can display their art of many mediums. I showed up to their latest event, Art Haus FeBREWary, in hopes of finding an artist to feature but much to my excitement, I ended up talking to the artist behind the unique event itself.

Kelsey Huckaby, Art Haus at Pour Haus' founder and organizer

The art at Art Haus at Pour Haus feature an eclectic mixture of mediums.

Homemade jewelry is displayed at this unique art event.

Inspired by friends in Austin and San Marcos who hosted similar events, Kelsey Huckaby, Art Haus at Pour Haus' founder and organizer says she started the event in September 2015. The eclectic mixture of artists is something one can't miss while walking through the venue. There are painters, jewelry designers, and even a booth with homemade essential oils. These events also feature live painting, fire spinning, and music performances.

Predominantly, the artists at Art Haus come from Austin and San Antonio. Kelsey says that these artists are either found by her or find her. The furthest an artist has come from to display at Art Haus was from Victoria, TX but I imagine this amazing event will spread further. 

An artist displays his colorful painted portraits at Art Haus at Pour Haus in New Braunfels, TX.

With over 20 artists in attendance, putting on such a big event like this has always seemed to me like quite the feat to accomplish and Kelsey says that it's been nothing short of a learning experience. "In the beginning it was definitely a lot more chaotic. Every event, I was learning some sort of new lesson and it's gotten easier over time but every time there is something new that I wasn't prepared for".

Homemade essential oils and body care on display at Art Haus at Pour Haus.

Kelsey credits Art Haus for her other work that has recently come her way after people saw what she was doing at Art Haus at Pour Haus. She currently curates a gallery at Texas State at the Gallery of the Common Experience and organizes Art Squared, a monthly downtown art market in San Marcos.

Overall, this event is definitely a must see for any art lovers and a must participate for any artists. I personally can't wait to see the artists at the next event and I hope to see you there too! 

By the way, the capacity of this amazing event was way too hard to gage with photos so I found it necessary to film a quick walkthrough of the event: 

All Art Haus events are from 7pm to 12am once a month at Pour Haus in New Braunfels, TX (386 W San Antonio Street, New Braunfels, TX 78130).

You can find more information on Art Haus at Pour Haus at: https://www.facebook.com/arthausnb/ 

The next Art Haus at Pour Haus event is on March 19th. 

RSVP Here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1670512146582770/ 

For information on displaying your artwork at Art Haus at Pour Haus, please visit: http://kelseyhuckaby.com/events/art_haus 

For more information on Pour Haus in New Braunfels, please visit: http://www.pourhausnb.com/ 

For more information on the Texas State Gallery of the Common Experience, please visit: http://www.txstate.edu/commonexperience/ or https://www.facebook.com/GalleryOfTheCommonExperience/ 

For more information on Art Squared, please visit: http://artsquaredsmtx.com/  or https://www.facebook.com/ArtSquaredSMTX/ 

The Art of Skateboard Art: Decking out with the art of local San Antonio artist Erik Ybarra

The Art of the Skateboard Deck:

Decking out with the art of local San Antonio artist Erik Ybarra

Image Courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra, Erik Ybarra.

Ah, the memory of skateboarding through the freshly paved streets in my childhood neighborhood on my brand new board. I had just gone to the local skate shop with my dad and he let me choose which skateboard art I wanted. I remember completely appreciating that awesome artwork and having the hardest time slapping stickers on my board but alas, I'd do it anyway. In this week's edition of Val's Art Voice, local artist Erik Ybarra chats with me about his artwork on the interesting canvas of a skateboard deck.

Erik Ybarra is a local San Antonio artist who's artwork has been featured through independent arts organization, RAW natural born artists. His art features anything from unicorns to friends in ethereal settings. It has a dark yet inviting quality to it. The pieces tend to draw you in and make you want to see more.

Video courtesy of RAWartists Media and The Art of Erik Ybarra, Erik Ybarra. 

When it comes to his pieces Erik says that you'll see him use a multitude of mediums, from acrylics airbrush, mechanical pencils, watercolor, and most recently oil. Erik has been making art for many years. Though, he has used a skateboard deck as his canvas his in the past, he has most recently jumped into it this past summer saying that it's a nice little challenge working with the space limitations plus "people get a kick out of it". And according to Erik, this kick has been had before. "Skateboard art has it's own culture and following... I've seen postings and what not of shows that are exclusively deck art". Erik overall says that the reason he loves doing skateboard art is that he likes that one can make something more than what it actually is by adding customization and uniqueness. 

Custom untitled deck piece by Erik Ybarra, courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra.

This interesting concept brings a thought to mind. Most artists squirm at the idea of their art having the potential to be destroyed or altered in some way. How does Erik feel about this? He laughs and says, "I actually get asked that a lot... my answer is once they buy it, it's theirs to do with it what they will. Even though I cringe at the thought of pieces I've done being destroyed or altered in some way, which has happened, I do enjoy that these in a sense become a functional art piece and they take on a whole new life". He adds that it's the nature of skateboards to be potentially destroyed. I can definitely attest to this as I think back to my first skateboard being broken in half. 

Courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra, by Erik Ybarra.

Though Erik currently sells most of his artwork on sites such as Vango and Deviant Art, his decks have not yet hit the internet waves. You can find these unique and awesome pieces at his street art shows such as an upcoming Art Haus show happening this next Sunday, February 12th (details at the end of this blog). 

All Images Courtesy of The Art of Erik Ybarra, by Erik Ybarra.

When asked what inspires Erik, he answers with a simple answer; Life. He says that he's inspire by darker themes such as "dealing with duality, relationships, psychology, states of being, and loneliness". He feels that people are naturally drawn to darker things and he's told that as far as his other artwork goes, people love how "chaotic some of the images are with the dripping but very attractive with the faces or figures. Like an imperfect perfection".

You can find The Art of Erik Ybarra at the following links: 

Facebook

Vango

Deviant Art

or at his next art show at Art Haus at Pour Haus on Sunday, February 12th, 2017. 

More details can be found at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/events/401488540196412/