September 2023

Media

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

Welcome back to another episode of Meet the Artist. This is a product of the Tucson Gallery. We’re located at 300 East Congress Street. We’re in downtown Tucson and we’re in a busy corner here of Fifth and Congress across from the Hotel Congress. Been operating here since December and every week or a couple of weeks we get one of our artists to come in and share their story. It’s called Meet the Artist and as part of that we record a podcast. So if you want to learn more about the live events, come on over to the TucsonGallery .com website and there you’ll find a calendar of events and more importantly you’ll find a newsletter you can sign up for once a month to get updates as to all the cool stuff happening. And I will tell you as we’re recording this, we’re getting into fall. So we’re recording this in September of 23, getting into the fall, there’s all kinds of cool stuff. Have you been on that newsletter? You would have had Andrea Rodriguez join, get the information about her Meet the Artist event because she brought all kinds of goodies and food with her. You’re the first artist to cook for us. Oh, thank you. Yeah, well thank you. Welcome to the show.

Andrea Rodriguez

No, thank you Tom. I appreciate it. My name is Andrea Rodriguez and I’m super excited to be here tonight.

Tom Heath

Well, we’re excited to have you. I was excited to have you based upon your art, but then when you walked in with a plate full of food and you have like, what did you bring? You brought like apple strudel?

Andrea Rodriguez

Yeah, I’m a slave today in the kitchen completely for you guys and for anybody who will come tonight. But I make from homemade and traditional Czech apple strudel to spinach quiche to puff pastries to chlebíčky, which is kind of like a traditional Czech open sandwiches and some wine and fruit.

Tom Heath

This is why you have to sign up for these newsletters because you’re going to miss that. By the time you hear this recording, all that food’s going to be gone because I’m probably going to have most of it. It just looks fabulous. And you’re an artist as well. So that’s even more amazing. But you mentioned it’s a traditional Czech dish. So I understand from your biography that you grew up in the Czech Republic.

Andrea Rodriguez

Yeah, I was born in Komunis in 70s in Czech Republic. It used to be Czechoslovakia, so now it’s Czech Republic. And I came to the United States when I was 19 years old by myself.

Tom Heath

What prompted that trip?

Andrea Rodriguez

Well, my mom’s sister emigrated in 68 when there was some Russian thing happening and all the stuff. But they emigrated in 68. So I always know when, if the wall will come down, that we will have the opportunity to come and over here, you know, and then I fell in love with America.

Tom Heath

Wow. At age 19, you made this. I can’t even imagine. I mean, that’s.

Andrea Rodriguez

Yeah. Now when I’m looking back, because this year is actually my anniversary of 30 years. That’s bold.

Tom Heath

That’s very bold. Yeah, absolutely. So did you did you know you were coming to Tucson or how did you end up in Tucson?

Andrea Rodriguez

No, they actually used my uncle and aunt’s restaurant, Czechoslovakian restaurant on Prince Road. I used to call the Mountain View. And that’s why I ended up in Tucson, because I have relatives here.

Tom Heath

Oh, I know the Mountain View restaurant.

Andrea Rodriguez

Yeah. Now it’s a Mexican Guadalajara. Yeah. Yeah. So my uncle built it. OK.

Tom Heath

That explains your culinary background and how you brought these delicious foods in. I see.

Andrea Rodriguez

No, that’s a typically European woman.

Tom Heath

Everybody knows how to bake and cook. So you get you get here and you didn’t stay the whole time that you went to Flagstaff or Northern Arizona, right?

Andrea Rodriguez

No, actually. So I came here first and I was just a tourist. And then I have no idea what I’m getting into. So after a year and a half or a year, I went back to Czech Republic. And because I learned some English, I got an opportunity to work in the big corporation shop. I studied economics and I was like a secretary, accounting, stuff like that. It’s completely boring, completely out of element what I’m now.

Tom Heath

When I was reading the bio, which we have on our on our website, I was really fascinated because you you got into the interior design world.

Andrea Rodriguez

Yeah. So I was always fascinating with just colors in general, just anything what it has to do with color. And you can see it in my most of the painting. I’m so bold. I love colors. I think color express so much beauty and passion and all of this. And the basic change you can do in any interior design you can do is colors. You can do the most amazing changes with just changing the colors. But I get so from my original degree, what I studied in Czech, because I was not able to study design or art or any of this. I came back a couple of years later and I actually applied. So I went to U of A. So I’m actually a U of A student. I went to Pima College and I love Pima College. And then they have a program after I finished Pima College. I went to the NAU and they have a program over here. So I actually finished my interior design bachelor locally. So I didn’t have to move.

Tom Heath

Okay. I saw NAU on the bio. So I thought you got up there, but you did it here locally. Very cool. And then your business, it’s very well recognized. You have all kinds of awards and such.

Andrea Rodriguez

When I finished school, I started working for every company, local company in town, because when you actually work for somebody, you can get the experience to be on your own after. So I was working in for kitchen company, closet, cabinetry. I was selling JCPenney, custom window covering. I mean, you name it, I’ve done it all. And then finally, when I met my husband and got married 16 years ago, and he’s actually architect and had his architecture firm for almost 20 years before I even met him. Then we joined the forces and created our own interior design studio with architecture background.

Tom Heath

That’s an impressive combination right there. Did you meet through the business or did you meet separately and realize you have this?

Andrea Rodriguez

No, this is the funny thing. We met on Match .com.

Tom Heath

Well, good for Match. They know what they were doing.

Andrea Rodriguez

But you know, that time, I think it was so innocent to be dating online or actually meet somebody. At least for me, 16 years ago. I don’t know. I will probably not do it ever again at this age. Well, I hope not. You’re married.

Tom Heath

So I don’t think your husband would like you to do it again at all. Well, I think that’s fantastic that you, I mean, obviously those common interests were probably part of that match. And so you made life partners and business partners.

Andrea Rodriguez

Yeah. No, I’m really happy. We have a really nice relationship, working relationship and personal relationship.

Tom Heath

And then where did the art, like you, because as you mentioned, you do very bold work and it’s, and first of all, it’s in oil, which is unique because we don’t, surprisingly in the gallery, most of our art, I don’t think you might be the only oil painter we have in the gallery. Everybody uses acrylic.

Andrea Rodriguez

I take the niche. I take the niche to be the one and only one. Okay. But I think I always liked art. I was drawing and creating a lot of stuff. It’s my mom, as a girl, when my kids were small, I was looking for something because they always say, when you want to have a happy marriage, you should have to do something for you, for your fun. And the hubby should have some hobby for his fun. So I started taking classes at Park and Recreation just for fun.

Tom Heath

You just started just doing painting classes at the parks?

Andrea Rodriguez

Just Park and Rec. I signed up and it was basically like a Monday night. I call it Monday night mommy rock. But basically my husband was able to take care of the kids, cook dinners. So I was gone like from six to nine, nine -thirty every Monday when it was available.

Tom Heath

Wow. Wow. Yeah. That’s fantastic. So you, you kind of get it.

Andrea Rodriguez

So I don’t have a time to paint any time, any time. Well, my house, it’s a, we have a really like a old, older house from 1915 in the style in Midtown and a house is wonderful, but it doesn’t have enough natural light to paint. And I actually like to prefer to paint in the studio with everybody else because everybody else is working on different pieces and it’s inspiring. And it’s also, you walk around and, Oh, this is so cool. Oh, how you did that? So there’s always communication and close relationship and encouragement and what to change. And then the ability of somebody who can step in as a teacher and, you know, help you out and say, Hey, do this better, you know? So for this reason, I’ll prefer to actually studio setting with more people involved. Even today? Even today. Even if there is, and everybody working on different pieces and different meet with different media. It’s always better too.

Tom Heath

And do you find yourself now in the role of the teacher where you’re helping other people kind of?

Andrea Rodriguez

Well, I started doing that. So it started actually back at home because anytime I have a chance or a summer when the kids are out of school, it’s actually cheaper to take them home back to Europe to have the same experiments, you know, growing back like me, like in Czech in the village where actually my father is from the house is like 300 years old. And because it’s such a rural village, there’s nothing to do over there. I start painting with the neighbors and teaching them how to do it. And the most rewarding was after a couple of hours, they were taking their painting home and they have like two days with their husband like, where did we put this mom? This is great. Look at what you did. So I totally like elevated the moments because mostly the painting was for moments in the village. So most of the women who never painted ever in their life, they start like feeling, oh, I’m good at something else besides cooking and taking care of family.

Tom Heath

And they can express, like you said, they can they can through the colors or through their their images.

Andrea Rodriguez

So now anytime I’m going back, I already have two, three classes, book. So it’s the word is spread. It’s always fun.

Tom Heath

You’re you’ve gone from Parks and Rec to international, let me get you very fancy. Do you teach here in Tucson?

Andrea Rodriguez

Yeah, I did a couple of the classes for a friend who asked me to do like a for a meet and greet with like appreciation clients. So I think the last large one was like 24 people in the El Charro, which was so wonderful because they even cook all the appetizer and servette on the wooden pallet. Oh, wow. Yeah, it was gorgeous. So really good food, good atmosphere. El Charro, it’s a nice place to actually have.

Tom Heath

I’m getting this theme here, the food and the art. You have to make the food and wine. You got to bring it all together. Let me go back to a question earlier about oil. Why? Why are not more artists using it? Is it more challenging to work with or or why did you choose to work with it?

Andrea Rodriguez

So I start just with regular pencil, then I move to watercolors. It was too bland for me. The color didn’t pop up. And then I moved to acrylic. It gets dry so quickly and you cannot blend. And then I discover oil because Mariano’s dad had used to paint in his garage with oil and he when he passed away, he grabbed he got me the sets with the old and I will like it just just to try it. So I start trying it and start buying oil and it’s so nice and wonderful because the colors are really like the most boldest one. But also the blend is so beautiful and you can come back to the painting because I’m coming back every week. You can still spread it and make it wonderful and you can use the same oil if you cover them really good. So oil oil is nice. It’s take time to dry. Maybe that’s a good time. Actually, I’m painting once a week. I wish I paint more and I wish I had more time and maybe I will. Who knows from now on? Yeah, oil is just a beautiful medium. It’s it’s such a softness.

Tom Heath

And we realized we didn’t have an oil painter and thought we’ve got to get you. So we’re like we we invited you in. And the first few pieces that came in were sort of they were flowers. They were nature. And so I thought that’s kind of what you focused on. And then I’m seeing this work that you brought in for the event tonight. And you’ve got just just a whole array of subjects. You don’t have any limitations.

Andrea Rodriguez

No, and it has to catch whatever I paint. It has to be something that is speak to me. So the blooming of Puntia that Tony Fowler in love is and actually pick me up from the crowd. It was I just I usually I stop and take picture of anything and maybe when I have a good camera, but it’s always on my phone. So I have over 7000 photos on my phone just now. But I just stop in the neighborhood and I saw this beautiful it was I have to stop get from the car and get a couple of angles just to see it, how beautiful the sun is hitting at that. So it’s so yeah, it has to speak to me.

Tom Heath

But there are things that I mean, we’ve got you’ve got one that was very vibrant, Trace Latinas, like it was sort of a day of the dead feel to it.

Andrea Rodriguez

The single Katrina or the three girls. So this is the story behind this. I have a girlfriend in interior design wards and they always they used to have a studio right here on the 6th Street before the widening the road. They always dress up for the day of the day of the day and they even get photographer and makeup professional and everything. So I saw this picture and it catch my eyes and I say, oh, my God, I have to paint this. I have to paint this. So it’s actually three living girlfriend, still girlfriends up to today. And then the painting was donated to raising money for ASID for for Interior Design Society.

Tom Heath

Well, it’s absolutely stunning. All of your work, the colors, there’s just no question that color is your friend and you love to just be bold with it. I think it’s great. And if you if you’re listening and you want to check out any of the work, we’ve got some of what she has available on our website, the Tucson Gallery dot com. But you’ve also got a whole collection of work that we don’t carry. Your your nudes are very popular.

Andrea Rodriguez

They are. And usually they are always as soon as I post it on Facebook friends, usually they are gone. So maybe I have one nude pictures back as an original, but everything else is sold out. But Tony told me, no, no, no, we keep it clean. And I say, look, you cannot even recognize that it’s nude. It’s just bold colors, abstracts, all this. But so but you can still check it out on my website. This nude.

Tom Heath

So what is your website and your Instagram?

Andrea Rodriguez

And how people so simple. It’s WWW. My name, Andrea Rodriguez Gallery dot com.

Tom Heath

Andrea Rodriguez Gallery dot com. And what about Facebook, Instagram? Is it the same? Same.

Andrea Rodriguez

OK, yeah, I am. I went so professional. You guys make me to be so professional. This was this used to be my hobby. But now it’s like it seems taking over everything. But, you know, I appreciate it because on the other side, push me to do something that I never thought I will do now, one week before my 50th birthday.

Tom Heath

Well, I’m excited for tonight. I’m sorry if you’re listening to this and you missed it because it’s going to be a good time. And again, if you want to learn more about these events, head over to our website to some gallery dot com. Sign up for the newsletter once a month. You’ll get a list of all the events that are happening, not just the artist events. We do have concerts. There are other things that happen. And if you haven’t been down here, we’re inside of the proper shops, which is a collective of 15 different independently owned businesses. We have a bar. You can sip shop. But we’re on the Tucson Gallery dot com. Check out all the work there from from Andrea and all of our other artists.

Andrea Rodriguez

And and definitely you have to stop by. This is such a cool place. This is not only gallery. It’s much behind anybody. Imagine, you know, when you usually go to gallery, there’s a few pieces. And from only certain artists that you have to appreciate it. No, here this is like this is like a market of beautiful stuff, gorgeous from ceramic to acrylic, to canvases, to accessories, to closing line, to jewelry. I mean, you name it, you over here is everything.

Tom Heath

Well, you don’t have to take my word for it. Andrea Rodriguez is telling you, come on down and check out the proper shops and maybe just maybe we’ll have a few of your originals still left after tonight for people to buy. I hope so.

Andrea Rodriguez

Thanks. And if not, I can always pay more.

Tom Heath

Hey, thanks for joining us.

Andrea Rodriguez

I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, too. Thank you, everybody.

Tom Heath

Thank you for listening to Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Congress Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to TheTucsonGallery .com for more information about our live events. Listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art, gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern, thought -provoking and forward -thinking artists.

Media

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

Welcome back to another fabulous episode of Meet the Artist, a product of the Tucson Gallery. We’re located at 300 East Congress. We’re in downtown Tucson across from Hotel Congress, next to the Rialto Theater and in the center of all this amazing activity. And we have this beautiful gallery with 30 different local artists all represented. Sometimes we’re fortunate enough that they will come in and say hello to us and meet their adoring fans. And we have Lauri Kay in today and we’re going to chat with her. If you want to hear this podcast or any others, you can head over to our website. It’s Life Along… That’s not it. It’s the Tucson Gallery, tucsongallery .com. And you’ll find different podcasts and there’s also a really nice calendar and a newsletter you can sign up for to get notification of all these cool events. By the time you hear this podcast, you will miss the opportunity to hang out with Lauri Kaye. And that’s so sad. Lauri, welcome to Meet the Artist.

Lauri Kaye

Thanks. Thanks for having me.

Tom Heath

So I understand that we’re a little bit out of our comfort zone today.

Lauri Kaye

Absolutely. I purposefully did artwork so I would never have to be on a mic and do any public speaking. Perfect. Thanks a lot.

Tom Heath

That’s our job here is to make sure that we want to make you feel uncomfortable. That’s our goal.

Lauri Kaye

Perfect.

Tom Heath

All right. So let’s go back to the beginning. You got into art so that you wouldn’t have to be on a mic, but when did you get into art?

Lauri Kaye

I think I was born ready and willing and excited to do artwork. I’ve been drawing all of my life, whether it’s crowns or chalk, pencils. So it’s just something that’s been pretty innate and something I learned at an early age that I could hustle to earn a couple extra bucks.

Tom Heath

So you were selling your art as a kid?

Lauri Kaye

I was actually in elementary school. If I wanted to stand in that lunch line where you could get an ice cream sandwich for 25 cents or chocolate milk for eight cents, you actually had to have the money for it. So my parents pretty much said, if you want something, you got to earn the money for it. So I would paint on rocks, I would sell fuzzy pencils, and I had all sorts of schemes going on with my artwork.

Tom Heath

How old were you at this point?

Lauri Kaye

I was probably about eight.

Tom Heath

Oh my gosh, that’s incredible. That’s absolutely incredible. So you’re in line, you’re like, I want some chocolate milk and an ice cream bar. So I’m going to sell a fuzzy rock, a painted rock and a fuzzy pencil.

Lauri Kaye

And it worked. So I would make a batch at home, bring them to school, sell them to all of my friends and earn enough money to get that ice cream sandwich. So it was pretty sweet. And I think the endorphin rush of selling something and earning money for something I did was pretty wild.

Tom Heath

Where did you grow up? Was it here in Tucson?

Lauri Kaye

In Pennsylvania.

Tom Heath

Oh, Pennsylvania. What part? It’s a big state.

Lauri Kaye

So the town is called Yardley and it’s a suburb of Philadelphia.

Tom Heath

All right. So my dad is from the suburb of Pittsburgh, so we’re on the other end of the state from you there. Another country. So are you then an Eagles fan? Is that a thing?

Lauri Kaye

Yep. Yep. Eagles, 76ers. Went to tons of basketball games with my brother.

Tom Heath

Okay. So if you’re in the sports mecca, the Philly cheesesteak mecca, you’re making a living selling fuzzy rocks. What brought you out to Arizona?

Lauri Kaye

Well, I eventually moved on to selling t -shirts as a teenager and still back in Philly, still back in Philly and was contemplating, you know, a life and career and ended up going to art school, becoming a graphic designer. So I was in New York city for about 10 years going to school and working afterwards. So that’s where I began my professional art career.

Tom Heath

You went to art school in New York city? I did. That’s pretty like heavy duty stuff, right? I mean, you gotta be pretty good to do that.

Lauri Kaye

It was just awesome. I felt like I just found my groove. I was not big on high school, so to get into college and just love being with the people that were in my classes, I felt like I definitely found my tribe.

Tom Heath

Did the demand for fuzzy pencils and rocks dip at the art school or were you still selling those?

Lauri Kaye

You know, yeah, that was a thing of the past.

Tom Heath

So I had to reinvent yourself. That’s why you moved into t -shirts.

Lauri Kaye

Yeah. Yeah. When I was 16. So I could up the game a little bit.

Tom Heath

So then you go and you get a degree in like graphic design?

Lauri Kaye

Yeah, but it was a bachelor in fine arts and my first gig was at Rolling Stone. My one of my teachers, the magazine, oh my gosh, I didn’t know we had rockstar royalty

Tom Heath

with us today.

Lauri Kaye

You know, I was like very, very, very, very low woman on the totem pole. My teacher was the art director, Fred Woodward, and he was the most amazing teacher and every year he would ask a student to work at the magazine. So I was lucky enough to it was pretty wild. I knew very little about the magazine and but it was a pretty exciting place to be.

Tom Heath

So this is all making sense to me. You grew up in Philadelphia, you go to art school in New York City, you get a gig with with Rolling Stone and the natural progression then leads me to Tucson.

Lauri Kaye

Oh, yeah, for sure. I love Tucson. I love this place.

Tom Heath

How did you I mean, how did you end up here?

Lauri Kaye

Well, like a lot of people kind of like an early midlife crisis and also as much as I love New York City and I try to get back every year just to eat and people watch and draw. I knew that that kind of hustle and quality of life of just always being on the go was was not my long term plan. And I’ve always been drawn to the desert. I was in Israel quite a few times and just loved like the heat and desert life. So when I first visited Tucson, I felt like this was a place I could really see myself

Tom Heath

long term. So was it was it accidental that you came to Tucson to visit or were you here?

Lauri Kaye

Nothing’s really accidental, but it’s a long story. We can we can talk about that on the next podcast.

Tom Heath

Okay, we’ll have we’ll have a part two. This is exciting. This is the first teaser podcast that we have. So talk a little bit about your art is is it you you said you’ve been like drawing your whole life. So is what you do now mostly drawing?

Lauri Kaye

It’s it is mostly drawing.

Lauri Kaye

I’ve I had a restaurant here for about 13 years. So there was a blip in my life where I wasn’t doing artwork. So after that, in 2013, I was trying to think of what I was going to do. And I started drawing again and was really enjoying it and trying to kind of unlearn a lot of the rules that I learned in art school and to draw freely, not worry about mistakes and erasing. So I kind of intentionally draw with black markers that I can erase and just let things fly. So most of my pieces, well, they all start with line drawings, hand drawings. And then I incorporate photography and digital color. So I am using the computer once the drawing is done to add color and to add a little bit of photography.

Tom Heath

So everything we have in the gallery, it’s I think everything it’s either a print or it’s on metal and it looks like it was drawn and then transferred to a to a metal canvas.

Lauri Kaye

Yeah. So when I first got into this, I was just doing black and white and everybody was saying you got to add some color, you know, you just got to take it a little further. But I really didn’t like the idea of having to frame anything. So I was playing around with different materials and reproductions downtown on Sixth Avenue. They were huge, showing me some options. And when I found the metal, I was so excited because I wouldn’t have to pay money for a frame and it looked great on its own. And that’s the whole framing I thought was cost prohibitive. It would have been really hard for me to ever get started if I had to frame this. So and also I love murals. I love outdoor art. So the idea of printing on metal, just even though I’m mostly drawing, I kind of feel like I’m bringing the outdoors inside by using that that kind of material and it’s all outdoor signage material.

Tom Heath

Yeah. So you’re bringing the outside in and the inside out. Yeah, exactly. That’s that’s what artists do. They connect the worlds. Yeah. And you’re all of your pieces are in great detail and some of them are like you’ll stare at them for hours and just keep seeing more shapes or more objects sort of appear. Is that how do you do you just keep drawing until you feel like you’re done or do you have an idea of what the end is going to look like?

Lauri Kaye

No, I actually never know what the end is going to look like. And I for a lot of the pieces, I’ll do research on the subject material. And so I like to draw in the information into the artwork. So there’s a lot of text or icons or little images within the artwork. And that’s, you know, one, it adds texture to the piece. And it also helps me to remember what I learned about that particular subject. So and I also I know that I overdo it and they’re more like maximalist pieces. And then our teacher would probably say, that’s not OK. You went too far. But I don’t know. I’m an adult now, so I can do what I want.

Tom Heath

I can do that. And and I can tell you, the people that come in the gallery have never said she’s gone too far. They’ve been completely impressed with how far you’ve gone, but no one has felt that you’ve gone too far. That’s exciting because you’re a lot of different styles. It’s not just like you see something and instinctively you probably know it’s Laurie Kaye. But the subject matter can be different. You know, some are more like abstract than others. Some are seem a little bit more realistic and just it’s very interesting to me. But your style is is very clear.

Lauri Kaye

So, yeah, well, I love looking for different subject material here in Tucson and it is just endless. So, you know, my mission right now is to uncover all the people, places and events that make Tucson extraordinary. And so far I’ve done about 70, 75. And there’s you know, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as you know.

Tom Heath

So and the one we’re unveiling tonight, had you gone to the website and signed up for the newsletter and gotten the advance notice, could have joined us. But since you’re hearing the podcast, you’ve you’ve missed this opportunity for the unveiling of your new piece on Tucson Icon that’s focused on the Sonoran hot dog.

Lauri Kaye

Yes. And I’m very excited about this very deep piece of art. So I’ve been wanting to do a piece on Sonoran hot dogs for so long. I’ve got a list that I’ve had for years and they take me so long to get to. So I was so happy to finally have the time to do it. And I love El Guero Canelo hot dogs. So I went over and asked if they could make me the most beautiful Sonoran hot dog, which they did. It’s I mean, they’re artists, they’re food artists over there. And I took a photograph so I could go home and use that as my inspiration. And I was working on it for, I don’t know, 10, 20 hours. And then finally I saw this like kaleidoscope of hot dogs turning into a barrel cactus. And so that’s what it is.

Tom Heath

That’s the amazing thing to me is how you get from from I mean, I’ve seen Sonoran hot dogs. I don’t they don’t last very long for me to take a picture of them because I eat them too quickly. But then to take it and create what you’ve done and it works, it’s so it looks so intentional. Like this is exactly what you laid out and wanted to do. And to know that you sort of progressed to that point is really fascinating to me.

Lauri Kaye

Yeah, I never know what I’m going to get. And so it keeps things exciting.

Tom Heath

And you’re sitting there like, oh, how about cool. A barrel cactus looks like a top of a barrel cactus. Well, there we go.

Lauri Kaye

Yeah. What the hell were you thinking?

Tom Heath

Well, whatever it was, it looks it looks fabulous. And these are the types of pieces you can head over to the Tucson Gallery’s website. See a lot of Lauri’s artwork. We have things for reproduction. One thing I’d always like to point out is the the we offer things on metal through our website, but it’s a different type of metal. Ours is really designed for indoor display. And when you print yours that you have in the gallery on metal, that’s a much heavier duty kind of printing. That’s that’s really good for outdoor use as well.

Lauri Kaye

Right. It’s a totally different process, different material. And they’re they’re signed. So, you know, they’re not really comparative, like apples to apples.

Tom Heath

Do you do limited or or?

Lauri Kaye

I do. All of the pieces do come in limited editions out of twenty five. And I add personalized information. So somebody will say, hey, I really want this twisted beauty piece, but I want the limited edition. And so I’ll ask them to give me some personal information. Maybe it’s a birthday, a quote, a little photograph, and I incorporate that into the artwork and then they get a certificate. And yeah, I only do that for up to twenty five for each piece.

Tom Heath

That’s fantastic. But that’s not it. But you have unlimited of some versions.

Lauri Kaye

All of the versions are unlimited. OK. And I wanted to keep things very affordable and accessible. So, you know, for one hundred and twenty five bucks, you can get a piece of art.

Tom Heath

Yeah, it’s really the price points are quite amazing as well as as the artwork. And you said you go back to New York like once a year in your. Yes. Is that a work trip? He said you like to draw the people.

Lauri Kaye

Absolutely. It’s very hectic. I go with all my pens and paper and I find all these, I don’t know, places to sit and have coffee and eat pizza. And I just draw to my heart’s content.

Tom Heath

Do you find the drawing is different because the surroundings are different? I mean, that’s the subject matter, but just the way you go about the process.

Lauri Kaye

No, no. The process is always the same. I just, you know, I’m just so inspired really wherever I am. So I don’t need to go out of my city of Tucson to be inspired.

Tom Heath

But nice. And then the other thing you mentioned, we kind of glossed over is you’ve got a list, you said, of like you’ve already done 70 of these items, but you said the Sonoran hot dog was so far down the list. You couldn’t wait. You’re so excited to get to it. Like how many more things are on this list?

Lauri Kaye

Well, the list is always growing, but I really want to do the Biosphere. There’s something on Gates Pass that a friend told me about. It’s like a stone, a stone building, I forget the name, but I’ve got quite a few on this list. I just finished the Saguaro Henge, which was a place that I had never heard of that exists here in Tucson.

Tom Heath

So, yeah, you’re telling me about that Saguaro Henge, I thought, oh, that’s cute. And then you showed me the picture. There’s actually a Saguaro Henge here in Tucson.

Lauri Kaye

Yes. And everybody should know about it. It’s such a cool place. Well, where is it? It’s on the west side off of, I think it’s off of La Cholla around Tangerine. And it’s called Prickly Pear Park.

Tom Heath

Prickly Pear Park. Yes. That’s just fun to say. Yes. That’s just fun to say.

Lauri Kaye

It’s a really cool park. Lots of great cacti.

Tom Heath

And I like with like when you do your displays here in the gallery, there’s you sometimes will put a picture of the original subject matter, which I think is fun. Yes. I try to do that more often. Oh, and your other places. I mean, you’re everywhere besides the gallery. You’re at the La Encantada, you’re part of the Sagu group up there.

Lauri Kaye

And at the Botanical Gardens, why I love where I live, it’s Oro Valley. And just who will ever have me? It’s I pound a lot of pavement, so it’s it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of nose. And until you get it, yes.

Tom Heath

So you’ve got it dialed in. I think this started when you were seven years old. Painting rocks. But you’ve got you’ve got the system dialed in. Do you as part of Sagu, do you do or just in general, do you work with other artists to kind of help them get going? Or do you provide any mentoring or teaching or are you just too busy for all of that?

Lauri Kaye

I I feel like I’m always open for questions and people do ask me a lot of questions. And I love to tell people where I get materials, where I do my printing. And, you know, a lot of people, artists are very they don’t like to share information. They’re very, like, proprietary. And I’m totally not. And a lot of the artists at Sagu and that I’ve met are also very open and willing and sharing their ideas and information.

Tom Heath

And where can people find more? Because I know you are a prolific social media poster. Oh, that’s that’s. So that was a joke. That was sarcastic.

Lauri Kaye

It’s like, why are you talking to?

Tom Heath

Well, but people do you have a website? I mean, where can people check you out besides the gallery?

Lauri Kaye

OK, so create for the people dot com all spelled out. Oh, I love that. People dot com.

Tom Heath

That’s your brand.

Lauri Kaye

That’s the brand. And the point was to always make the art affordable. And when I do shows and exhibits, always to raise money for local charities.

Tom Heath

And notice that part of the unveiling tonight, you bring in Sonoran hot dogs and you’re collecting money for the Tucson Food Project.

Lauri Kaye

Yes, the Tucson Family Food Project. They support kids in school who don’t have access to food and who are hungry. They have meal plans that they pay for. So that’s what tonight’s contributions are going towards.

Tom Heath

It’s been it’s been a few years since you were purchasing chocolate milk and ice cream bars. But you’re still raising money for school lunches. I think that’s fabulous.

Lauri Kaye

Oh, didn’t think about that. I love that. Yeah. Wow. Something’s never changed.

Tom Heath

Create for the people at Lauri Kaye. Check her out on our website as well. The Tucson Gallery dot com. You can order prints in different formats as well. Not only on the metal, but we do things have things on canvas in case you want something with that pesky frame around it. And there’s also some merchandise that we’ve created. Just got into blankets, by the way. So some of these things on a blanket, I think are really, really kind of fun to see.

Lauri Kaye

And it’s getting cold.

Tom Heath

And it is getting cold as we are recording this. It’s barely 100 degrees outside. So it’s it’s getting chilly. To meet the artist, it’s the Tucson Gallery, 300 East Congress Street, downtown Tucson. Come by. We’re open Thursday through Thursday through Sundays. And check out the website for all kinds of special events. And just make an evening of it. Come down, grab some dinner, stop by. We do have a bar inside the galleries and grab a drink and walk around and enjoy this beautiful art from all these Tucson fabulous talented people. So, Lauri, thanks so much for your time.

Lauri Kaye

Oh, thank you. What a pleasure.

Tom Heath

Thank you

Tom Heath

for listening to Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery, located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Congress Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art. A forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to the TucsonGallery .com for more information about our live events. Listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art, gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern, thought provoking and forward thinking artists.