Art & Craft On The Go With Dowdy Studio

Hopefully everyone is rested and sober by now after all the Dallas Observer Music Awards partying that took place in the last week (and for some, the week before, too). If not, we promise to speak softly. Although, if you hear a rumbling rolling down the street, it just might...

By Alexander Flores

October 24, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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Hopefully everyone is rested and sober by now after all the Dallas Observer Music Awards partying that took place in the last week (and for some, the week before, too). If not, we promise to speak softly. Although, if you hear a rumbling rolling down the street, it just might be the Dowdy Wagon headed to one of your favorite local haunts.

Make way for Dowdy Studio in our latest installment of Profiles In Pictures. As usual, photographer Sara Kerens gives us an intimate look at another local creative outfit and we ask them our set of standard Qs. Take a look inside and outside the wagon and read what these mobile locals and Etsy Dallas members have to say after the jump.

Who are you, what do you do, who do you do it for, and where do you do it?

We are Dylan and Pamela Dowdy, two illustrators and artists who travel around Dallas and beyond in our mobile store, the Dowdy Studio Wagon. Unlike most stores, ours is filled with things we made ourselves. Dylan screen prints our original illustrations onto tees, messenger bags, pillows and more, and Pamela handcrafts wooden jewelry, sews pillows and scarves, and we both try to have as much fun as humanly possible.

When we're not blaring music, throwing back coffee and working away in our bright red garage turned art studio, Dallas is our regular stomping (or rolling) ground for the Dowdy Studio Wagon. We roll in and pop-up shop in various places on a weekly basis. Regularly people can find us at Good 2 Go Taco in East Dallas, Bolsa Cafe in Oak Cliff, or check our schedule on our website to find out where we'll be and when.

What do you find the most satisfying about what you do, and why?

The smile on people's faces when they see our art or our tiny shop really gets us excited. Not only do we thrive off other's excitement, but we also get incredibly giddy when we see people wearing our wares out and about. It's really fulfilling as an artist to see your art being worn and appreciated after you've released it into the wild.

What is your favorite tool/special resource that allows you to do what you do?

After each other, our favorite thing is our little mobile shop. Third is coffee. The Dowdy Studio Wagon has given us the opportunity to meet a variety of really cool people that we probably wouldn't meet just hanging out in our studio. It also gives us a great excuse to travel all around Dallas and visit other art loving cities like Austin and Oklahoma City.

What do you enjoy the most to do when you're not creating/working?

We love a good exploration and adventure. The best way to get a little creative recharge from us is to just drop everything and hop on the bikes or in the car, with no plans and just go. When we aren't running errands or on our way to somewhere, we actually get to stop and see the world we live in differently. We notice the details in little things and big things that were just a blur before.

If you could snap your fingers and immediately possess the knowledge/skills of an entirely different discipline, what would that be, and why?

Dylan: I would grab a guitar or a set of drums, a harmonica, maybe a saxophone, and other musical devices and become a rock'n musician. As a teen I played guitar and saxophone in a few bands and had way too much fun. The dream and passion was there, but maybe not the right amount of talent, so eventually I put down the pick and picked up the paint brush.

Pamela: I'd have to go with an art photographer with a kinda journalistic story telling twist. Photography has always been an interest of mine, and I love the creativity that goes behind the lens and the images artists can pull out of real life. I'd travel a whole bunch taking pictures in series. Maybe I'd do a visual story about a town, then go back 20 years later and retake the same images to show the changes of life, or go to abandoned shops and shoot the destruction of time and neglect. Yah, that'd be awesome.

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Alexander Flores

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