Artist Denise Vasquez

OMG! Just got word I WON FIRST PLACE in the Vader Helmet contest! WOO HOO!http://www.halloweencostumes.com/blog/post/2012/02/02/darth-vader-helmet-art-contest-winners-announcement.aspx

This Captain America custom Vinyl Munny was designed & created by Artist Denise Vasquez! It is AVAILABLE at the “Chuck Jones” Art Gallery (San Diego in the Gaslamp District) http://www.chuckjones.com During San Diego Comic Con! Denise Vasquez will be at the gallery on Saturday July 23rd 6pm-9pm

(Source: denisevasquez.com)

“STAR WARS meets DIA DE LOS MUERTOS”

Concept, design & art by Denise Vasquez

My man artist Randy Martinez http://www.randymartinez.net and I started discussing doing a gallery show, featuring our Star Wars Art well over a year ago. Randy had been thinking about doing this for a LONG time, so he had a clear vision of what type of event he wanted to have. The ideas included featuring his paintings & my 3D art and vinyl figures.

We discussed it with our agent & she mentioned a great gallery she’s working with downtown Los Angeles called “Hold Up Art. She asked me to make one of my custom vinyl figures to show the gallery owner.  I had 3 days to do it. I was up for the challenge! Sketching, painting, lots of beads & glue, barely any sleep…I did it! I created my one of a kind “Hippie Hello Kitty”

We went down to the gallery, met with the gallery owner. He was a fan of Randy’s work & hit it off with Randy right away! My agent asked me to show my “Hippie Hello Kitty”. I had it in a nice clear case, inside my bag & when I presented it ,  the gallery owner loved it so much, he ended up putting it in the “Nine Lives Of Kitty” Show! That certainly was a nice surprise! He asked to see more of my work, so I showed him photos I had on my iphone. YAY for modern technology! Gotta love it! (^.^)

The gallery owner ended up coming over to our place to see more of our work. He was so impressed by Randy & I he gave us a choice of what date we wanted to do our show!

Our vision became a reality! Our gallery show at “Hold Up Art” Featuring the original Star Wars art of Randy Martinez & my custom 3D art is happening! The Opening is August 20^th and it runs through Sept 15^th.

Now what to create?!? I love creating thought provoking art…I love crossing genres…I love thinking outside the box…I love coming up with ideas that have not been done before…I allowed my ideas to flow and as they did, I wrote them down.

I wanted to get a variety of vinyl’s (different sizes, shapes & brands) and I wanted to see them in person! With that being said, I knew the place to go was DKE TOYS http://www.dketoys.com

 I set up a day where Randy & I could visit the warehouse. I LOVE going there! Whenever I walk into the warehouse I always think of “Indiana Jones” in the Area 51 warehouse… except DKE boxes are filled with toys! (*0*)

Dov showed us around the warehouse pointing out my options. I was sooooo overwhelmed in a great way! I am such a kid in the candy store when surrounded by toys, I want them ALL…AND it’s always nice to have options!

We came across a box that literally made my heart stop! There before me was a box containing parts of Darth Vaders Helmet. DKE Toys “Vader Project” in my opinion is one of the BEST group show projects EVER! They were recently nominated for “Designer Toy Awards” and I hope they win!!! I wish I could’ve been a part of that project…and here were the Helmets…I was like “OMG! I had to have one!” I think I was talking like a mile a minute, I was so excited! Dov explained they were only pieces of the Helmet, not a complete helmet and I said “Yes, this is soooo perfect”. He asked what I would do with it, and I blurted out “Dia  De Los Muertos” Vader! He got excited as well! So excited that he gave me the deal of my lifetime & I ended up with portions of TWO Vader Helmets!

Yes…I’m doing a “Dia De Los Muertos” meets “Star Wars” theme for my 3D Art portion of our show at “Hold Up Art”! I’m creating this “Dia De Los Muertos” Vader Helmet, IT GLOWS IN THE DARK too… along with a variety of other custom vinyl’s!

*This is NOT the finished piece for my Vader! This is where I’m at right now…Still have to put on beads & other fun stuff so be sure to follow me here on Tumblr if you want to keep up with my progress.

(Source: denisevasquez.com)