Studio Night - Startup Session 1

Caroline Truong December 17, 2024

We are launching an adult art club in the Houston Heights. Join us for our very first session.

Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: The Painter's House
3016 Houston Avenue, Houston, Texas 77009
Airbnb & Art Studio

We'll begin with a warm-up activity to engage your creativity. Then, you’ll have the freedom to develop your own artwork at your own pace, with guidance from an experienced Artist Instructor.

Supplies provided.

BYOB.

Participants: For all adults. No artistic skills required. For artists, creative hobbyists, and anyone curious to learn something new.

Startup session rate: $15 per person
To book a spot, contact Caroline at carolinetruongart@gmail.com

Follow me @Najedaland

I come from Barcelona, Spain and I am excited to share ideas and build a place in Houston for the artsy club. I work as a preschool art teacher with some studies in art therapy. I grew up with a constant influence of culture and artistic energy that comes with me in every step of my life path. I met Caroline at an expressive arts workshop I hosted, and we instantly bonded over our shared belief in creativity as self-expression. Together, we are embarking on a project that we hope will be a meaningful art space to the community.

Caroline Truong
Artist/Owner

Follow me @CarolineTruongArt
My intention for our studio sessions is to:
1. Use painting and drawing for personal expression and freedom
2. Cultivate an art practice
3. Build community
I see an art practice like a fitness routine for the mind and soul—essential for my well-being. For me, making art is meditative, which has been a powerful tool in managing stress. Through our local arts community, I’ve found my people. Turns out - we are all weirdos - but in the best way! The Painter’s House is a space to share all of it.

Welcome to La Bonita Gardens - Mini Mural

Caroline Truong September 16, 2022

Up Art Studio put out a call to their artists to design a mini mural at Bennington Dr & Hirsch Rd. To my surprise, my design got picked, woohoo! The design I submitted had a horse, instead of the bakery and family you see now. We did some revisions and came up with this final sketch for the mini mural.

Even though there were several requests regarding the artwork design, I was completely open to implementing their suggestions because I’m not familiar with the neighborhood, other than driving through it, and wanted to make sure the artwork represents the community and they’ll be happy to see it on their streets everyday.

I felt very proud to be selected because of what The La Bonita Civic Club said:

“…this mural is a very exciting project for our community. For so long our existence has been denied and, just recently, we have been validated. So, this mural is very important to us. In fact, I hope this is the beginning of many more paintings to come.

“…please add "La" to Bonita Gardens…Technically, the "La" should be in there because it encompasses the entire community and not just the Bonita Gardens Subdivision. The two other subdivisions in "La Bonita" (Precinct 574) are Bennington Pace and Cranford Place. Bonita Gardens was the first to be established and the new occupants were predominantly Spanish-speaking, hence, La Bonita was derived from Bonita Gardens. And, it stuck.”

Originally, the design did not have “La” in front of Bonita Gardens and I would’ve never known to include had I not been open to their comments.

Zepeda’s Bakery

This is an old google maps image of Zepeda’s Bakery that formerly existed on Hirsch street.

The community members sent the image and had the idea of including the bakery in the artwork, stating the following: “I found this image of the abandoned bakery from 2007 Google Maps. Is it possible to draw it into the background of the family, of course, with some life to it? I think that would make sooo many of us very happy. Imagine the warm, sweet aroma of memories it will trigger.”

Someone familiar with the bakery saw the mini mural and posted on Instagram. Turns out, she is a niece of the former owner and her name is Loida. I reached out to her because I was curious to know more about the the building since it no longer exists but seems to be a sweet memory for the locals.

Loida told me her uncle Ismael Zepeda owned Zepeda’s Bakery and passed away there in a robbery in January 1981. He left behind 4 young children at the time. There’s a Houston Chronicle article about the incident, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to locate it. Ismael owned several properties in the neighborhood. Sometimes, when tenants couldn’t pay rent, he would give them extra time and groceries on credit. Zepeda’s was one of the first Mexican bakeries in Houston. Ismael made barbacoa to sell on Sunday mornings. This was before Hispanic meat markets existed in the area.

Loida says she has a memory of her uncle in the back of the bakery making marranitos, which are gingerbread in the shape of a little pig. He would glaze the dough with egg with a little brush. He was wearing a white apron. The memory of watching her uncle work always sticks in Loida’s mind. She was 11 when he passed away.

Hearing this story made my heart melt. I wish I knew these details before painting the mural so I could implement the story of Ismael into the design. However, Loida and the La Bonita Civic Club are happy with how it turned out. And so am I ! It definitely brightens up the street corner and makes the view from Busby Park a bit more pleasant.

The box when it was primed and ready for painting.

I did the text side first. I used a grid to ensure the letters were placed in the right spot.

I created a stencil to transfer the portrait sketches to the box.

Below is photo of Mr. Luis Cruz and I - he is the owner of Mr. Cruz Tire Shop where the traffic signal box is located. His presence while I was painting was helpful for keeping my spirits up throughout the heat! Painting is a lonely job so having company is always a treat.

I was skeptical about taking on the project at first because I was worried about two things - 1) safety because the neighborhood appears pretty rough, and 2) being an outsider to the community coming in to paint a mural… as if I don’t belong?

However, once I was out there painting, everything turned out fine. Anyone who approached me had only positive things to say. People who stopped at the intersection would roll down their windows and shout praises. I felt welcome and never uncomfortable. I think it also helped that Mr. Cruz had my back!

The only rough part about doing this mural was working in the hot Texas sun. The heat kicked my butt! I limited myself to 2-3 hours sessions and spread the work over a few months. I took my time on this one because of how hot it was.

Here’s the finished mini mural - enjoy!

Live painting at BAM Market - Go big or go home!

Caroline Truong August 15, 2022

It’s been years since I’ve set up shop at an art market. But when my favorite local market goes indoors during the hot Texas summer, I’m there! The BAM Market was held on Saturday, August 13th at Silver Street Studios Event Space.

First Saturdays Art Market in the Houston Heights is where I started showing and selling my art in 2012 - a whole ten years ago! Mitch Cohen is the boss man behind the market. He writes a local art column called Art Valet and has been a Houston Heights for decades. Mitch is a former sign painter (back when massive billboards were hand painted) and he’s the heart of the local Houston art community.

Mitch allowed me to set up a large canvas and paint live for the crowd. This is one of my first live painting events.

Did I finish within the 12-8pm market hours? Nope! I was ambitious in thinking I could do such detailed work on a large canvas in 8 hours while talking to folks. I probably spent about 4 hours actually painting.

I picked up a 4ft x 7ft canvas from Jerry’s Artarama Houston. I sketched out a design of 2 chrysanthemums, 3 arches, Dream bird, and floral accents. The easel also happens to be from Jerry’s which I bought years ago and never made use of it til the BAM market.

I brought my favorite brushes from Michael’s and paints from Pebeo, Nova, and Golden.