Art in the Most Magical Places with the Umbrella Fellas - PINNED Podcast: Episode 49
Have you ever seen art that is not on the traditional canvas? Do you love Disney, color, and being dapper? Well do I have a treat for you all! This week I sit with Josh Mattes and Alec Coffee, also known as the umbrella fellas, they have taken art and turned it into a walking moving art piece! Join me as we dive into how they started their journey on painting parasols and a sneak peak into how you can get your hands on one of their works. (make sure to watch it on YouTube!)
Want to make a shout out on the next video? Text to 1-833-4A-PINUP Insta: @pinnedpodcastofficial _________________ About The Umbrella Fellas Josh Mattes and Alec Coffee moved to Florida in 201 with a passion to bring art to life not just on a wall. They started attending Dapper Day a few years ago and brought together art and life with their painted parasol idea
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For more information
Instagram @umbrella_fellas
email: fellasartwork@gmail.com
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Episode Transcript
Miss Pinup Miami 0:05
Good day and welcome back to the pin podcast. We're on episode number 49. And at the pin podcast, we talk about modern topics with a vintage flair. I'm your host, Pinup Miami. And if it's your first time listening to us, I want to say thank you, and I hope you stick around. You're gonna want to stick around because today's guests are amazing. And if you're a returning listener, welcome, you're in for a treat. And I just want to say thank you, you know, your likes, your subscriptions, your comments, it means the world to me. And just thank you. This week's episode. Our sponsor is pinup contest calm. If you guys didn't know, I host a pinup contest all over Florida. And for the first time this year, I'm actually going to go to Charleston, but I'll have more information on that later. But this year, my first contest is going to be in Jacksonville on June 6, is going to be the Miss Callahan cruiser contest. I've done it already for it last year doesn't count. I've done it for five years. And I'll be doing the following weekend in Tampa for the Miss ink on the vape pen of contest is going to be at a tattoo Expo. But when you pay for the entry for the pinup contest, you get a ticket for the day for the convention. So there you go. I hope you sign up. And if you have any questions, feel free to DM me on Instagram at Pinup Miami or at the pin podcast official. Or check out pinup contest calm. And if you guys have a quick question that you want to ask me, you could even reach me out on my hotline at 183348 pin up and I will answer any questions that you have. So for today, I have various to these two special gentlemen you see if you're watching on YouTube. I have the umbrella fellows on Instagram by the umbrella underscore fellows is Josh and Alec How are you? Awesome.
Unknown Speaker 1:59
Awesome.
Unknown Speaker 2:00
How are you?
Miss Pinup Miami 2:01
I'm good. Are we surviving that Florida heat?
Unknown Speaker 2:05
Oh my gosh.
Unknown Speaker 2:07
Can right early early summer already?
Miss Pinup Miami 2:12
If you guys have never heard of these two amazing men, they make the most fabulous parasols. Well, that's the first piece I ever saw of them. They've also done fans. And it's like, very detailed, like brushwork on these paper parasols that you're just amazed that you don't even know they're real parasols, like you questioned it at first, and then you see them in person and then it's like, this is legit. Tell us a little bit about yourselves and, and your art and how you got into it. I'd be intrigued to know that.
Unknown Speaker 2:42
I'm okay. It was like five questions. Oh, sorry. bout myself. Um, I'm Josh. And I was just that kid. You know what I mean? I was always I was always painting drawing, you know, I would. I remember going to the movie theaters with my parents when I was a little kid. And the first thing I would do is I would run home, I'd run up to my room. And I had to like draw out the characters. I wanted to draw everything that I saw in the movie, but I forgot while it was fresh in my mind. I just like exit Right, exactly. Not super long. Not but long enough before Google. But I mean, I yeah, I just I was never the athletic type. I was very artsy. And then I mean, that just kind of stuck all the way through adulthood. You know? And
Unknown Speaker 3:36
what about you? Yeah, I'm Alec. Pretty much the same story. They're always drawing. My grandfather spent a lot of time with me like looking at newspaper cartoons and stuff like that. We try and mimic those type drawings. It was just always a passion for me that led later in life. I use my creative outlet. I'm an Oculus. I make false eyes and facial prosthetics
Miss Pinup Miami 4:04
is a living. That's what you do with the details.
Unknown Speaker 4:09
I'm very detail oriented in the painting and stuff like that Josh is very gestural. So when we sit down to do something, it really is a good blend of the two townlands he can go and quick and do brushstrokes and then I go in after and kind of layer the final stuff. But let us compare ourselves though. We started going to dapper day. Which then the first time we went we bounded
Unknown Speaker 4:39
Yeah, we did the Disney van. We went as Carl and Russell from Disney's up. And we knew that going into it. It was like spring. We're like we definitely want to have something that protects from the sun and my grandma had skin cancer. Really bad. At one point she had like, I mean, she had to get a whole skin grab everything. So it's close to me that we need to get out of sign. He deals with it because of work in his prosthetics, he
Unknown Speaker 5:08
sees a lot of daily Yeah, with that it has Canadians in here outside, especially in theme park, stuff like that. We see people that are burnt so badly. Not only is it art that you can carry around, but it has a purpose or a function. So like, protect yourself and look good, right? You do it? Well, I
Unknown Speaker 5:29
mean, if even like the very first one, when I designed it, it was like, Oh, I'm like I had the idea. Like, we should take a parasol with something outside. And then a couple days later, I'm like, why would we just take a parasol and like, I'm going to get one payment. And then the thought behind it was to paint something on it that kind of helps show what we were going as they went with our theme and our idea. So that was the very first one.
Unknown Speaker 5:51
And sure what questions we answered there. Right.
Miss Pinup Miami 5:57
You answered the questions. But I'm curious when you started, you know, when you started painting and being creative with like, your art, what was the first medium you use? Did you like crayons? pencils with did you go straight to watercolors? Uh, I don't know. I'm not an artist.
Unknown Speaker 6:15
is a kid definitely crazy. It's the first thing. Right? I feel like right, the big pack a sharpie on the back.
Miss Pinup Miami 6:27
of the markers that had sense to them. Yes. They were so fun.
Unknown Speaker 6:33
reminiscing. I love it. Right, but I feel like then that even as a kid that went into like colored pencils with more control. And then I mean, it went mainly for paint for me. And then I did acrylic and watercolor. You were really good at watercolor ever.
Unknown Speaker 6:58
Definitely not. I would prefer acrylic over watercolor or oil. I like the thought of if I don't like what I did, I can go right back over it. The thought of watercolor once you touch the paper and it kind of soaks in. Right That's about it. Same with oil. I don't have the patience to kind of wait for it to dry and layer it. I'd rather if I have to get the hairdryer out. Start over
Miss Pinup Miami 7:24
kind of paint is it I see some people on tik tok that make artwork that's like texture good. Like the paint looks so thick, but they do it on purpose to like, I don't know what kind of paint is that Do you know
Unknown Speaker 7:35
different viscosities we don't use a heavy viscosity even acrylic paint. You can't do that to get texture which later on I hope we discuss kind of some future ideas that we're having. Because we do have a scanner now. So we can paint and scan something in to pick up that detail. So having layers or thickness to the paint would come across that way. And the parasols that are printed
Miss Pinup Miami 8:04
and now something else that came and really you guys talking about dapper day is your style. You guys are like on point all the time when you guys now look at that bow tie and I don't know those are suspenders. Yes. How did your style evolve to how you look today cuz you're always so put together even with your dapper day looks. And they match perfectly with your your parasols, your artwork, you could really see the detail that you guys put into it, but how I want to know a little bit of your evolution into this. Okay,
Unknown Speaker 8:34
well first of all, thank you for noticing all the details
Miss Pinup Miami 8:39
of the tie you guys like the little hidden colors and
Unknown Speaker 8:44
it's appreciated. I feel like most people like when they pass it. Oh, you look really good.
Miss Pinup Miami 8:51
I appreciate it cuz I make my I like to make my own clothes. So I put detail into my own
Unknown Speaker 8:58
shirt. Um,
Unknown Speaker 9:02
right, I always liked I've always been that person. I don't wanna say kid like, even like maybe late high school and college. I was always that kid that maybe like dressed a little too up for what was going on. You know what I mean? Like there was one I remember, at one point in college, I like showed up for like one of our like exams or something and like I might have been wearing like suspenders in the button or something, you know what I mean? And it was a little over the top it sounds like like you're like really dressed up like What's the occasion I'm like, any day could be the case if you want it to be and they're like, Oh my god, so like to live by. But I feel like I just always liked kind of be old, especially when you think more like vintage clothing especially for medicine like that. You get more kind of time and like fun to play with it and you can layer things and there's more elements to it than just like oh, I'm putting on this T shirt or pants. So I feel like for me It definitely started You know, way back in high school. And when it comes to, I think our looks that we'll do for a Pearsall's, there's kind of like marriage with the design of the parasol and our style. Every parasol that we do, I start by designing a computer, I have a tablet that I drawn on the computer. And then that way, it's easier to kind of edit and change things around and make sure it make sure we like make sure we like it, make sure that everything fits inside a circle. And then you always have that like weird thing right in the center where it doesn't meet, you're gonna miss the opportunity to paint something.
Miss Pinup Miami 10:37
I didn't think about that. I just thought you guys went straight on to the parents.
Unknown Speaker 10:41
I mean, it's like, Really? I mean,
Unknown Speaker 10:43
there's a lot of plan.
Unknown Speaker 10:44
Yeah, for paintbrush touches that yes, I design the entire thing. We get kind of a color scheme going like even if we maybe do a couple like quick paint sketches like to say like, Okay, do we like this color palette, before we actually touch the parasol itself. And then once we get into that process, then we even start to maybe put a look together if that means shopping, you know, just a clothing store, maybe an antique place, or even getting something online. And then so as those elements show up, then the parasol can still change a little bit. You know what I mean? Like we will, he'll he's really good at mixing colors to match something perfectly. So if there's an element that we're wearing the bow tie pants, we can make it perfectly fit like oh, it's not like that's a burgundy. inasa Burgundy, they're the exact burgundy.
Unknown Speaker 11:35
So it matches. Exactly if that's what we decided to do, right?
Miss Pinup Miami 11:41
Like, I know, I feel like I need to have a red carpet when I see you guys. Cuz I'm like, that's like really, I saw appreciate that because aesthetically, I knew everything had a look but just hearing it just makes me like, love you guys even more. And also, that's why I mean, when I first met you I the one of the looks that I did the weekend that I first met you guys was actually inspired by your Instagram. I know I told you that when I met you, but my Mickey Mouse like my Steamboat Willie skirt that I painted. I didn't I didn't follow those steps, but I just straight on with a pencil and then I was like, paint over the pencil. But that was inspired by you guys. And so, you know, I really think you've also influenced other people and other people have bought your art at the park they see some dapper day. I think this recently you did one for like the Muppets. No,
Unknown Speaker 12:38
yes. Um, I don't know if they brought it to this dapper day. They felt they took it to the dapper day, last fall, which then was like kind of during the whole Coronavirus thing. So we weren't able to make it to that one. But it was really interesting. Then we painted that for them. And then they took that with them. So I'm like, even though we didn't get to go like a piece of us still was there. You know, it
Miss Pinup Miami 13:03
was I love the colors.
Unknown Speaker 13:06
They wanted for bright reference to the vehicle. Yeah. That's kind of another thing. I guess, in our own work. We can do whatever we want. We're not licensed with anybody. So in the work that we do for somebody else, there has to be only so much that we can put in there so much of a reference. So they might lead us in a direction or say, here's what we're thinking. And then we had to kind of alter things so that it gets the point across close enough. Right, but doesn't get us a phone call. Mouse the mouse
Miss Pinup Miami 13:41
calling you.
Unknown Speaker 13:43
Yeah.
Miss Pinup Miami 13:44
And you've also done your art. I'm because I'm sticking to the dapper day on parasols. Did you find that easier? Harder, it's a smaller canvas or
Unknown Speaker 13:54
parasols parasol
Miss Pinup Miami 13:56
fan, I'm sorry, I'm here, like a fan. And I meant
Unknown Speaker 14:03
the I wouldn't say it's harder or easier. It's just for all of it. It's terrible. Challenge, right. It's just so especially, I mean, you think we've what we met in our school, we went to art school, we're like, oh, we'd like painting on every surface you could possibly imagine painting on but there's so much texture and folding to a parasol and a fan. That is like and then especially when there's maybe a face involved then you have to make sure that it's right because at this angle that hold could really make somebody look relevant either
Unknown Speaker 14:39
together.
Unknown Speaker 14:42
So I mean it's just it's not Yeah, it's not I mean, it's not terrible. We love doing it obviously but it's definitely a completely different challenge but I never considered I would be dealing with with artwork.
Miss Pinup Miami 14:54
And how does it does the fan like I always use fans and it pops open with the paint does it open normally You guys like, watch that are we we've run
Unknown Speaker 15:04
across that problem with everything, including the parasol. So as far as what we've been doing for the fans for customers, is we found more of kind of the fan that they don't fold. They just have kind of the bamboo stem that you hold. And then it's just kind of constantly open with their glamorous, yes.
Unknown Speaker 15:22
It's just kind of, there's advantages and disadvantages, I guess to each thing. We were even saying to people you have to expect even if you paint it on a regular Canvas, and you took it off the stretchers, and you fold it in a million different times and unfolded, it refolded it for the day, there's going to be wear and tear on and that kind of led them to if we can take our paintings and put it on digitally, then you don't run into the issue of the actual paint cracking, we can now do mass products, which lowers the price instead of spending so much time on one custom piece, we can offer it at a better deal and easier to get to
Unknown Speaker 16:03
or when something gets printed. Instead, it is made to then fold you know, the umbrella, the fan, the parasol whatever it is, is sublimated into the fabric. Exactly, yeah, exactly. So as we, as our business kind of continues and evolves here, the gold is a main product will be stuff that we have done and then had printed, we have some examples. Or we will still offer handpainted stuff to people for a higher price. If they want something like legit custom, but I mean again, they're going to be made aware like this is going to crack this is going to where this is going to you know so that's the advantage and disadvantage.
Miss Pinup Miami 16:46
And love you example Allah gave, if you take it out of a canvas and you start folding it even with the dress that I told you that I painted the back if I when I opened it up the other day, I was already like putting scanning I even tried spraying scotch guard on it happens because it is a fabric and it moves and it's not meant for that. But you know, I want to know, I would love to know your guys's reaction when when when you see umbrella fellows popping up on people's Instagram. I that would be I can't imagine the feeling of seeing somebody like I would love to make custom dresses, but I can't imagine somebody else wearing it and be like, Oh my god, I made that. How do you how does that get you giddy?
Unknown Speaker 17:31
I'm getting.
Unknown Speaker 17:35
But yeah, for me, it's like even the the last everything we just had as we're driving home after that weekend, like I was just an emotional mess. Like, I mean, people are like running up to us, like people have our product and people other people running up to us like we follow you on Instagram. Can I get a picture with you? And I'm like, I'm crying the whole way home. I'm like, this is like, this is like this crazy, surreal dream. And it's just it's insane.
Unknown Speaker 17:58
One girl even was so excited. She's like, Oh, I'm so glad to meet you. And I was so excited because you liked one of my photos.
Unknown Speaker 18:11
very surreal. It's so surreal. It really is.
Miss Pinup Miami 18:14
I think what makes it so surreal, at least for me, when somebody sees me in public and they've seen me online or something. It's the fact that like they're appreciating something that you're so passionate about. You could tell that you guys love this. And it's like when somebody compliments you didn't think much about it because you're not doing it for the attention. So when they like the girl that was so happy that you liked one of her photos like to her cuz it for you, you're just passionate you really really liked it. And for her it was like oh my god, I these guys are amazing. You know, I fangirl when I met you guys, so it was a mutual fangirling. So, before we get to your past Well, before we get into like your future projects, I do have a few questions that a few of the listeners asked on Instagram. If you're ready.
Unknown Speaker 19:11
Yes.
Miss Pinup Miami 19:12
So what kind of paint Do you use for your parasols?
Unknown Speaker 19:18
red paint. It's usually acrylic. I don't think we've ever used anything but acrylics. Oh yeah,
Unknown Speaker 19:22
there's a primer base.
Unknown Speaker 19:24
Right? We'll put it Yeah, cuz most of them. we've experimented with both. We've done fabric Pearsall's. And then we've also done paper parasols. Which again, kind of like everything else. There's like pros and cons to both the paper, it's a little bit more, I mean you can't see through it as easy as fabric obviously. So we don't have to put a primer coat on it. Just wait. And then the fabric though we definitely have to put a base coat on first or a pain because we made that mistake our very first one we made. The first minute we got there we held up the sun and from behind and that's all backlit I mean it looks real funky. So you got to make sure you kind of get that base coat before you get
Miss Pinup Miami 20:08
on the parasol
Unknown Speaker 20:10
Exactly.
Unknown Speaker 20:12
allows it because of the weave the fat or the pink will go through the fabric. The paper absorbs it, but when the paper absorbs, what's your painting? If you go back over that spot again, you'll rip right through it because it's wet paper.
Unknown Speaker 20:26
So it's right.
Unknown Speaker 20:27
Yeah. Given taken,
Unknown Speaker 20:29
but acrylic always.
Unknown Speaker 20:34
We always
Unknown Speaker 20:37
do a clear cut. Right? Yeah, we have a spray that will clear coat it
Miss Pinup Miami 20:42
How long does it take to dry like before you guys could fold it
Unknown Speaker 20:46
dry in for acrylics? Nothing. I mean, especially like sometimes we'll be sitting there. I mean it, it might take a few minutes, maybe 10 Max, okay. But a lot of times we're sitting there painting and like he said earlier, like he's got a paintbrush on one hand, and a hairdryer and the other is like, let it dry and like, move on.
Miss Pinup Miami 21:03
So salon day, right. The next question, what do you do if it rains with your parents? So at the parks? Right? Oh, Brian, you carry a little bag?
Unknown Speaker 21:16
We know we do. We do have we always have kind of a large kind of just regular plastic trash bag just in case. The last one that we went to a couple weekends ago, we get there to the park. And it's just like out of nowhere such as downpour. We hadn't even left the car yet. Yeah, thankfully, we haven't left the car. So we just waited there. And then we waited it out. But I mean, again, they're not designed for that even a parasol. Regardless of the hand painted or not a parasol is more for the sun and not for rain. It's not an umbrella. So we Yeah, we just kind of carry stuff around to keep them safe.
Miss Pinup Miami 21:53
Yeah, my boyfriend learned that the hard way we were I was doing an event at a Harley Davidson and I said, Hey, grab my stuff. It was raining. And what he did was he opened up the pair so I started walking in the rain. I'm like, that's
Unknown Speaker 22:06
not gonna help.
Miss Pinup Miami 22:08
He learned he learned it cuz he thought he could dry. I'm like, no, it's paper. It's gonna dry it will be so crispy. Like, it's gonna be like this. Next question is how do you find inspiration for your next look? Ah,
Unknown Speaker 22:25
I knew that was coming. Like I just had a weird feeling. Right? Right. I feel like because what we do, you watch
Miss Pinup Miami 22:37
a bunch of Disney movies and then pick one.
Unknown Speaker 22:42
We don't like to the very first time that we went to a dapper day we went like as character bounded as characters. And that was the very last time that we ever did that. What we try to do is we try to go more for maybe a moment or, like we're trying to tell the story of a certain like scene or something like that. And then as a kid, this goes back to when I watch the Disney movies. As I got older once I realized, like that's artwork that's painting that's drawing whatever, I started to pay attention to the background instead of just watching characters. And so to really watch an old school animated Disney movie, it just really appreciate the background. I feel like that's a lot of times where the inspiration comes from for me, is I'm like I love that. I love those colors. I love that design. I love that aesthetic, the artists that it because I mean, even as you watch them, they go completely different from one to the other.
Unknown Speaker 23:39
Yeah, it allowed a lot more freedom. Even when we went as characters, there's only so much you can do. When you think of the whole movie, if you pick one scene, you have every color option available, or even weird color options that normally wouldn't go if you're carrying the parasol, and they have those colors somehow in the scene, then your outfit makes sense. And you can have a lot of fun then mixing and matching whatever you really want.
Unknown Speaker 24:09
There. The last one that we went to, like I put the outfit on, and I'm like, this is the weirdest thing I've ever wore. I'm like this tie is the most bizarre thing. But it's like as soon as I opened the parents off, like That's right. That's why I got this tie on.
Miss Pinup Miami 24:24
Your story together, right. The next the next question. The next question I have is how do you find your attire for men? I find it hard to find clothes. I guess that's somebody their whole How do you show man?
Unknown Speaker 24:44
Again, I think that's why it's such a long process when we do our Pearsall's and we're doing our looks. I mean, if we're we probably know what we're doing for the next like year and a half already. You don't I mean, like we've planned that far ahead. Because I think it is so difficult for to get like unique pieces for men. And then especially, one of the biggest things now is kind of online. So then you need that time, you can't wait till the day before to go try it on and get the story out to have it shipped. And then if you like it, if it fits, you got to turn up all the plots. But we try to find as unique as pieces as we can.
Unknown Speaker 25:24
If that even means I can sell a little bit right enough to get by. So if there's things that we need, like a tie, or a vest or something like that, then we can pick fabric and I can make it to take go with it. So we have a little right, leeway. But it's vintage fine DS.
Unknown Speaker 25:42
Yeah, we like to thrift a lot for our house and for personal stuff in our style. And we've we're usually kind of wearing some kind of a brooch or some kind of jewelry as well. And like that's usually found from that that's like an old school antique, like actual vintage thrift find. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 26:01
But as we know, going thrifting you can't go in there specifically looking for something you have to find. So once you find it that might kind of alter what your thought was the outfit. Or like Jeff said, we have five years worth of ideas, because we happen to find it that day. And if you don't get it, then it's gone. You know, we have quite a collection
Miss Pinup Miami 26:23
that tie back to my diversity. I love vintage chat. So a lot of the dresses of that I make for dapper day bait are based off the hat. I just go off the hanger, because
Unknown Speaker 26:32
you're gonna have something to start. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 26:34
yep, you definitely need inspiration to kind of push the whole thing.
Miss Pinup Miami 26:38
That was the next question. Do you style your outfits first or after your parasol?
Unknown Speaker 26:43
together? together?
Unknown Speaker 26:44
Yeah. Yeah, the first thing is kind of the theme or the, the design the direction that we want to go the story want to tell with it. And then as soon as I start kind of designing and sketching it out, we're looking for pieces, you know, because it's like, again, like, I might we can find a piece that I'm like, Oh, I would have never thought this would go with his shirt. And now I have to work this color into the parasol or vice versa. You know? So I mean, it's, I mean, it's completely simultaneous, and it's at the exact same time.
Miss Pinup Miami 27:17
And Who, who, who comes with the ideas first, you guys do it together.
Unknown Speaker 27:30
I'm more of the design, and the very early on stages. Everything that we pretty much come up with I design it first, even if it's a sketch on a napkin, or something like that. And then like I said, I go digitally. And then once we start painting, I'm painting the kind of the bigger stuff and then he's, he's the last second kind of stuff going on with other details.
Unknown Speaker 27:50
I would say he's also kind of like the Disney superfan too, so he's the one to say like, oh, there's a background scene where for one second and this clip. I'm like, okay, you know show me that's more me if you show me I can do it. Coming up with things out of my head. That's so good.
Miss Pinup Miami 28:10
So he he just leads you to the right road to come. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 28:16
Would you ever do.
Miss Pinup Miami 28:18
Right? Would you ever do something from Universal Studios or Marvel?
Unknown Speaker 28:23
We did not yet but we have gotten to people that for this upcoming year have asked for something kind of in the Marvel superhero universe. So we're pretty excited about it. And like going to the going to the universal thing to I am like a huge like dyno geek. So to kind of do something in that era. You know what I mean? That kind of goes maybe the best part thing for universal like I'm I'm so like itching to do something like that.
Miss Pinup Miami 28:51
I'm excited for the new ride at Universal the velocity. The next question is what this might be a hard question. Especially for you, Scott. I What is your favorite Disney movie?
Unknown Speaker 29:04
A little mermaid?
Miss Pinup Miami 29:06
Oh, there you go. But he's the Disney chance on like, right, right, right.
Unknown Speaker 29:22
Okay, I have like a couple different maybe for different reasons. My first gut reaction though, okay, like it's nothing it's a hard question. I just feel like I'm gonna have the wrong answer. But it's there's no way there's the wrong hands. Right all the other ones.
Miss Pinup Miami 29:44
Know when you watch Disney plus.
Unknown Speaker 29:50
I say one of my tops. Hands down is Alice in Wonderland. I love again as far as the art goes, I love the color. And then even like aside from Disney, I love I love Alice in Wonderland, the original lives Carol, like every version of Alice in Wonderland, I love it. I love the whole premise of it is being mad and crazy. I love that. Um, but then my other go to would probably have to be beating the beast. I mean, that was just like I was like prime age when that came out in the theaters. I remember going to see it in the theaters. I remember watching it when I was a little kid bright when my like baby sister was born. So I mean, it's like that one's a big one for me, too. So somewhere between Alice and maybe
Miss Pinup Miami 30:34
my my favorite is Pinocchio and I one of my favorite umbrellas that you did the parasols you did was Pinocchio, because it was awesome. your background? And he had Yeah, you know, yeah. All the details. There was beautiful.
Unknown Speaker 30:47
That was our first that was ever painted. And then
Unknown Speaker 30:51
Yep, and then printed, which we might write for now. And we're gonna really because that matched your alpha perfectly that day. I remember correctly.
Miss Pinup Miami 31:02
My favorite movie. Next is what's um, what's your first Disney inspired piece that you've done?
Unknown Speaker 31:12
on the floor for the business Pearsall's, that would have been the one where we did. It was the first one we were Carl and Russell and then our parasol because again, I wanted to make sure people knew what the story was. So we did paradise falls with Kevin on it.
Miss Pinup Miami 31:30
Did you take a picture of
Unknown Speaker 31:32
the houses on their real tiny house? You did the chairs? Oh, yeah. Take that back. It's been a long time. It's been a couple years.
Miss Pinup Miami 31:41
Did you take a picture with Kevin? I don't know. He's an animal kingdom, right?
Unknown Speaker 31:45
Yeah. Yep. And that's, that's the other thing that as we're doing this more and more, as soon as we figure out like, we've got a couple of years worth of ideas and outfits, everything put together and ready to go not ready to go but planned. But depending on what we find out what Park things are gonna be at that year, it could completely change which one we're going to carry, you know, and that would have been kind of one of those examples. Like, that was our first one ever that we've done. So we didn't really think of that. But now we're more aware of like, Hey, does this make sense to go to this park or animal kingdom or Magic Kingdom? or fall or spring? Exactly. Or even like the seasons, right? Like the color palette that we wear has to do with the season that it is? So it's a process?
Miss Pinup Miami 32:29
How do you store your parasols?
Unknown Speaker 32:31
Well, you're right.
Unknown Speaker 32:34
We have them, right. We have this. In the bedroom, we have this like hush that's got the TV in it. And so it closes. And it's like it used to like it has
Unknown Speaker 32:45
all the Disney movies,
Miss Pinup Miami 32:48
VHS or DVD.
Unknown Speaker 32:50
But they're right.
Unknown Speaker 32:52
They're just they're literally just stacked up on top of the right now. I mean, we've got them folded down and you just see all the ends of all the Pearsall's. That's it right now.
Miss Pinup Miami 33:02
What are your role models? In our Do you have any inspirational artists that you are your role models?
Unknown Speaker 33:15
I don't know. For me, the fun of it is picking up on little pieces from each artist. I don't ever want to just mimic someone per se, that's kind of the fun even when we're doing Disney stuff to think outside the box. Don't just copy a scene that, you know, everybody knows we try to think of something else. But throughout our I would say just picking up on the different things that people do well, we like experimenting also. So if it's like we're doing a pop art piece, then we're going to look up inspiration, see what was done. Or we might go all the way to Art Nouveau and pick up styles from that. It's kind of ever evolving and and what we find inspiration and changes and then the style lends itself to something completely different. So I can't really say that there's an artist
Unknown Speaker 34:07
rises even for me like it's not. It's not necessarily like somebody in particular. But I feel like I've always really been drawn to, like the people that like I like that their work is insanely detail oriented, because that's not me. You know, I remember even like back in high school. We were at a field trip or something at a museum and teacher asked like, what was your favorite piece and like this one over here? And they're like, well, that's really weird, because that's nothing like your aesthetic. That's not how you paint at all. And like probably why Island, like, otherwise I would just say mine like the finish line. You know what I mean? But it's like to have that appreciation for something that like I could never do that i can't i don't know the focus or the you know what I mean? The technical skills to get in there really tiny, which is again, I think why we work so well together and I appreciate this stuff because he gets detail.
Unknown Speaker 35:00
I can think something similar to that. Like I love a Rothko painting. But that's not me. They're just born bright colors layered on top of each other and block form is not something that I do but I appreciate what was done all the way down to Michelangelo Caravaggio, back in the Renaissance, where they started to learn tenebrae ism and using the dark colors and versus a light of holding a candle or how the skin would listen or something like that. I appreciate that, too. So huge spectrum there
Miss Pinup Miami 35:33
and made you get into your own bubble. Right? Yeah, yeah. Do you have any favorite pieces of your own? Like, do you guys have your own favorite of what you've done? I know that's a hard question.
Unknown Speaker 35:48
Right. I like my last one the most because it was a little mermaid.
Unknown Speaker 35:55
I would say my favorite is I think it was a year ago, the I did the kind of sleeping beauties Castle in the background. It was the I called the peace Once Upon a Dream, because it was kind of that moment, you guys Sleeping Beauty, Aurora and Philip kind of dancing in the background. But it was still mainly focused on the scenery. And again, it's not from my favorite movie, but I say that maybe Sleeping Beauty has my favorite background art. You know, I mean, the, the attention to detail in that, that you know, the classic like square trees. Like, I just I love that so much. Right? Exactly, exactly. So I told him, I'm like, I'm like, I'm doing this what I'm doing Sleeping Beauty. So I hope you're ready to pay some details.
Unknown Speaker 36:39
Always.
Miss Pinup Miami 36:40
Now, this is a random question, because this is my question for Alec like, Okay, I'm so curious, because I didn't know that you made the eyes? How hamat? Like you what kind of paint or what how did this in a quick synopsis? How does it making you color that like? I don't understand, like, how does that work,
Unknown Speaker 36:58
um, again, very, very detail oriented. Everything that I'm spending time painting is in the size of a penny. It's all hand done. So people expect it to look like their other eye. That's the whole goal. So there's high expectations there. But it is it's it's different than Canvas painting or painting on the parasol, that form of paint, you mix your color and you lay it on and, and you can build it up that way. With an eye. You're painting on a flat desk, but you want life in it. So there's little layers that are almost translucent are see through and you have to build up that texture. So that it does come to life and all those colors are in in layers.
Miss Pinup Miami 37:43
That's so interesting.
Unknown Speaker 37:47
Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I mean, and it was a passion of mine to to use something that I'm good at creative at in a way that helps people. So the paracels prevent maybe skin cancer, so you don't lose your nose and he had to come see me so that
Miss Pinup Miami 38:08
it's a well rounded business you guys are getting into. I used to be I used to be a embalmer. And the joke was that my sister was a nurse. So if he she killed them, they'd come to me. So they thought it was
Unknown Speaker 38:24
our you know, somebody will take care.
Miss Pinup Miami 38:27
There you go. Now the last question is do you what do you guys have for the future? Like any anything you want to tell or show? I don't know.
Unknown Speaker 38:37
Yeah, we don't have to show
Unknown Speaker 38:39
up to show like just for our personal ones, or like the whole like,
Unknown Speaker 38:45
business, hopefully. Yeah. Okay. Again, the main push for us now is figuring out how to get something that's accessible to the people. So more so than just the rare custom painting, we want something that's available in a decent price that people can afford and have fun carrying around. So that took us to painting on a flat surface, running it through a high resolution scanner, and then being able to put that on the parasol that led us to not only digital, purely digital work that we can put on there fairly quick for a good price and our paintings that will also be printed. So there's a lot of fans are
Unknown Speaker 39:34
still something that we're like looking into as we speak.
Unknown Speaker 39:38
Yeah, different designs. Who knew there were 20 million different kinds of fans. Printing opens up the whole range. It doesn't matter how folds. Now, we don't have to be worried about that. Right? waterproof. We're looking at maybe umbrellas, right versus
Unknown Speaker 39:56
get a little bit more use of it.
Unknown Speaker 39:58
Right or offer all Little bit people can pick and choose. So there's a lot of research and development also on finding out what works best what holds up.
Unknown Speaker 40:09
But I feel like to come back to the question in a way, is I feel like what we're gonna eventually end up doing is probably just maybe carrying more of our actual product or, you know what I mean? Like I, what I would like to do is release things, our products in collections. So like, every time we go out, we go to the family got to Aberdeen, we got whatever we're going out, we're gonna be like, these are our Pearsall's they're dropping next month. You know what I mean? So, as the time goes on, yeah, it's kind of a preview. So it's not just, I mean, we'll probably still be doing our hand payments for us for the parks and stuff like that. But a lot more of it, I think is going to be going towards the product that we are able then to share with people a lot easier.
Unknown Speaker 40:57
Stuff opened and get into the art. Yeah, yep. The festival. Epcot.
Miss Pinup Miami 41:03
Oh, yeah, you guys need a booth there at the Art Festival. I'm just saying.
Unknown Speaker 41:08
Yes, man. Yeah, we've been reached out to so and then. Super Corona hit. So it's been a year.
Unknown Speaker 41:16
But it's given us time to do kind of that research and stuff. We were approached what our second, our second, your second time showing our Pearsall's there. And it's like we're figuring all this out. It's great to sell it to the public, but we don't know how things are gonna hold up or react to different environments and stuff like that. So we have had extra time I guess a blessing and it would be that we gain some I get it right. To you have learned through trial and error.
Unknown Speaker 41:46
Exactly. Right. Exactly.
Miss Pinup Miami 41:49
So how about in the personal side? Your projects? Personal
Unknown Speaker 41:54
personal side? We got humming
Miss Pinup Miami 41:56
okay. Yeah, I want to keep it a surprise. But how are the outfits going? How are the How is the hunt for the fall dapper day? Or is that already set?
Unknown Speaker 42:09
files? pretty sad? Oh, it's pretty sad. Um, so we haven't started painting but I think outfits are ready to go and designs are good. Um, but mine is going to be themed. Like I say exactly what it is. Maybe But well,
Miss Pinup Miami 42:26
don't say you don't have to say you just just tease so that everyone
Unknown Speaker 42:34
I mean, you've seen like I'll put up snippets all the time on Instagram like I am a big tease.
Miss Pinup Miami 42:40
When you posted pictures of before you guys went to dapper day. Right? The umbrella closed and right. Is anybody supposed to guess but it's like intriguing because you want to guess so.
Unknown Speaker 42:52
I'm one of my looks because we there's the whole weekend but one of my books for Fall is going to be a movie that takes place in London. Um, and then I don't know maybe kind of animal as well like there's a little bit of that kind of animal element that one of the one of the vintage antique pieces that I found as far as to wear which I'm excited about is I found a kind of for like color add on to like or yeah I think so for to like put on to the lapel of my blazer to add that again that like elements of like layers and texture and all good stuff.
Unknown Speaker 43:36
What are my mine Yeah. Mines very much. So in the beginning stages, it's a little harder for me I don't know if this is like too personal or not, but I fluctuate in my weight a lot.
Unknown Speaker 43:51
Oh, join the
Unknown Speaker 43:54
it's hard for me to plan that far in advance because I'm not sure what I might fit in at that point. I was I have a full closet of stuff that's my like, Oh, I hope someday but I had to learn to dress for now. I want to be comfortable, I want to look good, how I look now. So my stuff might take a little even closer to the date of because I want to be comfortable at the point that I am with my body.
Miss Pinup Miami 44:22
I understand completely when I make my dresses under two in advance. I leave it open in the back so I don't put a zipper or anything in case I need to tuck um, just because things fluctuate or since I also do wear court I do wear corsets all the time. So like depending on which one I'm wearing, it's different and what I decide like when I went to the Disney Parks like I wear a lighter corset and that's a thing and then to work I wear something else so it just depends so I just before I decide what I'm going to do, I just leave it open and then I put the zipper and close the dress so it's like a flat dress and then put it together.
Unknown Speaker 45:00
tailored perfectly to your body.
Miss Pinup Miami 45:06
Let's see some of your pieces. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 45:09
So one of our first pieces that we're going to be putting out with probably our second batch product, this will be this has been completely hand painted. So it was hand painted, and then we've printed it. So the hand painted, is here.
Miss Pinup Miami 45:29
I love the colors.
Unknown Speaker 45:32
So it was gonna have to go to the YouTube channel now, but we got this car. We got some little parents in the background, a lot of detail that again, Alec went in and kind of created pattern with the leafing. And then we've already got this one kind of a sample printed on the parents. All
Unknown Speaker 45:55
right,
Miss Pinup Miami 45:56
that's a beautiful is that like silk? Or kind of
Unknown Speaker 45:59
this one? Yes, this one is a fabric one. Yes.
Miss Pinup Miami 46:02
Gorgeous.
Unknown Speaker 46:10
Beautiful.
Unknown Speaker 46:12
So we finally like we found a place that prints really good quality is high enough, you know what I mean resolution, because we're still painting on a very large scale, compared to what we normally paint on sitting at a table. But painting flat is so much easier than painting on a parasol directly. layers.
Miss Pinup Miami 46:32
You don't even have to do two layers of paint, like you usually do
Unknown Speaker 46:37
a base coat on, just get it going. But then the very first collection we're going to do, we had a couple of the pieces at dapper day. And this past APA day, and they were all strictly digital. So they weren't hand painted. First, I designed them all digitally. And then we had them printed. And kind of the loose theme of them again, because we're not licensed or anything. But it's kind of each individual Disney park. So one of the ones that I had, it was a castle and the whole thing is based on all the fairy tales, you know, it's not anything very Disney specific, but it's all just your classic fairy tales that I mean, everybody knows every version. And then the other one we had the other one we had, it is up on the Instagram. But then this is totally digital.
Miss Pinup Miami 47:31
And I didn't know what digital digital. I love that one. I think I even commented that I love
Unknown Speaker 47:42
we got it. We got a lot of people that love this one night. This one. Yes, this one was based on the California Adventure, which we've never actually been to never been to California. But it was fun to try to pick the pieces again without doing like actual Disney stuff to say how do we embody the park? But then how do we also not make it so specific that this has to be a Disney thing? You know, I mean, so I feel
Unknown Speaker 48:06
like opening the pinup community, but also like what we do,
Miss Pinup Miami 48:11
yeah. Car Show cuz I'm always like, that's my thing. Yeah. And I saw that one. That's why I was like, That's amazing.
Unknown Speaker 48:21
Seriously, like, as we were like, even in the process of designing that one, we would like be on Instagram. And then you're putting a picture at a car. So I'm like she needs our parasol. But she doesn't exist yet.
Unknown Speaker 48:33
Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 48:35
What we're trying to do is as we design things is create like so what I'm working on right now is a fan that kind of goes with the kind of the California parasol, but it takes it a little bit of a different direction. So it kind of still has that like retro feel to it. But then maybe if you're going with a group of people, you're all kind of doing this cohesive look together, you can get different pieces. Like she's got the fan, he's got the parasol. I mean, we're talking maybe potentially in the future, future future, maybe printing on like scarves, maybe having sewn into like bow ties for men pocket squares. Because I mean, we're just we wanted to be, we want to be able to, again, we're trying to create a story just like we do with our paracels that we paint take. So if you're doing something as a group, you can pick different elements of different maybe even collections that we put out, and it can create an entire story.
Miss Pinup Miami 49:30
And that's I think that you guys are just like gonna explode. You know, I honestly say that with all sincerity. It's because it's from the art you could do anything like you know, you've just it's like a snowball effect. You know, you know, at least from a car show like I know I would love that parasol. A fan is super hot. You know, it could go into scarves like it's like, you can even get into like art or you know your art but in Art Deco that's very detailed for art deco weekends, because you guys have such a such sophistication in your art that that could see that in that scene. So there's like I feel like there's so much you guys could do and I can't I can't wait to be part of the journey just watching you guys.
Unknown Speaker 50:12
right you're a huge part of it. Thank you again for having us on here. It just helps everything we actually we have there is one that we've been working on they will be part of the first collection that is art deco. Because the Yes, the first collection that's the
Unknown Speaker 50:27
vision, right?
Unknown Speaker 50:29
You get it you get this the first collection is not just based on the parks, but each parasol is a different kind of time period apart. So we have we have cave paintings is one of them. We have Art Nouveau which is very which was the Magic Kingdom one that I carried. So it's very romantic and it lends itself to fairy tales and fantasy which is kind of like 1890s to like early 19 hundred's art we have an art deco piece that is the 20s obviously the Cadillac one is our pop, which kind of 50s and 60s and then we have a 81 as well which is kind of that like graphic like bright neon colors. So again, they're one collection but each one stands differently very on its own and then I think it kind of adds Jimmy we've we've met in our school we've taken our history we you know what I mean? Like we have an appreciation for all these different types and style of art right
Unknown Speaker 51:34
take the little bits and pieces the best of each thing and try and use it
Miss Pinup Miami 51:40
I'm impressed but not impressed because I know you guys are awesome you know I do you have any questions that you'd like to ask me
Unknown Speaker 51:53
Oh yeah, you know you're going to carry our parasol Yes,
Miss Pinup Miami 52:04
yes yes yes
Unknown Speaker 52:05
yes. Yes
Miss Pinup Miami 52:06
I'm gonna be like the spokesperson like here you go guys ordering fellows calm
Unknown Speaker 52:14
here's Okay, here's maybe a question is as somebody that I mean you've done the database you've done the Disney thing but coming from then the like pinup culture as well. What is something that you would like to see
Unknown Speaker 52:28
from us
Unknown Speaker 52:29
yes from us to help us out
Miss Pinup Miami 52:31
yeah from from you guys. I would say more like I love Disney but more of like the car for me I didn't even think Disney I just thought right car like Now I see why you did the California Adventure but those pieces like that that are for car shows or for everyday wear or you know cuz I dress like this all the time but there's a lot of ladies that follow me that dress pinup or vintage inspired all the time it would be mostly based on thing that is able to like how the car one I keep going back to that one but something that could go at all yeah versatile. Yes because it does anyone is I mean I guess cuz I'm not such a huge I be like Alec I'm not a huge Disney fan. I do enjoy it and I enjoyed dapper day so much and I enjoy the movies but for everyday wear I'd like something more different. That's why with other that's why your artwork that you're saying that is not I know it's not license. It's still beautiful because it's not Disney but it's it's it's so bright, vibrant. Like that parrot is gorgeous. I could see that like right here in South Beach or anywhere. Um, pieces like that that I find amazing. And Art Deco because Art Deco weekend is from I always attend Art Deco weekend, I've always wanted to go to the Jazz Age long party in New York, which is a big deal over there. I don't know if you ever heard of it. Look it up. It's by Derek David R and Ella in his band. They put up this whole weekend and it's like, everyone dresses to the tee very Art Deco. And that's where I can imagine your flags. That's why flags your parents home. That's what I mentioned.
There. Yeah, so that's how I could see it.
Unknown Speaker 54:26
I've loved the use of art deco because like I said, we have one of these that's kind of our deco wish or one of the parks say that that's probably like one of my favorite like style here is like I just love the lines and everything. So I
Miss Pinup Miami 54:44
can see there's our deck. Right, so I'll send you the link of those events. And anyone who's interested I'll put it in the description because those are really fun events. So I want to say thank you guys so much for being on the podcast. It's honestly an honor for me. have you here and talk and get to learn more about you guys, you know?
Unknown Speaker 55:05
It really was an honor. It's
Unknown Speaker 55:11
just a part of you willing to talk with us. Kind of get out there, what our passion is and what we're doing.
Miss Pinup Miami 55:23
Well, I'm sure you've affected a lot of people with your art inspired. So stay tuned and I will listen to you all next week. Have a fabulous day.
Unknown Speaker 55:33
Bet
Unknown Speaker 55:36
Bet
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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