Denise Vasquez is an artist who creates because it is a part of her being. Denise is also an actress, creator, Host, producer of THE BUZZZ 4 U, illustrator, custom toy designer, singer, songwriter, guitarist, activist & Founder of WO+MEN 4 A CAUSE. Here you can follow Denise's latest discoveries, art projects, creative process, interviews with some of her favorite artists and her Spotlights on people making a difference in the world utilizing their creative hearts, minds and souls!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
PAWN STARS tv show Las Vegas, NV
Randy & I decided to visit the shop during our trip to Vegas...
"Pawn Stars" has been featured on national TV, Travel Channel, and ABC
The shop was smaller than we expected, and not in the best neighborhood, but we hAd fun seeing some of the cool collectibles they have!
Its located at
713 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Recipe: My Home Made Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce by Denise Vasquez
I made this from scratch!
Many, many years ago, I picked up a GREAT recipe from an amazing chef while working in a fine dining restaurant... I added my own touches over the years & this is the result of my recipe today!
Here's what you need:
-fresh cranberries
-fresh orange
-pecans or walnuts
-pure maple syrup
-water
-brown sugar
In a saucepan, combine one bag of fresh cranberries, 8 oz bottle of pure maple syrup, take 1/2 fresh orange & squeeze juice over cranberries, tsp of brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, and 1/4 cup water. Cook over medium heat, bring to a small boil, remove from heat let sit for at least an hour. Serve warm! Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving
PeAcE LoVe ArT & sOuL
Denise Vasquez
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
501ST LEGION~ IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MEMBERS FEATURE & Interview with Andrea Rilli (TK8010)
ALL MATERIAL ON THIS WEBSITE ©2009 BY DENISE VASQUEZ
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
My series "It's All About The Members" began June 2009. If you'd like to go back & read past interviews, be sure to browse through the archives beginning with 501st Legion Founder Albin Johnson on June 14, 2009!
This interview FEATURES all the way from Germany, 501st Legion Member
Andrea Rilli (TK8010)
-How did you find out about the 501st?
My first encounter with the 501st was pretty strange. I am a shift worker and my way home leads past my favourite club. One monday night after late shift I drove along, my mind already half asleep, and saw that there were some weird things going on. I couldn't really believe what I saw, Darth Vader and a couple of Stormtroopers? Here? My curiosity was stronger than the need for sleep, so I went in the club. It turned out that the club hosted a release party for Episode III, they had troopers of the German Garrison and raffled off free tix for the movie. It was a fun evening, I got to talk to the guys and girls in plastic and won tickets for the movie. The next day I registered at the public boards at the German Garrison
homepage and started to work on a costume.
-What inspired you to want to join?
I loved the movies since I saw them first as a kid and I love costuming for carneval here. After meeting with troops in the club I saw that I'm not alone and that you are never to old to "play dress up". The pictures of events on the homepage and the conversations with the members in the boards were great. The stories they had to tell from conventions and other troopings were so much fun, I wanted to be part of it. Guess thats when I realized that I am a geek.
-Which Garrison are you a part of?
I'm part of the German Garrison (Arma Candida Squad)
-When did you join? How long have you been a member?
I did join in September 2005. Those 4 years were great!
-How did you decide on your costume?
That was the hardest thing to decide! Star Wars provides so many great costumes that chosing one to start with is really hard. I didnt want to scare the kids off so it
had to be a costume with a helmet. My first "loves" were the Biker Scout and the Royal Guard. The fact, that a Garrison member sold his Royal Guard helmet soon after I joined the forums fixed my decision. By now I own 6 costumes with one more on the way. The guard was followed by a Stormtrooper, a Biker Scout, a (never worn) Officer, a female Tusken Raider and a TIE Pilot. The latest project is Jango Fett, but this will take some more time to be finished.
-Where did you get your costume? Did you make yours?
That is quite different for the various costumes. There are members out there who make their costumes completely by theirselves, by sewing or working with fibreglass or vacuform, they all have my deepest respect. I tried to sew the cloak of my Royal Guard, I really tried... well, my tries are now serving as big shapless kind of bag to save the helmet from scratches. I do smaller repairs and assemble some of the plastic stuff and I made the bracelets for the Tusken from Fimo, but thats as far as it goes. My Royal Guard helmet is from a Garrison member, the cloth parts were made in cooperation with local tailors. They helped me again with the female Tusken. The plastic parts of the Stormtrooper are from the internet as
is the Officer. I bought my Biker Scout used from an other Star Wars Fan and a 501st member in the US was the source for my TIE-Pilot.
-Where have you traveled to participate in 501st events?
I love travelling and meeting 501sters from all over the world. That is a big part of the fun for me. I've been to a lot of countries to troop, which is easy to do in Europe. I have been in Italy, France, the UK, the Netherlands, the USA and Belgium with the 501st. The plans for next year include a trip to Denmark.
-Where’s the farthest you’ve traveled?
That would be the trip to the USA for Celebration IV. With two garrison mates I spent 2 weeks in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was great! We brought our costumes and trooped the Celebration in LA and theBay to Breakers run in SF. That 12 km right through the town were long but a great experience. My feet hurt whenever I think back, but it was worth it.
-What’s your fondest 501st memory?
So many to chose from... there were many kids that started smiling and hugging the troops, there were many fun moments at every troop and a lot of great feedback we got from the public. But one of my all-time favourite memories is from the trip to San Francisco. I was in contact with Sarah from the Golden Gate Garrison before we left here. We were talking about meeting and having dinner while we 3 Germans were in town. I thought it would be an evening with Sarah and her boyfriend (now husband) and good food. I was right only about the good food. The evening started with us arriving at the hotel, we were all 3 jet-lagged and just wanted to take a short nap. Long story short: We slept to long and Sarah and Josh already waited for a while in the hotel lobby. When we finally were ready to go (half an hour or more late) they told us, that there would be some more GGG members. I thought about 5 or 6. That was so wrong. When we came to the mexican restaurant, there were more than 40 GGG members waiting for us. It became a great evening, I met some dear friends. GGG+GG=G5. It was so embarrassing that we slept to long and had this great bunch of people waiting.
-What’s your favorite thing about being a 501st member?
Trooping is cool and never seems to get boring, but the camaraderie and the friendships that you can find in the 501st is my favourite aspect of the Legion. I met some of my best friends in my Garrison, I would have never met them without the club. On top of that I know, that the 501st is everywhere. It is cool to go to Florida and party with the Florida Garrison in Orlando. It is fun to travel with 10 garrison members to Italy and spend a weekend with the Italica Garrison. It is great to have dinner with members of the Neon City Garrison in Las Vegas and visit an R2D2 letterbox somewhere in the city for a group pic. I hugged a letterbox, can you believe that? But it works the other way as well: When we know that legion members are coming to Germany, we try to meet them and show them round. Kim and Cris from the SoCal Garrison are regular guests in many of our livingrooms ;)
-What’s the day like for you as a 501st member preparing for an event?
Preparing for an event depends mainly on the kind of event. A convention is different from promotion in a store or a visit in an amusement park. At my favourite annual event in Germany, we troop in a small theme park and are allowed to set up tents in a meadow that is part of their parking lot and have BBQ in the evening, so there need to be tents packed. At events in malls it is necessary to look shiney, so the armor might need polishing before trooping.
We have mainly events that take a whole day, so it usually starts with rising at some unholy time way to early in the morning, followed by the question why the heck I am doing this... and how I can punish the one who promised this would be fun. I am no morning person. But after shower and coffee it starts to get exciting. I usually prepare my costumebox the day before, but rip everything apart in the morning again to check if I didnt forget anything. The annoyance about having to rise early is gone as soon as I see the guys and girls of the Garrison, we meet, hug, make some clean or dirty jokes and eventually get into our costumes. After trooping day-long events we usually go out to have dinner together, so we dress back in earthling clothes, and enter the restaurant or pub that was unlucky enough to be chosen as our Cantina. The rest of the evening is garrison confidential, sorry ;)
-Does the 501st have ranks or positions? Do you have duties you have to adhere to during events?
Whenever a group has more than 10 members it needs to have a certain order it seems. It is no different in the 501st. My garrison alone has more than 300 members, which means that we have to have people who take care for events, for the homepage, the boards, merchandise and so on. If everyone would do as he wants we'd have pure chaos. To prevent this, we vote for someone to represent the garrison officially and call that poor guy Commander. He then can chose all staff he needs, usually that is a XO, as his deputy when he is not available (holidays, sickness, deployment to polish the Death Star Hangar). Then there is one who takes care about checking new costumes, someone dealing with the homepage and costume pictures, someone who deals with making patches or shirts for the members and a spokesperson. I have been the spokesperson (we call them GPR) for 2 years until earlier this year, I did a lot of what could be called internal PR. I kept in touch with other garrisons, wrote Mission Reports, worked in the Legion PR team etc.
There are not many duties during events besides the ones that the host sets. In amusement parks there is a timetable for group pictures, parades or lunchtimes, thats it. The main rule for us all is: Don't behave like a jerk while being in armor. Easy enough.
-Any upcoming events?
Many small ones are coming up during the next months like for example birthdays. My next big one is visiting the FACTS convention in Gent/Belgium. I'm really looking forward to this because not only my german buddies will be there, but also troops from France, Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands. I didn't see a lot of them since earlier this year.
-Anything else you would like to add?
I just want to send out greetings to all troopers I met in the last years, you rock! I hope to see all of you again, maybe at Celebration V or if I ever make it to Dragon*Con. Keep on trooping!
WHO LET THE TROOPS OUT?!
Monday, November 23, 2009
WHY I ENDORSE DAISY ROCK GUITARS by Denise Vasquez
Illustration by Denise Vasquez ©2009
I am a Daisy Rock Guitars Artist & Proud of it!
Denise performing during Cancerpalooza 2009 @Molly Malones
with her Daisy Rock Jumbo Acoustic/Electric Butterfly Bubinga
The other night I was invited to the launch of "Guitar Goddess Magazine" at the Gibson Showroom in Beverly Hills. During the party, I was invited to come up on stage and say a few words about Tish Ciravolo, Founder & President of Daisy Rock Guitars. Tish was being honored with THE GUITAR GODDESS TRAILBLAZER AWARD! I did not have a speech written nor prepared...I totally spoke from my heart & soul! During my speech I mentioned what led me to become a Daisy Rock Guitar Artist...Years ago, I was looking for a guitar company to endorse...I was looking to endorse a product and a company that I BELIEVE in...
Some artists just look to get FREE products...I must admit, that's always nice when it happens...but what I look for are the following: People/companies that I really connect with, and can establish and build good, long term working relationships with & people who will BELIEVE IN ME as much as I will them!
I submitted my press kit to a number of guitar companies, had some meetings, had a few guitar companies in mind that I was considering...BUT I still felt the need to shop around until I found the right fit for me!
I started hearing more & more about a guitar company that made guitars for women, and I started seeing more cool looking ads for guitars made by this company...
"Daisy Rock Guitars"
I worked at Day Jams Rock Camp one summer as an Art Instructor...Tish Ciravolo Founder of Daisy Rock Guitars came to the camp & donated guitars to the children! I can not even begin to describe the look on each childs' face as they were handed their new guitar...all I knew is that this was the Guitar Company I had been looking for...Daisy Rock Guitars was the company for me! I put together my press kit...I worked really hard on putting it together~Keeping with the industry standard, but adding a little "Touch of me"!
I must say my press kit looked pretty rocking!
I submitted it to Daisy Rock Guitars for a contest they were having to win a guitar...I didn't win that particular contest, BUT I did receive an invitation to become a DAISY ROCK ARTIST!
I guess you can say I did win!
Part of my Artist deal with Daisy Rock entitled me to pick one of their guitars, ANY one I wanted!!! This was totally unexpected...Not many, if any companies will just allow you to come in & pick any guitar...for FREE...I was BEYOND EXCITED!!!
What did I look for in a guitar? We are all unique individuals...with that being said, I highly recommend you try a variety of guitars & find out what feels, sounds, looks & works best for...
YOU!
What was I looking for? I wanted a guitar that has a warm, yet vibrant sound, with an easy feel, a small neck, not too heavy in weight, with a built in tuner & equalizer...I also wanted my guitar to have a look that represented me as an artist & my music...pretty challenging to say the least finding a guitar with all the qualities that A "picky" artist like me wants! I tried out a few guitars before finally finding the right guitar for me! Well I actually have 2 Daisy Rock Guitars so far that have been perfect for me....
I LOVE My BUTTERFLY BUBINGA Jumbo Acoustic/Electric Daisy Rock guitar!!!
It is AMAZING!!! It's My favorite guitar that I own so far! It not only sounds beautiful, it looks & feels beautiful, which inspires me BEYOND!
Denise performing @Zoeys Cafe with her Butterfly Bubinga
It has a built in Custom Chrome tuner which comes in handy while performing, & amazing pickups: Fishman Piezo System!
I also own a "Ruby Sparkle Stardust Retro-H De-Luxe" Electric Daisy Rock Guitar
Denise performing with her Retro-H during Daisy Rock Guitars "Pretty N Punk" @The Key Club
That has a different sound than my Acoustic/Electric Butterfly Bubinga Guitar...which I totally digg having two different sounding & feeling Daisy Rock Guitars! The Retro-H has an AWESOME Bigsby B-50 Vibrato with adjustable Roller Saddle Bridge that & I LOVE using with my boss pedals...I get some pretty cool, psychedelic sounds!
Daisy Rock Guitars has not only provided me with my dream guitars, but they provide me with constant opportunities & exposure as one of their Artists! Daisy Rock Guitars has donated guitars to schools, camps, charities, fundraising events, artists...and they have opened up doors allowing female musicians of all ages opportunities we once only dreamed of! Daisy Rock Guitars has created a much needed community for us female musicians...my motto for my WO+MEN 4 A CAUSE Community that I started back in 1999 has always been TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE...
Daisy Rock Guitars has shown me that we truly can!
Quality Guitars + Quality people= Daisy Rock Guitars!
To learn more about Daisy Rock Guitars visit their website http://www.daisyrock.com/home.php
OH CAIPIRINHA! by Denise Vasquez
She was talking about this product from Brazil & mentioned the "Caipirinha" which caught our attention...
I've heard of the "Caipirinha", but never had the pleasure of tasting one...
What is The Caipirinha? It's the national cocktail of Brazil
The Caipirinha is made with Cachaça, the national spirit of Brazil. Cachaça is a Brazilian spirit distilled from sugar cane juice. According to U.S. law, any spirit derived from sugar cane must be labeled as a rum, so Cachaça's is known as "Brazilian Rum" ...
The product demonstrator at "Ralphs" gave a thorough demonstration...she sold us on it, so we ended up purchasing a bottle of Cachaça, Leblon
Randy & I got home, got some work done, relaxed and decided to end our evening with a "Caipirinha"...
Randy set it up & got busy making our drinks...he had sooooo much fun!
So how do you make a Caipirinha? The Caipirinha is a combination of muddled lime, sugar, and Cachaça served on the rocks in a rocks glass. Take some fresh lime, cut it into wedges, and place the wedges in a rocks glass. Add two teaspoons of sugar, muddle the lime and sugar for 15 seconds, and add crushed ice to the rim of the glass. Add two ounces of Leblon Cachaça, stir thoroughly, and garnish with a lime wedge!
DELICIOUS!!!!
It tasted like a Margarita, but BETTER!
The aroma of this drink triggered my sense memory of smell...It brought back many childhood memories for me...Puerto Rico...My grandfather...Learning about sugar cane...that smell...mmmmmmmm...
The drink was Sooooo smooth & refreshing!
I can see why Anthony Bordain got buzzed drinking this in an episode I saw of his show...
Randy felt It could use something else....
Cranberry juice!
We were feeling a little adventurous after the first drink (^.^) so we made a trip across the street to "Gelsons", and picked up a fresh bottle of "Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry Juice"...
Again...DELICIOUS!!!
I loved the Caipirinha both ways!
This is my new favorite drink! Thank you Brazil!
To learn more about the Caipirinha, visit http://www.lebloncachaca.com/caipirinha
Sunday, November 22, 2009
THE ART OF JOHN LENNON EXHIBITION TOUR PRESENTED BY YOKO ONO
"If art were to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life, and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness."
~John Lennon
The other day something inclined me to pick up a FREE copy of the LA weekly...
I always trust my instincts & I'm soooooo glad I listened...
I began browsing thru the newspaper when I stumbled upon this ad for an exhibit featuring
THE ART OF JOHN LENNON
My soul jumped out of my skin in pure delight...
I MUST EXPERIENCE THIS!
It's not every day I have the opportunity to be able to go see the works of my favorite artist of all time...
John Lennon inspires me in every way in everything that he was & will always be...
The epitome of a TRUE artist!
Here's a little art history about John Lennon:
For those of you that didn't know, John Lennon's first love was ART! John Lennon attended the Liverpool Art Institute for three years (1957-1960), before the Beatles became a full-time job for him. John Lennon never gave up his art & his drawings are beautiful depictions of special & important moments during his life! Lennon's primary medium was line drawing using pencil, pen or sumi ink. His drawings became illustrations for three best-selling books that he wrote in the 1960's and a complete suite of the "Bag One" portfolio of lithographs is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. John had saved and preserved hundres of drawings that he considered important. In 1986, Yoko Ono, acting for the John Lennon Estate, began releasing Limited Editions of some of his drawings, using only fine art printing techniques, with the goal of re-establishing John Lennon as an important artist of his time!
The Pacific Edge Gallery has been working directly with the Lennon Estate since 1988, and they had some SPECTACULAR pieces on display for us to appreciate!
I was not allowed to take photographs inside the gallery, which I totally understand, but I did make a few notes about some of my personal favorite pieces...
MY NEW FAVORITE John Lennon piece, which I saw today for the first time, is titled
"IMAGINE ALL THE PEOPLE"
It's a SERIGRAPH (Serigraph use a silkscreen to reproduce the colors & fine line details)
John drew himself sitting on top of the world dreaming of his hope that "The world will live as one"...
Funny thing is, years ago, without EVER seeing that piece, I illustrated a piece depicting John Lennon with a stethascope listening to the worlds' heartbeat, while George Bush held a glass of champagne in one hand, dropping bombs with the other...perhaps John was channeling thru me when I drew that...Cosmic connection!
I also LOVED ALL of the Serigraphs of John's handwritten Lyric sheets...
John'S Sumi Ink pieces had a beautiful flow about them...
And I especially LOVED the Serigraphs from his
"REAL LOVE"
Portfolio Drawings done with & for Sean
John's drawings gave me a sense that he TRULY found a happy place in his life!
I'm soooooo glad I had the pleasure of experiencing a piece of it!
I'M BEYOND INSPIRED!
THANK YOU YOKO ONO for sharing John's passion & LOVE!
Now if only I could hit the lotto so I could someday own some John Lennon Art!
MY OFFICIAL RETURN SKETCH CARDS UP FOR AUCTION ON EBAY...
NERDY BIRDS ART NEST is representing me on ebay...
They are selling a couple of my OFFICIAL RETURN SKETCH CARDS FOR ME ON EBAY...
As we are approaching the Holiday Season
Nerdy Birds Art Nest will post selected pieces of my work
At Lower Starting prices as my gift to YOU!
These auctions will be posted for a week starting today!
CLICK ON THE TITLE LINKS UNDER THE IMAGES TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE EBAY AUCTIONS...
HAPPY BIDDING & GOOD LUCK!
*Artist Randy Martinez collaborated with me on this Archie Comics sketch card! Randy did the pencil, and I did the painting & inking!
PeAcE LoVe aRt & sOuL
Denise Vasquez
Saturday, November 21, 2009
LIVE FROM DESIGNER CON 2009 DKE TOYS/ADFUNTURE CUSTOM YOKA SHOW
LIVE from Designer Con Pasadena, CA DKE TOYS/ADFUNTURE custom YOKA show
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