AIR (Arts Incubator of Richardson)

(by Ekaterina Konovalova)

Boog Brown

Boog is an internationally acclaimed tattoo artist. Yet, years ago he began to express himself in other visual art genres: painting with acrylics on canvas, pencil drawing, and airbrushing. Boog described his style as Chicano art; his signature character is a beautiful woman with a tear on her cheek. He also has a lot of images of clowns in is art. He later explained it to me that ‘clown’ is a commonly used slang term that is used as a word of praise among the Dallas urban community. 

Many Boog’s paintings at the exhibit are very personal and self-revealing. For example, his artwork labeled the Seven Deadly Sins reflects his self-examination and represents him facing his own vices. Another painting, a beautiful colorful portrait of a Virgin Mary with a face of La Calavera Catrina, was Boog’s response to the death of his cousin. 

Boog told me a story behind each painting at the show. One of them had a particularly interesting story. It was a sophisticated pencil drawing of a pirate woman that Boog made for David Lee Roth, an ex member of Van Halen band. Years ago, Lee Roth’s agent contacted Boog to request a tattoo for David. Since then, David Lee Roth became Boog’s client and a personal friend. Last year Boog was seriously ill; he wasn’t sure if he would survive. In such circumstances, true friendship is tested. David Lee Roth reached out and helped Boog to get through the hard times. As a token of appreciation, Boog made a piece for David with his favorite symbols incorporated in the artwork.

Miguel Donjuan

Miguel’s artwork was featured on the cover of A+C magazine. Miguel entered the art world at early age. He said, “As a kid, I was too short to play sports. I was fast but short. It left me with video games and art.” He comes from an artistic family, and he said that “My brothers were always very influential.” He was a graffiti artist in his teenage years, and later he developed an artistic alter ego, “Graffiti Monster.” Miguel’s paintings and sculptures of Graffiti Monster reflects the graffiti culture in a legitimate and peaceful way.

Emily Donjuan

Emily was the only female artist in the show. Her pieces were cute fabric collages in glass frames and a big pink fabric cloud. Her dad was a visual artist, and when Emily was a kid, he often was giving her art assignments before he went to work and checked her progress when he returned home. Emily’s dad instilled love for art in Emily’s heart, and she pursued a Fine Arts Degree at UT Arlington in 2007.

Carlos Donjuan

Carlos is a family man. He is married to Emily and he is inspired by his family. There were three brothers artists at the show: Miguel, Arturo and Carlos Donjuan.

Carlos said, “I like to paint portraits of my family. It is like a photograph but more personal and valuable.” He developed a unique painting technique: he combines acrylics and watercolors on wood panels, and it creates a realistic visual effect of the human skin.

Eddie Castro

Eddie’s work is a series of sculptures of a paletas, Latin American ice pops. Eddie’s sculptures were designated to commemorate the death of two ice-cream sellers killed in a rough neighborhood in Dallas. Eddie admired those men’s courage who, in spite of the danger and low profits of their business tried, tried to bring joy to kids in the neighborhood.

Ricardo Oviedo

Ricardo started to paint back in 1998. His work is very detailed and refined. The Yellow faces of his characters were inspired by the Simpsons show. Ricardo’s favorite art subjects are people and birds.