S.2 Ep.22 - The World of Fine Art with Dr E. Alana James

It's not everyday you can say you've created an artwork for a world renowned musician - but our guest Dr. E. Alana James can who was the creator behind the Zappa quilt! An artist & academic at heart, Alana has built a career combining both much to her success. Alana grew up in Colorado in the US in an academic household. However, it was an art teacher in high school who ignited her creativity & inspired Alana to pursue art, from there she continued into college to study fine art.

She always believed she wanted to be a famous, successful artist, yet her first taste of that success made her realise, that fame & being in the public eye was not for her. That fame came when she was introduced to Frank Zappa through a friend during a tour in which one of his stage requests were that of female underwear being thrown on stage to be made into a quilt. It was then Alana knew she was fit for the job & was commissioned after approaching Frank Zappa. The final artwork was Frank portrayed as the King Of Spade, created by the woven underwear of his fans, its popularity amongst fans was immense. Having received letters from fans & being approached on the street, Alana decided fame in the artworld was not for her.

She took a detour from art & went into the world of academia, earning a doctorate in Educational Leadership where she began to work with teens, homeless families, people in violence & drug abuse prevention through art. A move to Cork arose from a holiday in Ireland, when she landed she felt at home & 18 years later, the rest is history.

Since the move she set up her own business Doctoral Net creating webinars for Masters & Doctorate students which are distributed to universities throughout the United States - an innovative way of learning, introduced well before our days of zoom. Yet her love of art is still prominent in her life & she continues to create artwork & exhibit. It's our first insight to the interesting world of fine art & the business behind it all.

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