Hello, Hello, Hello from Haus of Pouts...
“Hello, Hello, Hello” RuPaul says as they walk into the workroom on RuPaul’s Drag Race to introduce the week’s challenges and runway themes - I have adopted this phrase as a part of how I like to start my conversations that are not about an art piece or subject that I need to speak about that is often political, spiritual or about our shared humanity.
So who are the Haus of Pouts?
I am DallasLyn, artist, activist, influencer, dreamer and sometimes a trouble maker. I have always loved the arts. I started making visual art at a young age after an injury that had me under supervision and not playing outdoors. My Grandmother (RIP) really fostered this in me, she also was very creative and talented. Being an artist I painted a mural in La Grande High School for my Eagle Scout project as a memorial for two of my peers that lost their lives in drinking and driving accidents. The mural is no longer in the commons of the high school… their loss. I spent many years working as a professional makeup artist… I sometimes miss the beauty industry - I do not miss the toxic environment that is often behind the scenes. In 2009 I faced a life experience that changed my life. A therapist suggested that I start making art as a form of art therapy. Since 2011 I have been sharing my art online - mostly on Facebook and Instagram. My art page at it’s peek had 22k followers, when the page was deactivated it was around 18k. The political climate certainly took it’s toll on my ambitions to be a world renowned artist…. the dream is still alive.
When we shut down the page it had been renamed to Pouts Arts, before it was just under my name. Pouts is a part of my story telling coming from the beauty industry, wanting people to have a perfect pout not a duck face and of course being who I am… I can give you something to pout about. It is just my nature. I changed the name when my partner Jacob started sharing their art on the platform. Jacob is one of the most talented artists I have ever met, in fact my Dad (RIP) made me promise that if I share my life with Jacob I need to make sure that he continues to pursue his artistry. When Jacob and I met we chatted online and Jacob shared a paper that they had written about the privatized prison system and that they had a patriotic tattoo (that I have now created art of as a celebration of one year of marriage) that states "What happened to Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness” - my heart was theirs. Jacob uses many mediums for their art as I am mostly use color pencil. The last few years we have really learned a lot about art from one another and how we create together and individually.
Late 2023, Pouts Arts had been getting a lot of attention on Facebook. Of course attracting online hate and trolls. In January 2024 we started moving our art to a profile where we can have more control over our art on the crumbling META platforms. Their best days are behind them. Facebook is not what it was or maybe it was always just for bullying… Pouts Arts’ hate raid had the page name being used by hate groups all over the platform. I was going to walk away from the dream of what Pouts was supposed to be. Jacob was not having it. And the Haus of Pouts was born- their doing. Taking the Haus from the Queer Ballroom Scene. If you have not watched Paris is Burning, you should.
Till next time XO DallasLyn
Greetings and Salutations!
This is Jacob! I appreciate Dallas starting this message from us as I was having a hard time narrowing down what I wanted to say, and Dallas summed up so much we’ve been dealing with online. Dallas has always been our face on social media as I have not always been as active. I’ve not been a fan of character limits, number games, or being hidden by an algorithm. These types of platforms require constant attention and bring about a lot of natural insecurities that I know I’m not alone in feeling.
The most rewarding experience I’ve had trying to connect long distance with other people in my life was in 2021 when I sent cards to people from my holiday card mailing list. The cards were purchased from a local printer and had art that I made on them. The art was handmade the month before and I wrote a letter sharing things that happened to Dallas and I, things I’d been reflecting on, and lessons I had learned. I had to stop sending these cards because the whole process became more than I could afford, but I got letters back, enjoyed what I was doing, and felt like I was making some lasting connections with people I loved, and this is what I want to bring to this Substack.
I expect Dallas will be sharing on here more often than I do, though I hope to share more than just once a month. You can expect that we will introduce ourselves at the beginning of our posts so you know who’s writing, but we’ll also be tagging our names on each post we write. Our current settings have all of our posts free to any subscribers. It’s set so that only paid subscribers can comment on our posts as this will allow us to weed out any hate speech that seems to be so prevalent in social media. We plan on making content exclusive to paid subscribers in the future, but we’ll announce that when the time comes. In the meantime, feel free to click our Subscribe button so you join us on our Substack adventure. Our next preplanned post will be for Valloween on the 14th. Until next time, take care of yourself and give yourself some time to breath.
- Jacob