Slice Pizza and Beer unveils new pizza box designed by local artist Lisa Mansour
By DIANNE RUSSELL
Slice Pizza and Beer, owned by Suzanne and Cary Redfearn, has just released its third Laguna Beach artist designed box. Suzanne says, “In keeping with the concept of promoting community, we decided when we opened to have local artists design our boxes.”
Their third pizza box features a mother-daughter collaboration. The art on the face of the box was created by local artist and Sawdust exhibitor Lisa Mansour and the quote on the inside flap was written by her daughter Chloe Mansour: “Without red flag days, there would be no waves of change.”
Blending traditional technique with exuberant expression, Lisa loves exploring the vibrant side of fine art. As an oil painter, she completes detailed studio work as well as paints from life, focusing the fullness of her attention in the moment.
Click on photo for a larger image
Submitted photo
Local artist Lisa Mansour with new pizza box design
Classically trained, Lisa received her Post-Baccalaureate Degree from Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD). Her colorful work can be found year-round at Quorum Gallery in north Laguna’s Gallery Row and during the summer at the Sawdust Art Festival. This year marks Lisa’s 20th year in Laguna where she lives and paints.
“I wanted to create something that captured the essence of our community in the simplest form. The Main Beach lifeguard tower is beloved and iconic,” Lisa says. “I added a figure gazing at the horizon, leaving it to the viewer to wonder what she is contemplating.
“I used a Japanese art technique called Notan, which basically breaks down an image into dark and light. Using my own source photos – the girl on the pizza box is from a photo I took of my daughter Chloe – I painted the design using a calligraphy brush and ink set.”
Click on photo for a larger image
Submitted photo
Chloe Mansour outside Slice Pizza and Beer
“My daughter Chloe has always been a gifted writer. I wanted her to use my art as a starting point for her quote, and to write something that captured this tumultuous moment in time.”
Twenty-five-year-old Chloe is a graduate of El Morro, Thurston, LBHS, and Boston College. She lives in Boston’s North End and works as a Product Enablement Specialist for HubSpot.
Chloe says, “This has been an incredibly difficult year. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the senseless murders of Black lives, these past six months have certainly tested our limits in unprecedented ways. In surf terms, it’s safe to say this year has been full of red flag days.
“But despite such devastating circumstances, I have been so impressed by the way people have chosen to fight for what is right. Whether wearing a mask or calling for anti-racist resources in our communities, there has been an overwhelming dedication to positive change. Change that may not have been possible had it not been for those red flag days.”
Click on photo for a larger image
Submitted photo
Three pizza box artists: (L-R) Sharon Hardy, Lisa Mansour, and Cynthia Fletcher
The inaugural box was designed by local painter and screen printer Cynthia Fletcher. It’s a depiction of two clasped hands and represents kindness and unity. The quote that accompanied the design (printed on the inside lip of the box) was by Mother Teresa: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Ceramicist Sharon Hardy designed the second box.
Suzanne says, “Sharon used to live on Cerritos Drive and would wake each morning to the golden hills of Laguna and the soaring hawks. Her box quote is: ‘Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird.’ –Langston Hughes.”
For more information about Lisa Mansour, go to www.lisamansourart.com and her Instagram @lisamansourart.
For more information about Chloe Mansour, go to her Instagram @chloeemariee.