Daily Inspiration: Meet Lela Roy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lela Roy

Hi Lela, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Feels weird to be writing about “how I got to where I am today”. I don’t really know “where I am” at this point in my life. I still very much feel I am still on the journey and not at a pinnacle. Maybe it will always feel like that.

But how I’ve got to this place is my journey has felt like a very messy and indirect path. I guess I’ll talk about some of my biggest influences on where I am today.

I grew up with parents deeply immersed in Tibetan Buddhism and that has had a very large impact on my worldview and life direction. As a kid I was also very involved with singing, playing guitar and writing music. I used to perform songs I wrote for my elementary school classes and dreamed of being a professional musician someday. In college I studied Wildlife Biology with an emphasis on birds while still writing and performing and releasing self-produced albums. I spent a lot of my early 20’s doing wildlife fieldwork, mostly for the Forest Service, conducting surveys for raptors, owls, river otters and many other species. I moved to Denver, Colorado for five years where I fronted two bands, a 90’s alt indie rock band called Oxeye Daisy and an 80’s synthpop concept project called Babelord. I also started writing and performing sketch comedy and even starred in a short indie comedy film called “Party Hog” that was featured in the ‘Dances With Films’ festival in 2021. I still sometimes perform as the character Partyhog from the film, who is a Sonic the Hedgehog impersonator that believes he is an artist. I’ve also always loved visual art, and in late 2022 I started making very silly mixed media paintings of horses. In Summer 2023, I got really interested in the loneliness epidemic, and after seeing a huge need in our society to address this problem, my co-founder, Dani Beutell, and I launched our community organization called The HÜMNKIND Collective, with the mission of creating community in Los Angeles based around authenticity, vulnerability, and deeper connection to one another and the human experience.

Today my life is a confusing mix of being a part-time wildlife biologist, community work, writing and releasing solo music, making silly silly horse art, and making an occasional appearance as Partyhog.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh yeah it’s been super easy, no complaints, no struggles, smooth sailing the whole way.

I KID. Has anyone ever answered yes to this question?

I mean, I’ve been in so many different fields and disciplines there have been so many different types of challenges along the way. I guess one of the most pervasive struggles I have is that I have so many different interests and passions that it’s easy for me to get fixated on one thing and then fail to finish the last thing. I have a tendency to get absolutely obsessed about a new project and abandon everything else. It makes me worry that I will never actually accomplish anything in my life because I spread myself so thin doing so many unrelated things.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Right now, my obsession of the moment is horse art. I make these mixed media paintings using all kinds of materials, including trash, found objects, dry goods, sparkles, gems, anything that I can get to stick to a canvas. I love textures and dimensionality and I always encase my paintings in epoxy resin that really makes them pop. I like making things that are really silly and dumb and fun to look at. Lately I’ve also been making things that feel reflective of sexuality, queerness, and spirituality but I think still in a very not-so-serious kind of way.

I also don’t just stick to paintings, I’m interested in anything visual art related as long as it ties back into the horse theme. I’m also working on bedazzling a 4.5ft tall vintage carousel figurine which I think with be a really cool center piece for an art show someday. I’ve also been making these French clown animals out of figurines that I find at thrift stores, which has been really fun.

Something new I’ve also been experimenting with is taking self-portraits in my personal living space with my art. I’ve always had a very unique style and have collected many cool and strange things over the years, including skulls, feathers, Indian and Buddhist artifacts, weird baby dolls and figurines. I’ve found it really fun to incorporate myself and exercise my skills in stylizing spaces through photography. I also feel that it really gives a personal sense touch to the art, seeing the space and the person from in which the art was born.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
If you want to support my work, you can buy my hand-bedazzled 4.5ft vintage carousel horse (his name is Nino ‘Gracie’ Nelnet, and he’s not done yet) for $33,609.15. This is the only piece of work that I have for sale right now. The reason I’m selling it for that price is because that is the total of my student loans that I would like to pay off.

Anyway, if you don’t have $33,609.15 in disposable income, I would also love to build my following on social media. You can support by following me @lela_roy_ on Instagram, or @horseparty.bsky.social on Bluesky.

I don’t sell my paintings because I make them for myself, but I would love to start doing commissions. I want to make very personal pieces for people which can include around 1-5 personal found items that I can build them into a custom painting. These items could be things like, old jewelry, family heirlooms, fabric, charms, cool random things that are just lying around the house. It could be a really cool way to showcase and honor different items that we carry through our lives, but we don’t necessarily have a way to display or showcase these things.

Also, if you have weird/cool materials you want to donate to me, that would be awesome. I always love finding new materials.

Pricing:

• $500-$2500 Custom Commission (Price depends on size and scale)

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @horses.party.web
• Other: Bluesky: @horseparty.bsky.social

Image Credits
All images were taken by me 🙂