“I always painted my office blue,” said Laurel Prucha Moran when asked about the underlying meaning of the name of her graphic design studio (and recently added art studio), Blue Room Studio.
Based in Alexandria shortly after graduating from college, Moran has been a freelance graphic designer for more than 20 years. With her artistic eye she determines “how things land on paper”, as she put it.
The past year has given Moran more free time pulling out and painting her watercolors. In the pre-pandemic period, she only took time to paint during Art League classes, but in 2020 she became involved in regular art creation and is currently in the middle of the 100-day project, painting with oil paint every day .
In the fall, she decided to start a company that would sell her watercolors online on BlueRoomStudio.com, including stationery with goldfish, Christmas cards, and custom home portraits. Through word of mouth, Del Ray Artisans events, referrals to listing services, and social media posts, her business has steadily expanded to include painting assignments and art prints.
Moran grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and owned a whimsical poster with drawn matches from famous Louisville restaurants. Having recently stumbled upon the poster in her attic, she was inspired to similarly celebrate her favorite spots in Del Ray and elsewhere in Alexandria.
Her first Instagram post on her project page @DMVmatchbooks featured painted matches for the milestone restaurants in Moran’s life story with her husband – Portner where they had their first coffee, BullFeathers where they shared their first kiss, Geranio where they had their rehearsal dinner, and Two Nineteen, where they first heard their wedding band The Dixie Power Trio.
Since then, Moran has completed nearly three dozen Del Ray matchbook watercolors, selling individual prints from neighborhood restaurants like Stomping Ground, Taqueria el Poblano, and Cheesetique, as well as custom groupings. The restaurants have been very supportive of the Matchbook art, and with each custom peer pressure, Moran donates the cost of a hot meal to the local charity, Hook Hall Helps, which helps the DC area food service industry workers.
In a new variant of this project, Moran is working with the local online manufacturer market Made in ALX. Residents are invited to vote for their favorite matchbox pictures from the 35 matchboxes they have painted in the Del Ray restaurant. The 12 most popular matchbooks will appear on an exclusive Del Ray art print only available through Made in ALX, according to a survey available between April 1st and April 15th. Part of the proceeds from the print sales will go to the ALIVE! (Pre-orders are available now.)
The custom matchbook groupings surprised Moran. “Everyone is completely different,” based on the person’s individual memories of Alexandria. Moran recently finished a custom print for a family who moved to Wisconsin. She told her that they were so happy to “take a piece of Del Ray with you” to come to their new home.
After a brief hiatus to update her spring stationery line, Moran will be painting matchboxes again and will focus on Old Town and DC next