My Palace in Dallas - Allison Belcher and Jacob Vasquez (Play Nice Press)

“Solitude requires you to move past reacting to information created by other people and focus instead on your own thoughts and experiences – wherever you happened to be”

— Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism

I often feel like whenever I’m writing this new intro, in some ways I’m announcing or facing the reality that it’s the changing of the season and I am that LiveJournal author sending out life updates. This blog turned three years old in 2024 and being profiled by D Magazine for this project was something I never dreamt of starting out, with that I am forever grateful.

I started My Palace in Dallas during the height of the pandemic, and it was born from pure curiosity: I want to know, I want to see, and, most importantly, I want to document what the people around me have become after these unprecedented years. They can be artists or comedians, or they can also be the people you meet on the street—which is quite hard cause supposedly people in Dallas don’t walk at all. So, what is it that they do? This project delves into their stories and, as the name suggests, explores their Palace in Dallas.

I met Allison at a silent book club my friend was hosting earlier this year, and Jacob outside of Lady Love on a humid Japanese city pop night. We bonded very fast over our love of crafts, video games, and print materials. We even had our first craft day prior to the interview and I learned embroidery from them while sipping on lattes in the cutest cup that ever existed. Fast forward to this late summer, we got to sit down and talk about their journey in risograph, what is Play Nice Press, how they grew their collection, and what makes their eyes twinkle as they walk me around the house giving me the most impressive show and tell.

Hello Allison and Jacob! Thank you for sitting down with me today! Before I bomb you with questions, for anyone who might not have the chance to know who you are, would you like to tell me a bit about yourself? Who are you and what is it that you do?

**A (Allison):** I’m Allison, and by day I work in music and entertainment, specifically the non-profit and music advocacy sector. Outside of music, I spend most of my time rug tufting, embroidering, indulging in music, video games, and movies, and helping Jacob with Play Nice Press, our risograph printing studio and press here in Dallas.
**J (Jacob):** I’m Jacob and I run and am the print operator at Play Nice Press. By day I’m a production designer, where I take clients’ artwork and separate them into layers for screen printing. Similarly for Play Nice, I work with artists, peers, and friends across the United States to help them prepare their art files for riso and then print their work on our machine.

From crafting, risograph, printmaking, and design, your love goes beyond mediums! Could you tell me what the journey was like for you? How did you get to where you are now?

J: Play Nice was just an idea like most 2020 projects that sprouted during the pandemic. I majored in printmaking and have been heavily involved in the print world even before everything shut down during COVID-19. Play Nice originated because I wanted to create a collaborative platform to work with other artists and publish and/or print their works.

The first actual risograph machine we got was in 2021 when we were living in Portland, Oregon. I drove 15 hours from Portland to LA to pick up our first machine. I didn’t even stay in a hotel. I arrived in LA, took a power nap, and then drove right back up to Oregon.

The first two and a half years were all just trials and errors while exploring and learning more about risograph printing and its quirks. The name Play Nice was established but we weren’t an “official” business yet. It wasn’t up until the last two years that we actually got more integrated and involved in the community and working with artists locally and across the country.

A: Jacob and I started talking and became close friends prior to dating through a community event happening in Denton - an art market Jacob ran called Fold Fest. I was selling my embroidery and textile work, and Jacob was selling his screenprints.

Jacob and I were both involved in the community art scene before Play Nice, which is why the community is a huge part of what Play Nice is. With Play Nice, the name speaks for itself: we wanted to collaborate with other artists and bring artist’s work to life. The community has always been really integral to our mission.

J: To be honest, we work with so many different artists from different states I sometimes feel a bit self-conscious – that we aren’t involved in the local scene enough. We always try to show up and support what we can, when we can. We do try to balance our attention because Play Nice has snowballed into something bigger than what we originally planned or anticipated, which we are so grateful for. We do have full-time day jobs, so our time and attention can feel spread thin at times. But when we are able to take on larger print jobs, make new art, and prioritize bigger shows, it really fills our cup.

A: We have met a ton of amazing local artists through zine festivals and markets here, and Dallas has been a launching pad for us. We owe a lot to our friends for connecting us and making Dallas feel like home. Dallas feels like a huge web of people holding hands, and it all honestly starts here. We wouldn’t have gotten to where we are now if it wasn’t for the friends that we’ve made along the way.

Touching more on the importance of community, we’ve spent some time in Portland and Austin, and obviously those cities have an art scene of their own. However, in our own personal experience, there’s a different energy here in Dallas compared to other cities in the art community. I can’t pinpoint why - it could be because there are more industries based here which contributes to an entrepreneurship mentality. A lot of people are more empowered to start something of their own and put their work in front of a bigger audience.

J: Additionally, I think a lot of the success is contingent on the community here as opposed to the value of an individual. People here want to integrate you into their world and that creates a huge safety net because people will lend their support, even if starting out your work or practice is struggling a bit, it’s a very giving community. As Allison said, we probably wouldn’t have gotten to where we are now without our people here.

Coming to your shared love for print materials, how did that sense of love and the need to collect come to be?

A: For me, my love for print material and physical media in general developed from a pretty early age. My mom is a constant reader, and we always had a ton of books around the house. I remember one of the first art books I ever looked through was an Annie Leibovitz photo book with John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the cover. Flipping through vibrant books like these and growing up in an environment where books, film, and art were accessible got me fascinated by all things art and culture-related. My mom also introduced my sister and me to video games and helped spark our love of games. She gifted us a GameCube for Christmas one year and the rest is history. I think once you read or play through something that resonates with you, you develop a deep connection to it and the media becomes a living, breathing being to you. In turn, you’re able to connect and talk about the book, game, or movie you experienced with other people. This is partly why I prefer holding a physical copy of something, like a vinyl or video game, over purchasing something digitally on a streaming platform. The tangible, physical thing paves the way to a show & tell that sparks deeper conversations about culture and interests.

J: I agree. A lot of our interests stemmed from early childhood memories. Video games are probably the biggest influence on my love for collecting physical media. Whether it’s playing games, collecting prints, buying books, or watching movies, a lot of my interest sparked from early development and now as an adult, I haven’t really let go of those interests.

Knowing your love for print material started really early on, when did you two decide to start actively collecting to the point where now you have this impressive library?

A: I started collecting in high school. It was 10th grade when I started getting my hands on art books and vinyl, filling my room with physical media that really resonated with me. Dating Jacob was the huge launching pad for me to actually start collecting physical media extensively to the scale of what we have now. Having a dual income and a partner with similar interests is basically fuel to a fire.

J: I went to art school which established my love for artist-made books. I didn’t start heavily collecting until I took my friends to Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair. By the time Allison and I met, I already had a ton of art books and zines printed in quantities of less than 1000. We’d drive to different fairs and that helped inspire Allison to start growing a more extensive zine and art book collection of her own based on her own interests.

A: There is something really special about buying a zine, book, or record you love because you’re directly supporting an artist or publisher that made it happen. Not only do you have a tangible item from a medium you love, but you’re supporting the artist themself and the publisher, label, or press that brought it to life.

J: A lot of our books and zines were bought directly from the publisher or the artist. Even if there are only 500 copies, we try to go out of our way to obtain them directly from the source opposed to getting them from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You get to meet and build genuine connections when you’re meeting the maker or small supplier face-to-face at a bookstore or art book fair.

Your love for books is prominent and clear as the sky looking at your shelves, but as Play Nice Press or Jacob/Allison, if you could one day release a book of your own, what genre or topic would you like it to be?

A: I think mine would be centered around nostalgic, mostly forgotten games. Growing up, I used to play many edutainment games like Madeline’s European Adventures, Freddi Fish, old Windows PC games, and Flash games. My book would be an art book featuring various stills from those games, acting as an archive since so many of those games can’t be played or revisited without an emulator.

J: We work on smaller book publishing pretty regularly with Play Nice, but I do have a couple of ideas brewing in my head and hope to get some friends and people together to contribute. Gathering my friends and favorite artists to work on a video game illustration book is one, if in this scenario I have unlimited resources because a bigger book like this costs a lot of money and energy.

Similar to how you’d be curious about someone’s Letterboxd account when meeting a film lover or taking a peek at someone’s mood board, can you tell me what your media diet consists of and where you usually get your inspiration from?

A: I’m heavily inspired by the games I’ve played throughout the years. I’m currently playing Baldur’s Gate 3, and watching Jacob play Elden Ring has deepened my existing interest in the fantasy genre.

I’m also always inspired by music and the creators that make it. I listen to a ton of music, and I’ve dedicated my career to music. It’s what gets me through my days.

J: I’m not a huge TV person, so what often keeps my brain going is movies. Often times I’ll look for random horror movies from the 80s. The production team for movies like these is usually pretty tight - less than 100 people - and the budgets are small. The scripts are pretty bad but because they’re not doing heavy CGI, you can tell there were many artists working on the background, and look at how the FX team works on the monsters or the animatronics that kick into gear during a scene. I see a lot of value in B movies from script and cinematography to the army of artists that worked behind the scenes to create practical effects.

We love going on trips and visiting different bookstores. Looking at various regional artists’ work whenever we travel is what inspires me a lot too.

Echoing the 80s movies, we like to play non-AAA games from small teams that put out games for the love of it. It helps us see how doable things are in a realm that seems so far out of your craft.

It’s been four years since the pandemic hit and for some reason, we all came out alright, if not stronger. What did you do to stay centered and sane? Have any of those new habits carried over now that things are back to normal?

A: I was living in Austin while Jacob was living with our friends in North Dallas and since the pandemic, we’ve been all over the place. We started dating in Fall 2020 after being friends for many years, and moved to Portland in 2021, Austin in 2022, and finally moved to Dallas in 2023.

I was working full-time, year-round at SXSW when the pandemic hit and got laid off because obviously the event couldn’t happen and the festival took a massive financial hit. Being out of work for a few months was the best thing that could have happened for my creativity. I finally had the time to work on my art and catch up on a lot of movies and shows I hadn’t gotten the chance to watch.

I watched a ton of horror and psychological thrillers while embroidering and, making art with my hands. This helped keep me sane during the pandemic.

J: I definitely closed myself off during that time so to be honest. It was a blitz of a memory, a TV static sound. *laughs*

If anything, I’m grateful that we came back into the scene running Play Nice Press. It helped me break all the habits I used to have which weren’t the best for what I was going through during the pandemic. Being around and working with people is really good for my brain, and I have a much deeper appreciation for connecting with people through our shared love and craft post-pandemic.

I’m sure you have your fair share of traveling experience and exposure to different scenes across the states and even countries. From an industry perspective, what do you think sets Dallas apart from all the other well-known big cities or any other city you’ve been to?

A: There’s a different energy to Dallas. People want to get things going pretty regularly and enjoy doing it with other like-minded people. You notice there are events happening all the time here, like Zine Fests, curated art markets, and gallery shows.

Many people in Dallas are curious and open to trying new mediums, which is amazing. We have many artists coming to us wanting to print their first riso print with us and I think that genuine interest and curiosity for trying out new mediums is something that’s really encouraged in Dallas.

Many larger businesses and corporations migrate to Dallas too, so that entrepreneurship and creating mentality is prominent and kind of the norm. It extends to the people who live here. When industry and economy flourish in a city, it makes people feel safe and gives them the confidence to branch out and start their own thing.

Another thing I’ve noticed due to this entrepreneurship mentality is that people feel more empowered to turn their hobbies and/or crafts into a monetary practice or business for supplementary or complete income.

Speaking of monetizing your hobby, do you think that is a crossroad all artists or hobby lovers will need to face at one point in their journey?

J: I think everyone can do it. If you have some interest in doing so, you should go for it. You’ll find out quickly whether the art you’re making is really for you and you can keep making it for the joy of it regardless of sales, or you can decide if you can see yourself doing it for a living and cater more to the market and demand.

A: I agree, down the line, I encourage everyone to try it out. However, when you’re first starting out, your first instinct shouldn’t be, “Will this sell?”.When I first came across tufting, I had no intention of monetizing it. I practiced and did it for myself and my own leisure for a year and a half, and that allowed me to get better at my craft free of the pressures of commodifying it. Unfortunately, we’re living in a time where a side hustle or second income is sometimes imperative, and if you see people on the internet sharing and selling their work you naturally want to do the same.

Up to a certain point when you feel like your craft is good enough and you feel confident in the quality of the work you’re making, that may be a good time for you to consider selling it. It helps pay for your art supplies too!

J: There’s another route you can take especially if you’re working towards being an artist, which is finding representation and being a part of a show. Put your work out in public without it being an immediate commercial thing.

I had the fortune to go to school for my craft, not that you necessarily need to, but you get the chance to put your work on a wall and see how your peers react to it directly, and their reaction will let you know what is and isn’t working.

There is a lot of value in accepting critique and putting yourself in front of people without the intention of immediately making a sale or creating something to be purchased. You get to have the breathing room and refine yourself instead of working towards making something that is marketable. You should always first work towards understanding what it is that best represents your brain, and then stylize it in a way you’re comfortable putting it in front of people.

If all you want to do is make money, by all means, go ahead, but if you neglect to put love into your work people will pick up on that and it’s not the best approach for any artist embarking on their creative journey. If you focus on yourself and make something just for you, people will eventually notice that and be eager to support that.

Are you two Dallas natives? knowing you for quite some time you must’ve spent quite some time finding your creative identity here, what do YOU think of this city?

A: I love Dallas!

Living here for the past two years, I’ve met some of the best friends of my life and people I want in my circle forever. This city is the launching pad of Play Nice Press, and the energy of the city and the people we got to meet has opened up so many new doors for us. On a personal level, I owe a lot of my development and growth to living in Dallas.

We grew up in DFW, so we don’t really see Dallas as our forever home. We’re itchy to experience other places and explore other cities while we can.

J: Because we both grew up in Dallas we do want to experience what it’s like to live in other places. Not because Dallas is better or worse, but because we have the time and the freedom to explore other cities outside of Texas. Living in different places helps you grow a lot as a person and we want to always continue growing and learning about the world around us.

As I look around, I can see a lot of your taste in a tangible form! Now the hard part is, what would you say is your most prized possession in your home?

A: Here we have our big bookshelf wall. We’ve got a lot of questions about where we got the system shelves from, and all we did was get tracks, L brackets from Lowes, and wooden boards to go with it. It also serves as a standalone art piece with the way we organize and display our books., The same concept goes with the zine wall we have here.

We want to showcase our collection in a way that allows us to see the media we love clearly. It also sparks conversation with the friends and people we have over.

Down here you can see where we keep all of our vinyl records! We collect a lot of video game soundtracks like Wipe Out, Steven Universe, Wii Sports, Stardew Valley, and Elden Ring.

Here we have our wall of zines. It’s about 99% riso-printed zines we’ve collected throughout the years from different people and different fairs. A huge portion of this wall was from the New York Art Book Fair. We go all out when we’re there because all of our favorite publishers and zine makers come together to sell their prints/zines.

J: We love to observe how each risograph printer binds their books. Everyone has their unique approach and it’s always a nice surprise when we get them.

We love games in this household, but we make sure we don’t spend over $40 on a game by buying used or through specific online sites. We keep it pretty tidy with this shelf and our Switch games closet.

If I were to pick one of my favorite games from this nook, it would be Binding of Isaac. I think I have over 500 hours on this game. It’s one of the biggest influences not only on my art style but also my humor.

A: If I could pick one I would pick Omori. I love the art style and soundtrack, and I love the crazy twist ending.

Here is our conclave of Sonny Angels and kewpies., It got a lot thinner when I decided I wanted to start making room for other toys. Now we only keep the All-Star Teams here.

And we are almost at the bottom of my list of Qs for today! For those who are interested in getting into this business or starting something of their own, what suggestions or advice would you like to give them or wish you had known sooner?

J: I would say just start creating. Keep doing things you want to see in the world, even if it doesn’t make sense, the pieces even you wouldn’t buy are the best work you should be making. Eventually, you’ll find people who connect with your special mindset, I think pursuing genuine interest breeds a more unique and saturated type of creativity. That’s how I would encourage people starting out, it’s often the best work when they only make sense to you, focus on things you want to make and see it take shape in the world.

There is no barrier to entry too. Anyone can and should make anything they want, it breeds a variety of viewpoints within the community.

A: You nailed it, I completely agree.

To wrap this interview up, also because I am curious personally, what’s on the horizon for you? Are any “Big Things Coming” in the works for you? What would you like the world (whichever random soul stumbles upon this article) to know about?

A: We’re going to be a part of many Fall shows this year like Dallas Zine Fest and Minna Art Market. I’ve been working on a lot of textile work like tufted rugs and embroidery. On the print side, I have some ideas for larger zines and books I want to put together. I’m working on a Mii zine where I recreate celebrities or memes using the Mii art styles. I’m also working on a collaborative zine centering around Tumblr.

J: There are several projects that are in the works at the moment, whether it be an artist book, print sets, or collaboration with other artists. If people are interested they can subscribe to our Play Nice Press newsletter! We are trying to get better at putting our work and updates out via newsletter.

A: Outside of Play Nice, I’ve been making videos showing our collection of art books, and introducing people to different video games, music, and graphic novels. In an age where everything is either streamed or digital, I want people to recognize the beauty in owning physical media. In the future, I want to get more granular and talk more about the things I’m trying to show people. I’m planning on launching a Substack in the coming month or so, and hopefully a YouTube channel later down the road. More on that soon!