Meet Luis Morales | Creator and Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Luis Morales and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luis, what are you inspired by?
What inspires me? This was a tough question cause I really never thought about it. Naturally, many things around me and within me, inspire me. Music, just listening to great music can free my mind. Adventures, going out and experiencing daily life, work life, or a fun evening out can bring lots of inspirational thoughts into my life. People, of course, inspire me to do more. My current boss was a huge inspiration for a piece of art that I planned to take to Burning Man in 2020, even though the Pandemic delayed that reality. Sometimes, just short chats or conversations with complete strangers can bring about an inspiration to do something I never thought I could do. Finally, sometimes just sitting in a quiet place and being consumed within my own self brings on all sorts of inspiration.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
It has taken me a while to say that I’m an artist. I just enjoy creating different types of art from paintings, to hats, to just designing a gift box. As I continue to evolve as an artist, I believe art should be able to hit two to three senses. I also believe that being able to interact with art creates an experience. The majority of my inspiration comes from experiences. These experiences have taken me to the next step in my artistic career. I first started 247 Allure. 247 Allure is my belief that art is better worn. I started by taking a plain hat or headband and turning them into a piece of wearable art. 247 Allure is more of an art project for me than a business but it led me to my new undertaking and business, Pinata Bash. Again going with my belief that you should be able to interact with art, Pinata Bash gives you just that, interaction. At first, it may just seem like a gift box but it’s more of an experience. Anyone can get flowers or a card but imagine receiving an experience. Piñata Bash gets your senses stimulated. A sense of sight with the colors, touch with the feel of the piñata and mallet, and taste with the delicious candy. How did I get here you might ask? Well frankly it started where I still currently hold my current job, the Dallas Zoo for the past 10 years. My job allows me to be creative and allows me to think of exciting ways to elevate the guest experience in different ways. My boss also allows me to do things my way knowing how creative I am and acknowledges my art and my creative side. That push helped push me to the next level and gave me the courage and determination of turning my artistic ideas into a business that I can call my own.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When my friends come to Dallas for a short weekend trip I would like to try and show them the things I enjoy about my city. Our Saturday would consist of eating lunch at Terry Black’s BBQ in Deep Ellum. We would then take a stroll down the street to the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and visit other shops along Main and Elm Streets. Between the shopping we might even stop in at Booty’s for a fun cocktail. To finish off the evening, I would take them to Mama Tried-Deep Ellum for some great live music and dancing.

On Sunday, we would begin with a nice brunch downtown at Meso Maya. After indulging in that wonderful meal, we would head over to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher to check out the exhibits. After taking in all the wonderful exhibits, we might head over to Klyde Warren and just take a stroll in the park and let them take in the beautiful Dallas skyline. After taking a breather at Klyde Warren Park we would head over to the Bishop arts area for shopping and a cocktail or two. Later that evening we would go to Lower Greenville and enjoy a nice dinner at Terilli’s.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m going to try to get this out without crying. My dad was my biggest supporter in anything I wanted to do. Growing up and seeing my dad work on lowriders was seeing an artist work on his masterpiece. Even though I didn’t understand why he loved his cars so much, I was able to watch him carry out his passion and love for the art. I highly respected and admired his ambition and wanted to be like him in some sort of way. Along the way, I grew and started 247 Allure, my artistic hat creations. My dad didn’t understand these crazy hats I was creating, but he could see the art in it. He was happy his son had that artistic eye. When I finally felt ambitious enough to create my biggest piece of art, I asked my dad to be a part of it. I wanted this sculpture to be ours. This was going to be something new for the both of us. However, the pandemic hit and things changed and the sculpture was halted until further notice. During the continued pandemic, my new business, Piñata Bash was born and also during this time my dad got ill. Even though he was not in the best of spirits, he would ask me questions about how it was going and of course always giving me advice. His best advice was always “It’s not always about the money” and “Just live your life like it’s your last day”. Dad, thank you for making me the artist I am today.

Website: www.pinatabash.com

Instagram: @pinata_bash @247allure

Facebook: @pinatabashtexas @247allure

Other: Tiktok: @pinata_bash

Image Credits
Cady Poorman