Vegas Lounge: The Art Blog of Susana Stuart

New Blog

2008-02-15T08:50:00.000-08:00

I'm switching oer to Wordpress, since it's easier to integrate into my website and I like the design aspects more. This one will remain up but will no longer be updated. For new stuff, please visit
http://vegaslounge.wordpress.com/
Thanks!

JAYSUS!

2008-02-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

Man, has this been one productive week/weekend. I blame it fully on the fact that we haven't had regular internet service since around Tuesday. Damn you, person in the building with unlocked WiFi! Get a stronger signal!
Anyway, now that I've totally incriminated myself...
Finished a piece for Paracinema Magazine's (www.paracinema.net) next issue, that's going to be on the cover, apparently. I feel so very accomplished! Can't say a whole Hell of a lot about it, but it's cool (in my totally unbiased opinion), and you should all buy multiple copies when it comes out.
What I CAN talk about is this really awesome idea I've had based off a school assignment given this week (wow, how often does THAT happen?) I've been wanting to do some kinda gimmicky giveaway to send to people or sell, something cool and unique that hopefully people would be into. For my class assignment, I chose to do a graphic novella...thing...that's related to one of my larger stories. Kind of like a mini chapter:

That's not a poorly formatted JPEG. That's actual size. The assignment was to fit our work into a standard-sized matchbox.
So, I'm thinking of developing a series of "Minikomik" (gotta love that faux-Soviet spelling!), complete works around 5-10 pages long, all lovingly shoved in their own matchboxes and reasonably priced.
Oh, and I cheated. The original size of the pages is 3.75x6 inches. I might be insane, and I might love to do miniatures, bu there's no way in Hell I am inking a multipanel page that's only 2 inches high.

Warming the Cockles of My Heart (ewwww)

2008-01-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

Heehee.

And from Wikipedia's entry on the Super Mario franchise:
"Yoshi was created by Shigefumi Hino, a graphics designer, in response to Nintendo's design staff expressing a desire for Mario to ride a dinosaur."

Man, working for Nintendo in the early days must have been like one long acid trip.

Rundown of the Past Few...uh...

2008-01-17T06:06:00.000-08:00

Since roughly the 23rd of December I...
1) Ate Mom's cookies, brownies, cakes, etc. Probably gained 20 pounds.
2) Had my SCAD grad school informal interview/portfolio review. Yikes. Do I feel inadequate! Well, at least I know what they'll be looking for so I can get my formal portfolio together in an acceptable manner. Man, I feel like after 4 years at Parsons I've accomplished next to nothing in comparison.
3) Submitted my first piece to Illustration Friday.com It's my Erzulie piece which is...um, somewhere on this page.
4) Saw native Floridian wildlife. Gators! Manatees! Giant Blue Herons! The oddly deformed local news anchors!
5) Did no art whatsoever

A photo:

In the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida, where my mom grew up. It's the United States' oldest city and the home of the legendary Fountain of Youth (which I have drunk from. 'Warm sulfurous groundwater' is an understatement). Mom said that she used to play hooky from school and play around the fort (before it became a national park/monument and thus has guards and such) when she was a kid. A lot of the rooms had names carved into the walls and I thought they were pretty nifty. I like to see evidence of people actually being normal people in settings like this. It's pretty cool to think you're standing in the exact same spot where some guy in 1880 carved his name.

Fire Walk With Me

2008-01-05T16:43:00.000-08:00

So I've been doing basically nothing since I got to Florida except playing with the puppy (who chewed up my wingtips! GRR!) and getting fat off my mom's home cooking. Not much done in the terms of art, just a few sketches and some reorganization of old stories into newer ones. Just basically boring nerdy things.
I have an interview, faculty meeting, informal portfolio review, AND class sit-in session at SCAD this Thursday, to see if I'm good to go for applying to the Sequential Art graduate program. Yikes. I feel mostly ready, and think I have enough portfolio material to show that I'm really interested in the field. Sigh.
Reconnecting with bizarre films etc of my youth: my parents gave me a box set of "Twin Peaks" for Christmas. God, I'd forgotten just how wonderful that show was. Agent Cooper was probably one of my first childhood crushes. (What, your parents didn't let you watch David Lynch when you were 5? What kind of childhood did YOU have?!) I've actually been to the town where "Twin Peaks" was filmed– Snoqualamie, Washington state:
Some Guy's Site About Going to the Film Locations
Proud to say that I've been inside the "Great Northern Hotel" on the top of the falls and had a cup of coffee and a piece of cherry pie in the diner. I'm a huge nerd. (In my defense, my parents and brothers used to live in Seattle in the 1970s, and it's like 30 miles away so they'd been to the town a bunch of times before....but that doesn't mitigate the fact that I am still a huge, huge nerd).

"Harry, she's dead...wrapped in plastic."

Finals are OVAH!

2007-12-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

Yes! The final presentation of our thesis work was today (it didn't have to be finished, thank God...) and classes have officially let out for the fall semster. Yay! All I'm going to concentrate on for the winter break is getting all my crap together for my SCAD interview/faculty meeting and being as complete as I can.
After I take a long, hard, debauched nap, of course.

Wake me in mid-October.

(this recycled bin was on the floor of our department. Somebody was celebrating, I guess...)

Organized? Me? Surely you jest.

2007-12-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those organizing/cleaning frenzies that last for hours, make you work up a huge sweat, and eventually look like you did NOTHING WHATSOEVER?
Yeah. My evening's been a lot like that. Which really speaks volumes for my social life, now that I think about it....anyway, I was organizing the roughly 8 trillion story ideas/concept art pieces I've done over the past couple of years into their own little folders. Fun! Or excruciating, depending on your viewpoint. Found a lot of stuff I'd totally forgotten about, and some great doodles I'd done on the margins of my various class handouts. Some of which I will undoubtedly scan and post, if only to justify why I did so poorly in school last year.
Christmas shopping is almost finished! Cool/fun/cute/awesome presents, purchased! Cheeks, rosy! Bankruptcy, imminent!

Let it Snow (for maybe 5 minutes)

2007-12-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

First snowfall of the year was a couple of days ago, and now it's really goin'...wheeeee. My excitement is just palatable, isn't it?
Good things: Christmas shopping! Usually I hate shopping (well, aside from shoes, stationary, and office supplies. Mmm, office supplies...), but God if I don't love shopping for Christmas gifts.
Rewatched a wonderful piece of cinema, surely the paradigm for all films to be judged by. I refer, of course, to "The Running Man".

Starring:
Ah-nald
Jesse Ventura
Yaphet Kotto
Mick Fleetwood
Dweezil Zappa
Professor Toru Tanaka

Where the Hell else are you going to see TWO wrestlers, TWO governors, a member of Fleetwoo Mac, and Dweezil frickin' Zappa in the same movie?!

Now, some art (not to say "The Running Man" isn't art...)

I had to make a Carnegie Hall performance seem appealing for people in my demographic (20s), and incorporate hand-lettering into the piece. I based my piece off the famous Man Ray photograph "Violin d'Ingres". I love Ingres and all associated with him...

Medium: Ink wash, digital color

Revisting Childhood

2007-11-25T19:45:00.000-08:00

(Cross-posted to my Myspace blog, but I thought this was just so cool...)

For years and years, I have had the mental image or concept of babies hatching out of eggshells in my head, and I had NO idea where it came from or what it meant. I could have sworn I'd seen it in a painting, but I didn't know what it was, and everyone I'd talked to thought I was nuts.
Well, lo and behold, when my 6-year-old nephew visited my parents this summer, he pulled out all of my old children's books. And what was in one of them? Babies hatching out of eggshells!

'Outside Over There' is by far one of the most surreal and slightly disturbing children's books ever, and always scared me a little when I was a child. It looks NOTHING like what you'd expect a Maurice Sendak book to look like, and it's really just odd and dreamlike– which is possibly why I never remembered it was actually a book, just some vague images I somehow had in my mind. The babies in the eggshells, the goblins, Ida's French horn and yellow raincoat, and the terrifying-looking Ice Baby (which REALLY frightened me when I was little) are some of the most amazing art I've ever seen and clearly stuck with me for years. I think I remember my parents telling me that I looked like Ida (the girl in blue) and that's why they got the book.
I've been looking at children's books, the ones I remember reading when I was little, and I find it really interesting to go back and see where I might have gotten some of my inspiration from. It's like finding an old toy or piece of clothing that you've completely forgotten, and the moment you see it again all the memories and feelings you had about it suddenly come back. It's kind of overwhelming.

The Old Folks at Home, part 2

2007-11-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

Things I had forgotten about living in Florida:

1) The water is so sulphuric that you have to keep your mouth closed in the shower, and your laundry smells like you washed it in brimstone.

2) The day after Thanksgiving is the start of hunting season. Do not be alarmed when you hear gunshots in your neighborhood.

3) Everybody on the local news channel looks deformed.

4) Football Is Life.

5) Bugs, reptiles, and birds are sizes generally associated with the Mesozaic Era.

6) My parents' response to the housing slump is to perform a voodoo ritual.

Man, I missed the South.

The Old Folks at Home

2007-11-19T08:01:00.000-08:00

I got to go back home to Florida four days earlier than was planned thanks to my schools perfectly insane Thanksgiving week schedule– WAHOO!
For comparison:
This is my roommate in New York a couple of weeks ago. This is not a simulation– we both really were dressed like this, and not just for fun, either.

and THIS is a shot a took a couple of minutes ago off my parent's back porch.

It was almost 75 degrees yesterday. I haven't worn a jacket in two days. I've been called "Miss" half a dozen times already. People in stores are telling me to have a good day, and they mean it. It's quiet. I'm looking out the kitchen window and seeing blue herons and egrets flying over the lake. We have a dirt road, more trees than neighbors, and the neighbors that we do have wave to you when they drive past.
And, we have cute dogs.

The little one is Sophie, my parents new puppy. We've all decided she looks like a goat, and she wags her tail so much and so enthusiastically that she nearly throws herself into spasms. We're teaching her to play fetch, and she's disgustingly adorable. Max (the big one) has been having a look of woebegone on his face since she came.

Between all that, there is no one in the world that can convince me New York City is better than this.

Flikr etc

2007-11-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

I'm mostly out of my funk, but I'm more sure than ever that I need a break. There's few things less productive than depression or anxiety (well, that and hangovers) so it's especially bad to get either one during senior year. One more week and I get to go back home. Cripes, this has all felt like a prison sentence for the past month or so.
I set up an account on Flikr, basically just a place where I can dump my photos and be self-indulgent (as if I'm not already). I really want to get into photography a bit more, just for its own sake. I'm sick of doing purely digital images (I mean basically Photoshop from start-to-finish) but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop using them. I just don't want to end up basically being a photo retoucher.
Speaking of which...

Ta dah!
Yes, I finally got a copy of my VERY FIRST PUBLISHED PIECE! (Cue the parade) Only took me a couple of weeks. So I'm slow. It's in Paracinema Magazine, a mag devoted to b-and-cult movies and things of that nature. Check it out! Buy a copy (look on the site for places you can get it or order it online)! If it takes off, we might all actually make money on the next one!
Stringing up colored Christmas lights in my room. My room now resembles a horribly tacky LA Mexican and/or Italian restaurant. Peeeeerfect.

Non-Thesis, Anxiety, and other Crap

2007-11-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

This is gonna be loooong...sorry.
I'm constantly convinced that my actual artistic output is nearly nil. I feel like I should have a lot more to show for my time in school, or personal time, or whatever, and that I'm always coming up short. There isn't a lot of work I can think of that I've done that I'm really psyched over, and there's maybe only one or two pieces I can think of that I felt I "got right" ("getting it right" it a hard thing to describe, but it's more or less, for me, when I look at something I did and think I just nailed it). All my friends seem to have so much work they can stand behind and be proud of, and I don't know what the Heck I have to stand behind.
Part of this anxiety, I know, is stemming from the fact that I've opted out of Senior Thesis– that is, I'm not going to submit my thesis work to the final show. I'll DO the work, since my class grade depends on it, but I'm not going to go in front of the jury and try to get it in. I really don't feel like the topic– "Global Warning"– represents me and what I want to do at all. I just can't make myself give a crap about the work, and I know it shows in my art. If people are going to come and see my work, why would I want them to see half-assed art that I don't care about and don't have any conviction about?
So, I'm submitting to the non-thesis section of the show, the more portfolio-based part of the show. This is where I'm choking up, since I don't know what I want to show. I feel like everyone wants me to draw in 1000 different ways, and now I'm totally confused about what I want to do and how I want to create art. I don't want to have a set "style", but I don't want to look completely sporadic either. Le sigh.
A problem I think I'm having is essentially burnout, at least temporary burnout. I really need to finish school and get the holy Hell out of NYC because this city just drains me. I'm going back home (Florida) for Thanksgiving and I need the break. I haven't been out of the city since March. I can't take much more without screaming. I just want to find a quiet peaceful place, with no people, no subways, no noise, nature, trees, birds, POLITENESS AND COMMON COURTESY, and then maybe I'll get recharged.

Prints Gone Wild 2!

2007-11-03T08:26:00.001-07:00

I went to Prints Gone Wild 2, the (apparently now annual) cheap print fair hosted by Cannonball Press, a Brooklyn-based printing company run in part by a former teacher and friend of mine, Martin Mazorra. SO...MUCH...FUN. I must have blown about 120 bucks there (the point of the fair being that it's the cheapest you're going to get prints for quite awhile), but oh man, it was worth it.
Got some from Yee-Haw Industries (including Dad's Christmas present), Evil Prints, the aforementioned Martin Mazorra, and some more demolition derby posters from Triangle Poster. (I already have three from them. You can never have too many demolition derby posters).
I took some pictures, but they all came out super blurry (I was holding a crapload of prints and a PBR and trying to take pictures at the same time):

Yee-Haw Industries took up an entire wall. My friend Shanna was there and said that she'd thought, "Susana would really be into this stuff."

Sean Starwars' wall. Yes, that's his name. Really nice guy. Printmakers are generally kind of odd people, but cool and harmless.

One of the bands that was playing. The giant Devil's head was made by, I believe, Howlin' Wolf Press.

And, just because I thought it was pretty:
Taken from the roof of my building. Craphole apartment as it is (and trust me, it is), it's got one Helluva view.

100 Things You Didn't Care to Know About Susana Stuart

2007-10-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ripped from Lindsay P.'s Blog...

1. What is the last alcoholic beverage you drank?
A really terrible bottle of “draught-in-a-bottle” Guinness. They made it taste thin! Guinness is not supposed to be THIN!

2. Do you follow college football?
My roommate does, and my parents live in a college-football-ruled town, so I know it exists. That’s all.

3. How many miles does your car/truck/SUV have on it?
No idea since the car/truck belong to my parents in Florida.

4. Who was the last person to send you a text message and what was it about?
Malisha, saying she couldn’t make it to my party tomorrow but there’ll be others.

5. Last time you went swimming in a pool?
Uh…10 years ago, maybe?

6. Are you happy?
For the most part, sure. I’d like a boyfriend, though…

7. Where was the last place you went shopping?
Amazon.com, for a business card case.

8. How do you feel about your hair?
My hair-hair or my wigs? I hate my hair-hair for a variety of reasons (thus the wigs).

9. Where do you work?
At the moment I’m just going to school and trying to establish an “online presence” for my illustration.

10. Last thing you ate?
Some dried apricots and a cup of coffee.

11. Do you wish you were someplace else right now?
With my parents in Florida. I haven’t been back South since March, and I’m due. Also, they just got a puppy yesterday! I want to see her!

12. Last time you smoked a cigarette?
Yeesh, about a month ago? I only smoke when I drink…a lot.

13. Do you have any expensive jewelry?
Yes, mostly in safety deposit boxes in Florida– things from my great-aunt (a diamond-and-pearl starbursty pendant and a string of pearls) from the early 20th century. Also an Art Nouveau openwork gold-and-brilliants bracelet that Dad bought for Mom and she gave to me. I love that kind of stuff.

14. AIM or MSN?
AIM
.
15. What classes are you taking?
Thesis, Sketchbook Warehouse, Digital Presentation, Narrative, Old Weird America: Music as a Form of Democratic Speech

16. How many hours on average do you work a week:
Depends on if it’s schoolwork or personal work. I admit I put in more energy on personal work.

17. What is your favorite band?
Either the Clash or the Pogues. The Pogues when Joe Strummer was subbing for Shane McGowan? Kismet, baby.

18. Favorite NFL team?
….uhhhh….

19. Do you watch the Olympics?
Only the winter ones. C’mon! They have the luge! And that weird-ass cross country skiing/sharpshooting event!

20. Last bar you went to?
I’ve been trying to stay sober for awhile. It might have been Mona’s.

21. Who was the last person to call you?
My parents, to talk about the puppy and the Savannah Film Festival.

22. Whats your sign?
Taurus, born in the year of the Ox. I can’t help being stubborn!

23. Do you have a favorite number?
12. It just keeps popping up in my life.

24. Last time you did volunteer work or made any donation?
Wow, it’s been awhile. I was volunteering at the central library in Tallahassee maybe two years ago?

25. What do you spend the majority of your money on?
Food, or shoes.

26. Where does most of your family live?
Various pockets of the South– Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky are the main ones, but my brothers both live in Europe (Ireland and Hungary)

27. Are you an only child or do you have siblings?
Two older brothers– one’s 18 years older than I am and the other is 10 years older.

28. Would you consider yourself to be spoiled?
Hells yes!

29. Ever been called a bitch?
I don’t think so. I’d like to think most people think I’m very polite.

30. Got any guilty pleasures?
Some cheesy music, but for the most part I’ll admit if I like something dorky. I have no shame!

31. Do you drink beer?
Yep, I’m a beer gal.

32. Have you ever experienced true love?
No, but I’m hopeful…

33. Did you ever collect anything?
Take out menus now, and when I was little, Catwoman memorabilia.

34. Ever ordered anything online?
I prefer online shopping

35. Myspace or Facebook?
Myspace for business/networking, Facebook for personal stuff

36. Do you have T-Mobile?
Nope, though Dad just got to look down Catherine Zeta-Jones’ dress this weekend. He reports, “It was wonderful”.

37. What was your favorite subject?
I really loved Biology.

38. Have you ever had your heart broken?
No…

39. Do you usually fall for sluts?
I’ve never fallen for anyone!

40. Were you an outcast in high school?
No, I got along great with pretty much everyone.

41. Last time you saw your family?
Way too long ago. Mom and Dad, not since March, Irish Brother a couple of months ago.

42. Do you have any talents?
I can make my eyeballs shimmy and I’m pretty good at adopting different accents.

43. Ever been in a wedding?
No, and actually I’ve only ever been TO one.

44. Do you have any children?
I hope not, I’m not THAT oblivious.

45. Last movie you watched?
“Children Underground”, a documentary about homeless children in Bucharest.

46. Are you missing anyone at the moment?
My parents.

47. Did you take a nap today?
No, but I slept until about 12:45.

48. What is your high school's mascot?
A cow. Seriously. Not even a bull. A cow.

49. Ever been on a cruise?
Nope, although I’d like to go on an ocean liner. I miss the days of Cunard and the White Star Line…

50. Favorite vacation spot?
Outside of America? Victoria, British Columbia.

51. How many pets do you have?
My parents have two mini schnauzers, Max and Sophie (puppy! Puppy! Six weeks old!) and a cat, Satchi. We had another mini schnanuzer, Tessa, but she died a few weeks ago ☹

52. Do you have any wealthy friends?
Yeah. Lucky bastards.

53. Ever met anyone really famous before?
Pee-Wee Herman and Weird Al, probably a couple of other people (Dad’s in the film biz), really esoteric comic-book types.

54. Favorite actress?
Kate Winslet. I’ve had people tell me I look like her, which makes my day, month, and year.

56. Are you multi-tasking right now?
In a half-hearted way.

57. Could you handle being in the military?
If I was in some kind of office-based environment, maybe. I don’t like getting dirty and I only wear skirts.

58. Are you hungry or thirsty?
Nope.

59. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Haven’t eaten fast food in YEARS, but I remember In-and-Out was pretty good.

60. Do you have any grandparents still alive?
Nope

61. What is your average cell phone bill?
I have a pay-as-you-go plan. They just jacked up the price of texts by 10 cents! That sucks!

62. Do you own a camera phone?
No, I had one but I lost it in Chelsea

63. what is your dream car?
I kinda want a really old taxi cab, or a pink “boat”. Or a Vespa!

64. Do you believe in Karma?
Yeah, to a certain extent. I believe in fate (kismet) more.

65. Can you speak any other languages?
Some French, and I can read Spanish and, oddly, Romanian pretty well.

66. Last time you went to the gym or worked out?
Gym? Um…elementary school, for swim classes, I think.

67. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Don’t get me started.

68. Do you have a photo hosting site that you use?
Photobucket.

69. Last place you drove your car
Tallahassee, Florida.

70. What is your college mascot?
I’d like to see that.

71. Ever been to Las Vegas?
YES! Viva Las Vegas (Lounge.net)!

72. Nicest Hotel you ever stayed in?
Probably the Empress Hotel in Victoria.

73. Have you ever bought condoms?
No!

74. How much money did you make today?
HAHAAHAaa….oh, wait, you’re serious?

75. What do you think is your best feature?
I think I’ve got a purty mouth…

76. Have you ever been gambling?
Nope.

77. How old is your youngest sibling?
32.

78. When is the last time you updated your blog?
Today, looks like.

79. Do you have your wisdom teeth?
No. I only had two, actually.

80. favorite T-shirt?
My screen-printed Joe Strummer ‘saint’ shirt. Generally I don’t do t-shirts.

81. Have you been to New York City?
I live here…unfortunately.

82. Favorite sit down restaurant:
I like diners and really kitschy Mexican/Italian restaurants.

83. Ever been to Disney?
A few times, in Anaheim. It was alright.

84. Do you have a favorite cartoon character?
I was really into Danger Mouse when I was little.

85. Last thing you cooked(at home)?
Rice Krispie treats with marshmallow Fluff and shredded coconut. Sugar…heaven…

86. How is the weather today?
Surprisingly warm.

87. Do you e-mail?
It’s the best way to get in touch with me.

88. Last letter/piece of mail you received besides junk or a bill.
A letter from my landlord saying my building is from 1913, combustible, and has no sprinkler system, PA system, or fire alarms.

89. Favorite store?
The Strand.

90.do you wear glasses?
I’m actually legally blind, so when I take out my lenses, yes.

91. Last voicemail you received?
From my parents.

92. favorite club?
I’m not much of a clubber

93. Stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone?
Lost it

94. What is the best city in the state that you have lived in?
Wait, huh? My favorite city I WILL live in is Savannah, Georgia. I LOATHE NYC.

95. Favorite quote?
Wow, a lot…”Let fury have the hour/anger can be power/if you know that you can use it”

96. Last time you were sick?
Few weeks ago.

97. Are you bored right now?
Somewhat.

98. Last concert you attended?
I haven’t been to a show in AGES.

99. Do you watch reality tv?
I haven’t had a TV in about a year or so.

100. What are your plans for tomorrow?
Go to class, then have a Halloween party at Otto’s Shrunken Head, and (maybe) go to the parade!

Thesis and Zombies

2007-10-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

So, because I'm sensible like that, I decided to change my entire thesis idea what, two months before it's all due?
Yeah.
Sensible.
Anyway, this one's a lot funnier– it has to deal with the various wiretapping and government surveillance scandals we're hearing about, and how very fucking BORING that job would have to be for the poor bastards who actually have to sit and listen to everyone's horrendously dull lives. When I get more work done, I'll throw a couple of images up to track my progress.

In more personal art, I'm totally getting into the idea of pinup zombies, starting with this lovely lady:

As dad said, "The old girl's still got it. Well, most of it, anyway."
Actually, Dad gave me a really good idea about what to do with them– keep crankin' 'em out, and make a pinup calender at the end of it. Mom thinks licensing is a great idea and that I could do cards and thing with the zombie girls, too. I think that rocks! Man, my parents are cool. I'd really love to get into licensing my art somehow (cos, y'know, it pays REALLY well), and who doesn't love zombies and sexy pinups? I know I do!

Medium: Ink wash on vellum, digital color

Jumbo Hotdog

2007-10-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Marvo, webmaster of The Impulsive Buy
Brilliance. Sheer brilliance.

Myspace and Mypurse

2007-10-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

So I finally broke down and got a Myspace page (www.myspace.com/susanastuart) which I'm mainly going to use for professional networking stuff, since this now puts me on two different social networking sites, two blogs, and various other things that, let's face it, there's no way I'm gonna be able to keep up with. This is still going to be my primary blog, is what it boils down to.
I present the biggest waste of money I have wasted in QUITE a long while: SCHNAUZERPURSE!

Yes, one word.
I couldn't help myself.
He's so wonderful! He has the big schnauzery schnozz and a wee docked tail and the fluffy hair on his chest that's just like a real schnauzer's! He's cuddling on my lap right now. Now, whenever I need some sweet sweet schnauzer luvin' (or just an excuse to type 'schnauzer' over and over), I can just play with Schnauzerpurse! I can pet him and squeeze him and carry my lip gloss in his hollow back cavity. What else could a girl need?

I love you, Schnauzerpurse.

ARRRRGGHH!!!

2007-10-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

WHY do I feel the need to draw something IMMEDIATELY when I'm in bed and just about to fall asleep? It's half-past midnight, I'm freakin' exhausted, and yet the insane little voice in my head (insane voice in head, meet world. World, meet insane voice in head. I call him 'Charlie') can't stop coming up with ideas and the compulsion to create. Which really sounds so high-falutin' when I see it written down. Why can't I be this productive during normal hours? AARRRRRGGGH!!!

RIP Tessa

2007-10-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

We had to put down Tessa, one of my dogs, this weekend. She'd been going downhill steadily for a few months now and this past week really was the end. She had diabetes and it wasn't going to get any better, so it was the humane thing to do for everyone. She didn't have much personality and she was a dumb as a bag full of hammers, but she was sweet as Hell, loved to hold hands, and was part of our family for about 13 years. I was feeling pretty rotten but I had a good cry, prayed to St. Francis to look after her (ironically, when I found out she died yesterday, there was a St. Francis of Assisi festival in my neighborhood) and I feel a lot better. "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day."

Medium: Brush pen, ink wash. Lyrics, "We'll Meet Again" as performed by Vera Lynn

Production for Use!

2007-09-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm killing time after my discussion class today, when I decide, "Hey, I'll see if they have anything good and cheap at the Strand". (One of the few redeeming factors NYC has for me is the fact that the Strand exists).
Among roughly 1000 books about Sotheby's wine auctions (some old rich drunk must have just died and his kids had no idea what to do with his stuff), I find a large folio-type item that's covered in yellowing, brittle paper, and basically just looks OLD. Oh, and it has

on the cover. "Hm", say I. "I think I'll have a look inside. This could be interesting."
So, I open it, and what do I see?

HELLS YES.
What do I have before me? A 1949–I don't know, book? File? Magazine? Folio?– that's 100% Soviet propaganda about how glorious Stalin is. Seriously! Printed in the Soviet Union (says a stamp on the back) and distributed in four languages. It looks like this was one of a series about the various aspects of the USSR, I was just lucky enough to snag the one saying what a swell guy Stalin is. I LOVE Soviet-era stuff, so this was a real find.
Some samples of what's inside (this thing's pretty big, so I took admittedly crappy digicam pics instead of scans):

I think I've actually seen this picture, when the Guggenheim was doing a retrospective on Russian painting. It's (I believe) a head of a collective farm and Stalin at a celebratory dinner (or something of the sort).

Hero's Square, Budapest– I think (my directions are horrible) that Hero's Square is actually pretty near the Terror House, the museum of Communist torture and imprisonment (never let it be said that things get too lighthearted in Hungary).

Tractors! Because you can never have a book of Stalinist propaganda without liberal use of tractors!

Rosie the Riveter defects.

The Young Pioneers strike a pose. I believe my friend Yulia told me she was a Young Pioneer, but "wasn't very good at it". While I was in Budapest I inadvertently bought a Young Pioneers badge, so I guess all my jokes about how I defected from the Girl Scouts weren't entirely unfounded.

Last one for now. They look so happy! And...um, armed! I believe this picture was taken in Belarus, which means that Belarus is following me, which means if I suddenly vanish, check the cooking schools.

Oh, and the price? A whopping 48 cents.
I love the Strand.

Keep Your Hair Free of Drunken Mashings!

2007-09-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I haven't updated in awhile. I've been busy!
Saw this pic on an ephemera blog I frequent (Swapatorium) and thought it was just keen.
Not only because of the lovely graphics, but because Unicum in an incredibly potent Hungarian liquor that's a lot like Jägermeister...but tastes even worse.
Maybe that's what the bubbles represent. That, and her utterly HASHED expression.

Not much else happening otherwise (that's fit to print, anyway). Been working my heiney off with Thesis, having odd dreams about protozoa, clown balloons, and Shane MacGowan (not necessarily in that order)...
Oh! New art! That actually I'm really really happy with (oh, God, they're cooking BBQ under the window where I'm sitting, and though I've been a vegetarian about 8 years now, that smells SO damn good. Uh, where was I going again? Right. Art.)
It's based off a song I have been obsessing about since I heard it in a movie, "Flame Trees" by Cold Chisel (or, as sung by a children's choir in the movie, 'Little Fish'). Basically just sketchbook noodlings that came out a lot better than I thought they would. I'm really happy with it as a piece.
Oh, God. BBQ. Sigh...

Good Old-Fashioned Nightmare Fuel

2007-09-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Just woke up from a harrowing nightmare in which I was kidnapped from a Turner exhibit at the Guggenheim (I fully admit I barely know who Turner even IS, and from what I've seen I don't know why I would have gone to that show, but anyway...), by a gang of military/rogue mercenaries dispatched from a cooking school in Belarus. After pleading with them that, among other things, I had to use the bathroom, the elevator stopped at the 44th floor (at the Guggenheim) and deposited us into a British grocery store in Belarus (...again, at the Guggenheim). It was there where I was cruelly told I must separate lettuce by color to ascertain just how far along I WAS in cooking.
This was when I literally woke up crying. Belorussian cooking schools don't fuck around.
Finally starting on my drawings for Thesis– would have done it yesterday except for recovering from Germanfest, which I will talk about. I figure there's no way in Hell I'm going to be able to do that many linocuts, so I'll do faux-linos. I figured out a quick n' dirty way of doing it (well, actually less dirty than doing real linos, but you get the point). Listening to a bunch of Lotte Lenya/Kurt Weill to get "in the mood" (yeah, it's a really cheery, upbeat piece of art), which unfortunately has me now wanting to do real prints about the Threepenny Opera. No! No! Resist the temptation! Until next weekend, anyway!
So, Germanfest: Imagine every loud-but-jolly drunk you've ever met, slap 'em in lederhosen and one of those Munich hats with the brush on the side (one of which I have proudly owned since high school), and ply them with beer and brats, and encourage them to yodel. Then, throw in an inexplicably huge amount of Asians, also drunk, in funny hats, and yodeling. Did I mention it's 2 in the afternoon?
I've determined, as a part-German myself, that although we might be efficient, we're essentially one damn goofy culture. So between that, the Lotte Lenya marathon, and the pursuit of Frans Masereel prints for reference, it's been a VERY German weekend.
Guess that's better than Belorussian, anyway.
Where the Hell even IS Belarus?

Phine Art 2

2007-09-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

Ah, fair Vulnavia. Who else could make wearing a hat described in terms as "a pincushion" (by me) and "a mama quail" (by Mom) look so damn....well, maybe not ELEGANT, but certainly less ridiculous than...well, no, it still looked strange and silly, but...
Um...
Oh, well. She liked her hats. And helping to commit increasingly bizarre murders. I still wonder how she managed to get that gig. Did Dr. Phibes put a want ad in the paper ("Wanted: Beautiful mute female assistant for dinners, dancing, Biblically-themed murders.")? Did her career-services counselor at school set her up with it? Ah, Vulnavia, you keep your secrets well.

Phine Art

2007-09-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

Schlock doesn't get nearly enough credit. I'm not a B-Movie connoisseur, exactly (although I watched MST3K for eight seasons, at least, it was mostly cos the jokes were funny), and I don't really subscribe to the "so bad it's good" school of thought (they usually aren't), but I do like, and can appreciate, a movie that at its heart is so schlocky and campy that you KNOW absolutely nobody was taking it seriously when they were making it, and where the star had to sit in the makeup chair longer than usual because he kept laughing so hard his prosthetic face kept falling off.
Holy crap, what a run on sentence THAT was.

Medium: linocut, digital text
Inspiration: The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Leonard Cohen

"Corrupt": the Most (Un?)Intentionally Gay Crooked-Cop Movie EVER

2007-08-31T20:25:00.001-07:00

So I'm lying here watching "Corrupt", and early 80s Italian-produced crooked-cop movie starring Harvey Keitel and Johnny Rotten (imagine seeing THAT pairing on a marquee), and while the acting is actually pretty good all around, it is SO GAY I can hardly believe it.

1)Half of the plot seems to center around Keitel keeping a half-naked Johnny Rotten bound and gagged in his bathroom.
2)The above is happening an apartment Harvey Keitel shares with his fellow police officer, who's married and struggling with the fact that he's 'corrupt'– hel-LOOO, 'secret life and feelings of shame' subtext!

3) There's a lot of hair-pulling and proclamations of, "You're MINE now! And you're going to do what I say!" that, when shouted by a middle-aged man wearing a bathrobe to a half-naked 20-something man tied up in his bathroom, takes on a WHOLE different meaning.
4) Continual uses of phrasing like, "don't feel guilty, you wouldn't have done that if I hadn't forced you" and "you must make a lovely couple" abound
5) Life-size portrait of Johnny Rotten as St. Sebastian (clearly using a promotional photo from his Sex Pistols days)
6) Seriously, I'm not kidding about how few clothes Johnny Rotten's wearing in this movie. Boxer shorts, a towel, Keitel's bathrobe (a LOT)...I don't know why they bothered hiring a costume designer.

So, yeah, in conclusion, I loved it.

I would recommend this if you're looking for something where you can turn your brain off and revel in the "What the HELL?"-ness for 90 minutes. The film stock and lighting is TERRIBLE (you'll just have to assume that things are happening onscreen at times), but Harvey Keitel is Harvey Keitel, and Johnny Rotten actually turns out a pretty good performance and uses his trademark insane stare for good effect. And, if like me, you like kinda scrawny pale redheads who don't wear a lot of clothes, this movie's for you.

Seriously, they HAD to have known how gay this movie was, right? I mean, this all COULDN'T have been unintentional, could it?! There's just so much of it!

From the Sketchpad (or, Tears Dry on Their AUUGH!)

2007-08-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

So, I don't normally do anything involving recent celebrities since, Scarlett, I frankly don't give a damn, but Amy Winehouse beating the shit out of her husband in a mutual crackhead lovefest really called for something special. For there's indeed no greater love, than crackhead love. That's in the Bible. Really. You can look it up.
(And, how great would a comic strip be starring these two? aside from the whole "being sued eight ways from Sunday" bit)

Medium, graphite & colored pencil. Inspiration.

Work-in-Progress

2007-08-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Man, my scanner bed is FILTHY.
Anyway, this bizarre little girl popped into my head while I was listening to Nouvelle Vague's cover of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. That's going to be on the wall, in Japanese calligraphy (in blood, natch) when it's done.
She'd make a swell doll. I hope I get famous in a really nerdy way so I can get dolls or action figures made out of my work. How cool would that be?

Getting Organized (in a bare minimal way)

2007-08-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

Okay- I have GOT to figure out a better way to get mentally organized than "hey, I feel like doing this for awhile, for the first time in 3 years, provided I'm not immediately distracted by this, that, and the other!"
There's at least 5 (lemme count- 'Evangeline', 'Lyuba', 'Stay', 'Conquest of Neem', 'Deuce'- yeah, that's 5 so far) fully fleshed storylines I want to work on (I don't know whether to call them graphic novels or not, so 'storylines' has to do), THEN a bunch of standalone art I'd like to do, but I just cannot get my ass to get focused enough to work on something for a longish time, then go to something else. ARG! I'm going to be of those old women that the authorities find dead because a 50,000-lb pile of papers fell on her. I might not even get to the 'old woman' part.

I can relate

2007-08-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

Yeeeeeeeeeah.....that about sums it all up. Well, at least it's Sunday so I don't have to deal with the mailman attempting to shove a bunch of catalogs in my mouth...

(strip, 'Pearls Before Swine', contributed by Dad)

Without a doubt, the BEST SONG EVER

2007-08-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

Nudist Colony Of The Dead Music Video - For more amazing video clips, click here

I'm going to have this stuck in my head the rest of my life.

The Black Dahlia

2007-08-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm getting better at this. Poor Elizabeth Short- she wanted to be famous, and God knows she got there, but I doubt that's how she wanted it...

Graphite and digital color

Shock! Horror! Mormons!

2007-08-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

These were across the aisle from each other, fittingly in the 'tabloid and soap opera digest' section. Hell, Archie, don't look so surprised, you were kinda asking for it in the first comic. I especially love how horrified- horrified- Betty looks at the prospect of her boyfriend being dumped by...er, his other girlfriend.
Never could quite understand that dynamic. Betty seemed extremely desperate for attention, so I can understand why she'd stay with Archie when he's opening seeing Veronica, but Veronica was too brassy to put up with any of that. And, sometimes SHE was seeing Reggie. Jeez, Riverdale High was just a hotbed of playas and hos.
Unless they were all Mormon, which would explain a lot.

Outage? OutRAGE!

2007-08-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

48-Hour Internet Outage Plunges Nation Into Productivity

I think this best describes my past couple of days most effectively. Finally sent some packages that've been hanging around for months! Learned to sauté mushrooms tastily! Canceled gym membership, which had been put off since February! Went to work! Bought pillow after needing a new one for a year!
...you get the point.

Turkey Basting

2007-08-07T17:21:00.000-07:00

I readily admit I bought this for the art. Isn't it great? I'm going to die flat broke but with a collection of seasoning boxes to be positively green over.

Hot DAMN, if I do say so myself

2007-08-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

Just finished this– pretty damn good in my (totally unbiased) opinion! She's Erzulie, the Voodoo version of the Virgin Mary (basically). She's the spirit of femininity, compassion, love, beauty, jewellery, dancing, luxury, and flowers, and is often associated with gay men. So, yeah, I can relate.

Graphite with digital color.

Websites

2007-08-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

I hope to God I don't end up doing these things for a living. I mean, I like doing them and all, and it's fun to design stuff, but if it's going to come around that I've paid god knows amount for school, only to do something that's basically self-taught for a living, I'm going to be...upset.
I'd show pics if I was positive I'm allowed to do so at this point. You never know. So, in place, here's the protagonist of "The Final Sacrifice" one of the worst movies ever to come out of Canada (and that's saying a lot). With a main hero name like "Zap Rosdower", how can you go wrong?
In a myriad of horrifying ways, it turns out.

Joining the Digital Age

2007-07-31T19:02:00.001-07:00

So I figured I should probably join the rest of society and make a blog, despite the fact that I hate that word more than anything in the world. Blog. Blog, blog, blog. It sounds worse the more you say it. Like a Swedish curse. I can imagine a guy named Bjørn dropping a blond-wood bookshelf on his clog and screaming, "BLOG!"*

Basically I'm going to try and devote this bløg to various art/illustration things I'm doing, mostly in a vain hope it might encourage me to...y'know...finish stuff.

*Swedish stereotypes courtesy of Ikea and Abba.