I work at a theatre and this summer a production of RENT came thru by a great local company called Dream Out Loud. As part of their set design they had a graffiti wall: black base with whites, pinks, browns, green and blue slashes all over, and red AIDS ribbons added throughout the production. When they were moving out they had all this leftover paint from the Graf wall and didn’t want to take it all, so they asked if we wanted to keep it. I don’t know if WE did, but I did. They were all soft pastels: pink, green, yellow, blue. Tones and hues of those that are much softer and lighter than anything else I had. I got very excited and brought out one of my bigger canvases. I started with the yellow, with which I did this simple swirly swirl, tapering to a small pod near the center, almost like a rose bud. Then I filled in some other space with the green – another swirl complementing the yellow. Then a soft pink swirl around both of those. I took some deeper paints of the same colors: a brighter yellow, a dark blue, and added a few shadows and outlines for texture. I really liked it but wasn’t sure if it was done. I showed it to DMS and she said “Really? A vagina?”
So I wasn’t done. Essentially that first draft was what you see now, but with none of the black. Where the black is, about 50% of that was just white canvas. Another 25% was the original green, yellow or pink, which I blacked over. And the last 25% was the dark blue, which I really didn’t like once I’d added the black. All in all I love the start contrast of that black with the much softer colors. I think its rich. So that’s how you make something NOT a vagina. Add black. I mean, really? Vagina? You go there? Sure it’s a fun series of swirly shapes, and a vagina is ALSO a fun series of swirly shapes… But, really?
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These three décor pieces were given to me by a friend who was moving and didn’t have room for them anymore. Originally they were offwhite balls with wire you could hang them by, and light bulbs running down into the balls to light them up. The plugs on the light cords were busted and I didn’t know how to fix them so I just tossed those parts and decided to use the balls by themselves. But to do that, they needed a little bit of spicing up. I’d just found this gorgeous blood red paint and had some wonderful chrome spray paint left over. So I sprayed the balls with the chrome and did different things with the red. I love the clash of those two colors. For the first one I flipped the ball upside down and poured the red on it, letting it glob and drip down. When it hangs, it looks like the red is slowly seeping up the sides. For the second ball I put tape all over the piece in different shapes and lengths, then painted the entire piece red. While the red dried, I traced thru the wet paint with the blunt end of a paintbrush, which scraped off thin lines where the silver could show thru. Once the who thing dried, I removed the pieces of paint, letting the silver show thru where it had been covered. This layering technique is one of my favorites to do.
For the third ball I left it mostly silver and just did splashes and spatters of red. All in all they’re a little creepy, violent even. But I like them. One year after an anniversary dinner, me and my girl went shopping. Because that’s who we are. Got this piece at Artifaktori in Davis Square. Can’t recommend this place enough: had some great stuff (we both spent money the first time there and have both been back since); good clothes and a ton of really unique items. The staff has always been lovely. I found a jacket I really wanted but that was out of my reach. I pouted over it for the longest time while DMS tried on other things. Finally she was ready to go and so I gave it up as a lost cause. As she was buying I did some browsing around the counter and wouldn’t you know I found this amazing pink lizard pin hiding under some other pieces. Having been adamant about getting something, I suddenly found my match right as we were leaving. I bought it instantly. It’s since become one of my favorite pieces. Works well on a hat or lapel. I also sometimes pin it to a jacket/vest just about the pocket so it acts as a simple splash of color where a pocket square would typically go. Once or twice I’ve even put him in the pocket, wrapped up in a pocket square, so there’s just a flash of pink in the midst. Always fun, always a conversation piece.
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