Spent the weekend next to the California/Mexico border, bathed in the light of the largest, lowest moon of the year, at a desert hideaway. Around fifty people drove down from LA to celebrate comrade Alexandra’s birthday amidst mountains, great food and better friends.

I’m bursting with impressions and gratitude for the generosity of the property management, the time our friends spend cooking and feeding everyone, the epic 2-hour yoga session that has my legs saying, “Thank you, Mistress, may I have another?”, the multiple hours spent laughing [my cheeks still hurt], the open-air hot tub and cold dip combo near sunrise, the cave painted with a massive, fierce Dakini mural, the magnificent hedonism, the mountain Leah and I intrepidly climbed on Saturday night to watch the sun rise – with the full golden moon lingering in the pink, glowing sky, and all the beautiful people I met on what turned out to be significantly more than a retreat.

Now home with legs covered in scrapes and bruises and a brain still processing the new realization, lesson and experience arsenal, I have to dive back into the life-work-stream, but not before I share the photos I took in the first 24 hours of the trip, before putting the camera away and experiencing  rather than documenting the rest.

Main sleeping space, with massage table.

Birthday girl Lex and Daniel.

Berry pancakes.

Sasha.

Sylva and Lex.

I should mentioned we climbed that with zero gear [flex].

A little solitary photo-hiking before lunch.

Lexibutt.

Stephanie in make up by me and Sylva.

Sylva’s spring roll ingredients. Mff.

Ms. Salad Fingers, aka Leah.

Kitchen assembly line.

Ales, chopping.

Cave puppet theater.

Cave dragon.

Cave spring roll delivery.

Moss.

Courtenayss.

Brendon.

Akila.

Stephanie’s homemade baklava – a delicious ending note.

Not long ago, Stephanie celebrated a birthday in the park, and my family and I celebrated 20 years since we emigrated to the U.S. – all in one rather hedonistic day.

Happy birthday girl, with Daniel and Alexandra hypnotizing each other in the background.

Sack-o-juice.

The spread was bountiful. We had authentic Jambalaya, cream puffs, brownies, breads and fruit and mff.

Duck, Danny, it’s the cheese!

Unsuccessful attempt to hide when park security showed up and asked us to move to a safer spot. Pftt.

A pretty white horse happened by as we were wrapping up our picnic.

En route to mom’s house for celebratory dinner, because nothing says “Yay, America!” like eating Russian food.

Micron’s silent demand at the kitchen entrance.

Gorgeous, sparkly marionette, given to me by mom – acquired during her recent trip to Thailand.

Morning flower the next day, before Ales and I headed home.

Photos of Ales Kot and I together are by Kacy Owens.
Photos of Kacy and I together are by Ales Kot.
The rest are by me.

Pictured: Jess, Tess, Lionel, Yume, Alcuin, Ales, me.

For this show, I’ve revisited the ladies in Snake Charmer, Silent Starlet and Stork Whispers, cutting out and mounting the original drawings on black – the way I always imagined them but didn’t have the chance to actualize before.

They’ll be hung alongside the work of Kent Williams, Jason Shawn Alexander, Kevin Llewellyn, Stephanie Inagaki, Brandon Boyd, Suzy O’Mullane, Kikyz 1313, Simon McWilliams, Rodrigo Cifuentes, Tanmaya Bingham, Ketut Kusuma, So Youn Lee, Black Em, Anna Ataeva, Christiane Shillito and Aubin Crowell. Skotia’s theme is drawings on paper with a slightly darker element giving homage to Friday the 13th.

Skotia Gallery
6144 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA
7-10PM

I hope you’ll join us for what’s going to be a gorgeous show!

Spring, San Francisco, sausages. Or wurst, to be exact. These things need to come together in my life more often.

Also: hot pink pickled, deviled eggs? Need you. Love you. Miss you.

My piece for the Gag Me With a Toon 4 exhibit:

Cheburashka’s Holiday 8×10” color pencils on paper. Sold.

Cheburashka and Krokodil Gena are Soviet era characters from a stop-motion animation. They’re not especially well-known in the West, but Japan adores Cheburashka almost as much as I do! Here is the original, feature-length Cheburashka, for when you have an hour to spare.

This is an especially uncharacteristic Style Dispatch, inspired by the blue rainbow hair I had back in October – which is the chief reason I bought this incredible dress. I just couldn’t resist the Rorschach snakeskin pattern, the kaleidoscopic color combination, and the sheer back panel. And if one is going to wear color, one might as well wear color! Amelia was in town from the UK and we were long-overdue for a photo expedition.

We set out with photographer Cris Dobbins and assistant extraordinaire, Yume, to commemorate the visit and capture some shots that were unmistakably LA. Downtown was the obvious choice, though whether my shoes were the obvious choice for long walks and climbing bridges remains undecided. Scroll for the rest of the images and outfit breakdowns!

AMELIA OUTFIT COMPONENTS

• Necklace: Bitter Heart Necklace by A is for Arsenic
• Hoodie: F21
• Top: A is for Arsenic black tank
• Skirt: H & M
• Tights: Halloween skeleton tights
• Shoes: Doc Martens
• Makeup: Illamasqua

ZO OUTFIT COMPONENTS

• Dress: Rampage
• Shoes: F21
• Legwear: H&M
• Men’s sock garters
• Ring: Alexander McQueen
• Make up: Sugarpill and MAC

Last week, Stephanie Inagaki of Miyu Decay launched a new line of jewelry called Noir Filigree and asked me to model some of the pieces for her online store. Time was in limited supply the day of the shoot, but I managed to pull together a vampy look that complemented these gorgeous pieces.

By popular demand, I present a step-by-step guide to the dramatic eye make-up that’s key to achieving this dark, glamourous effect.

COMPONENTS

• Mac pressed eye shadow in Contrast
• Mac pressed eye shadow in White Frost
• Sugarpill pressed eye shadow in Poison Plum
• Sugarpill pressed eye shadow in Bulletproof
• Prestige liquid eyeliner in black
• CoverGirl’s LashBlast Volume Mascara

METHOD

1. Brows. BROWS! A heavy, dramatic brow is an important part of this look – no pencil-thin arches allowed! Wet an angled brush, dip it in Contrast and draw them on, remembering to blend with a Q-tip or coarse brush near the inner edges, avoiding a sharp cutoff.
2. Apply Poison Plum all over your lids with a wide brush, blending up and out. Be sure to get some on your lover lids, too.
3. Blend Bulletproof into the outer corners of your lids with a thinner brush, and along the lower lash line
4. Apply liquid liner  along the top lash line. Don’t get too far out with he wing – keep it within the perimeters of your eyebrows.
5. Mascara on top and bottom lashes!
6. Blend White Frost into the corners of your eyes, dragging a bit of it toward your Poison Plum

Ta-da!

The rest of my face is painted with:

• Base – Femme Couture Mineral Effects pressed makeup
• Cheeks – Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess with a bit of a shimmery highlight created with NYX Pearl Mania
• Lips – Mac liner in Redd and lipstick in Russian Red

Why, look at that! Our 99th Photo Flurry. I can’t think of a better way to welcome the approaching triple digits than with a massive  collection of photos from my most recent visit to one of the prettiest places in all of California – San Francisco’s Sutro Baths. Once a lavish private  bath house and museum, it burned down to the ground in the sixties, leaving behind a striking, skeletal carcass of rusty beams and crumbling concrete, with tides eroding its remnants year by year.

There is something enchanted about this spot, in spite of the graffiti and litter, and it’s not just the crashing waves and pelicans. Ales, Courtenay and I spent a couple of hours watching the sun’s descent, ignoring vicious icy winds and testing C’s new vintage Polaroid.  I couldn’t decide which photos would get to stay above a jump, so I’m keeping them all jump-free for the duration of this week. Allow them to load and enjoy the misty, pebbly, glowing magic and the antics within.

[Ales giving me Blue Steel]

When I was thirteen, all I wanted to wear were baggy jeans, T-shirts and oversized hoodies, which – with my long light brown hair –  left me looking like a long-lost member of Hanson.

The main reasons being comfort and the aversion to the so-called male gaze, not to mention the fact that I didn’t really feel especially “girly” in the frilly dresses sense of the word – the appeal of femininity in the classic sense didn’t really rear its head until several years later.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying the tomboy thing again – it’s been cold and I’ve been busy, so tousled hair and throwing a roomy sweater over a pair of leggings and combat boots make all the sense in the world. Add a knit hat, a few accessories and you’ve got yourself a bona fide “look”.

Minimal make-up seems only logical in this context, and some days I’m skipping it altogether. If you’re a new reader, please direct yourself to 2010′s No Make-Up Week on Biorequiem for my thoughts on going without warpaint, as well as lots of insightful, touching stories by readers who joined me in the clean face effort that September.

To put your best clean face forward in winter months, make gentle, weekly exfoliation and daily moisturizing your best friends and remember to pile on the sunscreen – cloudy days don’t mean you’re safe from UV rays.

Being a vigilant UV warrior, I put sunscreen on all exposed extremities – I tan incredibly fast and look rather mismatched otherwise.

COMPONENTS

• Grey sweater
• Black T-shirt
• Motorcycle leggings
• Lace-up combat boots
• Crossbody satchel
• Leather cuff
• Silver rings [mine are by Shane Case]
• Knit hat

I was just informed that these particular boots have been discontinued by the manufacturer, but a similar style exists – without the side zipper.

I’ve been working on my piece for Gag Me With a Toon these past couple of days and actually using the drafting table in mine and Ales’ shared studio as opposed to the kitchen table, as I had for the past two months. Incidentally, the studio is the least-insulated room in the entire house, so protective measures must be taken, even with the space heater on full blast. Not pictured: Micron curled up in her bed right next to it.

This weekend: a visit to Blacklickorish latex studio + Conjoined closing party + watching Tango and Cash + making Manhattans + watching terrible music videos in bed + a day at the museum + sushi feast + sexy coffee time

It seems inconceivable to an 80s action movie enthusiast such as myself, but I’d never seen Tango and Cash until this weekend. It’s packed full of hilarious one-liners, Kurt Russel continuously getting his ass handed to him and Stallone in a three-piece suit – a must-see! Movie-time snacks: chocolate-covered cherries, tiny tomatoes, gluten-free wasabi crackers, steak tips, raspberry-honey mustard, cheese.

Much fun was had exploring the BlackLickorish latex atelier with headmistress Alyssa. The photos and interview will be up on Chinashop soon! After, Matt Levin and I headed to the closing of Conjoined 2. No photos were taken because we were too busy getting one last look at all the art and chatting with Chet Zar.

The claws. This was taken about a week ago, they’re actually even longer now. Mrrow. Pictured: my usual OPI Russian Navy and some cheap-but-pretty drugstore polish on my ring finger.

I love walking through downtown LA at night. One block it’s these little bohemian oases, the next it’s skid row.

Yesterday, after devouring immense amounts of art in the final hours of the literally amazing Under the Black Sun exhibit at MOCA, Ales and I headed to my favorite sushi place in Little Tokyo for a long-overdue sushi bacchanalia. We had yellowtail, snapper, squid and mackerel sushi in addition to salmon hand rolls. Magic.

Sitting at Oomasa’s bar is the only way – the fish is top notch and chefs have been here for well over a decade – if they sense true enthusiasm they’ll recommend the best of the day, advise on the optimal way to consume and generally treat you well.

Sushi was followed by a walk to coffee and sweets at Urth cafe. The wait was long, but made tolerable by our  singing along to their reprehensible musical selection. Eventually the barista hooked us up with this impressive swan:

I discovered that my Trish Summerville  wedges have a time limit and it’s precisely five hours. Until the five hour mark they’re perfectly comfortable, after that it’s all pain and darkness.

Additionally, Ales battled a demon pie. The pie lost.

We walked home in the dark, agreeing that a two-day weekend is just not long enough.

NEWS #1

I have a brand new, bever-before-seen piece I’m working on as we speak in next month’s Gag Me With A Toon group show at WWA gallery. This is the most awesome news, because I’ve wanted to be part of this exhibition since it launched four years ago and now I’m finally able to dedicate myself to doing just that. I won’t spoil the surprise, but let’s just say I’m taking a beloved character I grew up with and doing very bad things to it. And look at all these cool cats I’ll be showing with:

NEWS #2

Not exactly news if you follow me on various social networks, but! I shaved 3/4 of my head and hawt damn do I love it. It’s aerodynamic and exaggerates my various alien features juuust enough. RAH.

NEW [thing] #3

I haven’t really shown you these yet: new boots. They’re by Sam Edelman and I wear them almost every day.

That’s all I presently have time for. Onward, to coffee!

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Mmmf post here, which is kind of a shame, since, food-wise, this winter has been largely about learning new recipes along with the usual seasonal culinary indulgences. To be honest, though, I’m relieved to be back to eating less decadently. [Except on the weekends, that is.] I have so much more energy and better braining power with less fat, starch and sugar in my system.

Here is what my day-to-day provisions have looked like over the past few weeks. This isn’t everything, but it’s representative enough. Not pictured: protein bars, almonds, apples, soups, dark chocolate and lots of chai with coconut milk.

Greek yogurt with honey, blueberries and flax seeds

Spicy black beans and quinoa with cumin, sour cream and cilantro.

Soon-to-be-shake with almond milk, banana, strawberries, blueberries and flax seeds.

Roast skinless chicken thigh with sliced avocado and tomatoes.

Two eggs sunny side up with green onions.

Curried chicken with roast brussels sprouts and radishes.

Fancy-pants rolled omelette with honey and seaweed. Mine is a slightly modified version of this. Hit the jump for the recipe!

Ingredients

3 Eggs
1/2 Cup dried sushi seaweed, cut into 1″ long, narrow strips – I used kitchen shears
1.5 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
A fair sprinkle of cayenne pepper or chili oil
1 tablespoon honey
Olive Oil

Method

Heat up a small pan (preferably with high sides) on low-medium heat.
Once the pan is hot, add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil.

Break the eggs into a small bowl, add the chili oil, honey, and soy sauce, and beat the eggs with a fork.

When the oil in the pan is hot, pour half of the egg mixture into the pan. Swirl/Spread the egg around the pan so that it fills the bottom, and then sprinkle half of the seaweed over the egg.

Let the under side of the egg slowly cook. Then, using a spatula (or even two spatulas), lift up a 1 inch portion of the egg and fold it over the top. Let the egg cook a little bit, and then repeat folding the egg, until it’s all rolled up.

Push the rolled omelette back to the other side of the pan, and pour the rest of the egg in. Sprinkle the last of the seaweed onto the egg, and repeat step 4 using the already rolled egg as the inside.

Let the rolled omelette slowly cook in the pan until the wider sides are nice and browned.

Take the omelette out, and slice it into half inch slices. Mmf.

It’s fair to say that I love my work. [Some people might suggest it would also be fair to say that I'm a filthy, antisocial art hermit, but we won't listen to them, no.] Painting, drawing, writing, shooting – all of it, love. But making time for actual lifestuff has become a vital aspect of my existence over the past two years. I’m increasingly fascinated with the idea of superior time-management – of finding my ideal balance between work and life and uninterrupted time to be filled with reading, exercise, movies, meditation and whatever else I might want that day. I’m still too busy to journal, for the most part, so I’m taking more care to otherwise document. Here is a resulting collection of non-work moments, people and things that made me happy over the past week or so.

Sunny weekend mornings with Ales and a house that’s finally in order after a month of sick and busy.

Micron and her new observation deck atop a cabinet.

Vivka and

her tiny Tesla.

New Lung Ta flags – a set of three sent in a care package from Tibet.

Hilarious party times that end up in LA Weekly.

And, of course, 4AM Denny’s photoshoots with Clint Catalyst.

The Criterion edition of Videodrome.

Night wine [and rare filet mignon, not pictured] with friends.

Oh, happy day! After yesterday’s advance announcement for Biorequiem mailing list subscribers, I’m happy to present two peculiar specimens. Playing on my fascination with chapter 8 of A Rebours and the the concept of alien botany, I offer you the first fruit of my dicey investigations, in print form.

Available in signed and numbered limited editions of 44, the Cephalotus Geminus and the Cypripedium Lingua are now ready for purchase in the Biorequiem shop, separately or as a set.

I can’t wait to harvest more of this curious vegetation. Meanwhile, you can get your hot little hands on the original paintings through Copro Nason gallery.

Good morning! Closer to noon here, actually, as I’ve managed to inexplicably sleep past 10 for the second day in a row. After several minutes of cold-sweat-panic and confusion, I’m now enjoying it with a mug of homemade mocha and a pile of photos to dig through. First up, a few shots from the Conjoined reception. Above is me with my paintings – don’t let the squintface fool you, it was a super-fun night! To finally finish not one, but two paintings after five [!] years, and to exhibit them in such great company felt fantastic. More shots from the reception below.

Kevin Kirkpatrick’s Beavis and Butthead in Real Life

The Fast Supper by Jason Hite

Actaeon by Michael Shawn McCracken

Sculpture by Meats Meier

Conjoined 2 by Chet Zar

Many, many more photos and an article I wrote about the exhibit are up on Chinashop. LA Weekly has a piece on Conjoined 2 as well, with a few words from Chet Zar, Kevin Kirkpatric and myself.

In all the excitement I ran out of time to document my outfit that night, but it included black Galaxy leggings from Black Milk, Trish Summerville platforms from H & M, the black and grey GHST RDR jacket and milky blue opalite jewelry.

I’ll try to be more vigilant with outfit documentation in the future. For now, I have tattoo commissions and a very serious post office mission to attend to.

I’m taking the day off work to get the home base in some semblance of order. Our being sick and insanely busy this month has it looking like a circus tent exploded on the premises. But first, photos, taken by myself and Stephanie, from a little post-Conjoined afterparty. There was Nancy Reagan’s mac-n-cheese with bacon, wine and introducing friends to the horrors of Visitor Q. Also cheeze piggies and zesty puppies. I have photos and impressions from the show itself to go through, but that will happen later. For now, gaze upon late-night bohemian debauchery, starring Stephanie Inagaki, Ulorin Vex, Ales Kot, Taslimur and Aaron Hawks.

My latest painting, the startling Cypripedium Lingua, is now finished!

Come see it in the flesh, along with the Cephalotus Geminus, this Saturday at Conjoined 2. If you haven’t already, check out this Haute Macabre write-up about Conjoined and, if you’re in LA on Saturday, be sure to come say hello at the show! I heard through the grapevine there will be an interactive robot tentacle, so you know where I’ll be all night. The details:

This Saturday, January 21st 8 – 11:30pm
Copro Nason Gallery – Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave. T5
Santa Monica, CA 90404

It’s a busy January, between finishing paintings for this Saturday’s reception, working on interviews and photos for ChinaShop, drawings for tattoo commissions and a pinup for Occupy Comics. I’ve also started Spring cleaning early – a few fancies are out on eBay as we speak.

On Monday, I managed to escape the toil and spend a day with my mom.

I love, LOVE ramen. Real Japanese ramen, not the packaged dry sort, and I finally introduced mom to this magical concoction. We had beef curry ramen and pork soy ramen. Mff!

We didn’t have any. I actually despise doughnuts, though I do love bacon.

This happens a lot. When people threaten women that they’ll become their mothers, it should be clarified that it actually means they’re going to constantly dress alike without conspiring to. My mom is wearing an AllSaints coat. Frf.

MOCA is hosting an amazing exhibit right now - Naked Hollywood: Weegee in LA. It’s a massive retrospective of the NYC-crime-scene-photographer-turned-LA-paparazzi who captured some of the most iconic images of the early 20th century. If you’re in town, I highly recommend it. We were enthralled for hours.

There is also a Kenneth Anger exhibition, which we didn’t have much time for, though we did watch an excerpt from Lucifer Rising. I’ll be going back soon.

It was a fun afternoon. I took this self portrait later that evening:

I’ve been collecting them here, if you’re interested.

I’m racing to get ths piece finished for Chet Zar’s Conjoined group show on the 21st and it turns out one can get a lot of painting done in four-and-a-half hours if enough over-steeped Pu-erh tea is on hand.  The question now is: will I even sleep again?

The past few days have been filled with shoots and interviews and catching up with some of the ridiculously talented people I’m glad to call friends in the midst of it all, while ferociously digging into One Hundred Years of Solitude. On page 180 now. Today I’m diving back into a painting, in hopes of being able to wrap by the 18th. Time for serious caffeination and concentration.

This is from my documentation of the Silverlake Zombie thing a couple of months ago. Maybe the best photo I’ve ever taken.

Art dog, arting.

With miss Slinky Orangina of Bubbles and Frown after exploring her showroom. The photos and our interview are up on Chinashop now!

Purple velvet cupcakes!

Documented LA’s 4th annual No Pants Metro Ride and managed, miraculously, to keep my pants on. Maybe next time! More photos and write-up, here.

Visited the mysterious and baby-hungry Mildred Von Hildegard at Mother of London HQ. Our interview coming soon to a Chinashop near you.

Blue bathroom at Pillarbox Studios.

A miniscule sampling of Tracey and Brian‘s vast vintage robot collection.

A peek at some of the magic that goes into Miyu Decay. Yes indeed, there is an interview in the works!

F

Headdress by Bubbles and Frown.