This was initially meant to be a shoot for a long-overdue make up tutorial I promised Haute Macabre. However, when good friend and photo-sniper extraordinaire Lou O’Bedlam volunteered his services, we knew it had to be MORE. I’ve also been meaning to do these epic pants justice for quite a while.

Mhmm. I acquired these bad puppies sometime last year and actually can’t believe it took me this long to capture them. Perhaps I just needed the right pair of shoes, and my mom happened to give me these minimalicious-yet-witchypoo ankle boots from her collection around the holidays.

Over the weekend Lou and I zoomed down to somewhere between Pacific Palisades and Malibu, armed with a Canon, a Polaroid and a medium format camera. The day was beautiful, the cloud coverage was right and the wind was icy. The latter didn’t stop the a handful of intrepid surfers from getting into some of our shots. They’ve since been removed.

On with the show:

Outfit Components

• Knit cowl
• T-shirt
• Panel leggings, Rick Owens
• Victorian-inspired ankle boots
• Fingerless gloves
• Black chain necklace

Lest we forget the makeup tutorial! It’s now up on Haute Macabre. Indeed, black lips can be done, especially with enough gloss.

A minor note, since some of you asked: I often can’t find the exact items I’m wearing, so I link to close proximities. In my opinion it’s fine anyhow, because in most cases it’s the overall structure that makes an outfit, not brands.

This unique version of Honeydrip is now available to you. Created specifically for the Induced Epidemics exhibit at the Museum of Death and measuring roughly 14×30″, this is the only print of its kind. This size and color combination of lush caramel and strawberry marzipan will never be available again, so if you dig it, the time is now. The print is unframed and will be your friend for a mere $299 + shipping.

It’s International Women’s Day, and to celebrate, I’m introducing a new feature. Titled “Interrogation Station”, it’s here to answer questions from YOU. I got the idea after trying out Formspring – there were so many similar questions, it made sense to integrate them into Biorequiem, for all to see. To give Interrogation Station a go, just submit a question through my Fromspring page. You can ask anything you like, it doesn’t have to be about style or art. All I request is that you check out my FAQ and previously asked questions beforehand. I can’t guarantee that I’ll get to every single question, but I will certainly try. Onward!

How Do You Keep Your Skin Looking So Perfect?

Thank you – my skin isn’t perfect, in that I have scars from piercings and the neurotic cats of my childhood, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve!

1. Sleep. Getting enough sleep is a crucial step to looking and feeling your best. As you all probably know, people who sleep enough and regularly [not too much, not too little] live longer, look younger and are generally healthier than those with erratic sleep patterns.
2. Water. You hear it everywhere and by Einstein’s balls it’s TRUE! Drink water whenever you can, literally.
3. Hyaluronic Serum. Whuhh? Oh yes, you heard it here first! Rejoice my squidlings, because this stuff will do things to your skin you didn’t know where possible! I’ve been wanting to tell everyone about it for months, but I wanted to give it a good test run before recommending it. And now – I recommend it. In my experience, this product is not so good under makeup so I try to use it before bed or on no makeup days [I have plenty of those, don't gasp at me that way]. This is the brand I’ve been using. You can thank me later. On make up days, I use Oil of Olay Deep Hydration Regenerating Cream.
4. Avoid processed food. You already know it’s bad for you, so just stop. Eating real food is good for every aspect of your being. If your insides are stuffed with frozen pizzas, gummy bears and hot pockets, your skin will show it.

Does your hair dye ever rub off on things, like pillowcases or clothing? I can never seem to keep my color really vibrant without it leaving it’s mark everywhere.

Honestly? Possibly, but I wouldn’t know it. My bedsheets are all dark and so are my towels. It does help to rinse your hair with ice-cold water  after shampoo and conditioner, to close those follicles god and proper. I’ve heard of people rinsing with vinegar to help keep the color stay put, but haven’t personally tried it.

Do you gravitate towards certain colors? I understand black is the ultimate color. Do you handle other colors (red, green, etc.) well and can you wear them?

Actually, I firmly believe that anyone can wear any color they want, as long as they do it with style and confidence. As for me, I currently prefer wearing mostly black and gray, but have handled color just fine in the past, as demonstrated by these old-school style photos:

What places do you typically purchase your make-up from, especially foundation? Your make-up and skin are flawless!

In my recent Blush Response, I said that I’ve been using Prestige’s Skin Loving Minerals powder foundation. It’s half the price of Bare Escentuals and more matte, too.  When I can, however, I go for Bare Escentuals, and I never-ever use liquid or non-mineral foundation. You can find Prestige at drug stores that carry the brand, and I buy Bare Escentuals at Sephora.

You mentioned that you sometimes curl your hair with a curling iron. How do you manage the shorter hair in the back with that a-line? I can’t ever get it right.

I curl it under, in rows, starting from the bottom up, then I make it a little messy and go. Looks better than leaving tight curls back there – those make me think of The Golden Girls.

I would love, if you have the time, to tell me how you did your hair, particularly in the Sugarpill post and Style Dispatch 008. Product, pointers, how you dried it, or an essential step. I would really appreciate any advice.

1. Air dry! Always air dry.
2. While wet, distribute a little bit of TiGi’s Curls Rock Curl Amplifier through hair. Scrunch.
3. Once dry, curl just a few pieces on top and around the face with a medium-barrel curling iron.
4. Once hair cools down, separate tight curls with fingers for a softer, fuller look.

And that wraps up this installment on Interrogation Station. More soon.

My favorite place in the known universe, to date, is The Edison. I know I mention it all the time, but in all my travels I have yet to find a venue quite this extraordinary.

I just had the pleasure of introducing my long-time friend Ross to the splendor, and partaking of the legendary Electric Squid once again. A few of Edison’s notoriously potent cocktails made appearances, too, most notably the Anejo Old-Fashioned. It was early on a weekday, and therefore fairly empty – just the way I like it. Unfortunately, even a place like this has to make money, so weekends here are near-unbearable, with pungent, over-cologned yuppie types flooding the floors and lazily ignoring the dress code. But during the week, the atmosphere is precisely what it should be – majestic and mysterious, instead of matter-of-factly.

Somehow, I got my camera past the doorman to sneak a few more photos of what my dream lair looks like. Enjoy the Flurry, below.

Through the mirror, into the forest of light.

The Edison is worthy of Fluevogs and Vivienne Westwood socks.

Ross takes in the new environment.

I wish this was functional. Not that I could play it without making ears bleed – I just want to hear its voice.

Let’s play a little catch-up, shall we? I’ve had these files on my desktop for days and, in some cases, weeks. Prepare for hawtt non sequitur akshun.

First up, some satisfied customers. A bunch of the peeps who bought my stickers took pictures. If you have photos with my wares, send them over and I’ll post them here, in due time. If you don’t have any of my wares yet, head on down to the shop and get you some!

And here we have a couple of photos from TheDaniel’s birthday party at Oiwake karaoke bar in LA’s Little Tokyo district. Please note the dark overlord to my right. I believe he is shooting pure evil straight from his eye sockets.

It was in the best interests of the party that I didn’t sing, but I did take part in a robot back-up dance, while Daniel and Ales performed Devo’s Whip It. Apparently my top is too short for those pants, even with the suspenders. Pft.

I’m not sure who sent me this, but here is Coilhouse, somewhere in New Zealand, I believe!

Stuntkid and I did an art trade some months ago – I gave him my original Frog Prince drawing, known to the world as Inspire, in Coilhouse 04.

On SG, I am known as the Ass Master, and here is why.

One of my Facebook friends posted this on my page. It’s MSI’s video for Shut Me Up, directed by my friend and pig, Jhonen Vasquez a few years back. It stars my once-roommate Josh [also recently featured on Coilhouse], and I was the key make up artist. I was also one or two of the zombie shoppers in the background [see stills below]. Possibly the most fun I’ve ever had on set.

Photos of me actually putting makeup on Josh are on an old hard drive, but! Here is me making an ass of myself on set. I was platinum blond at the time and the “normal” wig + pallid shopper makeup were extra-hilarious in comparison.

A couple more images by Cherry from the Induced Epidemics opening. The photo at the bottom does a fine job of showcasing my cowl-hood.

Jason snapped this at a bar in Studio City. Nyarrf! Some news regarding this are not too far off.

And finally, my collaboration with Taslimur and Jessica Rowell ended up on a cover. Check it:

Now I must flee to shoot a hot girl and work on Coilhouse 05, so that’s all there is time for today. Stay tuned for new editions of Style Dispatch and Blush Response, soon.

I’ve owed you a proper makeup tutorial for a long time now, and when this beautiful package from Sugarpill arrived this week, I had no excuses left. My friend Amy just launched this new make up line, and reviews have been popping up like happy spring berries all over the ‘wub. I thought about waiting a little while until the furor simmered down a bit, but after rummaging through the box and being mesmerized by the colors and variety, I decided to go for it, man. Just look at this stuff!

Of course, adorable packaging doesn’t necessarily for a good product make, so I was really looking forward to giving Sugarpill a go. Last night I was meeting an out-of-town friend at The Edison – my favorite place in the world. The atmosphere there is dark and full of magic, especially on a less-crowded and relatively yuppie-free Wednesday night, so I got a little dolled up for the occasion.

Red eyeshadow has been my favorite alternative to black since high school, so when I saw Love, the deepest, perfect crimson pressed shadow, in my Sugarpill package, I did not hesitate. With Love set aside, I gathered the rest of my ammunition and went into battle.

• Royal Sugar – a gorgeous and glittery rich blue loose eyeshadow
• Decora – a sparkling pink loose eyeshadow
• Asylum – a shimmery red
• Tiara – a stunning, glittery silver
• Pressed Eyeshadow Palette

Until now, I have been a little apprehensive about loose powder eyeshadows, but those days are done. I used these both wet and dry, and was happy with the results. Didn’t have any mixing medium on hand, so I used a drop of water for the product around my eyes, and a little bit of body shimmer gel to mix the blue with for my brows.

The breakdown below may look a little complicated at first, but I assure you, this doesn’t have to take much longer than your usual routine if you prepare everything you’ll use ahead of time.

1. Used a dry angle brush to fill in the inner ends of my eyebrows with Royal Sugar, then, for a sharper look, mixed the shadow with a little body shimmer gel, and used the same brush to paint the outer ends.
2. Loaded a cheap-o sponge applicator with Love, and distributed evenly it all over my lids, blending out and up. I also used a bit under the eyes.
3. With Decora on the other side of the applicator, I continued to blend Love out, all around the eye.
4. Dabbed Tiara with a small wet brush on the inner corners of my eyes, then blended it out with more Tiara, this time dry. I can’t sing enough praises to this stuff, it’s so pretty.
5. With a small, wet blending brush applied a line of Asylum, under my eyes only.
6. Used matte white from the palette to highlight the brow.
7. Did my usual cat eye with Prestige liquid liner and added a bit under the eye, at the outer edges and along the water line.
8. My mascara of choice has been L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black for years and years. It’s amazing, buildable, and inexpensive.
9. With a blush brush, dabbed and blended a bit of Tiara to highlight my cheekbones.
10. With the same brush, used Decora as blush.
11. Dusted my face with Prestige’s Skin Loving Minerals powder foundation. It’s half the price of Bare Escentuals and more matte, so I decided to try it. Haven’t researched it properly just yet, so I can’t recommend it officially, but I do really like it.
12. And finished it all off with lip gloss from Smashbox.

Ta-Da!

This is just a fraction of the looks to come, but so far I am 100% into Sugarpill. I can’t wait to play with yellow and gold and green and, and and…! More tutorials to come as time allows.

The purpose of this Dispatch is, in addition to showing you what I think is a pretty cute Spring outfit, to prove that, despite my hideously massive clothing collection, I wear the same things all the time. All the more reason to stick to my Spartan Resolution, I say! Which reminds me, since Issue 05 is soon to move into the design stage, I’ll begin auctioning off much of said collection next month, thus moving fast on my way to a streamlined and elegant wardrobe OF DOOM. My madness is your gain!

I snapped these  bad boys in LACMA’s Rodin garden while waiting for and installment of the Tarkovsky retrospective. It was a perfect day – the sun was out and the wind was just cold enough for it to be official jacket weather. Is there a place where it’s this way all the time?

The Ingredients

• Woven scarf
• Fitted faux leather jacket
• Draped gray skirt
• Black shiny leggings
• Engineer/motorcycle boots
• Fingerless knit gloves

I’m letting my hair do what it wants, mostly out of curiosity. Since I’m no longer straightening it regularly , it rewards me with soft messy curls and serious volume. I’m hoping for enough patience to get it looking a little like this mane of yesteryear, but blue.

It was like that when we sliced it open.

The Master Cleanse is over as of last Saturday. Ales and I stuck to it for our pre-determined trial period of five days. I have to say that I liked it and will definitely be doing it again, but was a little underwhelmed. Since I lead a fairly healthy lifestyle anyhow, there was no dramatic catharsis. There was no promised euphoria, either, and I spent the week operating at half-power which is the last thing I want when there are Things To Be Done. On the flipside, I felt far more relaxed than usual, and my sense of smell and sense of hearing improved significantly for the duration of the experiment. By the end of it all I was like the wolf, senses sharp and claws ready for FLESH. My conclusion: do it again, longer, no work. I suspect that the cleanse could be extremely beneficial when I have a bit of time to focus on myself and my surroundings instead of work, so that’s what I’m going to do in a few months.

This is a photo of my avocado shake. There are few things I love more than half of an avocado splashed with soy milk and honey and blended to frothy perfection. Breakfast of the gods, perfect for a power-punch before my morning workout.

Fence ghosts on Melrose Avenue, Valentine’s day.  I was on assignment from Chinashop and Ales joined me. I finally had a chance to introduce him to the magic of M Cafe, my favorite macrobiotic foodery in town. Which brings us to:

When we set out on Sunday morning, I was skeptical. My mission was to capture the spirit of Melrose Avenue – for me, a place filled with stubborn coming-of-age memories.  I still remember my first experience with that stretch of shops and concrete.

It was 1996, and I gothed the fuck up to pay my first ever visit to Retail Slut and buy purple hair dye for a touch up. I was so racked with anxiety, I’m not sure how I made it through the door. The shop, and the street itself, was once a mecca of all things cool and alt, and I felt a tinge of reverence when I first approached them.

Many years later, I ended up dating someone who worked at Retail Slut, working in another shop on the strip, and effectively becoming one of the salesgirls who used to intimidate the teenage me during shopping trips. Though my slightly elevated status in the subcultural food chain was amusing and I got to look at Lip Service and Illig catalogs before most mere mortals, my view of Melrose was significantly tarnished.

So, on Sunday, I was skeptical.

It was Valentine’s day – as I understand it, the celebration primarily belonging to chocolate, postcard, and flower companies, when they hold a midnight mass and chant over a massive bag of bloody recession money. Many Melrose shops also paid tribute to the gods of finance by bedecking their windows in red hears, balloons and tinsel, and dressing up mannequins in extra flirty party getups. Ten years ago, things would have been different.

Read the rest and browse my massive gallery from that day, on Chinashop. And that gallery really is massive, because we ended up spending three hours wandering the strip, talking to shop owners and sampling local delicacies.  A few samples below.

The campaign, started in early ’90s, struck out against the “she asked for it” mentality.  With a series of television commercials and stark black and white images with the campaign slogan on them, This Is Not An Invitation To Rape Me dispelled misconceptions of women “provoking” acts of sexual assault and confronted rape within family relationships.

When one of the campaign founders, Charles Hall, approached me about being part of an photography exhibit dedicated to this powerful message I was thrilled and honored. Four of my photos along with many others, including my good friend Lou O’Bedlam a.k.a Lou Noble, will be on display this coming Thursday. Please visit the official show website here.

Fox Art Gallery is located at:
Lower level of Logan Hall on the Penn campus at
249 South 36th Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19104

___________________________________________________________________

P.S. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Charles in a two-hour Skype meeting to discuss the campaign and my photo selection for the show. Ever since I first saw the campaign images, I was aware of the absence of male and transgendered victims, as well as same-sex rape situations. Noticeably, all of my images chosen for the show were of women, too. So, since this Skype meeting was my “chance”, I brought it up because I felt it was the campaign’s responsibility to give these scenarios exposure.

The This is Not an Invitation to Rape Me FAQ states that they set out to tackle the most common stereotype, but I thought that without addressing the full scope of the issue they were reinforcing a few stereotypes themselves. Of course it turned out I wasn’t the only one to ever mention this, and, fortunately, Charles was open to talking about it. As a result, some of the featured photographers were asked to submit work addressing a wider scope of subjects – I’ll post mine here after the reception. I sincerely hope that this important campaign will expand its range in the coming years.

This will be kept brief and image-heavy, as I’m in the midst of working on an illustration and wrangling an interview for Coilhouse 05, operating at half brain-speed because my blood is at least 50% spice lemonade thanks to the MC, sending off the last of the sticker orders, and standing on my ears while doing so [the standing on ears thing is an old Russian idiom]. Without further ado, I give you speeding-through Style Dispatch, featuring a day to night outfit of sorts, with a teensy bit of Valentine’s flare, topped off with a make up breakdown.

I was waiting to shoot an SG set at Lumi’s beautiful apartment, and took the opportunity to shoot another one of these. The time was right for climbing chairs and being generally rambunctious while my friend was getting hussied up for her shoot.

Possibly the most adorable earrings ever, partially because of the way you put them on. One has to literally thread the hair-thin silver chain through their earlobe.

Ehehehh.

This fairly innocent, every-day ensemble turns into a party/streetwalker outfit as soon as the jacket and scarf come off. We did end up at a party that night, where this seemed appropriate.

Outfit Breakdown

• Long pinstriped blazer
• Gray woven scarf
• Cap sleeve dress
• Garter skirt
• Black stockings
• Motorcycle boots
• The black heart pendant and ring are both by Marcos. You can get them by contacting the folks at New High (M)art and at Church Boutique here in LA.

Make up Breakdown

1. Eyebrows – MAC eyeshadow in Contrast
2. ELF mineral eyeshadow in Seductive, highlight is the same brand, in Sweet
3. Powder foundation by Bare Escentials
4. Red lip gloss , borrowed from friend, I think by LipFusion.
   

Starting on Saturday,  Ales and I embarked on the notorious Master Cleanse. The MC’s purpose is to rid your body of toxins while you subsist on nothing but spicy lemonade for a week or more. You also flush your system with many liters of salted water, but, even though I’m also subjecting myself to this part of the cleansing process, I’m not going to be discussing  it here. There are plenty of informative websites out there that cover this aspect of the Master Cleanse, and I’d rather not burden Biorequiem with all the gruesome details.

Let me preface the rest of this entry by saying that I am not a proponent of extreme dieting and do not recommend the Master Cleanse if you’re trying to lose weight. The weight you lose from the cleanse will come back gradually, as you start eating again. My actual health and diet regimen is that of exercise, avoiding processed food and not eating too much of anything. I’m trying the Master Cleanse as its name implies – a cleanse. If i like the effects I’ll consider doing it twice a year, or maybe even quarterly.

Anyhow, the first time I heard of this seemingly insane remedy was three years ago, when my friend Micki Krimmel decided to try the Master Cleanse and document her experiences with daily video-blogs. I’ve been curious about it ever since. Sure, at first glance it sounds like any other diet fad, but almost every single person I know who’s tried it has reported improved health, diet and even incredible feelings of euphoria after the third day. I finally decided to find out for myself, easing into the process with a day of nothing but vegetables, followed by a day of soups and blended food, followed by a day of orange juice. I decided to take a few pictures of what I’d be putting into my body during this process.

Ease In Day 1: Roasted Beets

You can eat all kinds of fruits and vegetables on the first ease-in day. I’m just on a massive beet kick anyway, and roasted beets have got to be one of the easiest and most delicious dishes ever. Those interested in this recipe will need:

• 3 beets
• salt
• black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly wash the beets, leaving the skin on. Slice into 1/4″ thick rounds and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can also add a pinch of Cinnamon and sliced onion to taste, but don’t need to. Put into any oven-safe dish and bake, covered, for 45 minutes to an hour. Simple and delicious.

[We ended up screwing up Day 1 in the evening, because our friends had a housewarming party and we weren't strong enough to resist Claire's deviled eggs. And fondue. Oh god.]

Ease In Day 2: Soups

We took the least effort necessary route and went with Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Bisque and Butternut Squash soups. Season them with a little red pepper, black pepper and nutmeg, and it’s magic.

Ease In Day 3: Orange Juice

This is where it really gets tricky. I’m glad I was aware of this day being the hardest, because I felt extremely low-energy and out of it the entire day. Its almost discouraging, but the key is to get through this day. Everything after Day 3 is much easier. For Orange Juice Day we bought Simply Orange High Pulp, because it’s really very good. We ended up having the OJ for breakfast and then easing into the lemonade the same day.

The Lemonade

We bought 4lbs of lemons to start, a new jar of ground Cayenne pepper, grade B maple syrup from Trader Joe’s and a lot of water. That’s all. I love the simplicity of this mixture, and it actually tastes amazing. I think I want another glass right now, actually. Thought it’s the first lemonade-only day, I already feel less hungry and more energized than yesterday. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week. I’m probably only going to keep this up until Saturday and will write up my final thoughts on the process sometime next week.

A few days ago, I dowsed myself in glitter and headed to Bardot, to scope out the Los Angeles incarnation of NYC’s infamous Mr. Black. Known for its bottomless waiters and outrageous theme nights, Mr. Black LA has been going strong since September. You can read about my night and see the gallery for this event on Chinashop.

I can’t quite believe it, but Poke stickers are sold out already! There are just 4 Cumulus Confection stickers left, so if you were thinking of picking them up this is a good time to do so. They’re $4.25 each.

The first Style Dispatch of 2010 is a bit rushed, so I hope you will excuse this cross-post from Haute Macabre, A Spartan Resolution:

I have decided that, having as much clothing as I do should preclude me from adding anything to my obese closets until next winter. That’s right, a whole year without shopping.

It might sound insane at first, especially if you consider that, until now, I shopped almost monthly. However, in recent days my longing for order and a sort of zen sensibility has amplified. My soul screams each time I gaze into the wardrobe abyss before dressing. The epithets may change, but the meaning remains the same: I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF.

And it’s true. I don’t know what I own anymore and it’s nearly impossible to locate whatever I feel like wearing in the chasm. I have been battling with ways to organize, to catalog, to make sense of it all, but until a massive culling occurs, the problem shall remain. So, can a rabid fashionista abstain from acquisition and evade the lure of the shiny and the new?  This is my experiment.

I have no idea as to how this will play out. Perhaps my fashion blogging will get desperately enthusiastic, strung high on longing. Maybe, in an effort to shop vicariously, I’ll beg you to buy new things and post photos of yourselves in them here. I might start a folder on my desktop dedicated to a very few select things I simply can’t live without and will buy once my fashion fast is over. Because I haven’t had much need for innovation, I’m especially looking forward to getting into the wardrobe remix spirit and finding new ways to wear things.

The last few clothing items I purchased were from H&M’s first round of [admittedly awesome] fall fashion and I stopped there, pledging to spend no more, not counting undergarments. My goal is to actually get rid of stuff throughout the year, hopefully resulting in a streamlined, organized collection of nothing but créme de la créme. Quality over quantity, at last.

Sometimes I even wonder if I’m slowly developing a Cayce Pollard-style fashion allergy, at the apex of which I will reduce my wardrobe to pure basics, removing anything that even hints at trends and embellishments. Then I look at my small collection of Fluevogs and know in my heart I am safe.

Un-official mini-update! It’s been one month and I have purchased nothing. There have only been two items that tempted me – a new leather jacket and a pair of intensely ornate lace tights, but nothing overly painful. Sadly, I haven’t had time to get rid of anything either, but I hope this changes in February.

Allow me to preface the rest of the post by saying that I was in a hurry to leave, it was night time, and my landlady has locked up the roof, so these photos were super-mega-quick and dirty. This is a slight augmentation of the everyday uniform, generally consisting of tights, layered tops, leather jacket and boots. The chief difference here being the addition of a pattern and accessories.

There was once a time when I was filthy with pins, clips, rings. bracelets, etc, but no more. these days I prefer one or two strong pieces. Not a big fan of Valentine’s Day, which is fast-approaching, judging by too-rosy window displays and overabundance of candy at the grocery store, so huge black heart jewelry makes me extra-happy. Those aren’t stones, but silky stained wood, soundly wrapped in silver.

The Components

• Leather jacket
• Draped cardigan
• Lace trim top
• Argyle tights
• Riding boots
• The black heart pendant and ring are both by Marcos. You can get them by contacting the folks at New High (M)art and at Church Boutique here in LA.

Indeed Chinashop is back from winter break and just in time for me to cover the recent Doctor Sketchy Marathon, featuring the beautiful, bendy Mosh as one of the figure models. Feast your eyes on this porcelain beauty:

Go on over to Chinashop to read my micro-coverage and see my gallery of this excellent event. This was so, so much fun! Doctor Sketchy’s has got to be one of my favorite things to do in LA, period, and I’m determined to actually draw instead of snapping away at the next one.

At long last, STICKERS. Oh yes, Cumulus Confection and Poke are both available in shiny, contoured, limited edition sticker form, as of RIGHT NOW. There are only fifty [50] of each available so grab ‘em while they’re hot.

Cumulus Confection sticker – $4.25 SOLD OUT

Poke sticker – $4.25 SOLD OUT

There. Now please excuse me as I tumble into the shower while simultaneously getting dressed and starting my car. I’ll be back soon.

And this morning I woke up to this message in my inbox: “In response to popular demand, your deadline has been extended to Midnight, January 21st.”  Oh man! This means six more days of rating. And that, in theory, everyone who’s rated my portfolio so far can go back daily and rate it for the next six days. It’s literally two clicks, yo!

Once again, with feeling, my submission portfolio on the Power of Self contest website: http://www.artistswanted.org/zoetica If you like what I make, please click five stars.

The thing about self-portraiture in the age of the internet is that everyone does it. With the current popularity of 365 projects, you can almost bet that every other Flickr stream will have a self-portrait set. But, why not? In the end, ourselves is all we have. Our personas, our projections, how our hair looks when we wake up, our faces when we cry, the skin under our fingernails right after we’ve fucked someone’s brains out – all those transient memories of the meat can be crystallized forever. The temptation is too great. Raw emotion and experience, in endless supply. If photographers are already documentation addicts, then self-portraits are the ultimate poison.

In my work, I don’t go for grit, or for shock, and I certainly don’t go for the mundane. I try to pin down and preserve dream states, like the moment when you close your eyes and look at the warm sun through the red of your eyelids and drift. The ambiguous in-between minutes separating lucidity and sleep. The tricks our eyes play in dim light and then, the way we wonder if the world is quietly opening its shutters to grant us a peek at another side and then another. Often, the hours of friendly discourse over too much coffee on the subject of what might happen if every reflective surface was Lewis Caroll’s looking glass.

Without further ado, my submission portfolio on the Power of Self contest website: http://www.artistswanted.org/zoetica If you like what I make, please click five stars.

Have you heard? The fourth issue of Coilhouse magazine is out and ready for love. According to everyone’s favorite Space Bastard, Warren Ellis,

COILHOUSE is, as ever, a huge slab of a cultural object, and a stone fucking bargain at $15 American plus postage.

This link leads to an extensive post about the contents of this issue, which features Grant Morrison, Alejandro Jodorowsky, cover girl Kristamas Klousch, and many, many more. You can pick up your Coilhouse 04 here.

For 04’s Inform/Inspire/Infect section dividers, I decided to go with meticulous pen and ink drawings. Snake Charmer, below, is Infect, and might be available in limited edition print form one day soon.

I have a list of other posts I intend to make that’s THIS BIG, too. Initially I was going to write one of those monsters that take half a day to peruse, but today is not the day. In the next few days you can expect news about Style Dispatch, new Chinashop galleries, a limited run of small things for sale, and a few big announcements. For now though, I’m going to dump some photos that have built up over the past few weeks, and I’m going to dump them right under this here jump.

Let us start at the beginning of what turned into the past two-and-a-half weeks. Christmas! One of the very few Christmases I’ve enjoyed, in fact. First of many? Perhaps! Our table looks like this, and that’s just the appetizers:

And this. My god. What we have here is goat cheese with cranberries, prosciutto and cheese roulon, plus smoked salmon and cheese. Ayee.

What might be my last self-portrait of 2009.

And what’s a holiday without getting wasted and spending the night at mom’s? NOTHING.

The rest of the photos are on flickr.

BONUS: New Year’s Eve photos about which I can tell you close to nothing.

My beautiful city. Click for BIG.

My beautiful ghost. Also click for bigness.

Lumi and a very fancy hat.

Downtown gnomes.

And finally, a Pisco sour -  a wonderful drink with a terrible name.

December 30, raining, happy. Just popping in to quickly mention that I am, indeed, alive but won’t be back until about a week into the next year. I’ve been tasked with a new project that’s taking up, literally, all my time. However, I do dig the new year’s eve symbolism and  plan to greet 2010 with a small group of friends, watching movies, drinking champagne, eating fondue, and being fahbulous. How about you?

And so I don’t leave empty-handed: pictures from wandering on Grand Avenue after a visit to MOCA’s First Thirty Years exhibit. To me, these capture the Los Angeles winter mood fairly well.

And a bunch from a visit to mine and Ales’ friend, Matt Levin. Matt is an artist and you should check out his stuff here. He has prints for sale here – I have one and it’s pretty damn epic. One of Matt’s sculptures:

And now I go, leaving you with the photos after the jump.

It’s Christmas and no one’s online, so while I have this moment to myself I will sneak these photos of holiday cheer, LACHSA-style. Two of my oldest friends, Lumi and Josh, share a birthday on December tenth and occasionally celebrate together – this was such an occasion.

Birthday hobo.

These birthdays tend to turn into high school reunions and when you are a person who attended an arts high school, reunions are pure illicit merriment. The party was vagrant-themed and there was cake and truffles and wine and amazing shmancy macaroni and cheese, and a huge dining table dedicated to one thing – papercraft!

Crafty guests had an array of paper, glues and vintage scissors at their disposal with which to make holiday decorations for a very speshul Christmas tree. I couldn’t resist the lure of the creative spirit [there was also a bag of truffles on the table] You can see the whole set here, my favorites – below.

Sweet panda butt.

I made this Krampus to make up for the thing behind the jump. You’ll see it in a few seconds.

Its tongue moves in a fashion that makes the laydeez giggle.

Piggy.

Josh-made skull. Once, Josh made me a pair of underpants, which I still wear, with this same skull bleached into them.

Below the jump, an articulated paper penis I made and am extremely proud of.

I’m just going to stop apologizing for taking too long to post this or that. So what if it’s been two months since the last Style Dispatch? You’ll take it when you can get it and you will love it. YEAHH! Wait… Where are you going? I was just joking. Please, come back. I took some photos of an outfit for you and everything! Was saving them for the holidays, but here they be now because I will have bigger news to share later in the week, anyway.

I call this look, The Chimney Sweep’s Daughter.

[the filth is on the inside]

The draped funnel neck shape I hold so dear is acquired here by draping and pinning of a light cloak over a thin sweater, mixed with a skirt+sock combo and rounded off with a  pair of sturdy Victorian-era-inspired ankle boots.

This silhouette is fun and relaxed, but still allows for a glimpse of  femininity. The loose cloak shows the body’s shape by revealing tight sleeves and part of the torso. Wearing this combination with a skirt and heeled boots highlights the legs and balances the purposely-lumpy top. It’s a nice break from formfitting garb on colder days, when oft-eschewed comfort appeals more than ever.

The Components

• knit cloak [draped and pinned into obedience]
• off the shoulder sweater
• Anglomania asymmetrical pocket nylon skirt, Vivienne Westwood
• pattern socks
• Rococo Dame Agnes boots, John Fluevog

Suicidegirls sets of 2009, final post! Round One and Round Two, if you missed them.

Every week until 2010 I’m going to post ten of my favorite Suicidegirls photos from the sets I had featured on the site this year. Think of it as a way to celebrate the wonderful models I worked with over the past eleven months. Along with the images I’ll share two or three factoids from each shoot. We’ll start at the beginning of 2009 and, when we get to the end, we’ll stop.

As I was writing this, I realized that another set of mine is op on the front page of SG today. Check it. It’s called “How to Cure a Hangover” and is one of the sets shot in Las Vegas during the filming of an upcoming SG movie, Suicidegirls Guide To Living. Without further ado, mostly because my black currant tea is getting cold, I give you the photos.

Bully – Tumbleweed

• Bully is from Ohio
• Shot in Culver City, CA
• There were leaves and branches all over the lobby from a video that was shot there the previous day
• Which is where the name of the set came from

Sissa – Wide Open Space

• Sissa came from Italy
• Earlier in the shot, she wore an emerald satin corset and undies set from Flutterbydaisy
• The floors were freshly lacquered, which might be my favorite aspect of this shoot

Soya – Right Thurr

• I grabbed Soya to shoot minutes after she got off a plane
• All her clothes were packed-up so, before getting naked, she wore my sweater in the set
• This happened in Las Vegas, at DJ Lisa Pittman’s place, next to all her vinyl 
• We pulled out a bunch of records, among them, Chingy’s “Right Thurr”
• Look at that face
  

Fractal – Heaven in Black

• I have these shoes…
• They’d really needed to be properly documented ever since they came into my possession
• We shot this downtown at our friend Jeremy Kasten’s beautiful apartment
• And you all know Fractal from Haute Macabre, of course

Tiffini – Dear Lover

• Tiffini has my dream hair
• Rrrr

Harlowe – Ephemera

• I just really like this shot
• Also in this set: a paper airplane and a trunk full of clothes, which Harlowe changed into and out of

Marianne – Watching

• One of my favorite models returns, and this time she brought cake
• after our previous shoot, Marianne gave me an incredibly delicious  brownie
• Standard hotel, downtown LA

Mab – City Suncatcher

• Rooftop, downtown
• Mab is a photography student and likely one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met
  
• it was that same day that Mab took this photo of me, right after our shoot

Dii – Library

• I think Dii might be an alien
• She had to put underwear on before we started shooting
• We shot it in front of Sean’s gorgeous new library

I did something I shouldn’t ever do, which is let a few weeks’ worth of photos build up on my machine. Not good, not good at at all, because THIS is what happens when I do it. An avalanche of information and visuals, instead of manageable bite-sized bleep and bloops. Too late for regret now, so sit back and open wide.

First up, last week’s print orders, among them the Orange Cream version of Honeydrip and colored-in Endless Commission. I really dig photographing my prints – they feel so very different from what the images look like on-screen, more alive and tactile, with the velvety paper texture  under the ink.

Second, here’s me giving hedonism a bad name at this amazing cake shop while pimpin’ literary enfant terrible/style maven Clint Catalyst’s and designer Jared Gold’s collaborative PRODUCT – a prize ribbon celebrating indulging in the finer things in life. Am a true hedonist? When it comes to cake, certainly. See more images from this quick shoot hurr and get your ribbon right hurr. There are other ribbons, too!

And speaking of style, here’s most of the Haute Macabre crew during a rare meeting of the meats, captured by Chloe. We didn’t mean to match and are still pondering how this came to be. Here’s how to dress like “one of us” 1. boots 2. tight black trousers/jeans/leggings 3. drapey top 4. leather jacket/drapey jacket 5. massive scarf/cowl/hood. Black/white/gray only, obviously. I’m exempt from black hair dye.

Samantha, Nixon, Courtney Riot, yours truly

Chloe also took the shot below, along with these photos at the Induced Epidemics reception. I think hers are my favorite from that night, at least from what I’ve seen.

Speaking of the reception, it was crazy-fun and crazy-packed. The night is a sparkling blur of meeting people, running into tons of old friends, listening to Nixon describe the technical aspects of preserving a dead boar in the back room, feasting on Skooby’s incomparable fries, and then it all culminating in serious booty-shaking at the after-party.

I have an Induced Epidemics reception set of my very own on Flickr, too. A few of my favorites below, starting with this one of me with my piece. It’s a one-of-a-kind version of Honeydrip in warm shades of cayenne and cinnamon, measuring 14 x 30″.

With the incredibly talented and sweet Cherry Vega and Chloe StReagan.

Lorraine having her shmancy heels pleasured by Clint Catalyst.

Perish and Roxy, workin’ it as per usual.

Bunnies by Zoe Williams

Now we begin the holiday portion of our broadcast. You’ve been warned.

As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t do Christmas. It wasn’t part of my culture growing up and I’m an agnostic at best, so celebrating it never quite made sense. HOWEVER! In Russia, the big winter holiday is New Year’s Eve, complete with fireworks, decorated tree, gift-bearing Ded Moroz [Grandfather Frost] and his granddaughter, Snegurochka [Snowy]. Check it:

I had these two pay me annual visits until I was at least seven. My parents would invite them over, and then I danced and recited Pushkin poems about winter in order to get my gifts. You think I’m lying, maybe, but these are my fond childhood memories, dammit. These, and the ones where I was eight and, as treatment for some horrible childhood ailment, had my sinuses punctured without anesthesia at a sanitarium. Anyhow! These days, Ales and I are reveling in holiday cheer that’s invaded our home thanks to this coniferous visitor. It’s my first tree in a decade, it leans to the lefts, and I love it.

And finally… The Los Angeles SantaCon. SantaCon simply is. There is so much of it, in fact, that I actually briefly considered putting it behind under a cut. This is but a fraction – a huge SantaCon gallery is coming to ChinaShop, soon.

Two of these are clickable.