Emerging from the black hole of Calcutta...

So, I went to Chicago to the Femme Conference in mid August and promptly fell off the face of the earth. The conference was fantastic. I was reminded of who I am and what I'm capable of in ways that I haven't been in years. Spending time with so many beautiful, brilliant, quirky femmes was nothing short of my soul's salvation. The opportunity to have keynote speaker Dorothy Allison witness and affirm all of our lives as femmes, was like being baptised by a fiery queer preacher. The only difference being that this clergy member actually has your best interests at heart and really DOES want to save your soul.
I was fortunate enough to present an interactive art workshop with Julie Jewel, Renee Gaudet and Adele Sanchez. Renee and Julie are phenomenal artists in their own righ and Adele is a generous supporter of queer art. We spoke about our experiences as femme artists and then led an interactive project which was enthusiastically indulged in by a variety of femme creative types. I was overjoyed by the cooperative frenzy of creativity and what was wrought.
Little did I realize that when I arived home from femme-con, still basking in the femme-tastic after-glow, I was about to endure the trials of Job in my personal life. I won't go into details but I will say that I'm fairly amazed that my sanity has remained intact over the last month. I'm finally beginning to wind my way out of the labryntine sadness I've endured and of course I've got an assload of work awaiting me as reward. Whee!
The next Square One art Extravaganza will be held at the Ritz Ybor in Tampa on December 6th. I'm very excited to be a featured artist for this event and I'll be premiering work from my globalism series which was made possible in part through a grant from the Pinellas County Arts Council. These events consistently excite me and this one is certainly no exception.
I'm featured this week on the Queer Etsy Street Team blog! Some friends and I started the team to help promote and support the vast numbers of fantastically talented queer etsians. If you happen to be one and you're looking for your tribe, stop by the team profile page and join the fray!

*whew*

The square One art show was fantastic. I am so proud to be a part of their efforts. It's like riding on a great big cloud of puppies and excellent pizza. Or something. It's the closest I've come to a religious experience in a while. No, they don't let me out of my cage much, so shut the fuck up. :D
Here are some pics:

Gary Randall, creator and co-organizer of GO! and yours truly.




Treza Bettencourt, Maida Millan and Moi.


Elisabeth duLac and I being exceptionally serious.


A new painting. "What Makes Us Different Makes Us Special". First panel in a triptych.

Yay! Dolls and a Show!

Tomorrow night is the second Square One art event entitled GO! at the Ritz in Tampa's historic Ybor city. Bar none, this is one of the most gratifying events in the area, for both artists and appreciators. As I set up my work today, I was once again astounded by the variety and potency of the talent present. The Tampa Bay Art Scene is truly fecund, so much so that it may burst it's boundaries at any moment, garnering the national recognition it richly deserves. Organizers Gary Randall and Okesene Tilo have managed to assemble a roster showcasing an incredibly inclusive and eclectic array of art, music, and fashion while affording all us creative types dignity and respect for what we do, nothing short of a miracle in today's world of bullshit art ass kissing and ostentatious exclusivity. Their youthful enthusiasm, networking savvy and generosity evokes a celebratory and harmonious energy that eclipses many other established events I've been a part of. All of this and none of the art sucks! Representatives from Tampa Bay's established art community such as, P$ynner, Robert Wegman, Treza Bettencourt and Carolina Cleere will be exhibiting side by side with art show virgins such as Malisha Dewalt, whose photo-realistic pencil drawings are absolutely dumbfounding in their accuracy and completely gripping in their subject matter and tone. This event promises to be a pure celebration of creative flow, free from the tedious political posturing and jaded snobbery that afflicts so much of the art world. What a very Caribbean way to roll...

As if this is not enough to lure you there tomorrow night, I've finally finished the "Series of Endless Desires" dolls I've been toiling over. Yes. One can toil over dolls. They are companion pieces to the series of paintings I'm working on bearing the same name.The series ponders the question " Are human desires truly endless?". I don't know the answer but I intend to paint each one until I find out. The dolls can be are seen below and can be purchased at queenofqueens.etsy.com. Click the pics to see the full frontal.