Saturday, October 6, 2012





Hello Everyone!

So the RAW Provocations Show was a great success. I met a lot of cool people, and got a lot of interest in my work, so I'm sure there will be a lot more shows for me in the future :)

And now that I have done one of these shows, I am up for a RAWard. The RAWards is one of the only indie arts award ceremony, and I am up for Philly's Best Visual Artist. So I would love it if you guys could show me some love and vote for me :) You can vote once daily and voting ends October 15. All you have to do is go to me RAW page (rawartists.org/lindsaybeach) and click VOTE!

Oh, yes, and this picture above is an action shot my friend Art took while I was setting up my wall. I will have more pictures up soon so don't you worry :)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

RAW Art Show

I am now a RAW Artist. My first show for RAW is going to be October 4. You can purchase tickets through my profile page at the link provided. Come out and support me and the other artists! http://www.rawartists.org/lindsaybeach

Friday, May 4, 2012

Twitter

Well, I did it, I created a twitter account. It's all downhill from here!
https://twitter.com/#!/MsBeach0307

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

GILES Spring 2012


So, after passing through Glamour.com, I came across a couple photos of some seriously beautiful and bizarre headpieces that were showcased at Giles' London Fashion Week show. So, after searching some more, I found more photographs to share with you courtesy of Elle.com of their Spring 2012 show, which are the three below. Seems there was a swan theme going on at that show.



Friday, February 10, 2012

The Tale of The Unicorn Queen: An Interview With Doe Deer

Once upon a time, a girl moved from her home in Russia to the US at the tender age of 17 to make her dreams a reality, and her wish came true.


Sounds like a fairytale, but this is the true story of entrepreneur Doe Deer. Starting as an indie fashion designer on eBay, she q
uickly branched out into modeling and make up, even posting the first make up tutorial ever on YouTube. Now, Doe is the mastermind behind the colorful, brighter than a rainbow make up line Lime Crime. She has been featured on the covers of Young Entrepreneur, Fae, Auxiliary, and Lipstick Royalty. She has also done features for MTV Buzzworthy, NYLON, and Cut Up & Keep, among others. Now she did an interview with me, discussing her latest makeup collection Chinadoll, her influences, and how she came up with the nickname "The Unicorn Queen".

What is your inspiration behind your out of this world, in your face make up collection? What made you want to get into the makeup industry?

I never wanted to get into the makeup 'industry', I just wanted to make great makeup. I'm picky when it comes to cosmetics and it's hard for me to find stuff I like... So I've decided to create my own brand that would carry all my dream products!

You have some great names for your
products, one of my favorite names being Airborne Unicorn for a great lipstick shade. How do you come up with such creative names?
Wordplay, rhymes and limericks is something me and my husband/business partner are keen on naturally. We joke around all day making up lyrics and rhymes! What makes it onto the products is the PC version. ;)

Can you tell a little about your latest collection, Chinadoll?
Chinadoll is a multi-purpose palette, our first foray into the realm of pressed eyeshadows. The name is a pun: China + porcelain (china) doll. I'm partial to the Chinese aesthetic and collect clothes, jewelry and furniture... I love the Shanghai advertisement posters from the 1920s, they have such innocence & purity to them even though they're often advertising cigarettes, haha. Chinadoll is not a literal reference however, more of a fantasy character inspired by the beauty of China. In our campaign, she is portrayed by the tattooed indie style icon, HannaBeth.


Do you think your background and where you come from influences your makeup collection? I know you are originally from Russia, and you have been in some bands. Does culture or music give you inspiration to create new products?
Of course! I lived in Russia till I was 17, studying piano and composition at the music academy, so music is in my blood. And even though I no longer do music for a living, I am happy to be able to express myself artistically every day through makeup (wearing and developing). And of course I'm a big fan of Eastern European fairytales, Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Beautiful being my favorite characters. :)

Where did the self dubbed title “The Unicor
n Queen” come from?
Someone had to have the title, so why not me? A unicorn, to me, is a symbol of beauty, kindness, tolerance, and being different. It's a lone animal that lives life its own way -- everything I can stand for.

You seem to have a love of fairytales, and really you are living one as well. When did this love start?

I love fairytales and was quite a bit of a story-teller as a kid. I refuse to give up on the magical world even as an adult!


Is there a fairytale that is your absolute favorite?
When I say fairytales, I'm more into the visuals rather than the plot. Mermaids, in particular, are of great interest to me. All of my childhood drawings featured a mermaid (or two), it's really quite funny!

I know you travel around promoting your line and giving makeovers. Will you be making any appearances soon?

Very possible, yes! Watch our Facebook page for updates: http://www.facebook.com/limecrime

What’s next for Lime Crime? Do you have any other collections or products in the works?
We are working on several releases due out this spring. Stay tuned!

Do you have any advice for other girls looking to make their dreams a reality?
"If you can see it, you can do it" -- I find this to be true more and more. If you can visualize something happening, in great detail, then you already know the steps you need to take. Dream bigger and be bold!

You can buy her gorgeous fairytale makeup on Lime Crime's website


Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Old Stubborn Punk Kid: An Interview With Alyssa Mocere


Alyssa Mocere, the talented in-your-face tattoo artist at Living Out Loud, recently granted me the opportunity to interview her. If you don't know who she is already, get to know her, and while your at it, get her to tattoo you. I know I'm long overdue. Here she tells me about her influences, her current taste in music, and why she got into the world of tattoos.


So, just for starters, how would you describe yourself and your work?

I'm an old stubborn punk kid who gets real tired of wasting time. I'm married to making art for people, and having an affair with making art for myself. I would have been a political scientist if I didn't know how to draw. Art is my way to address the issues without involving myself in a specific organization. I've always valued people's independence and respected those with a strong, relatively objective opinion. Art says much more than my words.

The style of work is classically rooted in intaglio/engraving, but with subject matter that defiles normal concepts of beauty. Goya and Dore are probably my favorites to reference. They captured violence and the grotesqueness of human nature, especially Goya. "Disasters of War," and "The Black Paintings" are where a lot of my work draws influence. The mind has the ability to get trapped by fear of all sorts, whether it be death, evil, family issues, poor health, crazed-lovers, uncertainty, stress, anxiety, society, pure insanity, etc. I get those feelings a lot, and rather me bottle them up, I exploit them for all they're worth. For me, the execution process is meditation. The work is very methodical and poised after the drafting stage is over. The fluidity allows me to get lost and feel little to nothing, which is relieving. The less I feel, the better I focus. Apathy isn't my goal…but it helps achieve a real lack of shame. When I'm done 20 hours later, I'm feeling pretty great.



When did you first start making art?

I was three years old. My Grandpa, Dominic Maucere, gave me crayons and a piece of paper to draw on. "Draw your breakfast, since you're not eating it." I drew my breakfast in perspective and everything was colored correctly, no scribbling, no non-sense. From there on out, grandpa and I would spend all of our time together drawing things we saw. He nurtured my love for it, along with teaching me new ways to see. He got my parents to keep me sharp and in after school drawing programs. I spent majority of my life in some kind of arts program thanks to his talent.


What mediums do you prefer to use?

At this day and age, it's pen and ink with watercolor. I've been going out on a whim and plotting to do use organic materials to create textures in the paintings. Particularly blood, soot, dirt, etc. The other medium right now is tattooing, but that's a career choice. It's an amazing medium all and all. The depth and permanence is a lot to handle in reality. It's so technical and incredibly challenging to interpret at this stage. Tattooing pig skin is my next move. Really allow me to explore more experimental approaches to the medium and be able to preserve it so I can at least keep the art I make rather than watch it walk away.


When did you first get interested in the world of tattoos?

I was getting into punk/hardcore scene back in the late 90s. That's when I started to see tattoos I liked. During college it dawned on me that my debt would become so alarming, that financing my own art projects in the future would become practically obsolete. Having a good paying job would give me the financing, but not the time it would require to dedicate to art. So I completed my education and went right into a tattoo apprenticeship with an artist named Jason "Taco" Verdone, who's band, Ominous Black, needed artwork. The band was happy about what I had made for them and in turn invited me into the tattoo industry. I'm incredibly grateful for that opportunity and glad I can draw and help people for a living.


When you are working on a piece, what are some bands you like to listen to? Does music inspire your artwork?

Music's a huge part of my creative process, and really depends on my mood. When I'm making artwork for a band, I'm making it to their music or what they're influenced by. It's important for me to understand the sound and the lyrics they're using.

For my own work, I'm usually listening to:

Neurosis - Through Silver and Blood

Om - Conference of Birds

Drudhk - Blood In Our Wells

Lurker of Chalice

Horna - Sanojesi Äärelle

Acid King - III

Grails - Burning Off the Impurities

Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters

Sigur Ros

That's the tip of the iceberg as far as bands. I'm productive to anything that I can feel came from the fiery depths of someone's heart.


What influences you and your art? Where do your ideas come from?

A lot of Japanese, Norse, Finnish, Germanic folklore. It was meant to scare the hell out of you, to the point that if you were about to do something "bad," you remembered the Troll would come to eat you later as punishment. Catholic guilt is a big part of it, too. Since the Bible was the most boring story I ever heard, Ancient Mythology and folklore the next best option. So folktales about mortality or impermanence and meshing iconography from unrelated cultures makes up most of my influences. I also take rotten or withered elements and emphasize their beauty. A decaying carcass is more beautiful than a cow eating grass.


You’ve played in a couple different bands. What were there names, and can you explain the style of music?

Point Breeze is the current band. We're moving in a strange, heavy direction. Angry, deranged hardcore music that listens to a lot of Dischord bands.

Shitty Knees was my first active live band. We had hardcore/punk in mind, but we were really obsessed with Shellac.

Grigax was a solo project that I really hated then but now that I look back on it, it was not too bad. It was a reaction to the music I was really into at the time (2008).


Did being in bands help you get your start doing artwork for local bands?

Honestly, it was the other way around. I made

tons of artwork for bands because I loved them so much, and was so hyped on getting merch as payment for making the posters/flyers. I would make them unofficially and give them at least 60% of whatever I sold, let them keep a bunch of posters, meet them officially, and trade for a record, or admission to the show, or a shirt, or another poster they had for their tour/show. It was hard because sometimes for bigger shows, the other artists would get mad about it. "Guerrilla Poster Artist" I was once referred to as. Doing art for bands made me want a band more!


What was one of your favorite projects you have done to date?

That's not that easy to say. Hmm…all of them? I guess the best would be the only art show I ever had at Vwvoffka Gallery on Frankford Ave (called "Speculative Ecology"). I built a giant wall of cardboard and screen printed cathedrals. Random tree branches/limbs jutted out of the ceiling. My half of the room looked like the gallery was falling apart. In the center I hung my works from that past year (about 25 pieces), rang

ing from a drawing of a woman masturbating over a mirror to carvings of wood made to look like sedimentary rock. It was drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and installation in one. I also got an excuse to put dirt everywhere.


You just participated in the Skulls and Snakes show at Tattooed Mom in Philadelphia. Any more shows coming up soon?

"Skate or Die!" also to be at Tattooed Moms I believe in April. I just got my board today!


Any more comments?

Answering questions is hard! Thanks Lindsay!


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Things That Go Bump In The Night: The Art of Kat Gun

Part alternative model, part macabre acrylic artist, Kat Gun has some serious chops. Hailing from Philadelphia, her paintings explores mortality and sexuality. She has participated in such shows as the Autumn Spell Show at Gallery 309, the PAWS Benefit Show, Art Basel Miami 2011, Aktion Gallery's 7Sins show, Necropolis at Cam Rackam's Congregation Gallery, and her solo show Les Petites Horrours at Digital Ferret. Her work contains of gore, skulls, and sexy women. And here she has told me in her own words her inspiration, process, and what's up next.

"Pretty Please"
acrylic on wood panel

Inspiration
Growing up I had a very hard time accepting death and mortality. I was convinced I was going to die before I woke every night, and had a very strange sense of mortality even very young. Much of my imagery over the years is me working through those feelings and finding almost a dark sense of humor in it all. My studio is covered in Halloween paraphernalia, skulls, artwork, and reference material. I also modeled for years, and the human body I find the ultimate organic thing of beauty, so have a serious love of studying and painting it.
Process
I paint with acrylic paint that I thin with a mixture of slow dry mediums to make them super transparent, and paint layer upon layer. This means I basically paint and repaint a piece multiple times before it gets the depth that I'm looking for. I usually work darkest darks to lightest lights.. it helps to keep me conscious of which layer I'm on. I paint almost exclusively on wood panels- I love how smooth they are and how strong the surface is. I'm always working on multiple pieces at once, for I usually use so much slow dry medium in my paint mixtures that it takes a little time to dry. Oh, and very loud heavy metal playing is a necessity. ;)
Upcoming shows?
Well it's immediate, but this weekend (Saturday night) is the opening for the Sacrilege group show at Congregation Gallery in Hollywood. Next Saturday night (I think it's Feb 25th) is the opening for the Phobias group show at Gristle Tattoo up in Brooklyn, NY. I'm doing a Skate or Die show in March here in Philly (all the paintings will be on skate decks), and I'm doing the G40 which is a huge group show put on by ArtWhino. I believe that opens April 6th and is in Washington DC (or Richmond VA)


"I Speak in Verses, Prophecies, and Curses"
acrylic on wood panel


Check out more of her wonderfully dark work on her website:
http://katgun.com/