dreXeL's Blog - Author Archives
Thoughts, Musings, Ramblings, Etc...
I’m on Every Page of BAP
Well this is exciting for me! If you go to Brooklyn Art Project this month you’ll see a slice of my artwork as the header image for the site. I have hereby become one with BAP website! It looks like this, but obviously LARGER if you actually go to the site:
bap header img
But WAIT, there’s more. I just found out I’m also the featured artist on BAP. So if you go to the website it looks like THIS:
featured artwork "Delta Mace"
So yeah, that makes me happy. Just thought I’d let you know.
XOXO,
dreXeL
[tags]art, painting, featured artist, BAP, brooklyn art project, brooklynartproject.com, delta mace, smack is a vampire, billie holiday, mixed media, urban art, nyc, brooklyn, harlem[/tags]
New Commission Done
Well I tried some new methods of transfer in this piece, none of which worked out. So I ended up with old faithful (ie: acrylic polymer medium transfer.) That method has NEVER let me down. I still need to investigate to find out why the acetone method didn’t work. Maybe the photocopies from Kinko’s weren’t laser copies that use toner. Maybe the oil-based varnish I put on the piece just before that prevented the ink from sticking. No clue. But in the end I did manage to get awesome images of 50s ads from vintage magazines I bought onto the boards. And that made me exceedingly happy.
This is a dyptich of two wood cradle boards, each 24″ x 36. They’re mixed media (spray paint, varnish, magazine transfers, paper, ink, acrylics, acrylic medium and stencil). I don’t think this collector reads my blog. So it won’t spoil the surprise. But if you tell her anyway or I’ll have to harm you in unspeakable ways. Thanks.
XO, dreXeL
Back When Things Was Simple
[tags]art, painting, dyptich, mixed media, collage, spray paint, trucks, wheat, vintage magazines, vintage trucks, urban art[/tags]
Watch the Inauguration on my blog!
Thanks to the awesome people at Hulu, I’m able to show the inauguration LIVE right from my blog. So catch it here in 4 days!!! And feel free to look around, post comments, give me feedback etc. I likes feedback. XO, dreXeL
[tags]obama, inauguration, new president, hope, change, democracy, hulu, hulu.com[/tags]
A Bombshell is…
Assignment #2 of The Bombshell Challenge (Created by Bombshell Betty)
“…take the list of attributes and use them to create a description of what a bombshell is to you….”
Here goes. To me, a bombshell is a woman who knows she is a woman 100% of the time. She makes sure she looks like a woman ALL the time. She dresses, does her hair and makeup to enhance the fact that she is a woman. When she gets dressed, and when she’s in public, when she’s BEING a bombshell, she isn’t thinking “I’m the receptionist” or “I’m an activist” or “I’m Mrs. so and so” Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with any of those identities. Each identity you have has its place and time. It’s just that when you’re being “bombshell” the identity of “woman” is the primary one.
A bombshell exudes complete self-confidence in herself and her appearance at all times.
A bombshell doesn’t wonder if anyone notices her or thinks she’s pretty. A bombshell just knows she’s beautiful. So of COURSE she’s noticed.
A bombshell is a beautiful, confident woman ALL. THE. TIME. And when she doesn’t feel that way, she just makes sure she LOOKS that way and fakes it until she DOES feel it again. Reality is created, and that’s the reality that gets created by the bombshell.
[tags]bombshell betty, marilyn monroe, the bombshell challenge[/tags]
The Bombshell Challenge
Every year I write out all my goals, plans, programs and projects….basically everything I intend to accomplish in the new year…on paper and in GREAT detail. I do this on New Years Eve day so that on January 1 I can just launch it all at a dead run.
This year I have a TON of new goals, personal, financial, business, art, health, etc. One of my personal goals has to do with just being less introverted. If you know me as a person with a million internet friends you might not THINK I’m introverted, but in some ways I definitely am. I get shy about my appearance, or feel like I look ugly or whatever…the usual things that happen to a women who’s spent way too many years living in Southern California.
One of the things I’m doing to just force myself to NOT be that way, and NOT think that way, is the “Bombshell Challenge”. It’s a one-year challenge, and I have no idea what’s going to happen since I’m just starting it, but I’m going to post the happenings along the way here on my blog. Just for fun, and for a record that I can go back to. I’ll have all Bombshell posts categorized in “bombshell challenge” category.
Assignment #1
“# Choose 3-5 Bombshells who embody some aspect of Bombshell-hood that you admire and would like to emulate. These can be women or men, dead or alive, actual people or fictional characters. It’s up to you!
# For each of your chosen Bombshells, list 3-5 characteristics or traits that you admire about them and would like to embody….”
Here are my answers:
1. Josephine Baker – Had an exotic look, had amazing fashion sense and combined her clothing with amazing accessories, seemed completely comfortable with her own sexuality.
josephine baker
2. Bettie Page – Seemed very free with her own sexuality, always looked like she was having fun and enjoying herself, whether or not she actually was, seemed like a real person and not just an unhuman icon.
bettie page
3. Marilyn Monroe – Always feminine. Always looked sweet yet sexy. Her skin always looked perfect, pale and smooth, and her hair and makeup were always perfectly glamourous.
marilyn
4. Audrey Hepburn – Had a dark, sultry look. She was glamourous like the others, but in a different…slicker and cooler…way. A bit more daring and adventurous in her approach than the classic bombshells like Marilyn. And a bit more concentration on the cool, hip factor and less on the traditional womanliness factor.
audrey hepburn
5. Amy Winehouse. Yes she’s a junkie. Yes she’s all OVER the tabloids, in and out of rehab, strung out. A mess. But she has a sense of style, swagger and self-confidence that really is on par with other historical bombshells. She KNOWS she’s cool. She KNOWS she has mad style. She KNOWS she’s talented. So I feel she qualifies.
amy winehouse
6. And my absolute bombshell IDOL: Masuimi Max. She is a model of today, she’s trendy and completely hot by right now standards, but still maintains all the classic 50’s burlesque and bombshell sensibilities. She’s sexy and confident, a complete superstar and I don’t think you’d EVER be able to find a bad photo of her. So my list is longer than required, but as far as I’m concerned no bombshell list would be complete without her. So too bad. 😉
masuimi max <3
[tags]bombshell challenge, audrey hepburn, marilyn monroe, bettie page, josephine baker, amy winehouse, bombshell betty, masuimi max[/tags]
I Kinda Wanna Win. You Kinda Wanna Help?
Ok so I entered a competition on Brooklyn Art Project’s website late last night. It’s called “Best of 2008”. So I submitted my favorite painting from this past year. Or at least one that I liked a lot. Wasn’t sure which to pick, so I just picked the one I felt challenged me the most during the year. If I win, I get a bitchin Fuji camera that I NEED. And if I place but don’t win, I get a book made of my artwork, which would be AWESOME.
Anyway, if you’d like to vote for me for Best of 2008, just click below! It will take you straight to my submission. You might need to sign up, so just do that, takes like a minute. Then just click “Add to Favorites” below my painting. Thank you!
XO, dreXeL
[tags]brooklyn art project, brooklynartproject.com, best of 2008, submission, competition, art, painting, mixed media, nyc, chinatown[/tags]
Awesome People Wear My Clothes
THIS is what an awesome person (aka Kris Krug) looks like in a shirt I designed. You know, in case you were thinking “I wonder what an awesome person would look like in one of dreXeL’s tshirts.” The shirt is for the upcoming Dirty South Tour. I’d tell you more but it’s a secret. Soon, though. I PROMISE. Thanks to Tasty Tees for printing them up for me on such short notice. And thanks to Drew Odom and KK, without whose help and inspiration this tour would not happen. I love you guys.
XO, dreX
Oh…wanna see the back?
[tags]delta mace, dirty south tour, tshirt, illustration, tasty tees, tastytees.com, kris krug, kk, drexel, drew odom[/tags]
Tshirts Going Bye Byes
I’ve finally decided to not be selfish about the last few “Smack is a Vampire” tshirts I designed that I had here in my apartment. As long as I have one to wear, I don’t really NEED to have 7 more just in case of some imaginary situation where I’d need to have one for someone. So I’ve made them available on my online store.
Click the above link or the image below to go to the store and go get you one!
And for those of you who aren’t familiar with these tshirts, they’re limited edition prints, signed with print number and a secret quote from me under the neck line in the back. And they’re really soft!
XO, dreX
[tags]tshirt, smack is a vampire, etsy, limited edition, artist tee, harlem, nyc, illustration, billie holiday[/tags]
Freestyle the Mag
Freestyle the Mag started out as an online magazine about hiphop culture. Now it’s available in print. I’m very fortunate to have been asked to put my artwork on several of their covers. I just got my copies in the mail and they look awesome, the articles are really interested, the pages are pretty. I’m excited. Anyway, check out Freestyle the Mag issues here.
[tags]cover art, freestyle, freestyle the mag, online magazine, magazine, hip hop, hiphop, culture, hip hop culture, brooklyn, freestylethemag.com[/tags]
Someone at Etsy likes me!
Last night i got an email from Etsy saying that my “Smack is a Vampire” painting was included in an “Etsy Treasury”. This is basically a showcase of someone’s favorite art and/or artists and/or creations from sellers on Etsy. It’s only up for 24 hours, so go check it!
XO, dreXeL
[tags]etsy, etsy.com, art, painting, online shopping, urban art, collage, mixed media, smack is a vampire, billie holiday, harlem, christmas shopping[/tags]
RIP Bettie Page
Usually I just write about my own life, my art shows and occasionally my friends’ art, but today I feel compelled to write about someone who’s been so much a part of our culture from the 50s till now, that I’d be willing to assert she single-handedly is responsible for the pinup genre of modelling, photography, clothing, as well as alt modelling sites like SG and Gods Girls and a lot of other stuff I’ve probably not even thought of.
Not that there weren’t other women involved in this, but in the 50’s and 60s, posing for photographs with a whip in your hand was extremely…avant garde if not taboo. Remember back then men and women even slept in different beds on television. I call them “Ricky and Lucy beds”.
Now fast forward 50-60 years and there’s not ONE of us who hasn’t been touched in some way by the life of Bettie Page, by emulating it in some small way or at least admiring it. While the women have been sporting the short bangs, polka dotted dresses, leopard cat suits, tight pencil skirts with pumps, and dressing up for fetish clubs, dancing in cages, the men have been right by our sides enjoying every moment of this aesthetic, coming to these same clubs, buying pinup calendars, signed bettie page prints, and helping to keep her influence on our culture alive all these years.
Bettie Page is everywhere we look in popular culture. Currently Masuimi Max is, in my opinion, THE superstar of the classic pinup genre. And understandably so. She’s gorgeous, She’s also the spokesperson and a primary model for Pinupgirlclothing.com. If you want to know where to go to keep the memory of Bettie Page alive in your own fashion, THAT is the site to go to.
Her life was tragic, and its end no less so. We’ll miss you. XOXO, dreXeL
[tags]bettie page, pinup, sg, suicide girls, gods girls, pinupgirlclothing.com, masuimi max[/tags]
Long Awaited Younity Photos
Ok, so I’ve finally gotten it together. A bit. Last night’s Closing Party for the Younity “Heart & Soul” book launch and exhibition was fantastic, as expected. Lots of amazing people, amazing talent, good music, breakdancing and good times. And the venue itself is amazing too. Thanks to Alphabeta for hosting Younity’s show and helping make it the success that it was.
Since I was so lame and didn’t upload pics from opening night when it happened, I’m doing it all now in one giant fun-filled post. Happy memories for those of us who were there, and appropriate jealousy from those who weren’t. You definitely missed something special.
So here’s the story in picture form:
My contribution to the exhibition and book:
Opening Night: A little bit of the crazy crowd that just got larger and crazier as the night progressed:
Opening Night: The amazing, talented, wonderful founders of the Younity Collective, and my good friends, Alice Mizrachi and Toofly:
Opening NIght: Papparazzi photos. Or possibly MTV. There were so many we didn’t even know which way to look. That’s why in some shots we’re all looking in different directions!
Closing Party…friends with fingers:
Some breakdancing entertainment for the last night of the exhibition. I could have watched them all night. I don’t know how they don’t break and dislocate…things.
So that’s what happened, that’s what I was fortunate to be part of…and that’s what you missed if you weren’t there. I <3 my collective. I’ve got some Younity-related whispers of upcoming things, but I can’t say until it’s DEFINITE. But trust me when I say more is coming! XO, dreXeL
[tags]younity, younity collective, woman artists, street art, urban art, avant garde art, heart & soul, book launch, exhibition, group show, toofly, alice mizrachi, alphabeta, nyc, brooklyn, greenpoint, avone, 2esae[/tags]