Mixtape Cover

MRR Review

  I've been working on this drawing on/and off for my friend Enola D (of No Gods No Mattress zine)for a while now, and since her birthday is coming up super quick I'm trying to get it done.  This is a hella rough draft as well, so it'll look a lot cleaner when it's finished.

  I also read a super sweet review in the new issue of MRR yesterday, which really made me feel good despite some rough times I'm going through right now (break up, sickness, etc), so thanks again MRR.

DREAMS OF DONUTS #20  This is what zine-dreams

are made of!  There are a lot of diary zines and road journals

out there, so to hold this gem is something rare.  The layout and 

design shows amazing use of space.  Nearly every page

is a different style, with great frames!  This issue has three sections: two 

stories and a section of film reviews.  The reviews are laid out

like a comic with the backstory of what lead to viewing each film,

making the section my personal favorite.  Other themes include

the pains of East Bay housemate hunting and the BBCRC.

This zine is a real blast in illustration and story. (DV)

  By the way, this is my 200th post!

Submission for Balm Digest

I recently saw on We Make Zines (it's a really great concept for a website, kind of like a social networking thing for zine makers.  That said, it doesn't seem like a lot of people use it, myself included) a call for submissions for Balm Digest, a zine outta San Francisco, and decided to give it a go.  I've never actually contributed to another publication (other then Slingshot) but have always wanted to.  The subject for this coming issue is medium sized dogs, and I had a lot of options for what to write about since dogs have always been a presence in my life one way or another, but in the end I decided to write about finding Pearl, even though I already did in Dreams of Donuts 12 or something, and here it is!

In other news, the holidays suck a lot so keep your chin up.

Jack-O-Lanterns

  My friend Mikey Mayhem never gets to enjoy Halloween in the East Bay, since he always has to go away to work at that time, so this year in early October we threw him a mini Halloween right here at home.  I haven't carved a pumpkin since I was a kid, and most other people in attendence hadn't either, but I think despite that we did a really good job. 

I Still Make Dolls!

I just have no where to sell them.

Show Flyer

I did this in one night, can you believe it?

Team Hag!!!

 

 

Sophie got a team hag tattoo too, and it's way cooler then mine cuz it's the art of Jamie Hernandez, who is my all time art hero (he and his brother Gilbert are the geniuses behind the comic Love and Rockets).

HI Tour Poster

My friends in the bay-area threepiece Hi are doing a mini anti-thanksgiving tour, titled Native Lands and Aliens Tour, and asked me to do the poster, and I'm really glad they did cuz this was really fun to draw.  I normally get nervous when asked to draw something out of my element, but I'm honestly really happy with the way this drawing came out.  I would put the tour dates and such, but I don't actually know what they are. 

Also, I took the time to check out the Alien She exhibit at the YBCA.  I thought it was pretty cool that they give discounts to public transit riders and library card holders, and even though it still came out to $8, I managed to spend more then an hour in the exhibit.  I'm not going to go too far into it, because there was a lot to see, but the highlights for me were all the old zines and flyers,

 

 

as well as these rad lady beasts made out of fabric and taxidermy equiptment

 

 

and this giant barbed wire fence made out of pink yarn.





Alien She Exhibit at the YBCA

Curators' Statement:

Alien She is the first exhibition to examine the lasting impact of Riot Grrrl on artists and cultural producers working today. A pioneering punk feminist movement that emerged in the early 1990s, Riot Grrrl has had a pivotal influence, inspiring many around the world to pursue socially and politically progressive careers as artists, activists, authors, and educators. Emphasizing female and youth empowerment, collaborative organization, creative resistance, and DIY ethics, Riot Grrrl helped a new generation to become active feminists and create their own culture and communities that reflect their values and experiences, in contrast to mainstream conventions and expectations.
Riot Grrrl formed in reaction to pervasive and violent sexism, racism, and homophobia in the punk music scene and in the culture at large. Its participants adapted strategies from earlier queer and punk feminisms and ‘70s radical politics, while also popularizing discussions of identity politics occurring within academia, but in a language that spoke to a younger generation. This self-organized network made up of teenagers and 20-somethings reached one another through various platforms, such as letters, zines, local meetings, regional conferences, homemade videos, and later, chat rooms, listservs, and message boards. The movement eventually spread worldwide, with chapters opening in at least 30 states and 22 countries. Its ethos and aesthetics have survived well past its initial period in the ‘90s, with many new chapters forming in recent years. Riot Grrrl’s influence on contemporary global culture is increasingly evident—from the Russian collective Pussy Riot’s protest against corrupt government-church relations to the popular teen website Rookie and the launch of Girls Rock Camps and Ladyfest music and art festivals around the world.
Alien She focuses on seven people whose visual art practices were informed by their contact with Riot Grrrl. Many of them work in multiple disciplines, such as sculpture, installation, video, documentary film, photography, drawing, printmaking, new media, social practice, curation, music, writing, and performance—a reflection of the movement’s artistic diversity and mutability. Each artist is represented by several projects from the last 20 years, including new and rarely seen works, providing an insight into the development of their creative practices and individual trajectories.
In various ways, these artists have incorporated, expanded upon, or reacted to Riot Grrrl’s ideology, tactics and aesthetics. For instance, many continue to cultivate and nurture alternative communities. Ginger Brooks Takahashi creates spaces for conversation and exchange with jubilant publications, dance parties, mobile reading rooms, and a soup-delivery service. Through photography and video, Faythe Levine documents groups committed to DIY independence and handmade aesthetics, such as crafters, off-the-gridders, and, in her new book and documentary, traditional hand-lettered sign painters. L.J. Roberts fabricates declarations of protest and solidarity with evocative banners and textile works.
Riot Grrrl thrived through the establishment of DIY networks and information sharing, an aspect manifest in Stephanie Syjuco’s project for freely distributing copyrighted critical texts and in Miranda July’s video chainletter for “lady moviemakers.” Recalling forgotten her/histories was also central to Riot Grrrl, and in that vein, Allyson Mitchell pays homage to key writings, feminist presses, bookstores, and libraries with lesbian feminist library wallpaper, while Tammy Rae Carland reveals intimate relationships in her autobiographical photo series. All of the artists included here have worked collaboratively and many have built platforms for other artists and under-recognized groups to connect, encourage, share resources, and self-publish.
The exhibition’s historical section is designed to be plural and open-ended; this is a living history, not a sealed past. By representing numerous voices and experiences, rather than outlining one single definitive story, we hope it will reflect the multiplicity that was such an integral part of the original movement. Toward this end, a sampling of the Riot Grrrl movement’s vast creative output is included here. Hundreds of self-published zines and hand-designed posters were solicited from institutional and personal archives through open calls, word-of-mouth, and invitations—similar to the way Riot Grrrl expanded. Music playlists represent different Riot Grrrl scenes across the U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe, guest-curated by musicians, DJs, and label owners and accompanied by records, cassettes, set lists, band T-shirts, and other ephemera. Video interviews and an ongoing, online Riot Grrrl Census provide an expanded oral history.
The exhibition’s title, Alien She, is a reference to a Bikini Kill song of the same name. The lyrics are about the negotiation of normalized gender roles, the uneasy line between feminist critique and collectivity, and the process of coming to a feminist consciousness, with the repeated refrain, “She is me, I am her.” More broadly, Alien She conjures the possibilities of identity, self-determination, and subversion. In the face of alienation and bigotry, Riot Grrrl fostered community, action, and creation. This exhibition provides a view into the passion and diversity of the original Riot Grrrl movement, and highlights how these ideas have broadened, evolved, and mutated in the work of contemporary artists.

Alien She is curated by Astria Suparak and Ceci Moss and organized by the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University.



The Alien She Exhibit is now open, so you should go.  I haven't gone yet, to be perfectly honest, but I will eventually, and will tell you all about it when I do. 

Also, if your in the bay area, you should go see my dearest friends the Crude Studs at volunteer run Thrillhouse Records!!!  (Sophie drew this flier and I totally love it, also if you google Crude Studs a picture of Sophie and I is one of the first ones that pops up, which obviously seals our best friendsness in virtual reality.)

I made a mixtape to give away at Ladyfest

If ya want one, send a blank 90 minute tape and $1 for postage at the address on the top of this website.

Ladyfest and Alien She

Hiya!  Just wanted to mention to the world wide net that I will be tabling the Bay Area Ladyfest this year, which is  October 11th at the Firehouse Collective.  It should be hella tight, you should come if your in the area.  Also, some of my zines are gonna be in an upcoming exhibit at the Yerba Buena Center called Alien She, which I don't honestly know much about but I'm pretty sure it's a riot grrrl exhibit.  Anywho, that's all the time I got on this library computer! XO!

Dreams of Donuts #20

Finally, Dreams of Donuts #20 is done!!!  I decided to get rid of my Etsy account, so you can order it through the mail via the info at the top of the page.