Poppy Z. Brite's Blog, page 35

Not Going Back Out There

Today was a day of hellish little inconveniences including bounced checks, cut-off phones, unstocked stores, distraught mothers, cars stuck in vast mud puddles, alarmist articles on testosterone "frenzy" (a.k.a. treatment), and general ire. Fortunately, it all recedes into the distance since large quantities of new art supplies were procured and I have the evening completely free to play with them.

Where's My Beret, Dammit?

If people keep buying and commissioning my paintings, I may be able to pay the phone bill AND the electric bill AND see my urologist AND get testosterone AND stay out of pain next week! I must be dreaming ... *wakes up and has to write Lost Souls all over again*

eBay Books

eBay auctions ending tomorrow morning/early afternoon (or later today, if you're overseas):

- First edition of Lost Souls with a charcoal sketch by me (Ann and the quote "4 AM knows all my secrets")

- 1996 issue of Rage magazine with nudie pix of me

- Signed copy of Plastic Jesus

- Signed (by me and Caitlín) copy of Wrong Things

Oil Paints

OK, painters (I'm looking at you in particular, arthursimone ), tell me about oils. Why are they superior to acrylics (if you think they are)? Why are they so much more expensive? Do they have any significant environmental impact as opposed to acrylics? How do you clean your brushes? How long does the paint take to dry? How do you seal a finished oil painting? How do you feel about mixing oils and acrylics in the same picture? What's important that I've missed asking?

Pretty Teeth, Dear

"Pretty Teeth, Dear," acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20". This might be the last mermaid for a while. I'm experimenting with putting it up for auction instead of selling it for a fixed/best offer price. Bidding starts at $50 with no reserve.

Cosmology

"Cosmology," acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20", $150 (or make an offer). This painting is also a sort of map and comes with a handwritten/illustrated legend on acid-free watercolor paper.

It's A Trap

"It's A Trap," acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20", $100 (or make an offer).

Lookie Loo

"Lookie Loo," acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14", $75 (or make an offer).

This painting more or less as I explained it to Grey: "They're all under the sea in their little grotto, the lobster and the snail and the spermy thing, and there's the mermaid's hand too, but even way down there where it should be just their place, the eyes are coming in and looking at them and they can't get any privacy."

I Didn't Mean It

"I Didn't Mean It," acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14", $100 (or make an offer).

I have to tell the story of this painting even though (or maybe because) it's a painful one. While the power was out during the hurricane, I was fixing a contraption that's supposed to drive away flies (Zip-Loc baggie full of water with a penny dropped in). I was standing on the kitchen counter stark naked to do this, and when Grey walked in, he was a bit startled. We were laughing about it, and a few minutes later he made a joke about me being a "fly woman." Of course being misgendered by him hurts more than being misgendered by anyone else in the world, and to his credit, he hardly ever does it. I was looking into his eyes when he realized what he'd said, and he got this panicked look and said "I didn't mean it" like a little boy about to get punished, and that broke my heart more than the misgendering had, because sometimes I feel like this scary martinet-creature that people have to tiptoe around, even if they love me, especially if they love me. And like I'm a pest and an awful lot of trouble. And yet I can't keep from being hurt when the inevitable misgendering does happen. So the next day I painted this picture.

[Addendum: I have tried two days in a row to ship out eBay packages from before Isaac, but the post office's "system" is still "down," whatever that may mean. Winners, I appreciate your patience and will get the items out ASAP.]

Loan Shark? Gift Shark?

So I have this thing for sharks lately. And since I've made much of my living from art lately, I'd like to give back by purchasing some. And I am in love with this woodcut by Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth. But I have many bills and hardly any money. So here's an offer: for the person who buys me this piece, which is only $55 plus shipping, I will do an 11" x 14" painting (acrylic on canvas) of a shark or any other subject of your choice. Please comment here if interested.



Isn't it amazing? Much of their other work is, too.