Did you see the size of that tumbleweed?!

Dear single, remaining follower,

Thank you for your patience, even though it has been almost a year since i started this blog and nine whole months since my last post. Even supposing you are still following me and forgot to get rid of me due to lack of activity, i apreciate it nevertheless.

Now, i can churn out tall tales of being abducted by aliens, running off to join the circus or simply just admit that i have been pretty ill over the last year or so; but rather go into that, i encourage you to belive one of the tall tales instead, because THAT, my friend, would be a blog post worth reading! I won’t bore you with the negative details of my absence but i am on the mend and rather than look at the bad, let us look to the future and be positive about things instead, shall we? Yes.

So where do we go from here? Well, the original ideas for this blog are still there and i am of course, interested in meeting like-minded people who are willing to participate and have some laughs along the way. My fiance and i are working on something together which should be up and running very soon, i have some exciting projects in the pipeline and some interesting reviews, which i hope you’ll stick around to see!

Speak to you soon, guys,

Dazy xx

Opticus – Eye with Tentacles

For ‘Greenbag’  - I removed most of my old work from all of my online accounts and due to windows 7 being it’s usual charming self, i can’t trust it to keep anything on my laptop. This is really all i have on my DA account at the moment that was hand drawn. It was a tattoo design for a client which was based loosely on Cthun from World of Warcraft and Lovecraft’s Cthulhu, an author and creature i hold very close to my heart… but not too close!

From Tattooing to Graphic Design

A few months ago, i decided to go back to graphic design after seven months of illness. There have been some significant changes in our lives lately and as i work, i have realised just how much i have missed it. This was a custom piece for a theatre group who wanted a design for their project. They wanted something simple, yet stylised that they could print onto tshirts and posters. It was a great starting point after being out of practice for so long.

A few months have passed and i have had to make the big decision to either go back to tattooing or continue working as a freelance graphic designer. While i was ill, i picked up design jobs here, which re-lit my passion and grounded me better than i ever thought possible. Everything really does happen for a reason!

Tattoos – How do you judge a book?

Those are the words Dermablend used to kick this video off. It’s an interesting question. Many people see Rick Genest as a freak, but having coming from the tattoo world, i admire the art and technique of his artist and also happen to think he is exquisitely beautiful. This is not only my view, but Thierry Mugler and Lady Gaga obviously agree! There was a lot of debate about this guy in the tattoo studio – some admire his courage and others just don’t get it (mostly clients). But how many of you have been discriminated against for the way you look? Do you like to fit in or stand out? Do you have any tattoos yourself? If so, are you proud of them or do you regret them? Lastly, do you judge people who are a little different or do you embrace them?

Wandering through Plasticland…

Plasticland is a place i can ‘wander around’ and lose myself for hours on end. Easily one of my favorite websites for gifts, homeware, clothing and accessories, It’s just gloriously weird with all it’s kitschy goodness and fabulous curiosities!

Jordan Berry & Rebecca Nyhus came up with the idea for an alternative fashion boutique in 2002, a year after i opened my own alternative clothing shop in my local town.
Like me, they were fed up with seeing the same copycat fashion items in local shops and malls, so decided to put together something that would appeal to people with slightly more alternative taste and style.

A friend of mine sent me the link to the website a long time ago. It was one of those ‘saw this and thought of you’ kind of deals. Thinking it had something to do with Frank Kozik and being a huge fan of lowbrow art and owning the book with that title, i clicked on the link and became instantly excited. It didn’t have anything to do with Frank, but i wasn’t disapointed for a second.

My own shop failed due to the lack of demand for ouija boards, nu metal tshirts and bondage trousers but plasticland is still going strong. Of course, i am sure even in the early stages of their venture, their stock was probably a hundred times more impressive than mine. They sell everything from lowbrow art fashion accressories to vintage inspired clothing and shoes. The do a wide selection of gifts and homeware, too! I highly recommend that you check them out and give them a wee shot. Their customer service is amazing and they ship internationally, although there is a minimum order of $100 for international customers, but i don’t think that’s too much if you want to make the most of the shipping cost, is it?

A Live Action Daria Movie?

A bit of 90′s nostalgia hit me this week as i caught up on season 8 of Beavis and Butthead. I have no idea how i missed the beginning because i have been patiently waiting since the rumors began. Anyway, i was not disappointed. So it is a little bit more politically correct than it used to be but that isn’t Mike Judge’s fault. I expected to hate it but it was almost like it had never left.

After that, i revisited my Daria DVDs, geeked out with my old buddy, Cookie and searched online to see if Judge was thinking about bringing her back from the crypt. I got more than i bargained for when i found this :

Alas, it was not to be and was actually a Cosplay photoshoot by Russian photographer, Sergey Nekrasov. After a little further investigation, i discovered that MTV had cast a vote on the ideal cast for a live action Beavis and Butthead movie. That didn’t go down so well with their readers and most agreed that Daria would be a better candidate for a movie. They set two votes: For Daria Lookalikes and A full live action cast.

There seems to be a lot of criticism out there about MTV’s Clutch blog dealing with hypothetical  issues. Personally, i don’t see the problem. At 49, Mike Judge still has the same sense of humor he always did, so what’s wrong with making the movie as long as he writes the script and oversees the project?

Below is my Daria revival outfit, inspired by a challenge set by the fabulous Miss Cookie.

Pinterest Censorship – The Beautiful Rebellion

A question for you; How do you censor creativity?
When you create something, do you worry about your critics? Do you ever worry about creating something that might make a child question what they see, or even potentially scar them for life? (not my words)
Hey, i will never be that cricket on your shoulder and i am certainly not the thought police, but i am interested because pinterest have been doing a lot of censoring of late. A couple of months ago, my friend posted this image:

Like me, she is an artist and comes from a liberal background. Like mine, her parents were hippies and she had a pretty interesting childhood, full of wonderful and inspiring people. My mother was a free spirit who nailed driftwood to the skirting boards around the house, stripped all the walls in the livingroom and painted abrstract nudes with large gentials on the hearth wall. There were framed sketches from her life drawing classes in the hallway. Nudity was never seen as a dirty or bad thing. I remember coming home from school one day and she announced that we were no longer wearing shoes in the house anymore, after she had removed all the carpets from downstairs- the same day she decided to strip the walls of paper and begin her ‘abstract project’. This was not for any religious purpose, you understand, but because she had impulses that simply could not be ignored!

When Laura (her real name) posted this image, she thought nothing of it. I know she had been working on a project that involved this sort of imagery, so was using the site correctly (if there is a correct way to use it). When i pin things to boards in my studio, i certainly don’t think of others judging my inspiration or tastes. Why should i? This is my work and it’s personal. If we all left out the gritty parts, art would be sterile.
A woman, let’s call her Mary, left her a comment simply saying ‘Pervert’. After far too much tooing and frowing, she came to the conclusion that we were filthy reprobates who should be stopped immediately before we poluted the squeeky clean minds of the viewing public. Her parting shot involved us working with starving children in Africa, rather than looking at these pictures and hopefully one day, we would find Jesus. I wish i could post a link, but pinterest deleted the image shortly after the climax of the three day long debate.

I did a quick search to see if anyone else had faced this problem and it didn’t take long to find someone who had experienced a similar situation Censored on Pinterest: Is Kate Moss’s Nipple Really Inappropriate? Megan is obviously incensed about this, and rightly so! I remember both of Kate Moss’ nipples being everywhere in the 90′s and i come from a country where we have a page in a newspaper, dedicated to a woman’s bare breasts – Page 3.

Many art communities have filters. I have been an active member of Deviant Art for nine years now and have seen the community change a great deal in this time. Like any community, it includes those with mild and extreme tastes with members and contributors of all ages. They have a filtering option where responsible artists can put an age restriction on their works if they see fit to do so.
I understand that children may use this site, but there are people who have accounts on pinterest dedicated to erotica. Should they be stopped? I don’t think so, but do you? I am a strong believer in keeping children as innocent for as long as possible, because there are so many pressures on them nowadays and they are expected to grow up so quickly. I am quite sure i will write a lot about that, but for now, i will stick to my subject. Since they are in the early stages of their ‘filtering process’, i decided to contact them about an image that was removed from my account and give my feedback, which i hoped would help. The image in question was Pinocchio’s Face in the pubic region of a man’s body. The concept is obvious and being a tattoo artist, i found it funny, as did a few fellow tattooists. After all, we have all tattooed that funny guy, who had a brilliant concept, which will be the jewel on our portfolio’s crown for many a year to come. This was one of those tattoos. Pinterest removed it, even though there was no actual nudity, the concept was enough to shock. They had been very accomidating up until then and always replied in person. I received a stock email, which i replied to immediately.

I waited for a reply but didn’t receive one and i must admit, i was surprised. In conclusion, i believe they have a great idea and it has become very successful but have maybe their original concept was a little idealistic. I have invested a great deal of time in Pinterest and follow some great individuals, but there is no platform for debate or discussion, apart from the comment box and once the pin has been removed, the comments are removed along with it. I suggested a forum as a solution to all this, but again, no reply.

So finally, can artists and children mix online, are filters the way to go or do you believe that deleting research material without asking the owner should be allowed? Should pinterest have a mother account entitled ‘Things you CAN pin’? Is Pinterest a community about your taste and how long will it be before the things we are pinning are in fact, not our taste at all?