Arty Teen
[the early days]Arty Teen
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Arty Teen
Arty Teen
Robert Smith and The Boy [early 1990s, Eden Prairie, MN]
Music influences were my go to muse during my high school years. In my sophomore year I had discovered The Cure, the goth indie band from England. Robert Smith wore black eye shadow and teased his hair up high. In a school art project we were assigned to make a collage portrait. I had great fun cutting up newspapers and magazines layering textures to perfectly create THAT HAIR. In my drawing class I worked carefully on a pencil drawing of the cover of U2's War album which features a wide-eyed fierce-looking child. I sent a photo of my drawing to U2's fan club Propaganda, and they printed it!The Bizzare [early 1990s]
Making your own zine (photocopied magazine) was something I saw talked about in Sassy or in the back of my U2 Fan Club magazine, Propaganda. All you needed was a copy machine and you could make multiple copies of your fan magazine. I was instantly into this idea as I liked to reproduce my art to share. My friend Erin and I were hanging out in "Art Club" after school but soon it was all about producing The Bizzare. Our first issue was all about bananas: poems, stories, pictures, you get the idea. We ended up making seven issues all together, each one printed on colored paper. Color printing was absurdly expensive and off limits so to add a little pizzazz to your project, colored paper was an option. Other topics we covered included: dandelions, socks, noodles, bathtubs, spoons and scissors. The bathtub issue started a collection I never stopped collecting: postcards with a bathtub. It was only later we realized we didn't know how to spell our zine title, but of course we thought the spelling was perfectly bizarre.Smelly [ 1992-1997]
My dedication to the band U2 kept growing and growing and I embarked on a fanzine about U2 which I called Smelly. The name was unusual (a supposed nickname of one of the band members) but my zine was dedicated to the silly and the arty side of the band (or whatever I made up that I thought was funny!). I published 7 issues from 1993 to 1997 and had a couple dozen subscribers who sent me two dollars per issue. Waiting for the Bus (pictured) was one of the first Photoshop illustrations I ever made, The image shows me first in the line for the bus with Bono, Larry, The Edge, and Adam right behind me!Stubby the Frog [early 1990s, Eden Prairie, MN]
In my high school sculpture class, one of our assignments was creating a large-scale cardboard and paper sculpture. I decided to make a frog on a toadstool holding a sunflower. I adored frogs and was a sunflower fanatic. It must have been my photocopy/zine influence, but instead of painting it like most of the other students did with their paper mâché creations, I covered mine in clear coated photocopies of all my favorite things which included giving the frog combat boots, my favorite footwear at the time. My art teacher Joey Terriquez encouraged me to enter "Stubby the Frog" in a regional high school arts competition. I received an arts medal on stage at the ceremony.Arty Photo Shoots [Early 1990s, Eden Prairie, MN]
A roll of film had 24 or 36 shots. I loved to get together with friends and create an arty photo shoot. Two of my high school friends who modeled for me, and enjoyed the photo shoots as much as I, were my friend Anna who grew up to be a performance artist based in Berlin and later my friend Kamia, who loved fashion and makeup and grew up to be a makeup artist in NY and LA.The Dinner Party [July 17, 1992, Eden Prairie, MN]
For my 17th birthday I decided to host a dinner party the Friday after my birthday. I had become a vegetarian at age 16 and wanted to share veggie eating with my friends. The meal I believe was absolute crap as I've never been much of a cook, but the artistry of the event, that's where I get some points. This is the beginnings of my love to curate an experience. I made everyone 'a date' by cutting out celebrity pictures from magazines that they blindly had to pick out of a hat and then pin to their shirt. I had a special dinner table presentation and organized group games after we ate and designed the invitation for the event on our home computer.Prom [May 7, 1993, Eden Prairie & Minneapolis, MN]
To prom I wore a fake grape choker and a black dress to which I added sunflower and daisy faux flower accents. I also wore daisies in my hair and also on my shoes, which were ballet slippers with green ribbon ties. On my arms I wore green long gloves, and a soft purse with more fake grapes. My mom sewed the purse and a basic black swoop collar mid-calf dress I'd seen in a Sassy magazine. I hand sewed on all the accoutrements. My date, my friend Sam, wore a Van Gogh sunflower tie and a big fake spider as a corsage. The whole look was of my design and we contributed a unique look to the suburban Minnesota high school prom of 1993.
In Photoshop, dreams can come true
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