An unexpected friendship w/ legendary model, Masuimi Max!

I clearly remember magazines sitting around my first apartment with Masuimi Max on the cover. The late 90’s, she was amongst my favorite models. Masuimi had been forever immortalized by the incredibly pinup painter Olivia De Berardinis. I paid $130 for a box of collectable Olivia cards when eBay first became a thing, and some of my favorite paintings of Masuimi were amongst them. 

You can imagine then, the pressure when I was hired by Pinup Girl Clothing some 14 years later to shoot their “Sisters Of Fate” look book w/ two outstanding models and Masuimi herself. Quite a career milestone for a freelance artist trying to navigate a turbulent career. 

I should mention, I’m not one to “fan boy” for celebrities, even those who have had a big impact on my life. Having the chance to shoot w/ Masuimi was a massive personal achievement, but the pressure I was facing was solely because the stakes were higher than I’d ever faced as a professional. The location of our first shoot together was Castle Green in Pasadena […which I don’t even want to speculate what the cost could have been], and a beauty team of world renown hair and make-up artists. 

I’d been told by a few mutual friends “…your going to love Masuimi. She’s a huge nerd.”, which turned out to be true. We became friends quickly, as I myself, am a huge nerd. We went on to shoot several more times during my trips to LA. She even was the spokesmodel for an all black and white boudoir event I host every year called NOIR.  

I’ve since navigated my career back to comic book illustration […something I was pursuing in the late 90’s] due to my son starting kindergarten. Less travel and time away from home. I’ll forever cherish the opportunity to meet such an intriguing, multi-talented artist. Our ridiculously geek-centric debates between Windows and OS X, and Android vs. iOS. The time I made her get down in an abandoned well for a photo, and when we were shooting the tiniest latex dress against a beautiful floral backdrop and were approached to leave the premises because it was church grounds. 

I’ll be making it back to the west coast for Viva Las Vegas […this notorious rockabilly convention that happens in the Spring every year], so our paths may cross again. I began working on a zine called “IV”, and did an incredible interview with Masuimi. The zine hasn’t happened, but with the new found popularity of Steemit, I’m beginning to feel this is an appropriate platform to release the interview. Follow me here, and look our for it in the near future. 

For all things Masuimi Max, visit her website www.badmax.com. Her own make-up brand is available at www.iamsin.com.