More homegrown artists I just brought to Steemit!
This is the @kommienezuspadt State of the Union, as it’s been a really busy week, work-wise, family-wise and all things Steemit.
*Photo credit @mada
Last Monday, @mada hosted the first ever Minneapolis Steemit meet up! It was a gathering of Steemit users from the Twin Cities [..and a couple that made the trip from Chicago! You can read @anthonyjerrigo’s blog “Minneapolis Meetup Recap and Chicago Meetup Inception”]. Some long time users […relative for a site that’s still in beta, of course], and new users. It was great to walk through the Feral Peasant’s door and hear success stories and insight from how Steemit was six months ago, right next to friends just setting up their accounts. Some of those new users I’ll mention shortly.
Following that, this week I’ve been working hard to launch my annual black and white Old Hollywood boudoir event called NOIR […you can read more about NOIR in my recent post “How creative event branding evolved my photography career!”]. I’ll be hosting the event in Minneapolis next month, and LA this October. The branding, photography and website work is exhausting, but I’ve been making good progress and should be ready to launch tomorrow.
In addition, I’ve been fiendishly working on my entry for @jamieleday’s “Bring Ahe’ey To Life” contest! I was so happy that @jamielefay gave the artists of Steemit this opportunity. I grew up adoring dark fantasy character and concept art, such as Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. I also have some background in character design, as I’ve been doing comic book illustration by whole life, and had a brief stint as a freelance penciller for Wizards Of The Coast in the late 90’s. I was overwhelmed with excitement to find out this morning that I was one of the winning entries! Very humbled to be included amongst so many great artists.
Speaking of great artists, I’ve been hard at work following up with my post “I've officially become a Steemit ambassador!”, welcoming @customnature, @moony, @jezebeljones and @swarddraws to Steemit. Now, I can’t wait to introduce the community to another round of homegrown creative powerhouses!
She’s here! I’ve been friends with this remarkable woman for years! She remained my closest friend throughout the turbulent climate of my time working and shooting in LA, Las Vegas and NYC amongst the pinup community. Artist, designer, blogger, model, style expert, educator. There aren’t skill sets to accurately describe @vintagevandalizm’s talents and achievements! I’ve been saying for the last month, if there’s anyone I know Steemit was made for, it’s her, and she’s finally joined the rank and file. Her blog, www.vintagevandalizm.com has been viewed over a million times; she’s worked for the biggest names and brands in the fashion industry. I couldn’t be happier to have a successful, intelligent, passionate woman of color bringing her signature style to Steemit. She just made her introduction post! Go read it now, “NYC Pinup Girl takes world by storm, one outfit at a time.”, upvote and follow her. You’ll be glad you did!
I’ve known her for as long as I’ve been in Minneapolis! She’s a brilliant artist and painter. She’s one of the founding members of Dim Media, an artist co-op here in the Twin Cities. She does dark, haunting, sometimes sexual paintings embodying unusual fetishes and desires of the human psyche. She’s incredibly prolific, and I can’t wait to see the impact she makes here on Steemit.
Is a close friend and partner of @velveteendream, and I’ve spent many a night with this guy, working on DIY basement and garage art projects, screen printing, drawing and writing stories at dingy coffee shops. He’s such a creative person, and his initiative is always something I’ve been inspired by. Years ago he was telling me about a novella he was frustrated to get printed, and I mentioned Kickstarter […at the time, crowdfunding was brand new]. By the following week when we got together, his site was up and his publishing project was already funded. That’s why I knew he was perfect for the Steemit community.
Bryan is one of my regular art friends here in Minneapolis. I met him by chance at a nightclub. It was a release party for a brand of casual apparel, and I’d done all the illustration for the designs. Both of us being in to photography and illustration, we kept in touch and became good friends. He’s a fellow night owl […like myself], so we still stay out once or twice a week, drawing and sketching till 1:00a.m. when the coffee shop finally kicks us out. He’s a talented concept artist and he’ll make a great addition to Steemit.
Last, but certainly not least is my own girlfriend, talented illustrator, photographer and expressive artist. She’s been stoically watching my involvement with Steemit since I first joined. I could tell she was intrigued, and I finally convinced her to join the community. We’ve been together for almost two years and she’s everything you could want in a partner. She’s incredible supportive, but definitely follows her own path and tastes in her work. We stay up late drawing and sketching in bed together, and with such talent, Steemit is the perfect audience to share her art.
Take the time to give each of these friends a warm welcome and follow. I endorse each of them wholeheartedly, as artists and the wonderful people they are. I still feel that it’s quality over quantity in this new, emerging space, and these folks are the cream of the crop.
Thanks for reading. I post daily […well, usually nightly]. You can follow my blog @kommienezuspadt!
Fantastic:)