I heading to Chicago for MIR in the first week of November. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to take with me as I’ll have a booth where you can get your hands on some very rubbery art and cards to take home to decorate your den of iniquity or give to that special loved one.

So… here’s the thing. I don’t want to put up in a hotel. Anyone in Chicago want to put me up? Hit me up!

Now, what to pack from my extensive rubber clothing collection?

The Seattle Erotic Art Festival was a resounding success – not just for me personally, but for the event holders as well. Hundreds of pieces entered and 78 sold (with tons of smaller works moved out of the expanded store section at an amazing pace), two of which were my skate decks entered and created specifically for the show. Initially, I was going to do a series of these decks – but I now feel it would be best if these pieces are one-of-a-kind dealies. I skipped out on the Thursday night VIP session and relaxed after my wonderful flight up on Virgin America, only to find on Friday afternoon that both of my pieces had sold before the general public even set eyes on them!

Mixing, mingling, ogling, flirting, viewing and drinking my way through the night catching up with old friends, making new ones, and putting faces with artist’s names I’ve only known of through the web or through comic books. I was riding high on my good fortune and gambled that it would last throughout the weekend event.

Saturday morning brought several of us together for the Intro To Gay Erotic Comics panel at the Sharma Center. Starting only a few minutes late, we quickly filled the room to standing room only bantering about our process and creative approaches to creating what we felt made a good erotic comic book story. Writer Dale Lazarov (Manly, Sticky, and many other great books) lead a spirited discussion with Patrick Fillion (of Class Comics fame) and Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter and Sticky comics) speaking deftly over what little knowledge I have with 3 short stories under my belt. Truth be told, I felt a bit intimidated as my strengths are more editorial and in the pin-up arena, but I’m working hard to change that. The audience had great stories and suggestions that we might take into consideration and I really loved the experience. I’d do it again in a snap! We moseyed over to the gallery show to take in some quieter moments with the art and ventured off to discuss ‘how sausage was made’ (we talked shop) over sushi.

I took in some sights and sounds, did a little shopping, hiking, hung out with friends, fine dining, and even scored a steamy hot commission I’m about to embark upon! This year, I couldn’t be a more happy pervert.

If you are going to be in Seattle for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival ’09 – you might want to make your plans now before it’s too late to get tickets to the event! As always, this is the event of the year not to be missed with all the performances, food, art, films and this year – literature!

Are you interested in making a name for yourself in erotic art and comics but not sure where to start? I’ll be accepting appointments to give you practical advice on strengthening your portfolio and solidifying your brand before approaching magazines, galleries, and other venues. $25 for 15 minutes. Consultation includes free attendance to a Saturday May 2nd SEAF panel on erotic comics featuring Dale Lazarov (wonderful writer of titles such as Sticky, Nightlife, Fancy, and Manly), Steve MacIsaac (comic book artist and illustrator extraordinaire), Patrick Fillion (Class Comics bad ass) and yours truly (you’re here, goofy!).

So if you want a one-on-one with me to review your portfolio, just let me know and make your appointment now! 

On for Saturday May 2, 11:30am-12:30pm at the Sharma Center,

406 Dexter| Seattle | WA | 98109
206-898-5876
www.sharmacenter.org

$25 for 15 minutes (includes panel with portfolio review)
$5 Panel for all others

This weekend was spent entertaining a friend from overseas, showing him the local area and giving him a good taste of what it’s like to live here. We’d been talking off and on for at least 8 years now so when he told me he was coming over – I was happy to give him a place to crash. 

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, showing him the number one reason I chose to live here in San Diego. We started out on Friday at Balboa Park for lunch at the Prado to stuff our faces. We walked off our lunch around the various gardens, including the succulent garden, and chatting about all sorts of stuff. After this we got in the car and did a nickle tour of Coronado, downtown San Diego, Logan Heights, Hillcrest, and Golden Hill.  Back home to drop off the bags, show off the house, relax, and then dinner at Chow Noodle House. We later followed it up with some fun and socializing at the San Diego Eagle.

The next day was filled with rather random stuff – a trip to the Mexican/US border, outlet mall shopping, a trip up the coast to Solana Beach to shop for succulents, and further to San Onofre Beach and Camp Pendelton. Later, we ended up out for a few drinks after a short nap.

We wrapped up this morning with a yummy lunch and said our good-byes and I passed him onto another to take him on his next trip across the nation.

My friends in NYC have called upon me to help them out with the weekends festivities of the leather kind, albeit from the other coast.

I donated a two sets of greeting cards for a raffle at the Gearblast.com / Gearfetish.com party this Saturday the 21st in New York City and I was happy to oblige. The beneficiaries are The National Council for Sexual Freedom, Scarleteen, Sylvia’s Place, Youth Enrichment Services, Leather Archives & Museum and Heritage of Pride.

Also, my very good friend Jake the Barber will be wielding his danger machine at Folsom Street East. So go on over and get your head buzzed, ‘hawked, and high-n-tighted and tell him I sent you. You’ll be able to find him with the 3 foot tall and 2 foot tall banner with the two skinheads shaving the dreads off a punk on it!

Me? I’ll be here moving to my new house.

I arrived fashionably late to the show that had only been underway for an hour and a half. A line of about 12 people formed to pick up their tickets and I was able to march right up to the VIP counter for mine. Little “rockstar” moments like this still tickle me rotten.

Donning my badge and dropping off my jacket and hoodie, I turned to face the crowd and the walls and the lights and the performances. I felt like I was at an energetic political rally – except with kinky people unafraid of their sexuality. I always love the energy of the people at these shows and I always have a great time. Everyone is very accomodating, kind, and all very eager to take in the sights and sounds of the night and that’s just part of what makes the Seattle Erotic Art Festival so great!

At the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, where the event was held this year, the expansive area was easily filled with 1500 people at any given time. The performances took place on a center stage, with belly dancing, burlesque, erotic tango, trapeze dancing, and several bands played while other areas hosted erotic drawing classes, took Polaroid photos of those attending who wanted to preserve the moment, and reenacted other erotic scenes up on stages. To the right, walls were set up featuring the selected artists for this one night event and behind that was the Erotic Art Store, where artists could sell some of their smaller items.

The crowd was teaming with people I knew from previous years, new faces I wanted to know, and the throngs of art purchasers and supporters who were there just to look. I did a slight double-take when I saw my large piece on the front wall! Wow. Talk about primo placement! I couldn’t have been happier.

I took a tour of what was being shown this time around, seeing lots of people’s work I’ve come to recognize like Krysztof Nemeth’s kinky, cheeky and wonderful pin-up girls, Hypnox’s beautifully lit photographs, Jim Duvall’s BDSM photography (and photographer of your’s truly above!), Marie Gagnon’s self-pleasuring painting, Midori’s documentary/peeping photography of sub/dom play, A.V. Phibes wonderful illustration work of pin-up boys, and a new discovery – Kiriko Moth’s gorgeous and sensual illustrations that I looked at over the course of the night many, many times.

And as it goes with every show I’ve been to so far, I had a few very cool moments with people who appreciate my work and what I crank out. I can’t begin to thank those of you who stopped me and bent my ear a bit about what you like, where you discovered your first piece, and making me so excited to be alive! To the guy who lives 4 blocks from the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall who bought a slew of my greeting cards at RockHard in SF, the guy who traveled down from Canada to tower over me and tell me about his tube socks and talk to me about my inspiration, the red-headed punk guy who just kept giving me curious looks all night, and all the people who work the SEAF shows every year to pull it all together to make it work – Thank you. Without your belief in what we do and your generous support, I’d be nothing.

Getting sauced in Seattle is a very easy thing to do. It seems there is a bar on nearly every corner with some sort of drink special going on. Roaming about during the night can easily be egged on by friends, especially when you’ve all shared a pitcher of beer (beers?) and you’ve stuffed your face earlier with yummy sushi segwaying into major happy territory.

On my Friday night, we started out at the Eagle where we met a very sweet deaf guy with nice tattoos. It seemed to be “Bear Night” as everyone seemed to be hirsuit or sporting a beard and we sort of stuck out like sore thumbs and didn’t care. We hung out near the bathroom where a man at the base of the stairs kept stroking his cock through his jeans. I noticed the pitcher J.P. got to share with Aka and myself wasn’t like a mini pitcher, but something two or three times as large, but this could be my clouded recollection.

When we grew bored with this night spot, we wandered up the road to The Cuff to check it out and drink some more, but were very sad to find that we could not drink any more after 2 P.M.! The bartenders informed us at 1:45 that we could only have shots *at the bar* due to some draconian silliness on the books about bars, drinking, and whatnot. We were all rather skeptical of this, but other bartenders confirmed this as well. So we proceeded to down shots. Great idea!

We stayed up once we got home and decided it would be fun to spin records. I don’t think any of us have a future in DJing so the world can rest easy. Before we knew it, it was 5:30 am, we were even more inebriated and danced out.

The morning made for cotton-mouth and a dull throbbing headache.

Fast-forward to Saturday night, after the Seattle Erotic Art Gala, we wound up in a bar again. This time, we invaded Re-Bar where the infamous Bacon Strip night was in full swing. The 1st Saturday of every month is reserved for Bacon Strip – drag, performances, and comedy all wrapped up with a theme and hosted by the lovely and scooterific Sylvia O’Stayformore.

Drink, drank, drunk and Absinthe-infused chocolate (a friend had some) and strips of bacon (totally sanctioned). 70′s porn performances. Striping. Drag numbers. Drunken dancing. Clothing removed. Peeing and other shenanigans in the back alley.

A memorable night if I could remember how we got from place to place! Somehow, me and my two constant companions and fellow trouble-makers ended up on Sylvia’s front doorstep, drunk dialing her until she let us in and finally drove us home.

Back, reinvigorated, and just like I predicted.

Despite the gray sky above Seattle, there is something to be said for the heroin inducing, perpetual melancholy that produces some of the most vibrant hues on the ground ever imaginable. I got into Washington late on Thursday to be picked up at the airport by my lovely, and very dependable friend, J.P. and his (and now my) pal, Aka. Big, solid hugs and some joking made me feel so at home. I’d known Aka from some brief email exchanges and was glad to get to know him in person.

We had some home brewed beer and sat around chatting until 1 am and I went off to bed. We were to rise and shine early in the morning for a trip out to the Olympic Rainforest after breakfast – rain or shine. Stupidly, I left my big boots at home and made due with my sneakers and plenty of layers.

In the morning, I woke with some prodding and the smell of breakfast in the kitchen. Seaweed and tofu scramble (my host is a vegetarian – or “vegequarian” as he eats fish) and it was filling. I also managed to poach some of the tofu-tomato-basil salad when nobody was looking. We piled into the car, chatting and laughing and 3/4 of the way there, it started to rain at a good clip.

I followed the leader and local boy into the woods. He probably could detect that this city boy wasn’t feeling it, at least not yet. I have a bad habit of putting my displeasure – or any emotion – right out there on my face for the world to see. No words needed. I pushed past my skeptic voice in my head and put on a braver face and into the open trails with my companions, sidestepping elk dung (or not in some cases), we went.

I had a sinus infection at the beginning of the week and all this fresh air released the flood gates of snot inside my head. Thankfully, I took a travel pack of tissues with me. Wet, slightly cold, but with my sinuses open, I’d have to say this is the cleanest air I’d ever smelled. Despite the severe wind damage in many parts of the trails (now closed), the Quinalt Rainforest has got to be some of the most breathtaking places on earth. Trees so large, ferns, lichens, mosses, wildlife, and the sound of rain all make you forget you are absolutely fucking soaked. And dirty. Did I mention, muddy? Hours into it, I didn’t mind and the thought did cross my mind to find a really big patch of mud and get absolutely coated with the stuff but I didn’t know if I would be welcomed into the car.

We went down some of the trails that were supposedly off-limits due to mudslides and fallen trees crossing the paths. We wandered for hours in the majestic beauty, sneakers and socks sopping wet, jeans marked with green and brown, my leather jacket and hoodie remarkably dry, and the cold not really affecting my spirit. Something about the whole event made me incredibly happy, alive, and somewhat horny – all reactions I didn’t expect. I even got to see the “World’s Largest Sitka Spruce Tree” which sounds silly, but really is fucking huge. At one point, I was staring into this gap between a root and another root which resembled an opening to a cave. I remembered thinking that this tree must be so ancient seeing more things pass it by while it thrived, the 13 colonies were forming, landscapes changed and presently I’d just be recorded as a tiny band lost in it’s interior recalling that point in it’s life, if at all.

Back in the car, we stripped off some of the more annoying garments thinking about places to eat for a late lunch. For three guys who hiked in some driving rain and hungry, we were awfully happy and even joking. “Hum-Dinger? That sounds like a guy who gives blow-jobs without any teeth!” Driving toward Aberdeen, somebody removed their shirt filling the car with their beautiful smell which acted as an aphrodisiac to the rest of us, causing somebody to remove their willie from their wet pants and smacking it in his hand and some armpit munching ensued. We’re just lucky we didn’t wreck or get pulled over by the cops for horrifying the locals.

We’d worked up an appetite and settled into a diner (not the Hum-Dinger!) for a bite to eat. Aberdeen – The home of Kurt Cobain, a logging community, and an “Irish pub”. We recounted our adventure, talked about all sorts of other things, stuffed our faces with mediocre food, and made plans for that night’s sushi feast and bar crawl. The night had only just begun with none of us feeling very tired.

My piece is stretched on a canvas frame and delivered, thanks to the fine folks at U-Frame-It in Seattle (Thank you, Mr. Randy!) and many thanks to my pal J.P. for delivering the big thing to the Seattle Erotic Art Festival Gala crew for this coming Saturday’s event. J.P.’s a wonderful guy for taking time off to take me all over the place and we’ll probably get drunk and in trouble somewhere, like last time I was up!

I haven’t gotten to see the piece in it’s intended way yet, so it’ll be interesting to see it hung on the wall. If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet for the show, you better get them suckers now!

I’m totally looking forward to getting some much needed relaxation up in the great state of Washington. Familiar faces, friends and places along with new adventures I’m sure that will be had. Thankfully, I pack lightly and won’t need too bring much.

The Seattle Stranger did a column on some of the artists showcased at this year’s money raising event and is a fun read, so check that piece out by Cienna Madrid.

In other news, I’ve just gotten a piece off to the New York Boys of Leather for their Boy Auction. That’ll be on April 5th, so look for the posters and palm cards to pop up all over the Big Apple for the shin-dig down at Stonewall Bar. It’s to benefit SAGE.

I’ll be back midweek, refreshed and happy.

It looks like I’ll be heading up to the great state of Washington for the one day blow out celebration know as the Seattle Erotic Art Festival once again! I’ve been graciously invited to participate because of my past association as a favorite participant. Because this is a one day event, I’m doing a very special and unique piece of work for the show and partially for an experiment.

I’m going LARGE!

It’s going to be a 60 inch by 40 inch print on canvas, limited edition of only 3, and for $599.00 each for this image, Hog-Tied!