Ooooh, Purple!

Please repost for Iran.

2009-06-18T05:30:18Z

This from distaff_exile who reposted from someone else.

If you are reading this right now, you have more luxury than someone in Iran could ever hope for right now. If you are watching TV or a video on youtube, updating your status on Facebook, Tweeting, or even texting your friend, you are lucky. If you are safe in your home, and were able to sleep last night without the sounds of screaming from the rooftops, you need to know and understand what is happening to people just like you in Iran right now.

They are not the enemy. They are a people whose election has been stolen. For the first time in a long time, a voice for change struck the youth of Iran, just as it did for many people in the United States only seven months ago. Hossein Mousavi gained the support of millions of people in Iran as a Presidential candidate. He stands for progressiveness. He supports good relations with the West, and the rest of the world. He is supported with fervor as he challenges the oppressive regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

On Friday, millions of people waited for hours in line to vote in Iran's Presidential election. Later that night, as votes came in, Mousavi was alerted that he was winning by a two-thirds margin. Then there was a change. Suddenly, it was Ahmadinejad who had 68% of the vote - in areas which have been firmly against his political party, he overwhelmingly won. Within three hours, millions of votes were supposedly counted - the victor was Ahmadinejad. Immediately fraud was suspected - there was no way he could have won by this great a margin with such oppposition. Since then, reports have been coming in of burned ballots, or in some cases numbers being given without any being counted at all. None of this is confirmed, but what happened next seems to do the trick.

For more information:
PICTURES:
here and <a="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi1388/sets/">here</a>
NEW INFORMATION:
Here - near constant updates
Here - ONTD_political live post
ON TWITTER: REDACTED due to security concerns

دنیارابگوییدچطورآنهاانتخاباتمان دزدیده اند
Tell the world how they have stolen our election
________________________________________________________________________

Times like these, I am so glad I live in a country where my vote still counts. However imperfect things may be right now, it feels like we're actually slowly moving in the right direction. Others may not be so fortunate.

A little time out.

2009-06-13T07:18:19Z

Went to this lovely French restaurant right across the street from the Goddess Store tonight. Nummy from appetizer to desert, and I really enjoyed the decor. Was also wearing my new hardware and faux leather platforms--which are arguably some of the most comfortable super high heels I've ever worn.

An incredibly sweet person included me in their SuperCon report, with a picture and a pimpastic link. Thank youuuu. <3

Speaking of sweet people, thank you to doortoriver for snagging my username during the great username rush over @facebook tonight. I couldn't make it back home at midnight, and it appears 500,000 usernames or some ridic number like that were recorded during the first 15 minutes. Therefore, my facebook url now is: http://www.facebook.com/purpletophat :D

SuperCon!

2009-06-09T06:10:53Z

Woo, I woke up at 1pm today :) Guess I was tired, and it's no surprise. Florida SuperCon was a success I didn't expect, and a wonderful experience all around. I got to sell things, network, run around being a weirdo as well as making new friends (*waving at silvertales*). It was also the first con that my parents attended, and I'm glad they saw me, er..thriving in my natural element. XD

The venue: the Double Tree hotel in Miami. It's been raining for days on end, btw...

Inside the dealer's room. This con is about 1/3 the size of MegaCon, but it's growing.

You know what I love about set up this time? I have my custom boxes, my grid panels, my routine is set...I just love the new banner addition. I needed something eye catching from afar, and the banner really does it.

My sister Loan was my partner in crime, once again.

My right side neighbor Cayce is an awesome multi talented artist. She's currently working on this adorable comic called "Stanley the Snowman". She put together a fantastic little sculpture that had people stopping and staring. Look how cuuuute:

Really kick ass, versatile artist. I am inspired!

My left side neighbor Arthur, who's equally brilliant, and clearly out of his mind.

Seriously.

Celine!Sandwitch. With Megan, who has the prettiest green eyes I've ever seen. ~~Would have asked to take a picture of them if that didn't come across as irremediably creepy~~

Super cute AxelxRoxas. XD

Oooh, Walter!

The infamous spoiler tee.

Awwwww.

V. pretty people stopping to browse at my table. :3

A Florida con just wouldn't be the same without Ken. Speaking of people stopping at my table, teilea sent one of her ~~minions~~ friends to check on me ~~woman, just how many people in FL run around doing your bidding~~ and get new stuff for her. That was cool. ^^

I r scared.

Visiting Yaya at her booth. She's wearing her lovely wings and mini hat creations.

Taken while she was being interviewed. I liked the angle and the mini top hats.

Oh, twitchylizard, what are we going to discover about one another next?

:]

My neighbors' constant doodling inspired me to do the same, so I spent some time sketching what I believe will be my next color piece.

Or something. No nipples, this time. ~~SORRY. YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH A FURRY ASS SHOT~~

Bed now, as I've got work tomorrow. ^^

Well, hot damn.

2009-06-04T06:00:42Z

I can haz real banner now. <3 <3 <3

Get up, get up.

2009-06-01T19:32:40Z

A quick look at my calendar tells me I last updated about a month ago. Let me assure you that I'm very much alive and more or less well (if you don't count that one time where I thought my teeth were in danger of falling off in mid may--long story, my teeth are actually okay) and getting ready for the insanity I know my life is going to become in the next few months.

On the work front:

1. Con time is upon me again and I'm going to be at Florida Supercon's artist alley this upcoming Friday and weekend! Is anybody else going? I hear Bruce Campbell and that dude who plays Viktor Krum will be there :)

2. Time to get this train under control again. Commissions are closed until August 2009, so I can finish all previous projects, make people happy and move on to the next thing.

The last commission I finished was a rush order completed in March, for koudelka's wedding. Her fiance made the super sikrit order, plied me with pictures and I prayed I wouldn't screw it up. Thus:

A watercolor commish this time.

They had it sitting with the cake. :3

teilea, I have absolutely not forgotten about you.

3. On a sadder note...Lipstick Lingerie had to close its doors on May 24th. I know--I'm sure the store would have made it through the recession if it hadn't been so young--it certainly had the necessary appeal and a growing clientele. However, the decision was made. While it left a little hole in my heart, I'm better for the experience, since I got to meet, play and work with Naydi.

ILU, Naydi Santana. This is far from the end.

Life and other things:

1. I'm about to do something a little nuts. More on that later.

2. In anticipation of said nutty something, Jeff had me over for a couple of days at his place in Miami, so I could regroup, breathe a little, and draw on top of a building listening to awesome DJs while gazing at the South Beach night skyline. If I hadn't made this fact obvious before, I must say it again: I have, like, the best coworkers in the history of ever.

The streets don't look too mean here but as always...

..we fight crime.

The Batcave is above ground ~~so technically not a cave~~ and I know there aren't any palm trees in Gotham, but just go with it, okay? ~~Gods, Jeff, you must suffer so living here, I don't know how you do it.~~

In the unlikely event that the super hero gig fails, we'll open a restaurant.

Oh, EMO.

You know you wanna sit with us.

This is where Jeff DJs whenever he has the time. Yeah, I know. It actually does look that amazing--you're sitting all the way on top of a building overlooking Lincoln Road, Miami sprawling beneath you. My camera's kind of dying too so I'm really happy with how this pic turned out.

They sometimes have parties here, and the place gets packed. That night, however, we were all of 6 or 7 people. Feeling like a VIP's niiice.

Laura and Cool-Dude-whose-name-I-don't-remember at the helm. I sat there for hours, listening to them playing dubstep, drowning in bass sounds and feeling the breeze on my face. Most relaxing thing I've done in a long time.

My table against the pillar.

Hmm. Doodledoodle.

I've no idea what he was trying to do. It's a common occurrence.

But I'll tell you what I know he did: give me the break I couldn't give myself at the time.

3. I saw the new Star Trek movie twice. Yeah. It was that good. I hadn't seen such a concentration of hot and badass in a movie in a long time, and I might as well come out and say that I've become a Spock/Uhura shipper overnight. OH NOES, like I even have time to draw fanart about cool aliens and their headstrong human women these days. Not fair. Stop being hot and chemistry laden, you GQ mofos. That goes for you too, Captain Kirk. Argh.

4. This. On repeat, in my ipod. I bought the studio version, and it's a piece of art.

And I think we've more or less covered the past month. I gotta get my show ready now. :D Aaah, the days where I'd freak over a three hour art walk gig are long gone.

No, not dead, and somehow, I ended up on TV.

2009-04-30T01:15:49Z

So my life has been a little crazy insane of late (actual relevant info forthcoming in next posts, I swear XD) and I haven't updated in a month but--I've just been informed that my artwork briefly appeared in the 3rd episode of an LA crime show called "Southland".

Backtracking in order to provide some background on this: lingerie store Bizzy B of Hollywood in CA

ordered a couple of big prints from me last year so they could put them up in their fitting rooms.

Next thing I know, the whole thing ends up on NBC. Okay, so it's not like the camera focused on my art specifically or anything, but as doortoriver tells me, this really was a directorial choice. My stuff was deemed appropriate enough to hang there in the shot. T__T

Episode link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/69629/southland-see-the-woman
You can catch glimpses of the three prints between 16:50 and 17:40. This segment appears to be about a transexual who works in the store and is being harassed by a couple of unsavory individuals. The cops try to help.

Upper left corner. Violet, Rose and Indigo.

Clearer shot :)

The shot actually took place in the store right next door to Bizzy B, as it is owned by the same people.

Thanks to ojouchan for the heads up, and for sending my butt over there in the first place. :3

WHEEE.

2009-04-08T00:16:01Z

Happy Birtday to soldurios!

Today also coincides with a rather momentous (if all too brief!) episode of my life, which is the second anniversary of my first solo art show (speaking of that, soldurios, that 2007 birthday snakie sitting on your shelf? Was drawn during that show :D I believe there's a picture of that somewhere...) at Enchanted Deva's, with Captain keltickalypso at the helm. :D Aaah, good times.

HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS.

2009-03-19T03:02:59Z

I was just informed that I was selected to sit in Artist Alley @ Comic-con in San Diego. YES, THAT ONE. Their 4 day memberships are already sold out.

Also, many apologies to all for the radio silence. I'm finishing up a tightly deadlined project and rushing to complete the next commission whenever time allows (teilea, that would be yours :D)

Johnny Depp p0wnage.

2009-03-12T16:36:40Z

With added bonus of C. Bale. This is so on. And I'm glad to see Marion Cotillard getting roles. :)

MegaCon 2009 photo post 2/2

2009-03-05T20:19:25Z

Post #2 for MegaCon 2009! This post features pics of my lil 4 foot table, friends old and new, and other tidbits from the con.

I must say I was nervous at the thought of attending any artist alley, which may be why I put registering off for so long. Now that I think about it, I have no idea what I was worried about. I emailed the very helpful con's assistant director in late december, and she informed me that they only had 2 half tables left. I took the plunge...and here's what we have so far:

+Made up for table cost.
+Made up for Loan's ticket cost.
+Made up for hotel room cost.
+Made up for other trip costs.
+Made a little profit.

Oh gods. I'm so happy and grateful for all my customers, I can't even say.

What, you're surprised I took pictures of my hotel room? :D The wee sitting room sure came in handy for preparations...

Loading docks!

Loan at my as of yet empty table on Friday morning.

Artist alley, early in the morning...

...and during the day.

Behind the scenes. :D

Various angles of my little corner of the con.

My "office" space. Extra prints in the suitcase and boxes underneath the table. I nearly sold out of a few items, and I had brought a LOT. *_*

And now last, but not least, the pictures of people who made the con such an amazing experience. I wish I could have taken a pic of all my customers as well, but hey, I know a few people took pictures of me XD

With Loan, sister and partner in crime :D I'm so glad I did my first con with her.

Deanna! It was an absolute pleasure meeting her. I'd seen her work online before, but had no idea she'd be in Artist Alley too. You can friend her on LJ (deannadavoli) or go to her site!

With Paola, owner and operator of the fantabulous Pink Ghost store in Fort Lauderdale. They sell my stuff there too. :)

Hans is mah buddy. <3 He used to help me out with paper back when he was working at Pearl's, and he's now taken a dive into the world of freelancing.

The incomparable and lovely crevette. Talk about someone you've sort of known online for years but never actually met in person. I had a lot of fun hanging out with her and her family (and her many friends whose names totally escape me now XD). Her patronage was also much appreciated :)

Ken and Kitty! Ken used to work as a zen tea master next door to my store at ze Malle. Hope the shea butter helped with Kitty's new tattoo...

My con experience certainly wouldn't have been the same without my wayward tablemate Alpha. Thanks for being late everyday and lending me your table, dude :D Seriously though, man has mad skills and I wish I could draw as fast and neat.

animiko came to see me at the end of the con on Sunday and we got to hang out for a bit. She won first place for best cosplay too, I wish I could have seen it because she's a top notch cosplayer.

Speaking of talent coming out of one's ears...I got to hang out with Jasmine, whose art I'd been admiring for a long time. Love her outfits too and I couldn't stop myself from buying a small print of hers. :D

I had no idea where to put this, but I knew I had to add it to this post because, LEGO, man.

And it's a wrap. As I'll never forget my first solo show at Enchanted Deva's, I'll never forget my first table at MegaCon's Artist Alley.

*goes back to woooork*

MegaCon 2009 photo post 1/2

2009-03-05T18:49:23Z

I'm baaack. :D

MegaCon was a blast and I can't believe how much fun I've had there--perhaps because it's the first con I went to not as a cosplayer but as a vendor. I felt so NAKED. lol. As one might expect, I took three million pictures even though I spent most of the con time sitting at my table. This first post features general con pics and cosplayers.

And here it starts. At least for attendees. I came in through the back, as you'll see later.

Yes indeed, here I am :)

Not quite the same attendance as Anime Expo, but that crowd was still sizable.

Five minutes before those doors opened on Saturday, as the announcer counted down minutes, you could hear clamors and stomping right outside. My sister was in the lobby before opening and tells me the line was about a mile long. Jeebus.

This just looked cool. What an amazing costume.

I totally dug the headgear. That lovely lady made everything herself too.

I saw a couple of nifty bondage looks.

That Luna was totally entrancing. Also, well done, Ginny.

Heee. Venom vs Indiana Jones.

Saw Heath Ledger ALL OVER THE PLACE. Good job, this particular version of the Joker has become as iconic a cosplay as Jack Sparrow (pardon, Captain) did a couple of years back.

Nurse!Joker.

And a really neat shot in addition to being a great crossplay.

twitchylizard's fabulous steampunk outfit. I so need to get on that train, man.

Zombies at mah table!! I don't discriminate. :D The Undead are welcome so long as they don't try to take a chunk outta me.

Moar zombie action.

Aaand that was just plain disturbing. There I was, minding my business at the table when I heard a fleshy thump not a few yards away from me. This dude had been carrying this fake mangled body up and down my aisle and I hadn't even noticed until then. XD

And in a distinct 180 we have cute sparkly pretty Ariel! I mean, this is Orlando, home of many things Disney after all :)

Their take on the Madhatter and Queen of Hearts was adorable and whimsical. ♥

I don't even know where these guys are from, but they were way too cute to pass. Here with my sister Loan.

This was just the shit. Awesome job.*_*

Second photo post with artist alley and friends pic up later today!

:D

2009-03-01T13:05:16Z

Last day. Off to the con center now!

Wheeee

2009-02-28T13:18:37Z

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO isako

Day 2 of MegaCon. I hear hordes of rabid fanboys and girls are heading this way. Good thing I managed to sleep enough last night <3

ALSO. Everything is BUY 2 GET 1 FREE at mah table. And a free notecard with every $20. [ /marketing]

*hugs all* *runs to breakfast*

MEGACON HERE I COME.

2009-02-26T20:42:38Z

I've barely slept, but I'm all set and ready to go! Anyone wants to see me, I'll be in Artist Alley, Brown section, table 1A :)

MegaCon starts tomorrow!

3 DAYS TO MEGACON!!!!

2009-02-24T05:30:32Z

Still printing, oh gods. I have no idea what's going to happen but I'm spazzing out like a spazzy mad thing. Also, I'm working on completing my display. Not too bad, considering that they're essentially glorified cardboard boxes with laminated paper taped on them:

An earlier design, without the logo.

I've had virtually no time to sit down properly and draw, so I had to make do with my wee sketchbook at the restaurant the other night. Say hi to teenage!Joss. Joss is one of my favorite original chars. Ties weren't actually around back when he was 17 years old, but I was doing an exercise in alternate universes. (yes, isako, he's sporting Sven!hair.) He grows up to be huge and bearded. :]

One week to MegaCon!!

2009-02-20T03:49:36Z

I am printing prints like a mad thing. So far:
-120 notecards
-50 11x14 prints

My business cards just arrived today! All 1000 of them. They're beautiful and professional looking and durable. Bye bye do-it-yourself business cards.

Lookit that pretty semi-gloss.

Also, have some random Moka love:

I just can't handle his cuteness, really.

Week in randomness.

2009-02-09T07:22:42Z

1. I got my MegaCon pro badge in the maaaaail. It's really official now, I'm going. Time to make prints. :D

2. Purpletophat.com has been updated with "Sanctuary". Check out the sweet fancy updates doortoriver made to my shoppe pages.

3. So to reward myself for not having lost it during the Holiday season or given up on everything else, I went shopping. More specifically, I let myself buy the two items I'd been drooling over for a while.

and

which I picked up while hanging out with my sweet coworker Lindsay over at World Market. I love World Market.

4. Last Friday was Lipstick Lingerie day. A nice man bought three medium prints while I was there, and we immediately put one print of "Sanctuary" on hold for someone else. Speaking of that, here's the display as of February 2009:

And allow me introduce you to Nikki, who's the fiercest puppy evah. She sleeps a lot, drags furniture around and flops on people all day long. She's also great for breaking the ice with shy customers.

Flopped on me.

5. Okay, can people just stop calling Christian Bale a crazy douche now? :( It's really kind of pathetic how the media have to rehash wank from last year and try to pass it for something recent. Not only that, but the whole thing was taken out of context ~~kind of like "zomg he beat his mom!" vs. yelling at family members who were insulting his wife while trying to extort $$ from him~~. Could he have handled it better? Sure. So he lost it. Tell me you've never lost it. But I'll let this do the talking for me.

I know, I know, I probably shouldn't care but I'm still fairly idealistic when it comes to artists whose work I like XD

ETA: Because it takes high class to apologize, no matter what anybody might say about it. http://www.cinematical.com/2009/02/06/christian-bale-apologizes-without-dropping-the-f-bomb/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbkziDbnCsI

Art post: "Sanctuary"

2009-02-01T19:19:47Z

Working title was "Cocoon", and I've been working at it on and off (well, mostly off...) since september 2006. O_o; doortoriver says that it represents my growth--perhaps she's on to something.

I believe I was sitting somewhere at the mall when I doodled the wee thumbnail sketch, a few weeks after purpletophat.com opened.

Eventually, this turned into a bigger sketch in the following year. I know I started coloring it early in 2008, but I then left it aside for I don't know how long, until I resolved to finish it for my birthday. Okay, so I kind of missed the date by two weeks, but at least it's done. ^^;

I feel pretty awesome now and am going to take a little break to cook something. And maybe head to one of the stores with new prints. Then it's back to work, because it's not like these commissions are not gonna draw themselves. XD

PS: Prints of "Sanctuary" available soon on the site, that goes without saying.

Ayeeeeeeeee

2009-02-01T03:02:05Z

OMGs you GUYS. I just finished painting "Sanctuary", formerly known as "Cocoon". I am besides myself. DONE. AT LAST, DONE.

*runs off to copyright* New art post SOOOOOOOOOOOOON.

Happy Birthday Tess. Happy New Year to the rest of ya.

2009-01-27T03:00:14Z

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO koudelka

With SPARKLES. Happy Birthday bb. Don't get too drunk. ;*

Oh, also, Happy Chinese/Vietnamese New Year to all who celebrate it. Chuc Mung Nam Moi everyone!

*goes back to actual painting work*

Sketch of the day and stuff.

2009-01-22T06:18:59Z

I showed Paul Potts videos to my dad tonight and it made him all misty eyed--in a good way.

So. First day in, and rumor has it that President Awesome is hard at work in his office, while finding the time to do things like re-take his oath. I'm torn between paranoically reading the news and being excited, and spent some time re-watching the first dance at the inauguration ball. LOOK AT THEIR SCHMOO FACES. Awwwww. And ~~Sasha Fierce~~ Beyonce looks like she's this close to crying. AWWWWWWWWWWW.

Speaking of people in love, here's my random sketch of the day:

In conclusion: people in love make me happy inside.

So I turned 30 last Friday.

2009-01-19T01:46:11Z

Effing awesome, if I say so. I'm now officially smarter, tougher and more talented than when I turned 20 (which really isn't so hard to do when you think about it, but...heh). My hair's also way better. :p

Thank you to everyone who texted, myspaced, facebooked, emailed messages! ILU :D

soldurios, your present continues to make me giggle. doortoriver, thank you for the virtual pooh bear. isako, check yer email! (I know, I know, summer photos forthcoming, I haven't forgotten...)

Speaking of birthdays, queen_lily_rose, your present is still in my car. Must get it to you somehow. Must hang out too!

Tweets for Today

2009-01-17T06:45:15Z

Daily brain chatter.

13:07 Today, I turn 30 years old. Yeeeah baby. #

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Tweets for Today

2009-01-14T06:18:55Z

Daily brain chatter.

11:53 "You're the Oriental girl who helped me the other day!" ..actually, it's kinda cute, in a colonial way XD #

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Tweets for Today

2009-01-13T06:16:34Z

Daily brain chatter.

12:57 Awwww, just got a lovely package in the mail from the Fairy Godfather himself.... ♥ #
13:22 Things that make me happy: looking at the piece I'm painting and knowing it's good. #
13:22 Things that make me happy: Having a Plan, and following it. :) #

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