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Let me run my fingers through your...

 

July's portrait of the month.

 

This time it's Tenille, a talented singer from North Carolina originally from Brooklyn. 

Since Tenille was going through a transformation in her life, like many women, she needed a small reminder of her value and grace despite feeling ungraceful. I engineered this artistic transformational glamour piece as a reminder of both her inner & outer beauty. 

Outer:

I really exaggerated her naturally curly locks to express the quote “The higher the hair the closer to God” and to give her a majestic regal vibe. The pose and the jewelry push a glamorous look that offsets the nudity in a tasteful way. It’s a glamour technique I’ve learned to deploy while living in Las Vegas and observing the stunning showgirls, specifically from the extravaganza ‘Jubilee” at Ballys. From the 1950’s to the 1990s each major casino had their own spectacular showgirl showcase. Sadly Jubilee was the very last of it’s kind until they closed a few months ago. The space is making room for yet another Circe De Soliel / EDM club thus forever erasing the showgirl culture from Las Vegas Strip. 

Inner:

I also created an “Anahata” heart chakra flower hair piece. Anahata translates to “unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten" in Sanskrit and is the 4th primary green chakra.  It’s considered the wellspring of self-nurturing, love, warmth, compassion, joy and is located in the center of the chest at the heart level.  In addition, I repeated the Anahata behind her in a hypnotic fashion. It fades away in a 1920s zig-zagging Art Deco flower pattern. It was my attempt to represent the importance being present, meditating, and how one zones out during a focused breathing session. Lastly, her curly mane is shaped like a giant heart to push the self love concept as strongly as possible for the days when it’s harder to embrace oneself.

In the end this commission was a cultural gumbo mix of pinup, showgirl, Vegas, 1920s jazz-age, and Eastern spirituality with a sparkly twist of self love and reflection. The title for this particular art piece is “Anahata” or the more fun and corny choice “Let my run my fingers through your heart chakra.”
Enjoy.

-Santi-

So I'm having fun in the Burlesque world.

I've always been a fan of the genre, however never created any artworks burlesque related. However in January I was commissioned by The Burlesque Hall of Fame (BHOF) to create their poster art for their upcoming weekender in June. Being the OCD madman that I am when researching for a new project, I collected over 5000 images of burlesque history. It's no wonder I felt compelled to make this year's "30 days of" art project BurlyQ related. Click images below to see the full series. Enjoy.

"If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing." - Marc Chagall

As the late comedy legend Bill Hicks says. "Play from your F***ing heart!"

Over the last 100 years thousands of artists have tried copy the distinct style of Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha, yet they shortchanged themselves shutting their own uniqueness off and creating from the head.

Our creative spirit is screaming to be set free from it's predictable patterns. It's full of explosive chaos, ideas, unpredictability and get bored easily. Yet we cage that precious energy to fit in, gain acceptance or something worse. As history has shown us, the creative rebels we look up to were the one's bold enough to stay true their unique voice, even in the face of harsh criticism externally or even worse... internally. Sadly, the urge for acceptance is so strong that we numb what our heart is quietly roaring, and listen to the logical mind steering us into the wrong place every single time. Everything we enjoy, Slam Poetry, Wildstyle Graffiti Art, a Tchaikovsky composition, 1950s Knoll furniture design, they were products of the soul, the raw human emotional spirit, not logic. Yes they may have seemed strange and shunned at first, but over time were embraced tightly assimilating into the collective conscious. We get frustrated wih "mistakes" while creating, yet those are the very things that will boldly individualizes us with new styles and patterns of though. MISTAKES ARE YOUR FRIEND! They are actually the raw human experience trying to explode from it's lonely self imposed prison.

Speaking from experience those who enjoy my art are actually looking a collection of mistakes that I embraced over the years making my style more distinct. Yes I often get mad because something is not right and I am not getting my way, but then I stop and ask "My heart is bored and wants to play a new game. What new place is it trying to take me?" So far the answers have never disappointed.

Imagine if Alphonse Mucha tried to be like someone else. Imagine if you tried to be like someone else. We wouldn't have him and we wouldn't have you. There is only one you.

Play from your f***ing heart.

Art: Alphonse Mucha "Princezna Hyacinta"