May 2011 – WitchesBrewPress's Blog

You Light Up My Life And Then Some…

Okay, this is weird. The weird part was not ’70s Punk icon Patti Smith singing “You Light Up My Life” on a late 70s/early 80s children show. Not her, nor her choice of song or her choice of appearance.

The guy accompanying her on the piano? That’s Joseph Brooks, who wrote the Oscar winning tune. The weird, and ultimately sad part was, despite the fact that Joe Brooks had composed the biggest selling love song in the 1970s, the man was an accused rapist who just committed suicide earlier this week.

That’s not all. His own son stands accused of murder, currently at Rikers Island without bail. Apparently Nicholas Brooks killed his girlfriend Sylvie Cachay, an up-and-coming swimsuit designer.

A modern day story worthy of Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon book series.

When I was a kid, we used to sing this song during music class.

New York Times article about Joseph Brooks
Case continues beyond the grave
NY Mag article about both Joseph and Nicolas Brooks.

Wikipedia entry about children program “Kids Are People Too”

My Rozz Portrait In Gothic Beauty Issue # 33

Received my copy of Gothic Beauty magazine, issue # 33 two weeks ago. Reason being why I was looking forward to this particular copy of this publication was due to a certain article. Gothic Beauty was reviewing an L.A. exhibit, “Necessary Discomforts” based on the life of Christian Death vocalist Rozz Williams. To tell you the truth, I was only hoping for a small name mention alongside the other artists showing their work.

Imagine my surprise when I opened up the issue to discover this:

RozzPortraitGothicBeauty33 — Cellphone pic of my Rozz portrait in Gothic Beauty issue # 33. May 2011

As it turns out, a black and white photo had been taken of my Rozz portrait, but Gothic Beauty forgot to give me credit. I’m sure it was an accident, but just in case, I sent an email to the editor. Here’s a photo of the original piece, mediums watercolor and ink:

rozzwilliams300dpiILLOWEB — Original Rozz portrait in watercolor & ink, done by Michele Witchipoo. Fall 2010.

Still, it felt odd. Here was a subculture I’d been involved with on and off since I was a teenager. At age 15 I was (barely) attending high school as a Siouxsie Sioux clone. Back in the ’80s, I used to purchase Propaganda magazine with my allowance. This subculture has been an influence, along with others when it came to my artwork. So in a way, it felt as if I had come full circle having a piece I’d created in Gothic Beauty. Validation in a way I suppose.

GothicBeautyCoverIssue33 — Cover of Gothic Beauty magazine,issue # 33. There's an article about the Rozz Williams tribute show, which I had an illustration exhibited.

http://www.gothicbeauty.com/gothic_beauty_latest_news/pre_order_issue_33_3083.html

Anais Nin Quote

…and a good Monday morning to you all. Starting the week out with not just one, but two blog posts.

Actually I’m just playing catch up. Haven’t updated this in a few days.

Here’s a Photoshop experiment based on one of my personal heroes, writer Anais Nin.

Anais-Nin1WEB — Anais Nin. Photoshop experiment, May 2011.

I wrapped the text around her face, with the following quote:

“You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book… or you take a trip… and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken.”
— Anaïs Nin (The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1)