More information about RTU: The Ridgewood Tenants Union (RTU) was founded in 2014 and is an all-volunteer, tenant-led and independent anti-gentrification group whose mission is to grow the power of tenants in Ridgewood to collectively fight displacement. We work towards our mission by door-knocking to inform tenants about their rights, holding monthly tenant assemblies, organizing tenant associations, holding know-your-rights trainings, creating neighborhood-wide campaigns, and working in coalition with other housing groups in NYC. One of our current campaigns involves building up opposition against Avery Hall Investments’ proposed 24-story luxury tower at 1590 Gates Ave, the site of our community’s Food Bazar Supermarket. This luxury tower will further increase rents in a neighborhood where so many of our neighbors are already rent burdened.
That illustration I did of that damned Art Basel Miami banana will be part of the exhibit. When so many people are starving, some art collector brought a banana duct taped to a wall for $120,000. However, in a case of turning lemons into lemonade, I’m glad my work can go for a cause I fully believe in. My framed print will be available for purchase. The best part is you don’t have to worry about being upstaged by a “hungry artist.”
Heads up. Busy upcoming weekend in NYC. If you’re in the Ridgewood, Queens area, then check out the first ever Ridgewood Open Studios. I will have a painting on display as part of the Lorimoto Gallery group art exhibition.
 All work exhibited is for sale.
Lorimoto Gallery: 1623 Hancock Street, Ridgewood Queens NY 11385
So Brooklyn Open Studios just passed – and I was very lucky to be part of a group show, if you read the post prior to this. Now there’s going to be the first annual Ridgewood Open Studios. While Ridgewood, Queens is close to the Bushwick, Brooklyn border, it was about time for Ridgewood to stand out on its own. You can check out the website here.
Flyer for Ridgewood Open Studios, Oct. 4 – 9th, 2019.
Yours truly will have a painting up in a group art exhibit created just for Ridgewood Open Studios, at Lorimoto Gallery. You can also follow them on Instagram.
You can read an article about the upcoming event here.
This is extremely short notice. This Tuesday, July 30th, 2019, I will be giving a small talk about my illustrations and artwork at the monthly Trans-Cen-Der. The event runs from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm. The location is at Brooklyn Fire Proof in Bushwick, Brooklyn NY. There will be four other artists as well, working in all mediums. Admission is free but seating is limited.
Monthly Trans-Cen-Der artist event/lecture at Brooklyn Fire Proof, in Bushwick, Brooklyn NY.
This Saturday will be a busy day. During the day I’ll have a table at the Trashland Zinefest II, located at The Footlight in Ridgewood, Queens NY. Admission is free, the event runs from 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm. I’ll be selling my comics, greeting cards and other items.
Poster for the Trashland Zinefair II, taking place at The Footlight NYC. Located in Ridgewood, Queens NY. Event August 3rd, 2019.
At Trashland Zinefest II, copies of my latest comic The Temptation of Squeaky will be on sale. Drop by my table and buy your own copy.
The Temptation of Squeaky. Latest comic from artist and writer Michele Witchipoo, on WitchesBrewPress. 2019.
On Saturday evening, I will be attending the MF Gallery opening party for their Rocky Horror Picture Show art exhibit. Opening party is from 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm. Costumes and Rocky Horror cosplay is encouraged. There will be a screening of the classic cut film as well.
MF Gallery’s flyer for The Rocky Horror Picture Show art exhibit. Opening party Sat. Aug. 3rd, 2019 in Brookyn, NY.
Below is the painting I did for the Rocky Horror art exhibit. It’s classic Dr. Frank-N-Futer. The mediums were acrylic paint and glitter, inside a refurbished vintage wooden frame.
Painting of Dr. Frank-N-Futer, main protagonist of the classic cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Mediums: acrylic paint and glitter, inside a refurbished vintage wooden frame. Painting by Michele Witchipoo, July 2019. Painting for sale.
If you’re local in the NYC area, then come down to at least one of these events.
This past weekend in NYC was an oppressive, blistering heatwave. It impacted the majority of the East Coast to the Midwest of the U.S. If you were local, and wasn’t impacted by any blackout, you were lucky. Either way we all sweated our asses off. Global warming baby – embrace nature at it’s worse!
But you know…as I’m typing this blog post, with perspiration dripping down my face, the last thing I want to do is talk about this heatwave. It’ll only make me hotter. I’m sure you feel the same way too. Therefore let’s focus on something else; Apollo 11. The 50th anniversary of the U.S. moon landing.
Which leads us to the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week for July 21st, 2019. Posting this sketch early. This week will be a little tad on the busy side.
Psycho Bunny lands on the moon. The 50th anniversary of U.S. landing of the moon. July 2019. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo, on WitchesBrewPress.
If you haven’t read my previous posts, I will be selling my latest comic “The Temptation of Squeaky” at Trashland Zine Fest II. Saturday Aug. 3rd, from 2 – 6pm. Admission free., location in Ridgewood, Queens at The Footlight. Afterwards in Brooklyn, there’s going to be an opening party at MF Gallery, for the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I’ll be one of the artists showing work. There’s also going to be a screening of the classic cult film, costumes and other goodies. Waiting word for a third event on a different day.
If you’re local in the NYC area, particularly Ridgewood and Bushwick, then check out this one day event. Trashland Zinefest II. I’m going to have a table there, selling my latest comic, greeting cards and other goodies. It’s at The Footlight. The date is Saturday, Aug 3rd, from 2pm – 6 pm. Admission free.
Later that same night, come down to MF Gallery for the Rocky Horror Picture Show tribute. There’s going to be by various talented artists, costumes and a screening of the iconic film. Opening event is from 7 pm – 10 pm. Location in Brooklyn. I’m going to have a painting in that exhibit.
Could’ve done the annual Labor Day sketch. However on Thursday I received an email. Last month or so I had entered some contest online. Forgot about it. Then out of the blue I received an email informing me that I had won tickets to see Judas Priest and Deep Purple in concert.
Needless to say, I was floored. Such fantastic news! The only issue was traveling to the venue. The show was at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, which was in Long Island. In the past I’ve always gone to Jones Beach theater by car. Regardless I decided to take my chance taking the Long Island Railroad.
Getting to Jones Beach wasn’t too bad. Turns out there was taxis waiting to take concert goers there at ten bucks per passenger. This cab driver squeezed in five of us in one cab. Everyone seemed to be psyched for the show. During the ride, the other passengers broke out into vocalizing the guitar riff from the most well known Deep Purple song “Smoke On The Water.” You know that riff – “Ta-ta-taaaa/ta-ta da-dah! Ta-ta-ta da-dah!!!” It was something out of a television show or film. Two of the passengers were two men from Mexico, having the time of their lives. One was already living in the U.S., the other was his cousin. It was the cousin’s first American rock concert. Their vibes turned the cab ride into a celebration, as they were a bit tipsy. Yet despite me being the only female in the cab, everyone acted like gentlemen. Then out of the blue, one of the Mexican guys proclaimed “You know what? Everyone here is so beautiful, I’d like to thank everyone for being here – I’m paying for everybody’s cab ride!” Well hey!
I expected my tickets not to have great seating. When I picked the tickets up from the VIP booth, there was another pleasant surprise awaiting. I go to the gate, asking the usher where my seat was. Turns out my seat was in orchestra! In other words, they were floor seats to the left of the stage, near the water. These were not just any ‘cheap seats.’ Their was usher, a slim Asian teen. I had witnessed her the month before during the Slayer show at the same venue. She had been arguing with three loser dirtbags who were in the wrong section. This young (guessing Chinese) lady really held her own pretty well. This time, she not only led me to my seat with a smile, she graciously wiped down my seat. I nearly forgot to thank her due to shock over how good my seats were.
Missed most of the opening act, which was The Temperance Movement. Managed to catch the last three songs on their set. The concert itself was a double bill with Judas Priest and Deep Purple. To be honest, I was there more for Judas Priest. Perhaps it was a good thing Judas was up first. Had Deep Purple gone on stage first, Judas Priest would’ve wiped the stage with them. Not to say Deep Purple wasn’t good, but I’ll get to them later.
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Judas Priest live in Long Island, NY. Jones Beach theater. Sept. 1st 2018
Judas Priest live in Long Island, NY. Jones Beach theater. Sept. 1st 2018
Judas Priest live in Long Island, NY. Jones Beach theater. Sept. 1st 2018
Judas Priest live in Long Island, NY. Jones Beach theater. Sept. 1st 2018
Judas Priest live in Long Island, NY. Jones Beach theater. Sept. 1st 2018
The Judas Priest set itself was mostly classics with tunes from their latest release Firepower. Again, the new album isn’t bad either. It was pretty awesome seeing Rob Halford come on stage on a motorcycle. So yes. Judas Priest ruled.
Towards the end of the set, original Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton joined them onstage. Tipon had bow out of touring earlier this year due to Parkinson’s disease.
The crowd’s age median was a mixture, but mostly older due to Deep Purple. Believe it or not, this was my second time seeing Deep Purple in concert. Saw them live back in 2000, also at Jones Beach. If you’re asking how or why, an ex-boyfriend dragged me to the concert. Again, to my pleasant surprise, I enjoyed Deep Purple more the second time. I suppose this was due to the company I kept then compared to now. Ritchie Blackmore had been long gone from the current Deep Purple line-up, but it made no difference. The band seemed more relaxed without him. If you’re curious, their set list is listed here. Oh, and yes. They did “Smoke On The Water.”
Deep Purple live at Jones Beach, Long Island. Sept. 1st, 2018. Double bill with Judas Priest.
Which leads us to the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week. So instead of doing the obligatory Labor Day sketch, did one with a Judas Priest theme instead. Without further ado, here’s classic Rob Halford in vintage Judas Priest form.
The Psycho Bunny sketch of the week. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo, on WitchesBrewPress. Sept. 2018.
In late October, I will finally do a comic con in Upstate NY. It was about time. So come by, free admission for IncrediCon, Oct. 28th.
You didn’t think I forgot all about my social media shout-outs:
Get yourself some cool stuff on RedBubble, featuring my designs. There’s dresses, tee shirts, notebooks, etc. The notebooks, and the Quentin Crisp tees seems to be one of the best selling items.
Come back next week for a new Psycho Bunny sketch and finally get to post some commission work.
All photos taken by Michele Witchipoo, unless noted.
Craft fairs are common now, but the first one put together by the new NYC collective Rock Paper Scissorswas a success. The collective, based in Queens, NYÂ Â was formed recently to promote local work of artists, artisans and writers in the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs through group exhibitions & pop-ups.
It even received some local press such as QNS.com.
The pop-up Krampus Holiday Fair went fairly well. It took place at The Cobra Club, located in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NYC.
There was a mention about the upcoming Krampus Holiday Fair this Saturday, happening over at The Cobra Club in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Free admission. You can read about the write-up over at qns.com. You can also check out the Facebook invite here.
There will be talented vendors selling various crafts and artisan goods. Check out the Facebook invite for details. I’ll be there selling my handmade tree ornaments, greeting cards and comics. See you there this Saturday.
The Made In Ridgewood exhibit has done so well, the showing has been extended through Oct. 24th, instead of Oct. 15th. So if you’re in the area, check out OUTPOST Artist Resources. I have a new piece in this group art show. The exhibit was originally put together by OUTPOST and Ridgewood Artists Coalition for Bushwick Open Studios 2016.
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