"TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS...
Feelin' like a fool, lovin' you both is breakin all the rules!"
once again perched in my daily leather chair at the starbucks on Wilshire near La Brea writing my little heart out.
It's the only escape I give myself daily since being let go from my gig. Part of me is pissed because what "they" did was kinda illegal, but proving it is to much wasted negative energy. Part of me is Happily rid of the bullshit that lived in that office, think I'll go with the glass is half filled image.
Removing my job freed me up to really work on self-publishing my roller derby book . I threw the questions and fears from my brain out into the universe and thankfully the universe answered back in several terrific emails. Who or what are my two lovers, my art and my photography. I can't do both at the same time. Todays self-portrait drinking my chi latte. was a toast to my priorities, the UFO graphic novel will have o wait and the roller derby moves to the head of the line. The birth of spaghettibrains publishing!
The photography part of my brain is kicking in. I got a wonderful email from Ann Bannon one of my favorite novelist and the person who gave me the idea for my photography show opening this sept Queer Culture" at the One Archives here in LA.
Ann Wrote:
Many of us have known for years what a wonderful photographer and
graphic artist Andrew J. Epstein is. Now, with the presentation of his new
show, QUEER CULTURE, at the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, all of us
can celebrate his work. For forty years, AJ has been following events and
people in the queer universe, preserving in his images their celebrations,
their ingenious creativity, their challenges, heroes, leaders and friends.
In his iconic photography, you can trace the rise of confidence and courage
that characterize the LGBTQ world today. Here are the muscle men, dykes, and
divas of the Gay Pride parades, from their early beginnings to today, and
from sea to shining sea. Here are the stars and the everyday folk of the
community.
With his artist's acumen, AJ manages to segue easily from
significant people: Harvey Milk, Robert Mapplethorpe, Edmund White, and dozens more--to significant expressions of gayness: body art, leather,
entwined women, and frank eroticism of all kinds. His portraits can be
thoughtfully considered, both playful and introspective. But he's a master
of the quick take, too: impressions, captured in a blink, that pierce their
subjects' defenses and give us the person whole. In short, this is the work
of a maestro. Many of us--some well-known, some anonymous--take bows in
Epstein's gallery; I'm proud to be one of them. Andrew J. Epstein sees queer
people in all their variety, at work, at play, living their lives, over the
past four decades, and loves what he sees. Viewers will, too.
Ann Bannon
Author, THE BEEBO BRINKER CHRONICLES
Sacramento, July 2009
http://www.annbannon.com/
Art © 2009 a j epstein