Tag Archives: traditional portraiture for alternative lifestyles

A night at the Circus – Martini Cherryfurter MC’s!

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Martini Cherry Furter at Zum Starken August by Suzanne Forbes July 27 2019I met up with Suzanne in Prenzlauerberg for a visit to the Circus Bar!

There are two circus bars, actually, kitty-corner from each other as we used to say in the Old Country.

Zum Starken August has burlesque Friday and Saturday nights, with an MC like Martini Cherry Furter, above. Toast Hawaii has bands and also something called Pornokaroake which I don’t know what that even is. Toast Hawaii, btw, is a disgusting German dish. Do not google it.

Martini Cherry Furter at Zum Starken August by Suzanne Forbes July 27 2019I’ve drawn Martini before and it is always SUCH a pleasure. She is so beautiful, all glamour and cheekbones and legs and sass. The straight boys she was teasing as I drew this were blushing like little kids.

La Labo Balucia at Zum Starken August Suzanne Forbes Aug 29 2019Here’s performer La Loba Lucía, one of my favorite people in Berlin to draw!

She always looks like a super hero, even doing her gangster routine here. She brought the routine out of retirement just for this night so I was super excited! It was so important to me to be there on this night, and yet I was so sick I almost gave up and went home. Only the support of my friend and fellow artist Suzanne Wegh kept me there.

As a fat, queer, disabled artist, crowdfunded support is the only way I can make this work. 

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The Picture of Lady Barbara: I drew at a play for the first time!

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Achim Kraemer Robert Farrar and Tom Eggert in The Picture of Lady Barbara July 12 2019 Suzanne ForbesI went to Stammtisch in Neukölln to catch a gothic comedy from Farrar Krämer Komedi.

I am not much of a play-goer, but Robert Farrar is one of the cleverest lyricists I know, so I was confident his drawing-room comedy would entertain! The set for the play was ingeniously designed and the venue was as old-school Berlin as it gets, full of character – the house dog has his own chair.

Drawing the actors was wonderful. I loved the range of expressions and the luxurious amount of time I had to draw everyone, especially after Berlin Burlesque Week when I had an average of four minutes to capture each performer! Above, left to right, Achim Krämer, Robert Farrar and Tom Eggert.

Robert Farrar and Zofia Huddon in The Picture of Lady Barbara July 12 2019 Suzanne ForbesI had a marvelous time!

Above, Robert Farrar and Zofia Huddon. Working on these I felt great freedom from my usual pressure of perfectionism. There is a giddy spirit in them usually absent from my work. My art is increasingly political (all art is political) as I have more spoons available to be furious and horrified about much of the world. So it was nice to take a break and draw some comedy.

Achim Kraemer in The Picture of Lady Barbara July 12 2019 by Suzanne ForbesAbove, Achim Krämer in final costume, or nearly final.

There was so much quick change gender-blender dressplay towards the end, it was hard to keep track!

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