Live drawing at Peaches’ AV show at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein.

Performance artists at Peaches event at NBK Aug 12 2018 by Suzanne ForbesI made these drawings a year ago, but I didn’t have anywhere to post them til now!

Last August Berlin fave Peaches had an experimental sound and performance installation at venerable art institution Neuer Berliner Kunstverein. I went to this show with fellow artist Suzanne Wegh and ran into other cool folx we know there (drawings here!). Lots of creative performance artists from Berlin’s burlesque and dance scenes were involved with the show, in interesting flesh-colored bodysuits and bespoke pussy hoods.

The vulva heads in multiple flesh tones were made by Anna Marina Fidler, aka Miss Poppy Cox.

Movement performers at Peaches event at NBK July 14 2019 by Suzanne ForbesChanges in US law led to changes this past year in the TOS of the crowdfunding platform for my documentary artwork, Patreon. It is no longer permitted to show (or create with Patreon funding) drawings with nudity or “implied nudity”.

That includes pasties, and the flesh-colored pasties and beautiful handmade pussy headpieces on these performers certainly imply nudity!

Noeline la Bouche at Peaches Art Performance Aug 18 2018 by Suzanne ForbesIt’s hard to imagine there was a first time I drew Noéline la Bouche, because I’ve drawn her so happily so many times now.

But this was the first time, when I didn’t yet know her. I was immediately struck by her beauty and character, and as I sketched her I was confident I could create a good likeness. Noéline has since become one of my real Berlin muses, someone I know I’ll get a great drawing from. This was the first one!

Mad Kate performs at Peaches event at NBK July 14 2019 by Suzanne ForbesHere is Mad Kate being carried through the crowd!

It was great to draw Mad Kate again. The last time I drew them performing, I made the plastic wrap around their torso reflective, so it appeared opaque. That meant I could post the drawing on chipinhead and get money for it. It made me sick to censor their performance, though.

Valentina Demonia performs at Peaches event at NBK Aug 12 2018 by Suzanne ForbesValentina Demonia is always amazing.

She is another absolute banger of a muse, someone who is tremendously exciting to draw.

Performers at Peaches Art Performance Aug 18 2018 by Suzanne ForbesIt was warm and very crowded in the galleries as we worked our way through the crowd.

I was sketching the performers as they moved, yet knowing I wasn’t going to be able to get paid for making the drawings because I couldn’t post them on my Patreon. So most of the drawings languished unfinished, and all of them were unreleased, for a year.

It was a synecdoche for all that’s wrong with censoring the naked human form.

I couldn’t post these drawings of people in flesh colored bodysuits and silicon pasties because they could appear to be nude, possibly triggering a shut down of my funding.

I decided that I needed to get my art out there, even though I haven’t resolved crowdfunding for my sexuality art yet.

I’m a fat queer chronically ill disabled artist, and I don’t believe in working for free.

More, I don’t work for free – money genuinely motivates me to make art. So I need your help to create and release this free art. Keep your eyes peeled for my crowdfunding launch, and meanwhile, you can hand me a Euro if you see me around town. My Amazon.de art supply wish list is here!

 

Portraits of Suzanne Forbes by Libby Bulloff, June 2009.

Suzanne Forbes photographed without glasses by Libby Bulloff Seattle June 2019Ten years ago I posed for photographic portraits by Libby Bulloff at Starfish Studios in Seattle.

Libby is an incredible artist who I met and drew through the Steampunk “Contraptors Lounge” at Maker Faire in 2008. Her photographs of the early days of Steampunk are exquisite; she defined the look of the movement. She has always been genderfluid and gender-affirming, and has extraordinary personal style.

Suzanne Forbes by Libby Bulloff June 2009In June of 2009 a portrait client flew me to Seattle to paint him with his mother, and I stayed with Libby for a few days too.

We did one of the many art trades that have enriched my life.

Suzanne Forbes by Libby Bulloff June 2009

She photographed me, and I painted her, and it was lovely.

It was important to me to have images made of my beautiful breasts, as I was 42 and knew they wouldn’t last forever. (They’re holding up great though!) Libby was kind enough to oblige even though like me, she prefers her subjects with clothes.

I had had my breasts cast by a Burning Man artist at 34, and I had been posing nude since I was a girl. I first posed for nude photos for my lover Q, who went to Art & Design, when I was fourteen. Those photos of me nude, dancing to the Grateful Dead with a rose in my teeth, were shown in the hallways at Art and Design in 1981. Nudity is a historic part of artmaking.

Suzanne Forbes by Libby Bulloff black and white June 2009I had such a safe and happy time posing for Libby. I knew I could trust her completely.

I absolutely believe it is 200% good to pose nude if you want to. For love, for money, for fun, for art. Nudity is beautiful when a being freely chooses to be naked. So is having sex on film, for fun, for art, (or for money, or all three!) freely chosen. I had sex on film when I was nineteen for a RISD student’s art project, but the film was destroyed in an act of censorship by the lab, sadly.

Subtexture Suzanne Forbes by Libby Bulloff June 2009Libby called this one “Subtexture”.

My batwing coutil corset was custom made by Shaerie Mead of Lovely Creatures Corsetry and SEW LA, as part of another art trade.

All Rights Are Reserved on these photos, which belong to Libby; she holds the copyright and you may not download them to print as you can my own art on this site*. Libby still lives and works in Seattle, and is still making portrait art.

You can enjoy Henrietta’s Eye, an extraordinary collaborative art project by Libby Bulloff and Stephen Robinson, here.

They make breathtaking wet plate collodion & alternative process photography images of individuals, couples, and groups. Their work is diverse, inclusive, and deeply moving. In or visiting Seattle? You can book your own portrait session. Buy prints from Libby and Stephen here! Or just give her a tip to help them keep making small-business, one-of-a-kind, bespoke art on antique equipment.

Here’s the portrait I painted of Libby in 2009!

Portrait of Libby Bulloff by Suzanne Forbes June 2009

*It’s much easier to control the print quality of a line drawing than a photograph. I’m confident you can print a nice quality print of my drawings on your home printer and I’m happy for you to do that to hang it up in your home or put on a t-shirt.

However, getting a high-quality print of a photograph is actually part of the photographer’s art, and it’s a complex process most photographers prefer to administer themselves.

That’s why buying photographic prints from a photographer is a great investment, and I don’t sell prints of my drawings. Also, I hate shipping things much more than most people because OCD.

If you want to see my tits while I’m out drawing, ask politely and give me a Euro (for the trouble of undoing my bra/corset/whatever). They’re tits! They’re nice! I live in Europe, tits are tits!