Tag / art

If I were an animal, I’d be a bird.  A crow, probably.  There aren’t many birds who actually walk on the ground.  Crows hang out in groups, they communicate, socialize and honestly, I can see they are comedians.  They have a sense of humor.  And what other animal, when gathered in a group is called none other than a ‘murder’.  A murder of crows.  Crows are so rock and roll.

It’s not that I wish I were a crow.  I kind of wish I were panther or dolphin or something other people think is magnificent and regal.  But I’m a crow.  So these are my wings.  For flying.  Bringing me creatively closer to my spirit animal:

graphic design by Stephen Newell

graphic design by Stephen Newell

I wouldn’t trade anything to be 18 again.  Life really does get better and better.

Raw vegan muscle and moxie pin up shoot:

Thank you to the talented Stephen Newell, graphic designer on all finals!

Please support me by voting for me in the Best of Raw Awards 2011 in the “Sexiest Raw Woman” and “Favorite Raw Female Athlete” categories.  Thank you.

It was Kate Magic‘s birthday!  I scouted the Gower St. graffiti location in my brain and snagged Phatteddy to photograph so we could give Miss Magic a birthday gift she’d remember.  The sun didn’t shine that day, ironically, so we didn’t have to worry about getting a burn, but alas, we didn’t have to worry about good lighting, either:-(  Thank goodness for graphic designer, Stephen Newell’s supreme post-production lighting effects – those colors really pop!  My late grammy made those tube dresses for me some time ago – isn’t mi grandma the coolest?  And our sexy pin up shoot on the streets of Hollywood garnered a fantastic audience of construction workers across the street from our location – seriously, these guys were getting paid to do nothing because for over an hour, they were straight up watching us and some even had cameras of their own – how many photographers do two girls need!  Ladies and gents, this is what two healthy, long-term raw vegan bodies look like!  Some of my favorite pics are posted below from the shoot and even a little video I chopped up – yogis, just TRY your standing bow in stilettos!

Our photographer …

Our audience …

More pics from the shoot …

Jovan J of 2JMotion has expanded my mind! This talented professional graphic designer from Chicago designed the animated “Tonya Kay” name graphic you see here. I had never thought in terms of moving graphics before, so I had to really twist my brain to communicate with him on this. And I am so delighted with his work! I added the sound effects after. It’s always a pleasure to work with a fellow vegan in the film industry. Thank you so much, Jovan.

My sisSTAR and fellow raw vegan educator, Kate Magic, blasted into LA from London recently and not only did I get to celebrate her birthday with her, but also got to take her out for a Hollywood Halloween!  She kept saying “I’ve never seen so many adults in costume before!”  Costumes are my life and Halloween my favorite holiday, so I admit my perspective was contrary.  So we’re walking around the West Hollywood Halloween Parade and surprise!  - come across a familiar wall.  We instantly jumped into position to recreate a famous pin-up photo shoot from the year prior – only with different costumes this time:

photo by Marti Matulis, graphics by Stephen Newell

photo by Marti Matulis, graphics by Stephen Newell

I’ve written for Funky Raw Magazine many times in the past and am a big fan of the other articles they choose to feature. Imagine my delight receiving an envelope from the UK today of this quarter’s Funky Raw, only to discover that I am on the COVER as artist, Tracy Villa Carrera’s, “Tribute To Health Heros, Tonya Kay and Medicinal Mushrooms” oil on canvas cover design!

You can download a .pdf or order a print version of Funky Raw Magazine, issue #21 here.

You know the really handsome Asian actor from Heros and Hawaii Five-0? So James Kyson Lee contacts me on my FB Page to ask if I’d perform a role in his upcoming short film, The Ride. I’m of course down, but get this – the director of the film is my long time friend, Dave Schwepp of Dreamsequences, whom I’ve shot many a photograph with, including a few samples below. Now I am totally stoked! This Hollyworld is becoming smaller and deliciously smaller. Please enjoy our performances in The Ride:

photography by Dreamsequences

Introducing a four page sample of my superhero comic screenplay following the super natural lust and adventures of the fruit-eating mechanic hero!  For the full comic book screenplay, contact me directly.

character mock up by Emerald Tokyoillustration by Michael Harris.  ink and color by Emerald Tokyo

illustration by Michael Harris.  ink and color by Emerald Tokyo

illustration by Michael Harris.  ink and color by Emerald Tokyo

 illustration by Michael Harris.  ink and color by Emerald Tokyo

character mock up by Emerald Tokyo

La Brea is the new Melrose. Remember the artists – of the fashion and fabric sort – remember how they dreamed of having a store front to display their designs. Back in the day that was Melrose. Where they could afford it. Where they all found their dreams coming true. And they did and they established a street famous now for the radiant, urban, west coast open air fabrics that decorate many a Hollywood body and every few years, the rest of the country as well.

They made it the center of local fashion and the rent went sky high and the new, young designers dreamed of Melrose openings, while only the established could showcase.

I live in the La Brea / Wilshire hood. The Beauty District. SoHo: South Hollywood. I am drunk and walking home. I live here. There are three noteworthy wine bars in my hood and I walk home from a Masi, northern Italy, Amarone style tasting with my television development partner and see the parking attendant, with his mohawk, reading a book while he waits for the next wine bar patron, like me, probably drunk already upon arrival.

Bless the northern Italian wines.

Graffiti hedgerows, cacti and succulent lawns, a stumble, a stagger – even the industry executives look deeply in the eye and they are real people and I am just a misty inhale, unafraid of … anything. Longing for the intimate adventure and learning everything I know from the community consciousness. All I do is listen. Really well. I don’t watch tv. I don’t read any newspapers. I don’t listen to the radio stations or even watch the Youtube. I listen hard to the people who talk to me and take it in like it was the voice of the Universe giving me vital information.

What is so vital about living? C’mon now. It’s not actually that hard to keep living. Anymore.

I’ve been to paradise where the people don’t need money. The land gives so much food, none would fathom paying a price for a banana. They gift and give and socialize and sit. And there isn’t a lot of work to be done. There is no property to own. I’ve eaten the raw cacao in paradise and I’ve walked the glittering sidewalks of Hollwyood. And the people – the people in both locales are the great variable. They are surprising beyond belief, but all the while predictable. Perhaps we should listen to each other deeper. Looking in the eyes of the executive and wasting time on a chit chat with the native.

My native people – the designers, the artists, the producers, the neighbors laughing every nite – so stoned – watching sports. I love them. I cradle a bottle of Masi Massianco in my arms. A gift from the tasting at 320 South Wine Lounge on La Brea in Hollywood tonite. A birthday gift. Because every day of October is a day to celebrate being alive to me. Happy birthday. No drunk driving. Just a stagger home and a chaser of oj, spirulina and MSM.

How did I grow up a farm town girl in Michigan and turn into the most integrated, authentic wild woman in the majorest of cities? I don’t feel any conflict. I feel every day with my wide open, screenless windows, I am outside. I am in nature. I am with community. I am healthy. I have opportunities. I am stimulated. I am curious. I am in the right place. Give me love, give me music, give me wine. I will do what I must to continue this blessing. Without revision, I offer myself complete. I give and give and receive. I receive, too.

The first man to take an artistic stab at my new short locks! The talented Clay Sheff has featured my likeness in many of his comic strips and retablos. His most recent piece here is a striking black and white with blood red – the Halloween-inspired witch in me is mesmerized. Last weekend was my birthday and I’ve been going through so many changes, of which cutting off my dread locks is only a surface expression. I decided on my birthday that the next year’s momentum had revealed itself to me as LEVITY. Clay seems to somehow known this before I: