The artist and the fighter

These are the pictures from Boobapalooza, the event celebrating my friend’s recovery from breast cancer and the well-heeled social circle who helped crowd source her reconstructive surgery after she lost her insurance in the middle of the procedure.

At the party, someone asked me if I realized, when I designed the shirt, if the “Boobapalooza” part would end up directly over the rack of any busty girl who wore it. Well, obviously! It’s actually sort of problem with some of my designs, which are primarily directly at little girls, but still find an audience among grown women. This shirt doesn’t mind if it calls attention to the female figure.

This party took place in a bar downtown called the Dusty Monk. It’s a small space within a much larger complex, a very Tucson sort of space where there is indoor and outdoor dining, live music, and even some little shops. The room was very loud and the food menu was kind of limited, but The Man told me they had all his favorite beers on tap, so I guess that makes it a serious bar. I spent the majority of the party sitting in the corner with some other introverts, even though I actually knew probably 30% of the people in the room. There were a lot of people in there, and it was very loud.

Yep, they took half a dozen photos and only posted the one where my eyes are closed.

It was nice to see a lot of folks all wearing my work in one place. This picture shows some of the people who bought the shirt, but clearly not all, because I sold about 15 of them. I love that my friend Cindy, in the back on the left, did a classic mod on her shirt, cutting the sleeves off and then (look close) fringing the bottom. It’s so completely retro. I never learned how to do that sort of thing because the last expression I wanted to transmit in the ’80s was girliness, but it’s adorable here. Too bad I didn’t bring the good camera. You can only capture so much light with a cell phone, so the picture’s not as sharp as it could be.

In case you’re wondering, I did get some of those Mardi Gras beads later in the night. It was Boobapalooza, after all.

Boobapalooza is still available from my shop: T-shirts, stickers, and more.