I’ve been here in Portland all week installing the show, with the help of the gallery owners, Kaebel and Merrick!
Also helping is the adorable gallery cat, Manju.

For this show, I decided to do something totally different and eschew digital prints entirely.
Instead, I opted to do a bunch of installation, as well as a ton of mixed media pieces.
Some of these are fairly traditional pastel and acrylic on wood, but others are laser cut wood and plastic.

Today, Merrick and I hung over 100 feet of ribbon around the gallery.

Here’s the press release from the gallery’s blog:

In an art show that can’t be contained by mere picture frames, San Fransisco-based multimedia maven Star St. Germain presents: “Date Lines”. Please join us for the opening reception on May 3, 2012, 6-10pm! RSVP on Facebook, if you like.

Date Lines is 13 mixed media pieces (plus site-specific installation elements) exploring Star St.Germain’s failed adventures in the San Francisco dating scene. Star’s various suitors are represented as silhouettes, faceless testaments to all manner of sexy mistakes. The show is about finding hope amongst the most dismal of interactions–with hilarious results.

Portland!

Please come out?
Here is The facebook event.

The opening is tomorrow:

May 3, 2012, 6-10pm
Sequential Art Gallery + Studio
328 NW Broadway #113
Portland, OR 97209

The show will be up for a month, so if you don’t make the opening, by all means come by during gallery hours:

Thursdays 3pm-7pm
Saturdays 11am-5pm
or by appointment

Hope to see you there!

Why don’t you go Read the article!

Please go look at the other comics that folks made about other awesome bands!

Super duper thanks to James for asking me to participate, and Laura for answering my questions and just generally being awesome.

To those of you asking what happened to my February cover– much like Bill OReilly, I did it live!

I premiered it to a packed house at my Lost Church show on Saturday…and I’m pretty sure somebody got some video. I’ll be sure to post it if I can track it down.

I’ll be posting the studio version in the next couple days, as soon as I can get the thing mastered.

To those of you wondering, I did February Stars, by the Foo Fighters.

I realize, internet, that this is a disappointment.
So, please accept this illustration instead — which was supposed to be the cover for January’s installment. It’s a redone version of this illustration from 2004 or so. I’m not sure that this is the final coloring that I’m going to go with. If anybody has opinions on this, please send them my way.
I’m trying to experiment with more minimal coloring methods.

Soon, you all will have a February track, and the March one won’t be too far behind it!

Dear friends– won’t you please come see my band play?

Corpus Callosum will also kindly melt your face with delicious melodies.

Be there!

<3

Hey there, internet! It’s been a minute.
& I’ve missed you so! Life in Starland has been…complicated, as of late.
That said– lots and lots of good changes are in play and I’m really excited for all the awesome stuff I have coming up to share!
First and foremost– I’d like to tell you about this project.

I haven’t tried to do a yearly project since the Tank Girls Calendar that I did in 2006.
That went over really, really well back then– so I thought to myself that I was way overdue to try to do something like that again. Any attempts to do a 365 photo project or even a 52 weeks project between then and now have lead to complete and utter failure, and as such, I decided a monthly project was as much commitment I could handle.

I also decided that I’ve wanted to work more on recording and music stuff this year, so it was a logical choice to do some kind of monthly song thing!

After tossing some ideas around, I decided to do a cover every month with the name of the month in it.

This month’s is 11:59 It’s January, by Scrawl.

Just in case you’re loading this from a reader, and it strips out the iframe above, you can listen over at bandcamp.

Here are the words if you want to follow along:

January came too soon
Survived the holidays
Without you
But who are you
You are anyone I wish I knew
And tonight I wish I knew
Everyone single one of you

First day Champagne
Old acquaintances are far apart
Tonight Auld Lang Syne means
Leave before the kissing starts

Last year went down the drain
They all do really
Why complain
Drink a cup of kindness (yet)
And say goodbye to our regrets
Ooooh, it’s January
Ooooh, it’s January
Ooooh, it’s January

11:59
8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
Midnight
Was it a good year
Do I really need to know
’cause now it’s behind me forever
It was a good year because it was such a bad year
That this year could only be better

Last year went down the drain
They all do really
Why complain
Drink a cup of kindness (yet)
(And) say goodbye to our regrets
Ooooh, it’s January
Ooooh, it’s January
Ooooh, it’s January

But who are you
You are anyone I wish I knew
Tonight I wish I knew
Everyone single one of you
Tonight I wish I knew
Everyone single one of you
Tonight I wish I knew
Everyone single one of you

It’s January
Everyone single one of you
(It’s January)
Everyone single one of you
(It’s January)
Everyone single one of you

January
(It’s January)
January
(It’s January)
January
(It’s January)
January

This song was suggested by the excellent Douglas Wolk. Thanks, Douglas!
I had previously been unfamiliar with the original, and if you are too, here it is on the youtubes for your listening pleasure. While I wasn’t super into the track, I thought the words were pretty spot on for where I am right now, and so it became the clear winner amongst an admittedly small group of January songs to choose from.

If you have a suggestion for a month-named-song you’d like to hear me do, please leave a comment, or drop me an email!

This January was a huge amount of change all at once.
This month I:

+ Moved to the mission. My house is number 12 1/2 & I adore that so very much.
+ Got a new input device to record with. (MOTU Traveller Mk3)
+ Celebrated Chinese New Year in the pouring rain– throwing fireworks into the street as part of the Chinatown bang. I got to share this with 3 of my favorite people in the world & it felt like the fresh start that I was really needing after all the craziness at the end of last year.
+ Got offered my first solo gallery show in years.
+ Booked a show with Corpus Callosum for March.
+ Bought more furniture than I ever have in my entire life thusfar– new house pictures coming after it all ships to me.
+ Found out a story I wrote and drew for an anthology about 5 years ago is finally going to come out this year.

All in all, despite a lot of transition, this has been a pretty great month.
Here’s hoping the next one keeps going in that direction!

I’m playing a show on December 1st at The Lost Church with my dear friend Myrrh Larsen, and you all should come.

I imagine this set will be full of things you haven’t heard from me in a long time as well as things you’ve never heard before.

Also this is my favorite venue in SF right now, and it’s only got 50 seats!
They assure me that the link for presale tickets will be up at TheLostChurch.com really soon, so check there to see if you can get tickets ahead of time.

It would really mean a lot to me if you’d come.

<3
S

This year for halloween, I was feeling the pressure of trying to top the previous year’s costume.

I had no ideas for weeks, but luckily at the last minute– inspiration struck.

A quick trip to the nearest vintage store later, I had everything I needed to be Frida Kahlo.

If you’ve been reading this blog, and you know anything about Frida, then you know that this is probably the most appropriate costume I could put together.

I went out on Friday with Melinda and Marie, and even won the Cat Club halloween contest.

Can’t wait to do it again next year!

You guys, things have been rough in Starland.

& I suspect they’ll get worse before they get better.

I’m trying though– harder than I think I’ve ever tried at anything.

Here is a cell phone picture of a laptop screen, editing the Show and Tell video.

The raw footage is something I’m really, really excited about.

I’m hoping to screen it at the show we have at The Lost Church on December 1st, which you should come to.

I could really use the support right now.

Things are going to change soon. I’m not sure how yet, but I know that they will.

Here’s to hoping that it’s for the better.

I have about a million things to post about, but I need to take/edit photos, or do drawings for most of them. Also, my to-do list is terrifying, I’ve been sick for a week (that’s a post in and of itself), and I’m going to New York this weekend.

So to tide you over, I thought I’d show you a couple of new prints that I made and sold at APE.

The first is the finished version of the drawing you saw in this post, which just got a little bit more work on it.

This other print, however, is part of a series that I’m working on, based on scenes from the movie Chungking Express.

This film holds a special place in my heart for a bunch of different reasons. I also really love most of Wong Kar-wai’s other films (In the Mood for Love is fucking epically beautiful), but Chungking is the one that grabs onto my heartstrings and pulls.

I have 2 more images to finish this series, so watch for them.
When I finish I’ll probably make them available to buy online.

I’ll have more for you, internets, when I have some time.

So I recently had the awesome privilege of illustrating/designing a book cover for Laurie Penny!
If you don’t know who she is, you should read the things she’s been writing about the London riots.

I had a lot of fun doing this cover– mostly because it let me do my two favorite things: drawing a pretty girl, and lettering type by hand.

Now I have to run off and do more scrambling to get ready for APE.

You can preorder Laurie’s book right here.

Last night was a night not unlike most of the nights I’ve had lately, which is to say I was having a small freakout to myself about not getting enough done.

You see, my dear friend Kenan sent me a message recently, saying he couldn’t make it to the west coast for the Alternative Press Expo next weekend…and would I happen to know anybody who would want to take his table?

So, of course I jumped on it, and I’ll be exhibiting, and that means I’m currently scrambling to get my product together.
I’ll be tabling with the usual crew of Tim & Jeremy.

Also it will be my birthday. So come by and say hi and stuff.

I’ll have copies of All Over The Map, and Instabook (possibly in COLOR?), as well as prints, and OH YES FRIENDS, some necklaces as well.

Necklace merch will still be from the old line, but I’ll have some new colors for you.
All of this will be available online, along with the new lines, in time for Christmas, but if you show up in person you get the goods first.

Anyway, as I sat there having my little freakout, I realized that none of the new jewelry packaging is done yet, and I’m out of business cards, and I somehow lost my box of old necklace packages in my last move.

So I took a deep breath and started sketching, made myself the new logo you see above, and ordered new cards/packaging today.
When I get them I’ll take some pictures and show you.

This probably won’t be my totally permanent and final branding, but I’m starting to get better at just letting go and allowing for things to change over time. I used to be really good at not putting something out there until it was perfect, but the truth is perfection is hard, and I often just overworked stuff until it was totally unacceptable.

I’m taking steps to change that.
It’s a start.

So after the crazy of Burning Man, Tim and I decided that the best thing we could do was go to Napa and do nothing for a couple days. So, we threw Sky in a zipcar and the three of us headed up north for a couple days of Napa, which mostly consisted of putting delicious things in our faces. For example, these epic macarons from Bouchon. The PB&J one was my favorite.

Other noms not pictured: 4 course tasting menu from La Toque– which included the best Riesling I have ever had.
I am the only person in my friend group who drinks white wine. Every time I do it I think of that Tim & Eric Sketch.

We got this fucking epic hotel room, which I wish I had been able to enjoy more. I, sadly, had a comic book deadline, so I spent much of our stay bent over my wacom.
It was HUGE though. Also there was a bathtub in the bedroom. I wish I had taken more pictures.

The next day we visited Francis Ford Coppola’s winery. He’s turned it into a weird museum, showcasing a pretty random array of things. Some of his awards are on display, along with his first edition copy of Ulysses, and a bunch of stuff from the family that owned the winery before him.

Most importantly though, he had a huge collection of zoetropes and magic lanterns. These were actually really cool, and I was somewhat disappointed that they’re at a winery, where one wouldn’t really know to go looking for them.

More than anything, this visit made me wonder what I would do if I had the kind of money and wherewithal to open a museum.
Coppola’s collection was really little more than a bunch of stuff that he thought was cool, and a bunch of his personal history.
I think about this and I imagine putting every piece of sentimental ephemera I’ve ever gotten on display.

Over here is the first “do you like me, check yes or no” note I ever received.
To the left of that you’ll find the entrance to the breakup wing.

Here is my collection of mostly Boston area zines and poetry chapbooks, circa 1998–2003.
You can read them if you promise to be careful.

This is an absolutely terrible idea, so you will never visit, but I hope one day I’ll write some comics that will make you feel like you did.

So, this is mostly for the benefit of all you new people on the tumblr, but it occurs to me that I haven’t done one of these on my proper website in forever either…so here goes.

Hi.
My name is Star St.Germain.
I live in San Francisco in the Lower Haight and I love my neighborhood more than anywhere else I’ve ever lived.
My boyfriend and I live together in a truly excellent flat with a lot of space and an only moderately awkward layout.
I play the cello, and draw comics, and make videos, and make widely varying noises into microphones in front of large groups of people at regular intervals.
I used to teach modern dance.

Like most artists, I have a day job.
I write code for the largest producer of hardcore bondage pornography in the US.
It is the best office job I’ve ever had or could ever hope for.
I work in a castle, and I spent every day on roller skates for the first year or so that I worked there.
Our vision statement is: To be the world’s most recognized and respected company promoting the acceptance of human sexuality.
I truly believe that’s a worthwhile thing to promote.

Right now, I’m feeling really fucking motivated to Do Some Big Things.
My short list includes putting out an EP of original music with my band, creating music videos for all the songs on that EP, relaunching the line of laser cut jewelry I put out in 2009, and writing a series of autobiographical graphic novels of a somewhat mature nature.

All of those projects are at least partway in progress and I am DYING to finish them.
If any of those sound like things you want help me with, don’t hesitate to get in touch — even if it’s just to say you’d enjoy it if those things existed.
I’ll be showing all of you how those things are coming along over the next little while.

I really like the color red, typography, oversharing, experimental hip-hop, behavioral science, DeLillo, stripes, thai food, anatomical models, and typewriters.

I also like love letters if you want to send me one.

–S

As promised, here are the holga pictures I shot at Burning Man.
I can’t say they turned out as well as I was hoping, but I have a much better idea of what to do with my pinhole on the next go around.

I got pretty much an entire roll that looked like the above shot. Next time I’ll know that when I think I’m close enough, I need to get about a million times closer.

Slightly related, but not exactly, today on facebook I noticed that I’d been tagged in a couple things, so I’ll put them here as well.

Here are some shots by the excellent and talented Icka Boo:

I made the mistake of thinking that buying an incredibly cheap ebay cello to bring to the playa was a good idea.

Sadly it turned out to be more of a cello shaped object than a cello, and it was nearly impossible to make any pleasing noises on it.

Next year though, I have plans.

Hey guys. It’s been a while.
& I miss you.

I’ve had a lot of personal stuff going on for a whole bunch of months that I should probably get comfy talking with you about because I’m planning on making it into a book sometime, but it occurs to me that I haven’t really been talking to y’all about much of anything at all.
So I’m going to try to work on that for now.

Internets, are we cool?
I know I owe you email, and I have been slacking on that website I was supposed to make for you, and it’s been so long now that you’ve probably forgotten that I draw things.
I’m sorry. Let’s be friends again.
I want to hold your hand and make pretty things for you.
I’ll wear my nicest shoes.
I still have a crush on you, and I’m making you a mixtape that proves it.

Actually, I’m serious. The first 5 of you that want to trade mp3 mixtapes– drop a note and we’ll do it.
You should have some kind of blog or tumblr thing though so I have enough of an idea of what you’re about so that I can actually make you something you’ll like.

Speaking of tumblr things, I finally am getting off my ass and cross posting this to there.
I had it importing the rss feed of this blog before, but I didn’t log in for so long that it actually stopped working!
If you are on the tumblrs and would rather read these things there, you can add me and stuff.

Also, if you guys know of people I should follow on there (particularly people who DRAW STUFF) let me know.

I just spent a week at that thing in the desert, and I’m now back to my life again and just like many other years when I’ve come back from the desert — I’m exhausted and full of wanting for something I can’t name.

Maybe you guys can help me figure that out in the next couple weeks or something.

In the meantime I’ll tell you about Burning Man.

Of course, when packing, I was in the middle of a huge deadline for IDW, so I forgot a lot of useful things I should have packed, like my camera.
In true hipster fashion, though, I managed to bring both of my holgas– with which I mostly shot pinhole panoramas of the temple.
The film will be ready later this week and if anything turned out I’ll show you.

There was one contribution I made this year though that I felt pretty awesome about.
A few weeks ago, my friend Slim was off building the man with the other fearless members of the man build crew, and asking for suggestions on what images suggested Rites of Passage (this year’s burn theme) to us.
As someone who tends to think of time in apartments, I immediately suggested keys– a marker that has come along with most, if not all major changes in my life thusfar.

Out off all the ideas people suggested, my suggestion must have stuck out, because Slim picked mine.
So this year, the man’s “heart” was a key.
Also, he’s particularly clever and made the teeth of the key in the shape of the Trego mountains, which is just extra badass.

Also of note, this year I got my first playa haircut.
It was mohawk day at Barber Ella Camp, and somehow I ended up in line next to fellow MassArt alum, Rich Mackin, who I’d seen around Boston damn near a decade earlier reading letters he wrote to companies at poetry readings. I of course didn’t recognize him, but after 20 minutes of conversation we discovered we have about a billion mutual friends, and then I figured it out. Along with prodding from my friends Arlen and Space Lion, he convinced me that I should get a mohawk.

In the end I only half committed.
I am still at the phase of drastic haircut in which a vacillate wildly between thinking it’s totally badass, or the worst idea I’ve had in life, ever.

I’ll post a not-a-drawing picture of said haircut soon and you can all tell me which of my inner voices was right.

There’s a bunch of really huge stuff that happened at Burning Man that is more important than haircuts, but I’m going to save that for another day.

In the meantime, hugs? mixtapes?
Okay.

Well hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve done a TumbleDryLow post, but here is something worthy of consumption!
My dear friend and bandmate, Miss Kristen Adam, has launched Rococonouveau Design.

She says:

For as long as I can remember I’ve felt a particular connection to things of the past: vintage and period fashions, early 20th century classic film, vintage erotica & pinup photography, art deco architecture, art nouveau textiles & jewelry, and the gilded splendour of the rococo era. The goal in all my work on this project is to merge the essence of these core inspirations with the modernity of the 21st century. Thereby preserving the beauty of these bygone styles in a way that is relevant to today’s aesthetics. Hence, the name rococonouveau!

She makes these super rad little collar accessories that are the perfect thing to dress up an outfit, or lack thereof!
I had the privilege of modeling a bunch of these collars, along with a whole bunch of my sassy ladyfriends.

You should go visit her shop and get one of these. They’re reversible and super well made.

Dear readers, go forth and consume!

A few months back, Katie West came to visit California.

She came and stayed at my house for a night, and the next day we took a bunch of pictures together.
She said some really lovely things about it, and managed to do so in a much more timely manner than I.

I’ve shot with a lot of photographers at this point in my life, and looking at what they capture always surprises me.
In looking at the ways they show me myself, I suddenly realize what about each photographer is different from the others.
Sometimes they have signature color schemes that can cast a mood really easily. Other times, I marvel at their compositional craft.
Sometimes, I see myself transformed into someone else entirely.

Katie was no different.

When we started shooting she said: “Things to know about shooting with me– I’m very unprofessional, and I laugh a lot.”

When I got the pictures back, I looked at the above photo and felt like it was one of the most honest ones I’ve taken all year.

I’ve got more than an inch of roots, my hairdo is coming undone, my dress is wrinkled…but there I am– hanging out with a naked mannequin and a pile of red instruments. That’s who I am, rumpled dress and all.

For the first time in a while– I was able to look at a photo someone took of me and see not a character or a story they created– but instead, myself looking back.

She was unprofessional. We both laughed a lot.

Last month, I went to Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, Oregon.
I made the image above on the plane, using the iPhone applications classictoy, photofactory, diptic, camerabag, and instagram.
All the rest of the photos in this post are by Tim unless otherwise noted.

[photo by Merrick Monroe]

My dearest comrades & collaborators, John C. Worsley, Myrrh Larsen, and Tim Riot!

These are some of my favorite dudes on the planet. All three of them are responsible for making me make the best art that I possibly can, in ways that are progressive and collaborative. I am so effing grateful that they’re all a part of my life, and that they’re around to inspire and challenge me.

On that note, this year it was more apparent than ever that all of us are sort of becoming a collective.
We are all doing things having to do with music and comics, and I suspect that next year we will have a lot of really awesome music/comics things to show you.

If you’re a person who makes both comics and music– please holler at us! We want to hear from you!

This year, the fest moved to the convention center. The lighting was very futuristic, as you can see.

The table was a nice mix of new and old stuff this year. John and I were still hawking copies of All Over the Map, along with copies of the new split mini he made with Myrrh, The Edge Of The World. John also had another new book out called Never Let Go.

When I arrived in Portland, John and Myrrh were a flurry of activity trying to get their books printed and ready for the show.
I had already decided to not stress myself out trying to make a new mini, but the boys were all making stuff & I suddenly found myself wanting to make stuff too!

I had come prepared with prints of some photos I’d recently shot and shared with Instagram.
It was at this point that I had an idea, and I knew it would continue to nag me until I made it a real thing.

I decided to take a bunch of photos that I’d shot with my phone, as part of my everyday life, and do some really quick drawings of them.
I had a plethora of stuff to choose from, thanks to my addiction to instagram!

Since I had a really limited amount of time to make this, I used in-phone processing applications on my photos to cut down on my drawing time as much as possible.
Afterwards, I exported them, and went to town drawing on them with John’s wacom.

The result was Instabook! a little tiny mini made in less that 24 hours.
I sold out on the first day and had to do a second print run.

I think that I’m going to do more instagram based books and later compile them into a longer, colored work.
Keep an eye out for more on this soon!

The Art battle and afterparty this year were both held at the Jupiter Hotel, which we had the pleasure of staying at for one night.

I spent the majority of this particular evening a few sheets to the wind– hanging with Molly Crabapple, Erika Moen, and Nubby Twiglet.

I totally love this Red Riding Hood mural they have out front. Red is my homegirl, y’know.

As always I had a super fun time! Looking forward to next year!

p.s. I also did a podcast with Tim and Neil about the fest for Destroy All Podcasts– listen here!

Today and tomorrow, I will be exhibiting at Stumptown Comics Fest alongside my talented comrades, John C. Worsley, Myrrh Larsen, and Tim Riot. We will be rocking out at table F-9, so please stop by and say hi!

I will have copies of All Over the Map, as well as a brand new mini based on my Instagram photos, called Instabook!
If you follow me on Instagram and go to the fest, you can get one for free!

Hope to see you there!