Tag Archives: life drawing Berlin.

Martini Cherry Furter models for BSC Life Drawing, with two suitcases of looks!

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Martini for Berlin Strippers Collective by Suzanne Forbes Feb 26 2021 flashdanceI am such a fan of Berlin performer Martini Cherry Furter.

I was exhausted from a month of working like a fiend when Martini announced she would be modeling for one of my favorite Berlin life drawing groups.

Martini for Berlin Strippers Collective with pole bySuzanne Forbes Feb 26 2021 2minsBut I could not possibly pass up drawing Martini posing for Berlin Strippers Collective Life Drawing!

Martini for Berlin Strippers Collective by Suzanne Forbes Feb 26 2021 blue dressMartini brought TWO SUITCASES of looks and wigs!

She had a fabulous playlist, and as always, SO MUCH CHARISMA!!! Everyone in the session went wild with happiness, so moved by Martini’s presence and style.

Martini for Berlin Strippers Collective by Suzanne Forbes Feb 26 2021 last poseEach costume change was lightning fast!

Martini for Berlin Strippers Collective by Suzanne Forbes Feb 26 2021 shrugWonderful BSC cat-herder Chiqui Love was on hand to facilitate the session.

Always a joy to join a session run by Chiqui!Martini for Berlin Strippers Collective by Suzanne Forbes Feb 26 2021 2mins

Martini for Berlin Strippers Collective by Suzanne Forbes Feb 26 2021 decoThis beautiful flapper-at-the-end-of-night pose really deserved a serious photographer.

Martini has inspired me so many times; I would buy a coffee table book of photos and drawings of her in a heartbeat. In very exciting news, Martini is in an upcoming short film and video installation by Zara Zandieh, inspired by two works of Octavia Butler. It’s called Octavia’s Visions and has several Berlin performers in it.

You can learn about the organizing and empowering work of the Berlin Strippers Collective on the BSC site here. BSC also has a Patreon for financial support of this crucial work.

I am incredibly grateful to my Patreon Patrons, whose monthly financial support lets me keep documenting Berlin’s queer performers while I work safely at home.

Drawing NYC fire performer Sage Sovereign at last!

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Sage Sovereign for Distanced Drawing by Suzanne Forbes Jan 15 2021 flowersI met Sage Sovereign on the street outside a nightclub in East Berlin.

It was a couple years ago; we were both crossing Warschauerstrasse from Monster Ronson’s to the U1 station and landed on the curb simultaneously. Then I stared at her, because she is one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen. We looked at each other, recognizing some deep New Yorker affinity and a clear aesthetic convergence.

I babbled, as I do when I first see someone I desperately want to draw, introducing myself, asking her name, offering my card. We agreed we should certainly collaborate the next time she was in Berlin (I think she was off to do fire performance on a glacier in Iceland, right then).

Sage Sovereign for Distanced Drawing by Suzanne Forbes Jan 15 2021 gobletWe got connected on Instagram and I saw pictures of her amazing performances.

She came back to Berlin at least twice, but we couldn’t sort out the scheduling. And then the pandemic began, and I tried to draw her during a video stream of an extraordinary performance piece she did at twilight early last summer. But the video quality just didn’t give me enough visual information. So when she messaged me to let me know she was modelling for terrific woman-run NYC life drawing group Distanced Drawing, I was thrilled!

I still long to draw her in person, but this was a wonderful opportunity to begin collaborating. I am so grateful to Sage for her fantastic modelling work and to Distanced Drawing for making it viewable to me in the middle of the night in Berlin!

You can follow Sage on Instagram here and her website is here.

I am incredibly grateful to my Patreon Patrons, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me work safely at home, documenting amazing performers.