Tag Archives: queer berlin

Drawing an artist friend in my neighborhood!

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Puck the Hare posing at Adenaurplatz August 26 by Suzanne ForbesGood heavens it was glorious to spend two hours with Beloved Friend-Muse-Patron Puck on Adenauerplatz yesterday.

She arrived clad in iridescent holographic fetish bunny wear and literally lit up the plaza like a beam of cosmic light.

Puck the Hare posing at Adenaurplatz August 26 by Suzanne Forbes work in progressPure joy to have this quality time together.

I hadn’t seen Puck in person since I drew her dancing at Torture Garden Berlin on February 28, 2020! I knew it would be a dream to work with her though, as she is both a professional photographer and photography model. Plus a genius with outfits!

Above, you can see the drawing as it was after our two hours sitting outside Graffiti on Adenauerplatz.

Since we were going to be seated at a table, I brought my pastels and watercolor pens. I wore my prescription goggles and two FFP2 masks, and I felt really pretty comfortable and safe enough.

Puck the Hare posing at Adenaurplatz August 26 by Suzanne Forbes faceIt’s quite hard to capture the actual brightness of these pastel mixed-media drawings.

These details were taken outside, where the pigments can really spark.

Puck the Hare posing at Adenaurplatz August 26 by Suzanne Forbes bootsLoved drawing this colorful look while spending time with an artist friend!

Here is Puck through the camera lens!

So grateful to Puck and to all my other Patreon Patrons, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me to continue making art as a vaccinated but Covid-vulnerable disabled person.

With your support, I can work from home or safely outside and keep telling the stories of Berlin.

My Fantasy Wheelchair, Part 2!

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My Fantasy Wheelchair Version 2 by Suzanne Forbes July 6 2021This is the wheelchair I need for the goth club.

And the picnic in the park, and the life drawing salon in the old mansion with no elevator. Rideable, stair-climbing wheelchairs are an absolutely necessary part of the future.

Probably this one should have a cup holder for the disgusting Red Bull (tastes like carcinogenic Gummi Bears! and I always get the diet kind cause it tastes even worse!) that I like to drink when I draw at a nightclub.

My Fantasy Wheelchair by Suzanne Forbes June 20 2021 detail 1Since it’s Disability Pride Month, I thought I’d share some info on my personal disability sich, at this moment.

Several loved ones have asked, what exactly is my disability deal?

I’m an out disabled person, and you can always ask me about my limitations and conditions. But that applies to me only, just this one disabled person who is me 🙂

Well, official diagnoses: Hashimoto’s disease, asthma, C-PTSD, PTSD, OCD, lifelong severe depression (in total remission the last eight years!!), a rare circadian rhythm disorder called DSPS, “medical obesity” and bum knees. Unofficial: crippling fatigue, dizziness, vertigo and a fair amount of muscular pain, caused by some kind of ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, ME or lupus. Working on that diagnosis situation.

But what really makes my daily life challenging?  Dynamic Disability, a term coined by Brianne Benness on twitter. Benness is also creator of the NEISVoid, a vibrant disability community formed around the NEISVoid hashtag. You can read/hear voices from the Void on NoEndInSight.co. and support Brianne’s Void work on Patreon.

What Dynamic Disability means is that my capacity to function fluctuates.

I have good days and bad days, and sometimes both in batches. On the bad days, I sleep 20 hours. On the good days, I can unload the dishwasher and load the washer, the same day.

And work on art!!!

No matter what my condition is physically, I am fine spiritually and usually pretty good mentally, in the eight years since my remission from depression began.

The disability community has given me a way to understand and accept my limitations.

My Patrons on Patreon have given me a way to work and keep working in ways that are safe and manageable for me. I look forward to increased mobility and support as assistive technology develops. Fantasy wheelchair version one is here.

I’m glad to be alive and happy to be here, Disabled and Proud!

I am incredibly grateful to my Patreon Patrons, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me to continue making art as a disabled person.