#prideproject

You can check out their Instagram here. We’ve agreed to hand out flags and support them with their rainbow lights.

Number 28 on my Queer Icons Pride Project is Jazz Singer Billie Holiday Born Elenora Fagan in 1915 Billie was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating sound. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills. Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, where she was heard by producer John Hammond, who liked her voice. She signed a recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson produced the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which became a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca. By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. She was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, her final recordings were met with mixed reaction but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Throughout her career, Billie was openly a bisexual woman, and actually had an array of high-profile relationships with other famous figures in Hollywood and beyond at the time. Billie most notably dated American actress Tallulah Bankhead, a figurehead of film. Billie Holiday is influential to me because of her ability to rise beyond her surroundings and create something truly beautiful. Regardless of how her life ended, she was still able to bring light to controversial events and sing about sadness that made listeners comprehend struggle. @billie.holiday #billieholiday #ladyday #ladysingstheblues #solitude #strangefruit #jazz #music #pride #bisexual #drawing #redsketch #prismacolor #pride2022 #prideproject #art #artist #pencilart #gayartist (at Turlock, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfWBOiUubq1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Number 13 on my Queer Icons Pride Project is Rockband Queen Vocalist - Freddie Mercury Freddie was born Farrokh Bulsara in 1946 in Zanzibar. He attended English boarding schools in India and then returned to do secondary school in Zanzibar, but in 1964 he and his family fled to England to escape the revolution. In 1970 he was introduced to Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor, and together they created the band Queen. Freddie is known not only for his flamboyant stage presence, and incredible vocal ability, but his writing ability as well, having written many of Queen's hits including Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love, and We Are The Champions. Freddie had a few partners, some woman and some men, but his sexuality was something he rarely discussed, privacy being one and certain laws at the time made it criminal to express homosexuality being the other. But there were those close to Freddie that said he was either gay or that he was bisexual, regardless Freddie is a Icon and to me a Queer Icon for the ages. Freddie Mercury influences me in pushing myself as an artist and how the viewers see what I have to say on paper, whether it be truth or a lie. Freddie's voice supports and lifts me up in ways few artists can and I'll always be grateful for that. @freddiemercury #freddiemercury #queen #queerartist #gayillustration #freddiemercuryforever #lgbt #pride2022 #prideproject #loveislove #strength #lgbtqia #pride #brianmay #rogertaylor #rock #gay #transgender #lesbian #drawing #sketch #sketchbook #prismacolorpencil (at Turlock, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cevj3VCrXOn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Number 19 on my Queer Icons Pride Project is Artist J.C. Leyendecker Born in 1874, German-American illustrator J. C. Leyendecker has been referred to as the Norman Rockwell before Norman Rockwell. In 1882 the Leyendecker family immigrated to Chicago where J.C. eventually attended Chicago Art Institute. He studied drawing and anatomy under John Vanderpoel's lead. After a short time Leyendecker and his brother made their way across the seas to attend the Julien Acadamy in Paris for a year where he was exposed to Alphonse Mucha a leader in the French Art Nouveau movement. Between the years 1896 and 1950, he painted more than 400 magazine covers. During the Golden Age of American Illustration, for The Saturday Evening Post alone, he produced 322 covers, and many advertisement illustrations for its interior pages. Leyendecker's private life has been up for discussion but it has been generally accepted that he was a homosexual. Leyendecker excelled at depicting male homosocial spaces (locker rooms, clubhouses, tailoring shops) and extraordinarily handsome young men in curious poses or exchanging glances. Leyendecker never married, and he lived with another man, Charles Beach, for much of his adult life. Beach was the original model for the famous Arrow Collar Man and is assumed to have been his lover. J.C. Leyendecker inspires me by his work, it's not only stunning, but fun and playful while also be distinct and precise. I personally love his musical jester for The Saturday Evening Post, the position of the figure mixed with the rich colors displays Leyendecker's artistic illustrative mastery. @jcleyendeckerart #jcleyendecker #artist #pride2022 #prideproject #loveislove #strength #queerartist #gayillustration #drawing #sketch #sketchbook #figuredrawing #instaart #illustration #redsketch #prismacolor #pride #rainbow (at Turlock, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce_S_o3L-yX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Number 10 on my Queer Icons Pride Project is photographer Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Mapplethorpe was born in 1946 and rose to fame in the late 60s early 70s with his black and white photographic depictions of gay men in New York City. By the 1980s Robert's work included photos of physically fit men and women, flowers, and celebrities which include Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mapplethorpe is a interesting character, I'd like to have met him in his prime. He had many controversies during his career as well, his work dealt with some pretty heavy topics like the BDSM leather subculture. This made some uncomfortable and his work was labeled obscene. What I find fascinating is how Mapplethorpe would display two exhibitions at the same time. One was uptown, clean and reserved but still stunning, while the other was underground and showed his more sexual side. Mapplethorpe influences me because of his attitude. He didn't care if people were uncomfortable with his work. He had a voice and a vision and nobody was going to tell him what to do. Not just this, but his ability to capture light and dark in his photos, that's what I'd like to achieve myself in my own work. @robertmapplethorpefoundation #robertmapplethorpe #pride2022 #prideproject #loveislove #strength #queerartist #gayillustration #photography #beautiful #gayartist #pride #gay #transgender #lesbian #drawing #sketch #sketchbook #figuredrawing #portrait (at Turlock, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CenxkbPruna/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Number 9 on my Queer Icons Pride Project is famed Director John Waters. Best know for his work with drag queen Divine, films which include Female Trouble, Polyester, Pink Flamingos, and Hairspray. As an openly gay man with his iconic pencil thin mustache John Waters has been creating not only films, but art installations, photography and sculpture since the 70s. Born in Baltimore where he met his boyhood friend Glenn Milstead, but the world would come to know this man by his female persona Divine. John's inspiration to film came from The Wizard of Oz and soon his own work flourished into somewhat underground cult classics. John Waters' work influences me because he pushed the envelope of what was art and what could art be. The characters he created in his stories took on a life of their own and even today there are still scenes that are so ridiculous that nobody could pull them off. The confidence in his work is something that I've admired as well. @john_waters_divine_trash_page #johnwaters #prideproject #prismacolor #portrait #sketch #sketchbook #pride #rainbow #queer #gay #transgender #queerartist #gayillustration #pride2022 #divine #pinkflamingos #hairspray #🌈 (at Turlock, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Celbf7iLiIv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Number 7 on my Queer Icons Pride Project is Keith Haring. @keithharingfoundation Keith Haring was an openly gay pop art/graffiti artist in the 1980s. His playful animated style became a instant classic, and quickly recognizable all around New York City subways. His work blended sexuality and advocacy, promoting safe sex and AIDS awareness. After his popularity grew he began working on larger commissions, creating more than 50 individual pieces between 1982 and 1989. Many of these peices were voluntarily created for schools, hospitals, and day care centers. Later in his work became more political, focusing on anti-drug, homosexuality, AIDS, and safe sex. One of his most well known pieces brings attention to AIDS, telling the viewer to act up, and that "Silence = Death". Keith and his work influences me simply because he made the decision to use his artistic voice to bring attention to many serious issues. At his time there was little to no assistance from the government and with the help of Keith's work he forced people to pay attention. #brownjrart #keithharing #lgbt #pride #prideproject #loveislove #strength #queerartist #gayillustration #pride2022 #artist #graffiti #queericon #pencilart #prismacolor #portrait #sketch #sketchbook (at Turlock, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CegIomarU8L/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

So remember the dress I was making to wear to pride? Unfortunately, I didn't finish 😣😣 but I did get enough done to have something to wear! Here's a pretty bad shot of the almost finished product. #juneispridemonth #pridemonth #prideproject #nycpride #pansexual #pansexualpride #diy #crochet #knitting #homemade #crocheting #knit #incolorcrafts