Sugar Does Seattle Featured Artists, Designers, & Photographers
Shameless Glamour
Angelique Ashton is just a girl who loves sparkly things. Her life has always been lived from one event to the next, any excuse to get dolled up and rock some flashy jewelry. From her seventh birthday party when she wore a pink chiffon party dress while her friends all came in jeans, to her forays in the pageant world, she has always sought out opportunities to shine, literally.
As a woman of 30, drowning in the corporate business world and desperate for a creative outlet, and even more desperate for glitter-filled nights, Angelique relished chances to design jewelry and accessories for herself and for friends for pageants, costumes and ensambles for special occasions. There just weren’t enough of those occasions in her life to satisfy the insatiable need to create and to surround herself with pretty things. Shameless Glamour was born out of necessity, the necessity for sparkle. In SG’s Etsy store, and website which is still currently in the works, you’ll find tiny top hats in satins and brocades trimmed with feathers, perfect pearl necklaces, flower and French net fascinators, fantastic mini Marie Antoinette crowns, and cocktail rings that attempt to answer the age old question, “just how big is too big?”
Never content with the amount of sparkle that can be piled on to a particular outfit through accessories alone, she has recently expanded into applying pearls and rhinestones to articles clothing. Thus, the latest designs to come from Shameless Glamour have been a line of one of a kind, hand-painted, glitter covered, rhinestone adorned bras, corsets and bustiers.
Angelique has been called by some, a bit of a diva. She has internalized this “criticism” and turned it into a philosophy. Her aim through her creations is to inspire other divas, divas of all shapes, sizes, colors, orientations and beliefs to put on something sparkly, hold their head high and be and express their beautiful glamorous selves, and to make no excuses for being fabulous.
As a woman of 30, drowning in the corporate business world and desperate for a creative outlet, and even more desperate for glitter-filled nights, Angelique relished chances to design jewelry and accessories for herself and for friends for pageants, costumes and ensambles for special occasions. There just weren’t enough of those occasions in her life to satisfy the insatiable need to create and to surround herself with pretty things. Shameless Glamour was born out of necessity, the necessity for sparkle. In SG’s Etsy store, and website which is still currently in the works, you’ll find tiny top hats in satins and brocades trimmed with feathers, perfect pearl necklaces, flower and French net fascinators, fantastic mini Marie Antoinette crowns, and cocktail rings that attempt to answer the age old question, “just how big is too big?”
Never content with the amount of sparkle that can be piled on to a particular outfit through accessories alone, she has recently expanded into applying pearls and rhinestones to articles clothing. Thus, the latest designs to come from Shameless Glamour have been a line of one of a kind, hand-painted, glitter covered, rhinestone adorned bras, corsets and bustiers.
Angelique has been called by some, a bit of a diva. She has internalized this “criticism” and turned it into a philosophy. Her aim through her creations is to inspire other divas, divas of all shapes, sizes, colors, orientations and beliefs to put on something sparkly, hold their head high and be and express their beautiful glamorous selves, and to make no excuses for being fabulous.
To purchase Shameless Glamour designs please visit: www.shamelessglamour.com
Xavier Lopez
The streets of Seattle at midnight are an amazing place, teeming with artists roaming the urban landscape. In Seattle, every artist worth paying any attention to is born with wheatpaste, spray paint and a brush in hand. Home to such artistic luminaries as Ego, Ryan Henry Ward and Weirdo—Seattle has an incredible art scene that has been growing exponentially over the past several years. In the thick of it is Xavier Lopez Jr. “Cool,” “Urban,” “Goth,” “Kawaii,” “Pop Surrealist” or whatever definition you might want to come up with, Lopez’ artistic style crosses over many boundaries and unsettles them all. Most recently, Lopez’ work has been described as “gleefully disturbing,” a cross between very old Fleischer cartoons and their animated nightmares, giving us a glimpse into the disquieting world that we all invent for ourselves before we have a chance to make sense of the universe and its vast contradictions.
Within Lopez’ world there are many landscapes: caves, a vast ocean, snowscapes, living trees, and always the sense that one has crossed over into the deep end. “I want viewers of my work to feel as they do just before going over the cliff at Splash Mountain, or to feel the way they did as a child when they found out that Bambi’s mother was about to die. That moment of extreme consciousness, when everything is so precious and one realizes something very important—which is different for everybody, and which according to Kierkegaard you cannot realize fully and take with you, because to do so would lead to madness.”
It is this madness that one can see in the wild-eyed stare that is such a part of Xavier Lopez’ work and permeates the insane smile that sets it apart and draws so many to it, while scaring the hell out of many others. “That smile,” he adds, “that is the void, that is the power-punch that tells the viewer that there is something else going on here.” It is the smile of the Muse and the multi-armed skeleton and it is the darkness behind the Kawaii. Xavier Lopez’ work is not just cute, there is a darkness to it that is as vast as this thing called life and as complex as its obverse. His dreamscapes are filled with pain and wonder, innocence and perversity, but mostly a sense of fun that keeps drawing more and more viewers to play in the “Deep End” of his imagination.
Continually, growing and evolving, fans of his work never know what to expect from the artist. “I love testing myself, teasing and trying new things, most recently I have been doing a lot of Murals in the Seattle Area with a group of very talented, young artists and I have begun plans to work on a not-so children’s book and even a cartoon based on the Muse and her adventures. This is an amazing time in which it feels as though anything is possible and an artist just needs to put his mind and his imagination into motion to see it through.”
Xavier Lopez’ work can be found at various art galleries in the Seattle area, including the Twilight Collective, Echo Echo in the Greenwood Collective as well as on many murals, posters and prints. He is also the author of a blog that covers the Alternative to Alternative Art Scene in Seattle for the online “zombie newspaper,” the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Within Lopez’ world there are many landscapes: caves, a vast ocean, snowscapes, living trees, and always the sense that one has crossed over into the deep end. “I want viewers of my work to feel as they do just before going over the cliff at Splash Mountain, or to feel the way they did as a child when they found out that Bambi’s mother was about to die. That moment of extreme consciousness, when everything is so precious and one realizes something very important—which is different for everybody, and which according to Kierkegaard you cannot realize fully and take with you, because to do so would lead to madness.”
It is this madness that one can see in the wild-eyed stare that is such a part of Xavier Lopez’ work and permeates the insane smile that sets it apart and draws so many to it, while scaring the hell out of many others. “That smile,” he adds, “that is the void, that is the power-punch that tells the viewer that there is something else going on here.” It is the smile of the Muse and the multi-armed skeleton and it is the darkness behind the Kawaii. Xavier Lopez’ work is not just cute, there is a darkness to it that is as vast as this thing called life and as complex as its obverse. His dreamscapes are filled with pain and wonder, innocence and perversity, but mostly a sense of fun that keeps drawing more and more viewers to play in the “Deep End” of his imagination.
Continually, growing and evolving, fans of his work never know what to expect from the artist. “I love testing myself, teasing and trying new things, most recently I have been doing a lot of Murals in the Seattle Area with a group of very talented, young artists and I have begun plans to work on a not-so children’s book and even a cartoon based on the Muse and her adventures. This is an amazing time in which it feels as though anything is possible and an artist just needs to put his mind and his imagination into motion to see it through.”
Xavier Lopez’ work can be found at various art galleries in the Seattle area, including the Twilight Collective, Echo Echo in the Greenwood Collective as well as on many murals, posters and prints. He is also the author of a blog that covers the Alternative to Alternative Art Scene in Seattle for the online “zombie newspaper,” the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Papuna
My name is Papuna Bersenadze, I’m from the republic of Georgia. I’ve been living in Seattle area for almost 8 years now, well mostly living here. I’ve graduated from Central Washington university in Ellensburg with a BA in political science, minoring in philosophy. I’ve also studied abroad in Paris for a semester as part of my degree.
Not counting the art classes in second grade, I started painting sometime in the fall of 2008, in Ellensburg. One day I just felt like oil painting, so I went and bought a canvas board thing, box of oil paint, and a couple of brushes. And in a couple of months (since oil paint does take considerable time to dry) my first painting was born... “Paris”. I've been painting since...
I think everyone has a natural talent for something, and in life happiness comes from trying to find that something and do it. “we write not because we want to, but because we have to...”~ W. Somerset Maugham, and same applies to my art, every piece started out as an image in my mind trying to come out somehow.
Oil is my favorite medium to work in, but somewhat recently I started using acrylics more and more, because of the drying time mainly... I still love the smell of oil paint, but it’s hard to stand the waiting for weeks for them to dry. Although, the oil paintings have their own special allure somehow, because of the time they take, each one is a bit more significant... each painting changes in the process and by the process, over time.
I've seemed to transition from normal canvas painting to painting on surfaces which I find on everyday-life objects: my lap-top, lamp, tennis racket, and a car(partially) was the latest one, why not? I like my paint more than producers' coloring, acrylics are basically weight-less, and things we use everyday could use some individualization and cheering up to be honest, in this world off mass produced grayness, everything could use some extra character.
Not counting the art classes in second grade, I started painting sometime in the fall of 2008, in Ellensburg. One day I just felt like oil painting, so I went and bought a canvas board thing, box of oil paint, and a couple of brushes. And in a couple of months (since oil paint does take considerable time to dry) my first painting was born... “Paris”. I've been painting since...
I think everyone has a natural talent for something, and in life happiness comes from trying to find that something and do it. “we write not because we want to, but because we have to...”~ W. Somerset Maugham, and same applies to my art, every piece started out as an image in my mind trying to come out somehow.
Oil is my favorite medium to work in, but somewhat recently I started using acrylics more and more, because of the drying time mainly... I still love the smell of oil paint, but it’s hard to stand the waiting for weeks for them to dry. Although, the oil paintings have their own special allure somehow, because of the time they take, each one is a bit more significant... each painting changes in the process and by the process, over time.
I've seemed to transition from normal canvas painting to painting on surfaces which I find on everyday-life objects: my lap-top, lamp, tennis racket, and a car(partially) was the latest one, why not? I like my paint more than producers' coloring, acrylics are basically weight-less, and things we use everyday could use some individualization and cheering up to be honest, in this world off mass produced grayness, everything could use some extra character.
