Painting With Dee! - Episode 1 - Acrylic and Blue Tape on Poster Board

Painting With Dee! - Episode 1 - Acrylic and Blue Tape on Poster Board

I've started a new show called "Painting With Dee!" and this is the first episode.

In this episode, you can watch as I create an entire painting using only acrylic poster paints and blue masking tape. (I wasn't recording for the first layer of tape... sorry.)

In real time, this entire project required at least 12 hours (including drying time). However, through the magic of time lapse photography and editing, you can watch the entire process from start to finish in under 5 minutes! How cool is that?

Ok... so... to be honest, I'm not overly thrilled with the final results. I got, pretty much, what was in my head on the canvas, so I'm not completely disappointed. However, the tape stuck in a few places and tore the top layer of paper away. I don't like the matte finish, either, but I can probably fix that by painting over it with a coat of glossy Mod Podge, or something.

Speaking of paint drying, it sat overnight for about 6 hours and still wasn't dry. Eventually, I figured out how to set a box fan a few inches above the canvas to help speed things along, but... ugh.

I think, for the next episode, if I can find glossy poster board that would show off the colors better, I'd prefer that. I also thought of using canvas boards, but I'd rather have a smooth texture. Just depends on how I'm feeling... I'm thinking of switching to spray paint, too. I've worked with it many times before, and I'm rarely let down by it. It dries much quicker and I can do a few cool tricks with it, but it's very messy and a huge health hazard, so you can't easily work with it inside. We'll see...

As you can see, I'm still experimenting and getting back into it. It's a process.

July 28, 2016 - Coming Out as a Transgender Vlogger on YouTube

My name is Dee, and I am a transgender vlogger.

I'm not going to go into the details... I've told this story dozens of times, again and again. But I never told YouTube.

I've been uploading videos of my music and live performances for the last several years I built up a sizable following and got a lot of attention for it. And then, one day, I just stopped. Why?

Well, for starters, I moved into my own apartment in 2014. For whatever reason, experimental electronic music just fell off the radar, for me. I didn't enjoy it as much as I used to, and the effort wasn't worth it, any longer. No one was really listening, no one was buying my CDs, and I couldn't find a label that wanted to put out a cassette release from me. In short, I got burned out and gave it up.

By then, the gender dysphoria I felt had been bubbling up inside of me for decades. I hid myself from my family, my friends and my employer. I was too embarrassed and ashamed to tell the truth about who I really was; until, one day, I couldn't hide it anymore. I had to tell someone; I had to come out. I needed to transition.

The rest of the story is history. I decided to transition from a male appearance to a female appearance. I stopped living a lie and started living my truth. My family and friends loved me, my boss was totally ok with it, and my life began to improve 150%.

Since then, I decided it was time to get back into making music and uploading videos. I decided I wanted to join my fellow transgender vloggers, too. I started recording my thoughts, talking about my life as a transgender vlogger, and spreading the word to bring a little more attention to my life and my art. Please enjoy the video above, and thank you!