My Secret Fan Girl Identity . . and also art.

I was the "Allrounder" but now that I'm old, I'm the "Godmother" honestly. Stolen shamelessly off of Tumblr, because, yes, I'm still on that dumpster fire of a site. More of Horokyun's art can be found here: https://twitter.com/horokyun?lang=en
TL;DR:
  • I'm a huge goth and geeky fangirl, and always have been.
  • I have a secret art account with all the artwork that reflects that.

Little known fact about me, at least among my dance friends, is that I was (and am) a seriously goth girl. Sure, I love Pugliese, but Morticia Addams is my real hero. When my parents were frustrated that I decided I didn't want to read anymore (I had strange tantrums), my mom bought me comic books - Creepshow, Fangoria, Tales from the Crypt, Tales of Terror - all the classics.  She also bought me Star Trek and Star Wars novels because (as if being goth didn't make me awkward enough), I was also a huge fangirl of all things science fiction. Soon I was reading like crazy again and my mom won the day. (Really, I was the one who won because I read like an absolute maniac after that.)

All this is to say that my non-tango life is, as it is for many people, quite different from my tango life. It comes as no surprise then that my non-tango art is radically different from my tango art.

I have lately been encouraged by my few friends who know about my non-tango, non-dance art to share my "other life" because some of my tango friends might also have such tastes and it might be fun to let my freak flag fly.
So here goes . . .
My non-tango art work is always under the name "OrionLodubyal". Search for that name on Google and you'll find my art across all my platforms. One note - I never, ever sell my artwork on Amazon. If it turns up there, it has been stolen (again) so please let me know.
Anyone who gets the reference to that name gets a pair of socks of their choice from my shop, It's obscure, yes, but that's what Google was made for.  Hint, search "Orion Lodubyal" with a space. Tell me what you find in the comments, or shoot me a message. If you want to follow me, and my crazy art, on the social medias, look me up on Twitter as @orionlodubyal.

The OrionLodubyal account has my fan art, pop art, psychedelic fractal art and Halloween/classic horror art. It is definitely not to everyone's taste. One of the art contests I participated in was labeled "GoreFest" - so you've been warned. But if you're into Star Trek, Penny Dreadful, The Prisoner (is anyone reading this old enough to have watched The Prisoner?), Hannibal, Doctor Who, Good Omens, Sabrina and a smattering of other fandoms - you may get a giggle out of some of my art. 
Several pieces of my fan art pieces are even licensed by the brands, such as my Prisoner, Penny Dreadful and a few of the Star Trek designs. Others didn't make the cut. For some reason, CBS didn't like my "Gorn to Be Wild" piece. Different strokes for different folks. So much for my Gorn Biker Gang concept I was working on.

Here's my side art account on Redbubble, on Society6, and on TeePublic (where I only have my fan art and pop art - no dance art account.)

Second puzzle, if anyone can guess what I'm going to cosplay at the San Antonio Celebrity Fest Comic Con in June, you get a free t-shirt of your choice from my shop. Credit given for just the fandom and race - not specific character.

And don't worry if you don't want anyone else to know your fandom tendencies - you can also message me through blogger or any of my art platforms.


InfiniteTango on RedBubble now has over 250 Designs!

As I wrote in a previous post, through all of this stress and mayhem, I've kept creating designs - both in the InfiniteTango Designs account (on Redbubble.com and on Society6.com) but also on my secret (non-tango) side account that I'll write about shortly, in a separate post.

I've added more tango quotes, dance quotes, Tango in Buenos Aires artwork, dance wear designs, and even more "Cateceo" Milonga Cat designs. As of today there are 286 designs available on InfiniteTango on Redbubble. There are over a 100 of my top sellers on Society6, so check that site too as sometimes their specials are better. They also have more items available - towels, even furniture. (But Redbubble now has socks, and honestly I'm more excited about tango socks than I really should be.)

Pugliese Socks omg!! https://www.redbubble.com/people/infinitetango/works/40058025-pop-art-pugliese-with-piano-keys-and-carnation


(Note: I was able to recover an old drive of artwork I thought had been lost, so several pieces on RB and S6 have been updated with their larger, higher quality versions.)

Tango and Dance quotes


Welcome New Years 2020 with a celebration of 1920s Great Gatsby/Jazz Age Designs for milongas and parties!


More, larger, and higher quality versions of my tango in Buenos Aires pieces!

Remember to look for discounts and deals from these sites as we approach Black Friday and the holiday season. Believe me when I say there is never a need to pay full list price. They have sales every few days on various items. One easy way to get a discount is to add items to your cart (make sure you're signed in) and then leave the site. Close it out completely. By the next morning, you'll often receive an emailed coupon code for a discount on items in your "abandoned" cart. This works on loads of sites, but I've found it works pretty consistently on Redbubble on Society6.

And if none of my artwork speaks to you - check out other tango artists on these platforms! What better gifts to give dancers than artwork created for and by dancers? Here are a few of my favorites:

Lisa Haney on RedBubble - tango illustrator with tremendous talent and gorgeous designs!! I have several of journals and shirts.
Balboa29 on RedBubble: - fun dance and tango designs.
Diego Manuel Rodriguez on Society6 - Argentinean artist who has a variety of tango and non-tango, Argentina focused designs.

If you find or follow other artists on these, or other platforms, please post links to them in the comments. Support indie art wherever and however you can!




Where Do I Even Start?


 


 

I confess the biggest obstacle to updating this blog lately has been just trying to find a concise way to write down what's been going on. So here goes - the TL;DR version.

This has been a terrible year. Some great things have happened in between, and in some cases, even  as a result of that, but it's been mostly awful. We lost one of our dogs, Kuma, to cancer. My SO was in the hospital. Everyone in the house has been sick. And then sick again with new stuff. We almost had to move. And then we didn't, but undoing the move was almost as traumatic as planning it. Illness in the family.  Just . .  just too much for one year, and one family, to cope with. But here we are. Wiser (hopefully), and with a slew of new resources and deep gratitude for those who helped us through all of this. For such a horrendous year, we've been astonishingly lucky to have such amazing friends. Finally coming out of this storm in time for Thanksgiving, well...  it doesn't feel like a coincidence. I don't think we've ever had more to be grateful for.

So for the good news:

1. Hubby and I are both still employed. Yay team! on that front.
2. Our two remaining pets are on the mend, as are we.
3. We paid off most of our consumer debt, though we have a few remaining vet bills to pay off over the next couple of months. Anyway, it's a fraction of the debt we were in.
4. We learned a ridiculous amount about our pets' health care, selling our house, moving across the country, and then not moving across the country. So now we have resources and help in place that we would never have thought to seek out before this year.
5. I've continued to create art through all of this which has not only helped me cope with the stress and anxiety, but has also built up quite an inventory in time for the holidays. More on that in a different post.

In terms of dancing, well . . . that's been a bit less promising. Part of the problem is that there's just no time - at least no time that I'm awake for. For most of this year, I've felt about 100 years old. By 9pm, I'm looking for plausible excuses to just go to bed without feeling guilty for not getting more done. Plus, my health has taken a hit and my stability is crap. I'm training to get back what I can, but it may be a long road. In the meantime, I've taken up belly dancing again which is a little less demanding on my proprioceptors. I may return to tango, but it will probably be some time.

More updates coming soon, I promise - but I didn't want this to get to thesis-length. Thank you everyone for kind wishes and patience through all of this - it's appreciated more that I can possibly express.