Brazilian Transvestite

the brazilian transvestite

by SIMON

I didn't make this but I sure wish I did. It's absolutely awesome, in my opinion. I'd have this in pride of place in the living room no matter where I lived. It's a crying shame that it has become damaged lately, probably knocked over, but it still lives on.

The young chap responsible for it's creation no longer attends class. He actually said I could have it for nothing (wadda guy, eh?) but before I got a chance to take it home, it had been moved onto a display shelf for public viewing, and Simon wasn't seen again, so that was the end of that. I would have looked after it better, I know that much, but at least others have an opportunity to witness a truly jolly-hearted piece of craftsmanship. I often share a quiet moment with the Brazilian transvestite. For a moment, it takes all the hardship outta life.

Simon perhaps offered me this because I gave him a picture of a lion one time. Jokingly, I said I had drawn the best lion ever. He was intrigued, and when I showed him, he said it WAS the best lion ever, and in my book that entitled him to a copy, so I gave him one. I was also doing some cut-out collage arrangements at the time which he commented on. He said, and I quote:

"You can change peoples' lives doing that."

You know what? That comment ensures that I'll never stop doing collages. He stated what I had hoped in my heart was true but had never been pragmatic enough to contemplate. That's the deal with art: Someone somewhere just might have a killer reaction and be knocked off their feet. Sweeping floors, order picking or driving a forklift just ain't the same.

Nobody ever made such inspirational comments when I was removing the labels from out-of-date tuna fish in the John West warehouse.

Personally, I'm knocked off my feet every time I turn a page in a good comic book. The actual drawers and inkers of those comics do it day in day out, and it probably don't seem like too much of a hoo haa, but when something's so far beyond your own capabilities, like gymnastics, diving, or marathon running for example, the impressive wow factor impact just seems all the more greater.

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The only other thing that comes close to this is what a new bloke made on his first ever attempt, several weeks back: a GORILLA hand. It wasn't bad actually, he got the thumb and the palm and the fingers all decent, and even got the hair down to a tee, which I thought couldn't be done. And although he hasn't finished it yet, I have made him promise me that he will put PINK fingernails on it. That's right, a black King Kong Gorilla hand with bright pink fingernails.