PEPPER Magazine / September 2022

PEPPER VOL. 1 / no. 4

SA / TX / US

the body issue.

Se p te m b e r 6 Editor’s Note : The Body Issue

arts.

10 Her Canvas : Melanie Allison 21 BODY of Work : Featuring artists Aleena Sharif (21), Maria Christidi (26), Shee Gomez (33) & Daniela Santos (37)

business.

42 <<YOURS TRULY>>

fashion.

51 Dos Fridas

60 Wildflower 67 Encounter

habitat.

75 Menagerie : the home of artist Kelly O’Connor 86 BLOWN • with Becky Witte-Marsh 94 The High Life / Highlight : About Body Maintenance

savor.

97 Clear Light Coffee Co.

culture.

104 Seek for the Darkness of Summer 111 10 Years of Grief 114 I Am Everyone Who Came Before Me

passport.

118 Basel, Switzerland

Rx.

129 Fit to a T. : Perfectly Imperfect

psych.

42

133 A Modern Mystic : Negative Self Talk

51 135 Positively Crystal : Victim or Vistor 136 Intimate Affairs : Body Image 139 Knowing Her Place 145 The Affair

prodigy.

150 Rylie Has Two Homes

PEPPER I S S U E

no.4 159 Keeping Up With Noah

lit..

163 Meditation on My Body and Its Parts 166 I Am My Own Favoured Poem 167 Ask the River

get involved.

170 Gone Wild

118

75

disquiet.

175 All the Fish in the Sea 177 We Will Not Go Quietly 182 Addressing the Elephant in the Room 184 Union of the Impossible : Blue Dream

directory.

187 Cover Artist : David A. Elizondo 190 Acknowledgments 201 Staff Bios

PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US arts • culture • business web directory msha.ke/peppermagazine website hellopepper.weebly.com email hello.pepper@outlook.com available on MagCloud Issuu copyright K. Day Gomez San Antonio, Texas 78209 PEPPER Magazine

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PEPPER

Magazine

EDITOR’S NOTE

THE BODY ISSUE

Editor in Chief K. Day Gomez San Antonio, Texas

“My body, the hand grenade…”

- Courtney Love As a reader, you may have begun to notice that every month I choose a sociophilosophical theme which poses a question to our contributors.

This one is loaded; how do you you see your body?

We’re touching on all the ways we celebrate our relationship with our body, our body as our home, body positivity, self image, societal stigmas, physiological issues, love / hate etc. For me, the answer isn’t pretty.

I have what is known as Dysmorphia (body dysmorphic disorder, or ‘BDD’). This means that negative thoughts toward my body flow through my mind regularly and it’s hard to control or redirect. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “your thinking can become so negative and persistent you may think about suicide sometimes.”Unfortunately in my case, this was true as early as age 11 all the way through my early twenties.

Growing up in the 90’s every teenage girl’s drug of choice and mental downfall were fashion magazines. We were inundated with commercials and TV shows featuring women and girls of primarily one body type. And weight was casually mentioned as an issue even by the “skinny” characters. This only further solidified the ongoing narrative in most of our heads—“there’s something wrong with me. I’m not pretty…not pretty enough.”

As a young adult, I built my modeling career around my perceived flaws. It was my attempt to feel beautiful while battling eating disorders I’d carried with me since childhood. While outwardly seeming poised and confident, internally I continued fighting a silent war no one else could see. My closest loved ones were privy to my plight 6

without means to help. Dysmorphia is not a monster that can be slain by compliments or logical reasoning.

My weight has always been at the center of my focus. So much so that it’s often made it hard for me to concentrate in social settings. This impending state of self scrutiny, holding in my breath and stomach, sitting rigidly straight while trying to converse…posturing in such a way that by the end of the night I’m dizzy and nauseous.

Fast forward to 40: I’m at the heaviest weight I’ve

been since having my son. My skin and face are changing gracefully with age. My hair is a bit thinner. Most of the time I avoid mirrors when I can.

I do not feel “pretty” generally, but the healthiest part of my psyche knows I’m still beautiful—that I always have been.

Dysmorphia is something I’ve dealt with my whole life and I’m fairly certain that won’t change. What has changed is my mindset. Becoming aware of the influences that contribute to the false perception created in my mind has absolutely saved me.

Making critical choices about the kind of social media content I let in, choosing body positive inclusive shows and movies, supporting more progressive magazines and businesses that make all bodies look and feel beautiful…even taking coaching seminars and classes on body image has greatly improved my perception. [I strongly recommend our own Empowerment Maven & Intimacy Alchemist, Angela Michelle who I have learned under; see back directory.]

The biggest takeaway is to remember you’re not alone. BDD is very common, regardless of age or gender. Even people who pursue modeling and acting and other public careers deal with this—and so many other issues too. Never assume a person in a photograph thinks they look as perfect as you think they do. They could very well be fighting a war no one sees.

It’s the iceberg analogy; from the outside, we only view the tip of the iceberg, not the struggles, self talk and deep-rooted issues that lie beneath.

Society as a whole has slowly been shifting to a more compassionate view of bodies and how we perceive them, but we still have a way to go.

Mental health issues are called “invisible illness” for a reason. And likewise, if you’ve been struggling and carrying the weight of malignant self perception, please consider seeking help.

There are so many life coaches out there—myself included—who are empathic, skilled and capable of helping you to navigate through your underlying traumas. The goal is to actively change the way you think about yourself and the body you’re in.

Ultimately, you are so valuable. You deserve to be loved. And your mental health is worth everything.

“Miles and miles of perfect skin.

I swear I do, I fit right in.

My love burns through everything— I cannot breathe.

Miles and miles of perfect sin.

I swear, I said, I fit right in.

I fit right in your perfect skin.

I cannot breathe.”

- Courtney Love 7

THE WORK OF MIXED MEDIA ARTIST MELANIE ALLISON AUSTIN, TX

PHOTOJOURNALIST K. DAY GOMEZ

MELANIE

the arts.

ALLISON

IS NOT ONLY OUR NETWORKING LIAISON… SHE IS A GIFTED ARTIST WITH A GREAT STORY. FORMERLY THE EDITOR IN CHIEF OF BEVIE MAGAZINE , AND FOUNDER OF GIRL FLOCK PARTY , SHE IS A MULTIFACETED BOSS BABE WHOSE ARTWORK IS FULL OF LIFE AND FEMININITY. Melanie proudly calls Austin home, though she’s technically not “from” there. “I am originally from Mesquite, TX, just outside of Dallas. I graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington in December 2003. After a trip to Fredericksburg with my boyfriend, we knew after I graduated that we would be moving to Austin. So in March 2004, he and I moved to Austin to start a new life, leaving behind friends and family. I didn’t have a job lined up and Jon had something in the works. We packed up the apartment and two dogs and travelled Southbound 35.”

The rest is history. It was a decision that proved to be exactly what she needed as a creative. She’s been growing and thriving ever since. Fast forward to the establishment of her own publication, BEVIE Magazine—a natural choice since she’d always envisioned it being something she wanted to do.

“I knew I wanted to do something with a magazine. I took photography classes in college and was obsessed with Richard Avedon and Mark Seliger’s work with celebrity and fashion photography. I also took advertising and graphic design classes, thinking I’d do more graphic design work.

But that was also when Mac G4’s came out and I basically had to teach myself how to use Adobe Illustrator as my professors and 12

instructors were just as green with computers and graphic design as I was. All of these things combined, I thought I’d somehow get a job working for a local publication. In my career, I have made the company newsletter for several companies. And as a kid, I used to type up a newsletter for the street I lived on for the neighbors.”

We asked when Mel developed a love of print and how old she was when she first experimented with the art of collage? “Hmmm, I am not sure. I’d say in AP art in high school. My art teacher was a huge influence in my life. She was like a parental figure to me. We did every kind of art you could imagine. I took what she assigned to us and then I’d experiment and take it further. I remember doing charcoal gesture drawings of a figure, then I’d glue paper towels and other paper, then remove them, leaving behind a residue and weird texture.” Self-prompted mixed media.

This early experimentation helped her develop her own unique process. With the support of her family, Melanie flourished. “Both of my parents were / are artistic. My mom drew and my dad was studying to be an architect before I

was around or remember. I would draw houses when I was a kid, after my father, and everything else was influenced by my mom. I remember she had a sketchbook and it had a portrait of my dad in it. She was also commissioned by a neighbor to draw a famous cowboy or outlaw. I saw this and always knew I would either be a dancer or an artist.”

As for BEVIE, Melanie learned a lot during the magazine’s two-year run. “So much…and where to start? Using Kavyar.com was amazing. It took the magazine to the next level with international submissions. The whole process from start to finish, and being every employee yourself— recruiter, reviewer, graphic designer, editor-inchief, marketing—was crucial in my education on how to run an independent art and fashion magazine.

The bad side was a run-in with a bad egg here and there, criticizing other people’s work in the magazine and why a cover was chosen. How to handle these situations with class and dignity was important in lieu of letting these kinds of people get to you. I also used Magcloud for the print on demand portion which was super helpful.”

So what does she do now, professionally? “I am a Communications Specialist for a company that helps with retired teacher and state employee supplemental benefits. We have benefits reps that write the applications (aka our sales force). That’s where I design and create their promotional flyers, social media creatives, the e-newsletter, etc. On the corporate / home office side, I update the internal company website, the ops displays, and more. I shelved BEVIE when I returned to work full-time. What keeps me busy now is returning to my artwork and putting a lot of my effort into my boutique women’s network, Girl Flock Party, in addition to my career and home life.”

featuring naked, sexually charged women’s bodies hanging inside of a former church. Not all of it, but some of it is. It’s quite the juxtaposition and I am here for it. Art most certainly can bring together people in an event space setting like this as it makes people think, discuss, have opinions and learn other’s opinions. It’s eye opening and can broaden one’s horizon. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been around others that are not normally in an artistic setting and seen how blown away they are. That’s why I love this boutique women's network I’ve started.

Bringing together the different worlds of my friends, colleagues and patrons is beneficial to learning and living cohesively.”

Girl Flock Party has made it a point to specify that it is open to woman-identifying individuals. We asked about her thoughts on inclusion in her city when it comes to most companies—if there is much more work to be done on the inclusion front on a societal level? “Everyone that identifies as female is welcome. Girl Flock Party is female and womanbased. It was founded as a celebration dinner of my female friendships and connections. Then, over time I started to open it to female prize sponsors, local biz owners, and supporters of the group. If you can relate to what we are doing within the group, then join the flock. I still have a lot to learn and so does society. This group does not allow debates on racism, politics, etc. on social media or in group settings and I’d like to keep it that way.”

As for what’s current on the art front, “I currently have my piece “Eyevil” on display at the Downtowner Gallery in Round Rock for the Word(scapes) Exhibition, now through September 9th. I also had an art show at The Ruby Hotel and Bar in Round Rock, TX last May and was a vendor at one of their events this year. I have tried to no avail to reach out to several galleries to take my work, but honestly I have been disheartened by the lack of communication.

Her Girl Flock Party occupied an old church for the 2022 event—-our San Antonio similarity is The Parish which has also been turned into an art hub.

We’ve noticed there are similar such places popping up all over the US and the world. Melanie explains, “The 2022 Girl Flock Party was held at The Cathedral in Austin. It is an event space and art gallery now but did function since the 1930s as an African American Baptist church.

The congregation found a new home and then Monica Cisneros of The Cathedral preserved it to what it is now. It is cathartic though to think of art 15

This is why I founded my own independent magazine back in 2016, because I was frustrated by the rejection I faced with my modeling work. I do want to own my own gallery and event space in the future, but time will tell. At this point, I produce work and hope someone sees it and wants to buy it online. I also have work where you can print on demand at Fine Art America. My plans for the future are to sell more prints, online and inperson.”

my family.

In regard to her artistic process, she mentions pulling from different sides of herself to deliver poppy / exciting pieces, or dark / moody aesthetics.

“The different moods my artwork represents are from two different places. The happy colorful work is my playful, silly side, using comedy as deflection.

The dark comes from my interest in certain music and fashion aesthetics. I was always a goody goody, too scared to even cuss in high school. I held a lot back and inside for fear of what people might think or getting in trouble or disappointing

The older I got, the more I expressed myself and didn’t care what others thought. I became braver and stronger from it all. The music I liked in my twenties was rock music. I wanted to be Gwen Stefani and chopped off my bangs like her. I shopped at Hot Topic. I drove a Mustang. I did all these things and still managed to be on the Dean’s List and A/B Honor Roll.

I guess one side represents the once-suppressed side, now free, and the other side reflects how I need my life to be—happy and stable. It wasn’t easy as a kid in my household and I won’t go into detail.”

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It wasn’t until I was in college (2nd leg) that I truly had to support myself, make mistakes and carve my own path that I figured out myself. College art courses, supporting myself and living on my own, bad relationships, music, and more influenced me more than ever in my twenties. Also big coffee table books of fashion photography, dabbling in modeling myself, concerts and the club scene… That all changed me.

Melanie has also been inspired by icons in her art process. “Georgia O’Keeffe, Yayoi Kusama, Warhol, Basquiat, Paul Klee, Richard Avedon, Versace, and more…” She also has a favorite piece among her own work. “‘Skold’, my giant skeleton head. I always joke that he’s my boyfriend. I still don’t understand why I still have him and how he hasn’t sold but I do. I’m extremely proud of him.

I’m not sure that Georgia O’Keeffe is to blame but maybe that’s why I like skulls? I am not a fan of death but there’s something interesting about the structure of a skull.”

collectors online. “I have my own website now where you can view my work and merch, where you can shop and inquire within, as well as my Instagram account @melanieallisongallery. As for prints, I have those available at the one or two shows I do during the year, but plan to sell more online in the future.”

Community is highly important to Melanie Allison, as is made clear through her empowering Girl Flock Party. This also extends to philanthropic endeavors. We asked what are some of her favorites.

“Anything to do with animals. I used to volunteer at the Austin Animal Center. Girl Flock Party at Christmas time last year, raised over $1,000 for the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter. During my BEVIE days, we also collected items for the survivors of trafficking and exploitation at The Key2Free.”

She and GFP continue to hold silent auctions, giveaways, boutique crawls and other fundraising endeavors to aid the community, entrepreneurs and various charities. Though one typically needs to reside in Georgetown / Austin and surrounding areas to participate, they accept bids and donations from just about anywhere.

As of May 2022, Melanie joined the PEPPER Magazine team as our Austin Networking Liaison, coming aboard from the ground up. In that time, she’s gone above and beyond to connect us with amazing creatives and entrepreneurs. And as we’ve developed, she’s been responsible for formatting the magazine into a print-ready format each month, making her expertise the reason we have a print magazine at all!

This kindness and love of helping other womanowned businesses—like us—is at the very core of what makes Melanie inexpendable. As a professional, as a friend, and as an artist.

As for the modeling end of things, we asked if she’s ever acted too. “I did act for a short bit. I was on a cable access TV show as the announcer in my early twenties between my time in college. I was like Heidi from Tool Time (Tim Allen - Home Improvement). But it’s not for me. I loved the artistic and creative side to modeling. Working with a creative team or photographer on a theme or artistic concept was more interesting and fun to me.”

Melanie’s art is accessible to enthusiasts and 18

Get to know Melanie Allison and give her a follow to keep up with her newest ventures and latest creations.

geisahaus.com

A FASHION PRODUCTION & MEDIA COMPANY

PIECE OF MEAT A visual essay by painter Aleena Sharif • Pakistan

journalist K. Day Gomez

Outspoken Pakistani artist

ALEENA SHARIF once again pushes boundaries and comfort zones; this time by painting portraits of the meat industry.

Known for her expansive body of work highlighting the female form—the parts we typically try to cover up or look away from—she’s taken her curiosity and appreciation of flesh in a different direction in this series.

Can what is hard to look at also be beautiful? We approached this question with the artist herself.

“The idea behind the meat paintings is just that I find the visuals so striking.

When I work with bodies I also like to go for large fleshy figures and I feel like raw meat has the same feel. I enjoy painting the subject as it’s something that feels quiet tactile and visceral.”

At 26, she’s already been making waves and receiving criticism from every angle. Believe it or not, it’s intentional. ”It creates an almost uncomfortable feeling for the viewer, which I love.

I named the first of these paintings “Lady Gaga at the MTV Awards 2010” because when I saw her outfit, I fell in love.

It was such a statement piece. And once again you can see how controversial it was and how people were so uncomfortable. I wanted to recreate that.”

She’s certainly done just that and then some. Hellish, honest, brutal and provocative—whereas most of her work promotes body positivity, this particular series dismantles bodies. It’s a hard mirror for omnivores and a vegan’s worst nightmare. And that’s exactly what makes it important.

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DYSPHORIA

CONCEPTUAL ARTIST MARIA CHRISTIDI • CYPRUS

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

ABOUT THE ARTIST

“Hailing from Cyprus, much of my work explores aspects of Greek history and mythology. I am particularly interested in the relationships between the ancient and the contemporary – how the ancient cultures of the region have evolved and what insights we can gain from their study.

“Art has the unique talent to connect and bring people together, one of the many reasons why art has captured my heart for so many years.

Through art, I have the ability to express emotions or even tell a story. Choosing to study art was a life changing experience for me, with so much to gain and so much to give. I consider myself a very passionate and creative person, eager to express myself through the Art world.

Although I consider myself an artist who works across a range of media and processes, I have recently been focusing on lens-based media‐and in particularly photography and video. My recent works include a series of photographs and films that each focus upon a figure from Greek Mythology. In these works, I have attempted to distill the essence of these characters through contemporary media and settings to create ambiguous images, videos and performance that straddle the ancient and the modern worlds.

In each of the works I attempt to connect these representations, on a personal level, with situations or events from my own life‐as a kind of metaphor for my experiences‐that also link into the epic themes from Greek mythology.”

The time I have dedicated in my daily art practice has confirmed the importance of art in my life. As Edward Hopper said, “If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.”

Back in school, I had participated in and won various art competitions on different subjects, showing my unique techniques and approaches with great enthusiasm. I also participated in a theatre competition with my classroom team that triumphantly won the first prize out of many other enrolling schools in Cyprus. It taught me to work within a group, acquiring team-building skills. I used to attend ballet and swimming classes at a younger age that helped to boost my self-confidence, feeding my soul with energy.”

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“A tremendous experience was participating in the project “Don’t waste our Future” in the EYD 2015, developing ecological friendly habits which promote recycling and protects the environment from the many threats our planet is exposed to. In addition, I have participated in “4R-RecycleReuse-Reduce-Rethink” Youth Exchange Program supported by Erasmus+, interacting with youngsters from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Romania. It included a mix of workshops, debates, role-plays, simulations and outdoor activities. This program allowed me to be aware of socially relevant topics, strengthening my values on solidarity and democracy. This project aimed to spread awareness of environmental concerns, providing us with healthy lifestyles.

In 2018, the Educational Program of “Youth Parliament” truly fascinated me as I was an ambassador, representing my country with great enthusiasm. As a European citizen concerned about the future, I participated actively in the project, meeting new people, expanding my horizons and knowledge on issues related to cultural diversity and human rights. Alongside this project, I also qualified at the same time in First Aid which helped me to work under pressure and learn how to be calm and focused while dealing with many subjects all at once.

In my last academic year at school, two friends and I came up with an idea to arrange a charitable art exhibition that would feature my artwork amongst many other students’ creations.

This idea was supported by the teachers as well as the government, manifesting in March 2019, giving me the opportunity to display my artwork.

I currently finished my 3rd year as a university

student, studying Fine Arts in Scotland at the University of Dundee and will complete my undergraduate degree next year. Recently, I have worked as a jewelry designer at Spanos Fine Jewellery Shop, widening my knowledge not only about the quality of Diamonds, Gemstones and Metals but also learning much about designing, creating and carving.

I had worked as an art teacher at the Thalia Pontiki art school providing my knowledge and experience.

I had the ability to teach students, showing me their faith and trust on how to be taught and enlarged my leadership skills. Thalia was the art teacher that helped me develop my skills and is an amazing mentor to me. A few weeks ago I had the honour to be hired as a photographer/videographer to capture the moments of the Indian’s Society Holi event (colour festival) which was one of the best and most exciting experiences I’ve had.

My passion the past two years is lens-based media like photography and video and soundmaking. Also, one of my favorite traditional types of art, that do not involve technology and that I enjoy are painting, sculpture and printmaking. While I paint, I like explore unorthodox materials such as chlorine, sugar, coffee, tea etc. Over the last two years I have participated in various art exhibitions both physical and virtual.

For the future I would love to complete a Masters degree that involves lens-based media in order to study and explore in depth the technological part of the arts, continuing to link it with my projects inspired from Greek history and mythology, developing my personal touch that will differentiate me from other artists and allow me to mark my personal signature in the world of creativity.”

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FREQUENCIES Artist Shee Gomes São Paulo, Brazil

Born in 1987 in São Paulo, Brazil, with a degree in Digital Design, Shee (Sheila Gomes) began her work in visual arts the same year she graduated from college in 2009. Shee has been showcasing her work in a variety of exhibitions, collaborations and projects with curated works featuring international books and magazines. ”My passion for creating comes from a very restless mind and from art itself, as a language that makes sense to me. As a child I used to sit and draw for long periods, trying to copy characters from children's books while creating my own stories. At some point I realized that throughout my life I have always used the art of books, movies, music, etc., to learn and deal with life.

This is something that has an important impact on me. It's amazing what can be extracted from a single work of art, it's a unique dialogue that changes for each viewer. That's where my passion comes from. These unique conversations.”

The artist shares, “My influences come from artists like Kandinsky, Hilma Klint, Tomie Ohtake, for the freedom and futuristic approach they had in their work and for the way they use colors and shapes almost as if they were composing a song.

From cinema, Almodóvar is one of my favorites, for the excellent use of colors, of course, but also for the way he assembles his characters and plots—in an almost organic way, as if the scenes were extracted from real life as they happen, without script. I have a lot of influences in music too. Mainly because I think music is a language very close to visual work, with its different tonalities and layers that complement each other at some point. I try to bring this often into my work.”

Non-objective painting have became part of her processes, with expressive colors and brushstrokes that seek harmony and a certain sonority in each composition as a way of translating her perceptions of the world. For Shee, art transcends cultures, concepts, ideals and time itself, connecting us with all that we are. Her purpose is to unveil the new, and expand this connection. ”My advice to others who are considering pursuing an artistic career is to listen to yourself and your work. If one of them tells you to stop, you can continue, you are certainly an artist. Your job is to explore this agony and desire to create and find your own language.”

Shee’s series “Frequencies” very much resembles cellular processes under a microscope. For this reason, her work was deliberately curated by PEPPER in respect to our soft theme, “The Body Issue”. [nº 492, nº 499, nº 503 are 50x60cm while nº 493 is 40x50cm —all are acrylic on canvas, circa 2020] 35

technological

apparatus The Anatomically Inspired Work of Artist Daniela Braga Santos • Goiânia-Goiás, Brazil

Daniela Braga Santos

journalist K. Day Gomez

reflected in the dilated pupils.”

Continuing onto the next page, the artist goes into further detail about the project as a whole and that particular piece, which is entitled ‘Coleta’. ”The collection is a project that asks the question “how much of the world can fit in a short time or little space?”. Thinking about this, I reflected, in a macro look, on the human being, whose short existence with an average age that goes up to 80 years old, carries in his own body the reminder of the path of humanity's existence.

Daniela Braga Santos is an architect, urban planner and visual artist. She describes her body of work in this particular project as reflecting on the history of human beings, reminiscent of their own bodies comparable to technological apparatuses.

“Developed up to the present moment, and how this affects our way of experiencing the world and existence itself.“ The article cover image is described as follows: ”Na "tip of the tongue" is a work that makes a pun with the expression "to know everything". In the image we see that the knowledge of the world is copied every day in smaller and smaller chips until it reaches nanotechnology. The first one brings nanotechnology as the factor that allows us access to exponential increments of cultural and social information. That is, the knowledge that simultaneously becomes deep and superficial for quick consumption in a short period.

The second reading is of technology, represented by the nanochip and the tattoo of the Wi-Fi symbol, showing the rapid access to information. This ends up generating a technological addiction, which is already compared to addiction-like illicit drugs, which seek to provide explosions of sensory sensations, which are 38

At an approximate glance, the fingerprint would be the mark of our own social existence. This takes us back to the first register of the fingerprint of the human being. The cave paintings bridge thousands of years of history and geohistory, from the first digital register, the palm of the hand, to the digitalized ones by computer.

This era of information of the world and of human existence itself is also represented by a small drop of blood, taken from the fingerprint that has provided, through scientific studies of “DNA”, the course of the individual—be it the characteristics, physical, genetic, and consequently of humanity itself.”

Below, Daniela allows us a glimpse ito her studio work space, which houses the majority of her tools for her various creative endeavors.

Though this particular submission has been digitally painted via tablet entirely through the ProCreate program, she does engage in hands-on tactile art projects as well.

All pieces here showcased are 20x20cm, circa 2022.

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About the next piece, Iris: ”Iris is a work that continues the reflection of this series: “how much of the world can fit in a short time or little space?”.

From this, I thought about the possibilities of living and the human experience. The world captured by sight allows us to individually have unique sensory experiences. And in a way, perceive the simultaneous interactions between moments of the past and the present that will often become history, not only of the world, but also of our own personal histories. So, in the short span of a lifetime, one theoretically lives and experiences several worlds.”

In the final work, Stem: ”The work Stem alludes to the perception that the brain contains in itself the power to assimilate, create and dream various possibilities of worlds. Here, it is not only the world that is perceived within the scope of reality, but new doors open to the construction of times and worlds that live in our imagination and desires.

Above : Iris Material: digital support Technique: Pintura digital Dimension: 20cm X 20 cm Year: 2022 Program: Procreate

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Below : Stem Material: digital support Technique: Pintura digital Dimension: 20cm X 20 cm Year: 2022 Program: Procreate

Thus, it is quintessentially the brain mass that dissolves and builds itself, creating new shape, in a process from the inside out.”

Lashes are life, beauty is quality. dropyourlashes.com

SUSTAINABLE DESIGNER PETER JENSEN OF <<YOURS TRULY>> DENMARK, ENGLAND, USA JOURNALIST K. DAY GOMEZ

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PETER JENSEN IS MORE THAN A SUSTAINABLE DESIGNER & ARTIST… HE’S A VISIONARY.

And his vision is clear, as told through the lens of his own signature style; a style which has developed and evolved over time. We asked how this came about. “That is a good question, something I find hard to say. For me, it comes from inside. It is something I was born with and have learned to understand over the years. I have tried again and again to work in a different way, but it comes out as it does. So I suppose that has

become my personal ‘style’. I think about what I do when I work, and it can take me a long time to finish an idea.”

His desire to create and his use of specific fabrics is influenced by his upbringing and staples he remembers from boyhood. “I was very young. I have always been interested in fashion, style and how to form yourself into an idea that related to

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what you see and understand. Does that make sense?” It actually does. “I loved working on my mom’s sewing machine, which had its home in my bedroom. I would create and work on the machine. This has helped me understand clothing and how it is made over the years. I love good quality and I hate fast fashion.”

Professor Louise Wilson OBE—she really believed in me and my ideas. She was great and very scary.

Ha…” Scary can be good as it tends to inspire greatness in others. As it surely has helped to cultivate and bring forth the greatness in Peter Jensen as a well-rounded creative with a very clear vision for his future.

We asked Peter if he had a strong support system in his family, regarding his craft. “I am going to say it this way, yes and no. When I started out the idea of becoming a fashion designer was not “in fashion” as it is now.

As for his wearable line, “The plan is to launch it in September 2022. Hopefully with a bigger launch in 2023 during Copenhagen fashion week.

It was very much for people from a “creative” family, not like mine—a working class family. My family never tried to block the way, and I think I was a very strong person in that way. This is what I wanted to do with my life and I just went for it.”

This keen sense of self understanding and determination has served Peter well on his journey. In turn, he’s learned many important things along the way.

“I’ve learned to listen to myself and be true to my own ideas regardless of what everybody around me was trying to make me do. And I think I love working with people, but they have to understand that if we are working on my ideas, I will be the boss.”

That is a concept that rings true for every big name designer, as it should be. They are visionaries who weave the style and look of the era they occupy, and Jensen intends to be no exception.

He had a strong base of influence in his formative years that has stuck with him even now. “I grew up with a lot of women, and I think they really formed me. Also the great late

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It is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. But it is also produced in England and Atlanta. Here is the reason: I have lived in London for 25 years before I moved to Atlanta, GA. But the base of the brand is Copenhagen. I was born in Denmark before I moved to England.”

His plans are not only tunnel-visioned into fashion and design.

Peter puts a great deal of thought into the state of the world around us.

“I feel so many people are doing good things right now, thank God. We need it in this world.

I will say that I highly believe we need to get disco back, go out and dance to happy disco and forget about the world for a few hours.”

It’s this very idea of healthy escapism which has birthed the concept behind his <<Yours Truly>> endeavor. Peter is constructing not just a website through which to feature his brand, but a platform by which to showcase the aesthetically comparable work of other creatives around the world. The idea is not only to showcase their talents and empower the artisans—the aim is to transport the viewer to a wholesome peace of mind. A respit for the entire imagination.

For instance, imagine at holiday time a well-known actor reading Hans Christian Andersen stories in an audio visual presentation while you relax with a blanket, milk and cookies…the work of a landscape gardener in the spring who inspired some of Peter’s newest patterns, the fabrics of which are then handmade by another textile designer… “It’s time to do something honest,” Jensen urges.

For now, Peter is curating all of the various creatives and their work which specifically inspires or is adapted to his own aesthetic within his branded work. Hand-picking these talented individuals is not something he does lightly. There is much forethought and visual strategy that goes into this process. He’s taking his time and being selective, empowering those he offers the opportunity to, at no cost to them. “I am curating a fully interactive experience. This will involve music and other elements that can be experienced.” Essentially, he’s creating an entire mood for every new season.

When we asked him if he has any particular advice for other artists in the world who desire to build a career around their talent, his response was refreshingly honest. “I like the Brian Wilson documentary [his point that follows is in line with that]—it’s something you cannot help. I believe it’s in you for good or for bad. Let it happen. Be true to yourself. I don’t believe people decide to be artists. We are born this way.”

THE MAGICAL UNICORN 11:11

.com

DOS FRIDAS Photographer Saige Thomas of Geisa Haus pays tribute to the art of Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo

Photographer Saige Thomas Geisa Haus wardrobe La Casa Frida cosmetics / mua DermaLove Sara Guillen models Victoria Trevino & Isabella Rush

DISSECTING THE METAPHOR As broken down by Bursa Sert in her essay, The Two Fridas – A Detailed Analysis “In Frida’s diary, she wrote about this painting and said it is originated from her memory of an imaginary childhood friend. Later she admitted it expressed her desperation and loneliness with the separation from Diego.

Drawing attention to the conventions on defining women’s beauty by depicting herself with facial hair and painting herself twice went beyond the ordinary. At the same time, Kahlo’s The Two Fridas represent a departure in her oeuvre and her tragedies.”

WILDFL OWER PHOTOGRAPHER RUSLAN RAHIMI X ARTEM OLENNIKOV TAMBOV, RUSSIA

SOME BLOOM BEST

IN THE DARK Model Artem wears Polo by Ralph Lauren and Yves Saint Laurent in the sanctuary of The Flower Queen.

Photographer Ruslan reminds us in this dark vision that there is beauty to be found in the shadows. Playfulness and reverence all blurred between the lines like a wild thorn bush. But even a thorn bush yields a rose.

So too does our benevolence dance with our shadow. Those who remember this know true beauty.

—journalist K. Day Gomez

ENCOUNTER Photographer Matthew Pitts & model Yanee Clements Columbus, Ohio

Follow you down down down, into the quiet, There to encounter Yourself.

POUT MedSpa PA-C & Certified Injector • Bilingual Clinician “I help enhance your natural beauty.”

-Itxia Lee

@pout_itxialee

poutmedspa.com

Servicing San Antonio, TX

The SUSTAINABLE STYLIST BECKY WITTE-MARSH @beckywittemarsh

marshbecky17@gmail.com

FASHION e m o h

Set

Menagerie Take a time-traveling tour through the home of contemporary artist Kelly O'Connor Calvillo.

photojournalist K. Day Gomez

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habitat.

elly O’Connor is an incredible artist and her work often reflects a nostalgic mid-century ‘60’s aesthetic. If you’re not familiar with her internationally recognized work, you should be.

She has a long list of high profile collectors, has exhibited in museums and been a part of iconic branding campaigns.

Her depictions of bygone times of innocence and wonder are surreal, dreamlike.

Given her knack for representing this theme so well, I’d always wondered why Kelly is so drawn to this era; what does it mean to her? I was elated to have the opportunity to ask the artist directly.

“Aesthetically I love the clean minimal look of this era, especially when it comes to printed memorabilia, before the digital age.

Conceptually I think it was a very interesting time as well. America was dripping with idealism, yet behind the facade was struggling with some serious issues. I remember reading Valley of the Dolls for the first time by Jacqueline Susann and feeling very inspired to make work.”

Her home is just as much a reflection of who Kelly is, as is her art. It maintains the same aesthetic. “There is such great design from this era. I particularly love the sort of futuristic design of that particular period. I love movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and grew up being immersed in environments such as Tommorowland at Disneyland, CA. I think my love for these places combined with me being a contemporary artist is what creates the balance of both eras.”

She curates an eclectic blend of modern and vintage elements. We asked where she’s sourced some of her favorite finds from? “When I discovered Period Modern had an Eero Saarinen tulip table, I had to have it. Saarinen also designed the most comfortable chair ever, the Womb Chair. I found a really good replica at Rove Concepts. Tom Dixon is another designer that embraces the past / future vibe with his design that I appreciate. We have two Beat Fat pendants that I found on Ebay for a third of what it retails on most sites.”

Walking through Kelly’s newly renovated 1910 home feels like a life-size Barbie dream 77

house—if Barbie had exquisite mid-century taste and an affinity for astonishingly brilliant contemporary art and antiques. Installations are everywhere to be found. From her extensive floor to ceiling shadow box collage work to an elaborate glass menagerie containing vintage Avon perfume and other various antique bottles, the contents of which Kelly has expertly replaced with colored liquids, creating a rainbow prism of pure optical delight.

Her home is a living, functional museum. A representation of the theme parks and places in the world she’s visited and been influenced by, making it in every way a departure. O’Connor has carefully curated just the right elements to make her living space not only eraaccurate, but even whimsical. Noting the furry pink creature with lady’s hands which sits in her foyer, the Lego space shuttle from her husband‘s collection (who we’re told is an enthusiast), the Dorothy cookie jar from Wizard of Oz in her kitchen… The entire environment creates a truly blissful euphoria.

Of their most recent renovation endeavors, Kelly points out, “We recently transformed our backyard into basically a functional site-specific installation, which includes a large pool, spa, breezeblock wall, artificial turf, wooden beach hut and outdoor living room. One of my favorite features, which I’ve coined “infinity bamboo” is the wild bamboo growing along the parameter of the property—it creates great privacy and is resilient to both drought and freezes.”

The property, which is a 7,600 sq. ft. lot with the home resting prominently front and center.

“We are also renovating both our bathrooms downstairs. Right now I’m collecting tons of tile samples… it’s so much fun! I think these tiles have a similar quality to my collages with all the geometric shapes that fit together like a puzzle.”

Though the answer may seem obvious, we asked why its important as an artist to have an environment that is visually pleasing?

How does it affect her process? “Since I have three young children, its essential that my studio is in my home. Otherwise, I would never get anything done. I think being in an aesthetically pleasing environment helps foster creativity.”

Kelly mentioned a little bit about her studio remodel and clues us in on what she’s visualizing for the space. “Currently my studio faces the pool. We are going to open up this space to have a full window wall. While I’m working, I love staring at the empty pool—it’s very meditative. The reflective quality of pools can be quite powerful.”

An extremely zen point. That same meditative zen seems to carry over into her geometrically sound artwork which also blends soft textures, curves and human forms.

We can imagine this particular studio remodel yielding magnificent results for her future work to come.

So how do the children respond to being surrounded by the art and vibrant colors? Does her husband enjoy the space just as much as we do? “My children have always been surrounded by my work. I’ve never really taken a break from making work ever since I started my studio practice in 2006 (after college). They older children are both very creative. They love to draw, sculpt clay and dress up in elaborate ways—they must be impacted in some way from all the artwork.

My husband loves being surrounded by my work and is very trusting of my vision. He let me take the lead in designing the pool and outdoor installation spaces. I certainly run ideas by him but most of the time he agrees. His friends joke that he lives in a ‘Barbie house’.”

Surprisingly, Kelly is actually from here. We say ‘surprisingly’ only on account of her very worldly / Americana vibe and nonregional dialect.

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“I was born and raised in San Antonio. I’ve spent most of my life here. The only time I’ve been away was a few years at college at UT in Austin, an internship at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, TX and a semester abroad in Italy.”

Kelly is currently the Head of Collections and Communications at Ruby City, a contemporary art center dedicated to providing a space for the city’s thriving creative community to experience works by both local and internationally-acclaimed artists.

Famously envisioned in 2007 by the late collector, philanthropist and artist Linda Pace. “We are a small staff so I have a lot of roles. I am very hands-on with the collection and supporting exhibitions as well as creating editorial content for the organization and supporting its communications efforts.”

As for what’s next, “My show at David Shelton Gallery in Houston opens September 9 - October 15.” We hope you’ll follow Kelly O’Connor online and come to love her signature art style as much as we do. [see back directory.]

Sustainable Fashion & Lifestyle Expert Becky Witte-Marsh

sustainable fashion & decor

“Inspiration comes from everywhere. From life, observing people, etc. From movies and books you love. From research.”

-Holly Black So – two things happened.

1) I thrifted a beautiful string of hand blown, multicolored glass beads that I absolutely fell in love with!

2) My sister, Annie, recommended I watch “Blown Away” – a competitive glass blowing series on Netflix. The series educated and inspired me, with its beauty, raw heat, heart, danger and artistry.

So – here we are – Blown!

Glass blowing was invented by Syrian craftsmen in the area of Sidon, Aleppo, Hama and Palmyra in the 1st century B.C. Blown vessels were used for everyday needs and were exported to all parts of the Roman Empire. Many people today think that glass blowing began on the island of Murano, Italy. Although it was not invented there, Murano has played a prominent role in the glass making industry for hundreds of years.

It is Dale Chihuly who really opened the door for glass blowers around the world as a true art form.

He changed the landscape literally and figuratively with his free form blown works and brought glass blowing to the forefront.

In my quest to understand blown glass more intimately, I contacted Glen Andrews II, at Caliente Hot Glass here in San Antonio. He and his work and life partner, Ruth Bushman, graciously invited Kat

and I in to view the studio and actually witness the art of blowing glass up close and personal. This also included a fashion shoot in the shop which was the perfect backdrop for all things Blown!

Let’s jump into some home and fashion inspiration.

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habitat.

When I think about glass incorporated into a home, I think of four main categories: Serviceable – drinking and wine glasses, vases, plates, bowls, soap dispensers, candle holders…

Art – Accessories, wedding

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cake toppers, sculptures, orbs, glass flowers and disks, art glass collections…

Vintage – For those who are into mid-century modern, blown glass pieces can be a particular fascination. Tall decanters with stoppers, sometimes called Genie Bottles, speak to the mid-century vibe.

Installations – Chandeliers, lighting, knobs…

These four areas give you many options to incorporate blown glass into your everyday

life, going as light or as deep as you would like to go. It could look like a few really cool wine glasses to share with friends as you entertain. Or it could be an entire wall of glass flowers or shelving filled with blown glass collected vases, platters and bowls. For real enthusiasts, custom blown chandeliers, sconces and pendant lights may just be the ticket.

Wherever you choose to integrate glass into your space, it’s reflective qualities will bring you joy, light and energy.

So there’s the obvious stuff. But what about the not so obvious “Blown” fashion inspiration?

Where do you take your cues from?

The four main properties/abilities of glass are: transparent, reflective, transmit and absorb.

Fashion translation: Soft/hard, shapes/colors, molten/structure.

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“Blown” has its own connotations: Breezy/windy/flowy, clear/sheer, bubbles/dots/circles/globes/puffy, color/stripes. Go to your closet!!! Pull all of these out and start working with these inspirations! Ruth and I had a blast putting together this “Blown” vibe shoot for you! Some of these inspirations even have names like “Victorian Lady” and “Little Blown Peep.”

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In glassblowing, cane refers to rods of glass with color. There is also a type of glass called “Pirate” glass – you know I love me a Pirate anything! “Pirate” refers to what appears to be black glass, but is actually very dark green, blue or purple glass. This “caned” dress called out to me as part of the “Blown” aesthetic. The addition of the “Pirate” glass concept partnered the black leather in my mind. The ethereal with the tough leather being a great juxtaposition.

Jewelry is an easy way to add the blown glass aesthetic to your look, Dichroic glass is a glass used in jewelry that has two different colors that display each of them based on lighting conditions. Thewa is a special art of making jewelry that involves intricately worked-out 23 carat gold being fused on molten glass.

Glen partnered with a jeweler, J. Watson Creations, to make this gorgeous glass, natural pearl and black diamond necklace. [see bottom left] A showstopper for sure!

The blown glass jewelry you collect will stay with you and become a treasured part of your fashionable life.

Get Inspired The thing about art and fashion is the story behind it. Start with the story – the inspiration. Whether it be a string of glass beads, a series on Netflix or a visit to your local glass blowing studio, find the story and then – Tell It! 92

HIGH LIFE/HIGHLIGHT THE

PEPPER

WITH LIFESTYLE CONTRIBUTOR JOE A. GOMEZ III Let’s face it—we run our bodies hard and most of us don’t make time to say “thank you.” Believe it or not, our biggest hurdle to body care is mental.

ABOUT

BODY MAINTENANCE Self care is not just a fad; it’s a modern necessity. And men tend to fall behind in that department.

Whether over-working ourselves or just plain overlooking it, we shirk our needs until our proverbial engine is on red.

Well, no more! With so many options out there now, there’s no room for excuses. Here’s what we learned in our search for state of the art feelgood.

treat Hiatus Spa Re

THE DAY SPA “According to a 2019 International Spa Association (ISPA) Foundation survey of 1,000 USA spa-goers, about 49% of American spa visitors are now men.”

-Forbes

THE COMFORT

What you’re wearing actually does matter.

Things that feel good against the skin make you want to move around and use your body more —and relax stress-free.

You also feel better about yourself when you look good. Prada has some great lounge options Seek local: in SA, Hiatus at The Pearl is exceptional. and comfortable kicks.

That’s pretty even-Steven.

With that said, companies seem to have paid attention to these statistics and as a result, a whole world of environments, services and products geared toward men and non-binary folk have opened up.

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Saks Fift h Avenue

habitat.

THE MAINTENANCE Sports medicine and infusions aren’t just for athletes anymore. The average working Joe and folks stuck in front of a computer all day need TLC just as much as the guys who play ball. There are deep therapies, cryo, sensory deprivation floats, stretch therapies… you name it. With so many advanced and proven alternatives available, now it’s just about deciding how you want to take care of you.

Restore Hyper Wellness

“A man too busy to take care of himself is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.”

PRODUCT MATTERS

-Spanish Proverb When we say “product matters”, it’s not about what’s popular. It’s about what’s actually good for your body and safe to put on your skin. There are tons of organic or at least primarily natural brands on the market.

One of our top favorites is HERETIC— an edgy company famous for their delicious non-binary completely plant-based scents and dirty sense of humor. Try Smudge—that’s our #1 pick. Aromatic and dare we say euphoric.

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NOVEM Cuisine

NOVEMCUISINE.weebly.com

@novem.cuisine

(512)965-3383

CLEAR LIGHT COFFEE HOUSE COFFEE HOUSE

OWNER ANGELIQUE BRITT & PARTNER THEODORE APOLINAR JR. SHARE THE STORY PHOTOJOURNALIST K. DAY GOMEZ

-ANGELIQUE BRITT

Wells" for example. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with changing menus,” Britt explains.

“We quickly realized that we're condensing three different food programs into one, so we decided that we really want to build the coffee and fine baked goods aspect of this company first, before we grow this into the full culinary landscape that it will become. Great things take time and we are ever-evolving. The process has been a unique growing experience which is partly the reason we're choosing to stay privately owned.”

On that note of expansion, we asked her partner, Theodore Apolinar Jr. to illuminate the provisions and culinary expansion. “143GRP PROVISIONS— “fine foods for a sacred life" —Is our brand of professionally packaged, chef prepared technique-driven quality products.

The beauty of it is we don't specialize in just one thing; we specialize in everything.” A bold statement, and one worth putting to the test.

“We want all people who choose to spend time here to take a step away from the everyday and enjoy what Clear Light Coffee has to offer. In our mind, time is the most precious commodity and the idea that people are choosing to spend it here is something we won't take for granted.”

Inspiring words from owner Angelique Britt, a young business savvy entrepreneur already making an impact with her three businesses here in San Antonio. Clear Light Coffee House is positioned on a tree-filled lot with other small businesses and food trailers surrounding it. A modern trend that’s proven quite convenient and smart, since the overhead is far less than brick and mortar. And though the coffee shop has four walls, its provisions and lunch truck (which is currently in transformation) rests right next to it, making the whole experience convenient for patrons to stop in or pass through.

“I have family in London and we constantly have fine imported provisions. We were inspired by concepts from London cafes like "Fernandez &

“ONE FOUR THREE GROUP Literally translates to “I love you” in numerology. Making quality goods for quality people is our love language. We are working on a couple of projects this year. One of them is going to be our Texas BBQ concept with some partners by the name of "Good as Gold" We also offer our services for product development, not only making new products for companies but making old products better. I offer consulting services to businesses all over Texas including having helped to launch some of the top recognized fine dining restaurants in San Antonio. They say- I'm the one you send in when you want the job done- Right.”

That’s a lot of different avenues within the same industry to keep them plenty busy. But they’re not stopping there. “And one thing you could look out for at the Clear Light Coffee Co. location is quality packaged foods, such as sandwiches, salads, bowls etc., which will be available by the time this article is printed.”

PEPPER staff will certainly be some of the first patrons to give it a taste!

The pair make a powerhouse duo of ambition and strong personalities. We asked how they came to partner together to create a coffee shop / food truck combo? Angie tells us, “Theodore and I met through our corporate years where he had HR experience and I was a regional 99

manager for an educational guidance company.

We connected and discussed various other interests which led us to this current venture. I've always wound up in high-level operations, working hand in hand with some of the largest companies in the world. Along the way you meet some great people! I love seeing how connections can flourish and lead to great success for all.

With the concept about two years back, we connected on this idea when: Theodore was studying Holistic cuisine at the time and I was completing my yoga alliance program. When two people with great ideas align, that's when things start coming to fruition.

Theodore was starting his provisions company And I was interested in understanding the coffee world. We both have an interest in architectural design and business development. So everything just kind of fell into place—of course with hard work and dedication.

As far as the food truck, Theodore actually refers to it as a modular kitchen. It’s one of a kind and he built it himself. The interior and exterior of the shop was hand-built, painted and each rock hand-poured by just us. We are independent; no funding. We’re building on an understanding of what a true pleasure a great cup of coffee can be.”

Angelique has extensive experience and the education to back it, which thus far has served her (and the community) well. “I have always had a love for business. My favorite thing is helping others be successful and finding ways that I can help them with my skill set.

My main area of expertise is Business Development, Marketing and Advertising. I've had the pleasure of being guided, trained and even mentored by some of the top minds in the world in this area. I focused on working with businesses of all sizes to be successful and in doing so, gained an understanding of what the hurdles are.

I recently completed my Harvard Business Sustainability Program focused on the measures that help ensure success by comprehending the complexities that come with sustainability. It's a tough market for all and understanding how to not only maintain but thrive is critical.”

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So getting to the most important part—the coffee—Britt explains, “Our coffee is imported from Central America and South America and some are single-origin. We are currently exclusively working with a roaster out of Las Cruces, New Mexico by the name of Picacho. One of the best roasters around. We plan on expanding locally and opening a roasting facility of our own.

We always have different roasts available inhouse, as well as a house blend that we serve as our drip coffee on a daily basis. All of our beans are 100% specialty grade, shade-grown and organic.”

For those who are always on the go, we asked if Clear Light has an online ordering system in place. “Yes we do! The merchandise changes frequently and we will have shirts, hats and some great collabs coming up!” That’s pretty exciting.

On a personal note, Angelique is what San Antonians refer to as a “transplant”. “I am not from San Antonio. My father served in the Military and my mother is from London. With my father serving, I was actually raised in the country of

Panama and came to San Antonio at about 12.

When living there, my mindset was really shaped into wanting to see businesses and people be successful in what they do. I saw poverty on a level I didn't understand until I was older. Seeing people of all ages, including children trying to help their families eat for the day…Coffee was a simple staple there for all families—beans grown, roasted with simple techniques and handsmashed for a cup to help people get through the day.

The aromas even as a child become ingrained.

You begin to understand how such a simple thing brings such great pleasure. We are currently looking for a source in Panama near where I was raised in Pan de Azúcar. And don't worry—we have sweets in stock daily.”

As for Theodore, “I am from San Antonio, but I‘ve traveled all over and worked professionally

in Houston, New Mexico, West Texas, Austin and Seattle.” We asked how old they were when they first imagined owning their own business.

Theodore answers, “I've had an unconventional upbringing, not an ideal childhood. But I can tell you one thing—I wanted to be a chef since I was 17 years old.

I've studied CIA textbooks like Bibles. I've studied the great works of Francis Mallmann and like most, I've always loved the works of black sheep Chefs like Anthony Bourdain and Marco Pierre White. I truly do live and breathe the pursuit of culinary excellence. And I'm starting to realize that the imprint I will leave in the culinary world is different from the ones that I look up to.” That is definitely a noteworthy sentiment.

Angelique in turn tells us, “I've wanted to be a business owner since I was a child, although as a child it's easier said than done. As I got older, I

realized the value of my time and how to foster what you do with it, to be able to have ownership of it. This led to the current businesses I've opened. Within my family, there is a strong entrepreneurial history. My family in London are so supportive. In town, families love seeing the business flourish. My Grandfather was a well known and recognized chef in California, having opened his own restaurant and also serving in the Military.”

Though their main focus is delivering quality eats and beverages, the team place a strong emphasis on community outreach, even acting as a post for various charitable efforts.

The very dapper Gentleman’s Ride motorcycle organization is one such group that frequents Clear Light as a meeting point. Angelique also plans to regularly organize her yoga program through which she teaches the community with classes there and at the adjacent park. This sense of responsibility to their city makes the coffee shop and surrounding businesses even more worth looking into.

With such a rich story and the coming together of two very talented individuals from different worlds, Clear Light Coffee Co. and its sister businesses are likely to become staples in SA. It’s surely worth stopping in and checking it out for yourself.

DARK P H O T O G R A P H E R

M I C H A E L

A V I L A

C H R I S T M A N

@DARKHORSEPHOTOGRAPHYSA

SEEK FOR THE

Darkness of Summer

photographer

刘云

Liu Yun with model Purlin

檩粼 中国江苏省南京市雨花台区铁心桥

Tiexinqiao, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China journalist K. Day Gomez

AS WE SAY

farewell to summer in this time of extensive climate change, model Purlin seeks the coolness of the shade from what has globally been the hottest summer on record.

10

YEARS OF

GRIEF

During my childhood, there was an emphasis placed upon the 10 commandments.

Jewish Day School was nothing if not heavy handed when it came to etching in the duties one had while fulfilling these guidelines.

Every year and every passing holiday, I reread them. The fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12) stood out to me, as I compared my family

author & photographer Becca Willow Moss New York

dynamic with those of the prosperous and performative families around me. I preferred to be in the homes of my peers, surrounded by their quirks, irks and the Naot knock-off Birks left in various front halls. I coddled myself, distracting myself from the decade of displacement I felt with my own parents.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your

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days may be long upon the land which the Lord God gives you.” The commandment to honour one's father and mother began to rule my life. I amassed multiple avenues through which to honour the fathers and mothers of those around me in retirement residences. I surrounded myself with parents, grandparents and aging peoples; caring for them with song and catering to my excessive existential dread. I hoped that one year, I’d grow to believe that my effortful filial piety would gain momentum.

These famed 10 commandments were offered to us as children to be treated as a guidebook or as a story book. I liked stories: My 10th birthday coincided with my Dad’s return from a work trip. He told stories of the sites, sights, and rites of passage that were to come in my future. He brought me back a museum gift shop replica of Degas’ Little Dancer.

I looked at the ballerina’s bodice, and then I looked at my 10 year old body in the mirror. I plied and I curtsied. Beneath the fabric of my skirt, I felt the bend in my knees, and a breeze hit my calves.

I thought: 10 will be a good year, a good number.

Slumber was a concept lost as the years went by, and now the concept of the number 10 hits with different poignancy than initially anticipated. When I was in 10th grade my Dad sat with me and helped me research the best acting programs across the globe. We sat in a coffee shop during my 10th grade summer, and talked about the theatre program at Yale, music pedagogy at Juilliard, about sustainability, debt and about scholarships. A year later, we sat in that same coffee shop when he informed me that he had cancer.

Now, in 2021, I venture to the coffee shop and acknowledge that it’s been 10 years since he died.

In my culture, Judaism, we prescribe the 7 day mourning period of shiva. A year of steps follow, but the footing that proceeds afterwards is uncharted territory of the heart.

Today, I audaciously add a commandment for the future of Jewish children who grieve: Thou shalt not mourn based on arbitrary or societal pressures.

Traditions differ in approaching the Ten Commandments. Judaism reminds its believers of their debt in the prologue: “I am the Lord your

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God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

I ask: who is to bring me out of grief?

Does it end?

With each passing year, the fear of burying more loved ones inches closer, not farther, and closure teases. Perhaps it should not end. No 5 stages of grief counselling, nor the 10 commandments can outline the contemporary context through which I grapple with grief. Song, art and cinema fuel my vigour to honour my father with a bountiful step, in the bounty of good merit.

“I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” As a sex-positive artist, bondage to me has an entirely different meaning.

Tombstones sustain seasonal weather, and we maintain the flowers that shroud the ugliness of loneliness. Pallbearers bear the weight of the coffin, and the mourners go on to bear the weight of knowing that the deceased rest — but the living don’t. They move on, attempt normalcy, and accept the amount of days off work granted by Human Resources. To the chagrin of HR, humans are resourceful, and resiliency is a resource we must not bleed dry. We are commanded to keep living whilst we are haunted by our dead. The alternative is far worse.

May their memory be a blessing.

culture.

I AM EVERYONE WHO CAME BEFORE ME

photojournalist Nastya Buzinayeva Belarus

I have something from my mother and from my mother's mother, although at first glance they are not at all alike.

There are two stories about my grandmother that I love more than the others I’ve heard, and in which I recognize myself.

Once in youth one guy looked about my grandmother.

One fine winter day he invited her to go ice skating at the central city skating rink. Grandmother agreed and came in the evening at the appointed time at the appointed place. The guy also came on time and to the right place. In general, everything seems to have started well. But looking at the young man my grandmother decided that this would be their last

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meeting. The fact is that he brought the skates wrapped in a newspaper.

What's wrong with that? - Most people will think, because this doesn’t prevent him from being a good person.

But this is a story about my grandmother and the guy didn't stand a chance.

In the second story, my grandmother was invited to dance at a local dance floor. At that time, short haircuts and curls were fashionable for girls. But my grandmother still had two pigtails. And the young man that grandma danced with made a compliment to her: “It’s great that you are not like everyone else. You have such beautiful pigtails.”

The next day my grandmother had a short haircut.

It would seem that you should rejoice - you are not like everyone else and others like you that way. But this is my grandmother and she didn't think so.

Myself and these traits of my grandmother's character appeared in me thanks to my mother.

Mom is a very gentle person. She knows how to listen, accept someone else's opinion, smooth out any conflict, always find words of support for someone who needs it, and easily create coziness—be it in a city apartment or a camping tent.

And the greatest value in life for her is her family. I also partially find these qualities in myself. And also my mother loves to pick mushrooms, like my grandmother, like myself.

It isn’t customary for my grandmother to hug and say that we love each other when we meet. And she threw away all the children's drawings by my mom and uncle that grandfather collected, because she didn’t see value in them.

Mom always gives my sister and I something cute for birthdays, New Year and just when we‘re sick.

Mom also collects old Soviet Christmas tree decorations.

And both of them worry for any reason, sometimes inflating a problem in their imagination or creating it from scratch. It’s the same with me.

Does my mother look like my grandmother, and I look like both of them?

There are times when I react in a certain way to some life situation and catch myself thinking—“here I am, acting like my mom” or “that this is exactly what I got from my grandmother.”

Sometimes when I listen to my mother I think —“well, no, I'm not at all like that and I will never become like that.” And once, my mother after a difficult conversation with my grandmother said, “if you notice that I‘m becoming like Baba Valya, please let me know right away so that I can stop it.”

I want to be better, wiser, and more attentive to myself than my mother and grandmother. But at the same time I want to preserve the kindness, sincerity, gentleness and emotionality that I got from them.

Throughout our lives we learn from each other, change and at the same time accept who we are. Sometimes its difficult, but by doing so we study and create ourselves. And we also love each other, and love seeing ourselves in each other.

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Melanie Allison MELANIEALLISONGALLERY.COM

PEPPER no. 4 | SEPTEMBER 2022

PASSPORT

BASEL, SWITZERLAND IGOR PHOTOGRAPHY OF NEEDHAM

TRAVEL Switzerland is majestic, idyllic, old. One of the places in the world that holds tight to its glorious ancient architecture amid the emergence of the cold modern, the indifferent new.

Known for its museums and as a pharmaceutical mecca and growing biotech center, the town of Basel rests on the water of the Rhine.

Located in northwest Switzerland, closest to the borders of France and Germany, this is a place that holds a certain magic.

“Its medieval old town centers around Marktplatz, dominated by the 16th-century, red-sandstone Town Hall. Its 12th-century Gothic cathedral has city views, and contains the tomb of the 16th-century Dutch scholar, Erasmus. The city’s university houses some of Erasmus’ works.”

-Google Even if you don’t speak Swiss German, it’s fairly easy to communicate your way around town as an English or French speaker. Its university dates back to 1460 and is ranked as one of the world’s top educational institutions to this day. But it’s the Münster Cathedral— dating back to 1019—for which the city’s skyline is known. Its twin towers are actually named after Georg and Martin, “saints of the night”. And most exquisite, the Fasnachtsbrunnen Fountain is the mechanical artistic expression of Jean Tinguely, featuring ten mechanical figures who seem to embody the movements of the street performers of the past who once occupied the area.

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passport. journalist K. Day Gomez

With more than 40 museums, sprawling old buildings, shops and restaurants, churches and even the oldest zoo in all of Switzerland, Basel is in every way a wonder to behold.

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“I LOVE SWITZERLAND. IT'S SO CLEAN AND COOL. WE DON'T GET MUCH SNOW WHERE I LIVE SO I GET REAL EXCITED IN LAUSANNE AND GENEVA. I'D LIKE TO BUY A HOUSE THERE WHEN I'M OLDER AND SETTLE DOWN. IT'S ALL SO CUTE THAT IT LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE SET." -Michael Jackson

Fit to a T. WITH NUTRITIONIST & FITNESS EXPERT TINA SENA

Expert Health Advice Nutrition at any age, the best foods for all bodies.

Lifestyle Tips & Resources Links, great products and places to try.

Fitness Techniques Things you can try at home or at the gym.

Plus!

YOU CAN REACH OUT TO TINA DIRECTLY…

Fit to a T.

Perfectly

IMPER FECT Nutritionist & fitness expert Tina Sena photographer K. Day Gomez

your breasts are NEVER going to be back up where they once were?”

In a perfect world none of us would have bad body image.

You know what I was thinking about today?

How almost every single one of us dislike SOMETHING about our body. Guys, girls, young, old.

It doesn’t matter. Every single person I know could tell me at least one thing they do not like about their body. Now of course because I’m in the business that I’m in, I may be a little more exposed to this. But as I was critiquing my own physique this morning, I had to stop myself and start thinking about all the gratitude I have for the very body I’m complaining about.

“OMG! Tina, what in the world does it even matter how lean or muscular you think you are or are not? Why would you even be consumed with the reality that 130

Am I really saying to myself that I need to lose 10 pounds right now?

These were the actual thoughts going through my head when I had to stop myself and say “woman, you are healthy and happy and breathing and you get to move your body any way you choose today. You still have your breasts while some others have lost theirs.”

My mother is one of them. She will now tell you that her health is way more valuable than what she’s going to look like in her bra. How dare I ever complain about not having a perfect body when their is no such thing anyway.

Nor is this world, which at times unfortunately is why we can get so down on ourselves in the first place. Y’all, be kind to yourselves. Love your body. Be so grateful for another day in this imperfect world an treat it well, whatever body you’re in.

a n i T

Find Tina online at tinasenaofficial.org or Instagram at @tinasenaofficial

Tina works hands-on with clients in San Antonio, New Braunfels and surrounding areas.

Tina Sena

Whole Heart Foods

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Have you heard?

Nutritionist & Fitness Expert Tina Sena has her own line of health snacks…

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tinasena.org

HEALING PRACTITIONER

ROMY NAVA

A MODERN MYSTIC

Negative

Self Talk

Negative Self Talk Healing Practitioner Romy Nava

We have grown up watching our favorite actors and models influence humanity. In today's world, we seem to see that social media has been handed the baton. We now see countless social media influencers with questionable talent now influencing us —and our children— in the wrong way.

Unfortunately this has created a sort of stigma with the media in general, a ripple effect.

Especially in the women who look up to these influencers. They are taught that they are not good enough. Not pretty enough. Not thin enough. When in reality, they are enough just being their authentic selves. I saw this as an opportunity to make a change.

This article is focussed on negative self talk and teaching us to love ourselves just the way we are.

Negative self talk is more of a subconscious habit that most of us are unaware of. When we become aware of the behaviors, we can make conscious decisions to acknowledge it and change or delete the thought. With enough practice we can make little changes in how we treat ourselves, yielding big results.

One example from my experience is just expecting something to not go in my favor. I would attribute it to “just my luck”. Well, if I keep telling myself that I have the worst luck, then my subconscious is glad to deliver. I then just see odds not going in my favor. Once I became aware of this thought pattern, I made efforts to catch myself thinking this. I would then stop the thought and delete it away. Sometimes I then choose a positive affirmation to substitute the thought.

Another lesson I learned is to forgive yourself when you realize that you are in the pattern of negative self talk. Forgiveness is the key to healing. We are in desperate need to heal ourselves. Sitting with yourself, in contemplation and practicing the art of forgiveness will make the process so much more fulfilling.

The Ho’Oponopono prayer is a must when practicing self forgiveness : 134

“I’m sorry.

Please forgive me.

I love you.

Thank you.”

These four phrases hold a self-healing vibration that is so powerful. I recommend you sit with these phrases for as long as you feel the need, anytime you become aware of the negative self-talk.

Negative self talk is something we all can struggle with as humans. And like anything else, just being aware and making positive changes will dramatically change your perception of yourself and the world around you.

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POSITIVELY CRYSTAL

Motivational Mindset Coach Crystal Lopez-Crebs

VICTIM OR VICTOR Have you ever been in a situation that seemed so bad, so negative, that you knew your life would never be the same?

I was diagnosed cancer. And the moment I heard that word, a million thoughts immediately began running through my mind. Can I fight this?

What treatments will I have to go through? What stage? How long do I have? In that moment, I had a choice to allow myself to fall victim, or see it as an opportunity to learn and grow. Knowing that moving forward there would be unknowns.

I had a choice. My decision was to go after it mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. I went through the treatments – chemo and internal & external radiation, and I did the inner work; which included massive amounts of forgiveness & gratitude, meditation, prayer, changing my diet, I took supplements, and even went to see a healer in Brazil (an amazing experience) because I was open to miracles. I was able to take every day as it came and see the wins, eventually becoming the victor and winning the battle. I understand and want to be sensitive to anyone who has not had the same victory as me, because each situation is different, however I know there is a lesson in each of those situations for those going through it and those being affected by it. Which, again, is always an opportunity to fall victim or be a victor.

I share this to give you perspective on how your mindset, in any situation, can impact the outcome. You could be having trouble at work or school, maybe something is happening at home or in your personal life. Your mindset is the key to transmuting and transformation. There will be times that you falter. That is completely okay—not everything is rainbows and sunshine all day every minute. Each time you are presented with that choice, you might stay less and less in the victimhood, and become and stay in victory much quicker and longer. You have the power and choice to allow it to bring you to a stop, or to push through, learn the lesson, and then elevate your life experience.

Here are some things that you can do to help and support your mindset: Daily Gratitude Practice, Forgiveness (forgiving cuts your ties from a situation and allows you to be free, it doesn’t discount what happened). Listening to uplifting people / podcasts / music, reading personal growth and development books, affirmations & visualizations, and surrounding yourself with positive likeminded people that want to see you win.

I want to see you win, I want you to succeed in life, love, business, and your relationships.

As you are reading this, take the time to reflect on your day, your week, the past year. See where you are in your mind, where do you want to go? What do you want to do? Who do you need to forgive? Is it yourself? What are you grateful for? Take a moment to write down three things you are grateful for and see how your energy shifts, its powerful. There is a great deal of you that the world could benefit from. No matter where you are in life, you are one decision away from empowering yourself to live intentionally for the better.

Every day, every moment, you have a choice to be in a victor or victim mindset. This is the ultimate key to your success or failure in any aspect of your life. We get presented opportunities to create the life we want regardless of external circumstances. How we react to situations are the threads that weave our life.

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Intimate Affairs Body Image Empowerment Maven & Intimacy Alchemist Angela Michelle Body Image has always been on my mind. As a boudoir photographer the topic was almost always brought up by clients. Often upon on hearing that I was a photographer, people would say they want to book me—but first, they would need to lose weight or tone up.

Sometimes they would book me months ahead of time with the goal to change their body before our photoshoot. As their session neared, they would panic, reschedule saying they needed more time and sometimes completely ghost their session. It always made me sad knowing they didn’t feel worthy of being seen. I can understand and empathize. Before I dug in and did my own work of facing body image, I often put things off thinking I needed to change my body first. Perhaps I was drawn to study body image. It was something I struggled with as a teenager and all through my twenties. It held me back from living authentically and enjoying life for many years.

Body image is complex and understanding it requires that we take a step outside of ourselves to see the large picture of how and why 136

it impacts us the way it does.

Body Image as defined by Collin McShirley, MA, LFT “The perception that a person has of their physical self and the thoughts and feelings that result from that perception. Feelings can be positive, negative, neutral or any combination. They can be influenced by individual or environmental factors.”

It’s important to note that a person’s body image can strongly influence their behavior.

When we see that body image can impact human behavior, we see why so many of us change how we live to accommodate our thoughts about our bodies. How we think and feel impacts how we show up in the world. When body image affects our behavior, it can also begin to affect intimacy and our relationships with partners and even ourselves.

Listed are some of the ways that body image can cause sex and intimacy to be stressful: • It may lead to avoidance of sex and / or cause low libido.

• Sexual inhibition is also quite common and

someone struggling with body image may be too insecure to freely enjoy sex. This can make it much harder to have an orgasm because we aren’t present in the sensations of our body.

• All of this can lead to lost connection both with our own body and within our relationship with our partner(s).

Common body image concerns related to intimacy are body size, appearance of genitals, skin texture, rolls and folds, scars, hair and signs of aging. These insecurities can cause us to disconnect from our own body and begin to feel unworthy of pleasure.

So what can we do? How can we push back on the negativity that can feel consuming?

First, recognize that it is a process and a practice. We didn’t get her overnight. Our complex feelings are often the result of years of messaging from all around us. This messaging often serves the purpose of trying to make us feel a certain way so that we feel inadequate and will buy whatever they are selling. This is part of the capitalistic patriarchal society that we are all immersed in. By understanding how we got here we can begin to break away.

Through curiosity and compassion, we can unravel the thread that has bound us.

It is important for us to realize that bodies are ALWAYS in a state of flux. They change throughout our lives and that is completely normal. Being tied to aesthetics is dangerous because your body can and will change. Accept that change is a normal and healthy part of having a body and learn to embrace it and support it in all its stages and states.

One way we can begin to do this is by teaching ourselves to see and appreciate the diversity of bodies.

By appreciating the diverse bodies on others, we begin to chip away at those beauty standards that have become engrained into our consciousness.

One thing we can do is find body positive accounts on social media that both challenge and inspire us on our own body image journey.

I could honestly talk about body image all day because there is a lot to unpack here l, but I will leave you with this: Instead of focusing on the way your body looks or even what it allows you to do (which can pull us back to capitalism and the requirement that our body must DO something to be good), turn instead to appreciating what your body allows you to experience.

If we have a body, it means we are alive and that allows us to experience life.

Gratitude is powerful and by focusing our appreciation on experiences, we can begin to shift our perspective. Bringing it back to intimacy. The focus of experience teaches us to relish in the pleasure our body allows us to feel. This doesn’t even have to be about sex—although it can.

There is pleasure in floating in a river, that first morning stretch, of feeling the wind against our skin or maybe the sand beneath our feet.

By focusing on pleasure, we can connect to our body and begin to live an embodied and joyful life.

Bern, Switzerland

journalist K. Day Gomez

psych.

Tatsiana Yukhnavets —born ‘75 in Belarus lives her creative life “between dream and reality”.

stories and create artwork.

I am the mother of a 25-year-old daughter.

Her work is often reflective of inner struggles and conflicting perspectives she deals with navigating society and family dynamics as a woman in a time when everyone expects us to be something. Art is therapy. And she has opened up a window into her artistic mind.

“I am living in Bern, Switzerland since 2002 as an author and artist. I write essays, biographies, short

The most important thing in life for me is to achieve my own goals and not to be afraid of dreams. I like to live in the present, but I am very excited about what will happen in the future. I write stories and design collages and textile artwork. Composite artwork is an artistic side of my life. By art, I mean creating something new, something inexplicable, emotional.”

All of Tatsiana’s work is emotionally charged, hyperbolic. This is because she reaches from a primal place deep inside of herself to extract the very real and raw inner feelings she holds in reaction to the occurrences in the world around her.

“It doesn't matter if it's a painting or a story, a sculpture or creating collages. Before I develop something new, I put myself in a dream. The boundary between reality and fantasy disappears. In such cases, I immerse myself in my experiences, preconceptions, beliefs and expectations. This is how the images are created in my mind, which I realize through this process.

It is clear and understandable to me that I have not experienced only positive emotions. Various experiences steer me in the right direction when creating my art. Thoughts that pop up in my mind lead to results I do not question. I create feelings. That is my philosophy. I am not afraid to experiment. Neither of doing something wrong.

My heart will tell me in which direction to move.”

It’s from this keen sense of self trust and self knowledge that she has come to create works that are equally vulnerable and emotionally disruptive, even to the onlooker. In psychotherapy, work like this is presented as an outlet to work through emotions and traumas we do not fully understand, and as a tool for the therapist or academic to gain insight into the areas the subject struggles with or fixates upon.

Through her creative work, however, Tatsiana is both patient and scientist. And her

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only aim is to make something true—something that makes her feel. She accomplishes this in part by the type of subject matter she chooses as her focus. Topics that naturally strike a nerve, especially for women.

“The main line of my work is women, their role in society.

I talk about the issues: single, divorced, single parent, childless, poor.” We are not our grandmothers who were brow-beaten into “knowing their place”, or our mothers who rebelled against that ideology, only until they “settled down”.

We’re occupying an age when our sovereignty is more championed than ever before. And yet, we’re still so new at this we’re not sure what the hell to do with it.

This is why self-exploratory work like Tatsiana’s is so important. I dare say that the act of creating such work is

almost more important than the results. That is something this artist understands intrinsically.

Her A4 collages appear throughout this article as follows: Maiden Masha, That’s Life, Opinion From, Rite, Bad Daughterin-Law and Bye Weapons.

In her expressive portraits, she wears a skirt with an embroidered womb and fetus, another allusion to “a woman’s place”, while also a nod to our own divine power of creation.

“With my work I want to show the viewer the elusive, subtle and fragile border between dream and reality.”

THE AFFAIR photographer Alistair Cowin with model Olivia McCracken London, UK journalist K. Day Gomez

LOVE NOTE TO SELF The ironic ‘90’s & age of selfdeprecation are far behind us…but tell that to our psyches.

The body positive & self love movement has taught us it’s not only healthy to appreciate the body we’re in—it’s necessary.

Alistair Cowin and his muse Olivia capture the intimacy one can develop with one’s self in the simplest of ways.

While vanity is a stigma of the ego, unconditional love and gratitude are the antidote.

SEPTEMBER 2022

prodigy.

R Y L I E

H A S

TWO HOMES

C H I L D

A U T H O R ,

M O D E L & P H I L A N T H R O P I S T R I C H A R D S O N S T . L O U I S , M I S S O U R I

R Y L I E

photographer Kerry White Photography journalist K. Day Gomez

Rylie Richardson is a talented child with many interests. Most of which involve helping her community in the most creative ways. With the strong support of her mother, she’s also a young author.

Her first book, “Rylie Has Two Homes” touches on the co-parenting family dynamic. Rylie tells us, “I wanted to show kids that they are not the

only ones who’s mom and dad don’t live together.

And it’s okay to have two parents not in the same house because you can get twice the love that you have.”

She even has a bit of advice for other children who are new to coparenting. “Stay strong. Don’t blame yourself. Your parents love you. Just because you don’t live with both does not mean they don’t love

you.” Very wise words for only 8 years old.

Words that come not only from experience, but also from the unconditional love she feels from both of her parents.

Rylie is also quite fond of modeling, which she does exceptionally well for her age. “I wanted to do it and I started in pageants and won Little Miss Midwest and Little Miss STL in the Baby Miss USA pageant. Now I model with The Doll Squad. My favorite thing is to show people what I’ve practiced. Like my walk and poses.”

Her mom, Stacey, is her biggest mentor and source of encouragement. We asked how it feels to have a mom who helps make her dreams come true? “It feels good that my mom supports me and she cares about me. I feel like I’m a star when my mom is helping me, because some moms don’t do as much as my mom does for me.”

Rylie and her family help their community in many different ways. We asked her to share some of her favorite things she’s gotten to do to help others.

“Writing my book has been my favorite.

Volunteering at church is fun.” And she even has great big philanthropic dreams for the future. “I would like to build a homeless shelter.”

Even with so many big things on the horizon for Rylie, she is very much a kid and has lots of interests to explore. She tells us she loves “track, acting and I love to dance. I also love to make up rap songs.” That’s really awesome and we can’t wait to hear what she comes up with.

We asked mom, Stacey, to share with us the real life background in the making of Rylie’s story. “Rylie was around 5 when we decided to end our engagement and no longer live together. It was extremely hard for me because I felt like I failed my family. I never wanted to have a broken home and it was the reason I held on to the relationship even though it had run its course. I had to reprogram my mind from that toxic way of thinking and realize Rylie would be better off if she had 2 loving environments to grow in vs. 1 loveless household. I had to put my insecurities, past childhood trauma and self embarrassment aside, for her to flourish.”

An incredibly noble and insightful outlook. “Rylie has an older brother (21) and sister (19) and 2 younger sisters (5 and 2) all from her dad, Mario Richardson.

Rylie is the perfect big sister. She loves to have them.

She’s the only child at home with me, so any time she can be around her siblings she jumps at the chance.

I’m glad she has them because I probably won’t have anymore children.”

It’s this extended family dynamic that has actually inspired Rylie’s next book. “She wants 122

to write another book about her siblings. That will be our next venture. I want to keep her involved with literacy and literacy work. Being the smartest in the room will take her farther than being the prettiest.

As far as her modeling career, I‘m just here for the ride. As long as she shows passion and dedication to her craft, I will be her biggest cheerleader and supporter. She talks about being an actress and wanting her own TV show, so I think being a part of her development group “The Doll Squad” and taking acting classes at Coca (STL) she is getting the foundation she needs to become the superstar that’s growing inside of her.”

A WALKING

SURPRISE Some super interesting facts about Rylie : “Rylie attends St. Louis Language immersion school-French. She is in the French program.

She’s attended from Kindergarten to currently 3rd grade, and will continue through 8th grade.

She should be fluent in French by then.

Rylie has a dream of opening a homeless shelter one day. She prays and asks God to help the homeless and people without food every night.

I am going to do everything I can to help her reach her dreams of helping those in need.

She won Miss St. Louis 2018 in the Little Miss

America Pageant.

We attend East Union Missionary Baptist Church of St. Louis. Rylie is a member of the Jr. Usher Board.”

Mom tells us, “I myself hold serval titles in the church—youngest member to be voted to serve on the board of trustees, Sunday school teacher, Youth Event Coordinator, Vacation Bible school teacher. Sr Usher...”

It’s clear these are two incredible ladies, both very blessed to have one another. And actively a blessing to their own community, which in turn blesses them.

“No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child.

The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.”

-Emma Goldman

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You can find the book “Rylie Has Two Homes” on Amazon.

Support a child author and give the gift of compassion and understanding to a child in your life who may need to know they’re not alone.

Rylie would like to encourage other children to find their passions and don’t be afraid to pursue them.

It’s never too early to start being the best you —whatever that looks like for each person. It all starts with a dream, an idea, and a whole lot of imagination.

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HELP A YOUNG NEURODIVERGENT ARTIST LINK : peppermagazine.myshopify.com/collections/art-prints

• ART FOR ENGINEERING •

Autistic child artist Aiden Gamez is raising money for STEM learning toys, equipment, art supplies and other tools he needs as he pursues engineering sciences and art.

Please consider supporting his endeavor by purchasing his original artwork, signed prints or postcards.

KEEPING UP WITH

NOAH

Noah Brenneke

RETURN OF THE MATRIARCH

@returnofthematriarch

Messages of youth & female empowerment.

Andrea ‘Vocab’ Sanderson x Aminah Decé

MEDITATION ON

MY BODY AND ITS PARTS

poetry by Bett Butler • San Antonio photographer Darius Bashar • Toronto

I enter the sanctuary of myself / breathing deeply / and I sing I sing praises to my body / to its minuscule cellular galaxies / Lilliputian stars fluttering / raising from the maelstrom that rare thing which is myself I sing praises to my body / to my breath / the silver thread which knits me to this world with faint miraculous breeze I sing praises to my body / to my blood / a red river rushing through channels and conduits / swells of scarlet flowing and ebbing in rhythm with oceans and stars I sing praises to my body / to its weight / its joyful surrender to gravity’s embrace / its place in the space it inhabits I sing praises to my body / to its appetites and passions / its weaknesses and its cravings / its coolness and its heat I sing praises to my body / to the marks thereon / the lines and creases / ridges, seams, and furrows / to the scars that tell my story / landmarks of my survival I sing praises to my body / to its worn and missing parts / to glands and organs once there and now removed / to limbs weakened and bowed / to muscles frayed and joints battered from years of bending / not breaking I sing praises to my body / this castle of meat and bone / dwelling of the gods, word made flesh / beautiful in its peculiarity / graceful in its awkwardness / holy in its profanity / perfect in all its imperfection I emerge from the sanctuary of myself / into the sunlight of being / breathing deeply / and I rejoice / and I sing

I AM MY OWN FAVOURED POEM AUTHOR NJABULO NKAMBULE SWAZILAND, SOUTH AFRICA I am my own favoured poem.

I love every part of me.

The more I write these words down, The more I create my own self.

I'm like an ink used in a poem, I bring life even to inanimate objects.

I am my own treasured poem.

I write myself Into every phrase.

I scribble yours truly Into every sentence, I jot myself Into every verse.

I engrave yours truly Into every stanza And into every word, I utter with my heavenly lips.

With every meter and rhyme, Assonance and alliteration, With every simile and metaphor, Every element of poetry, I fall in love with me, With only myself and I. With every line I write, With every poem I recite.

I am my very own special poem, An ideal and dearest poem.

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ASK THE RIVER POET LAUREATE ANDREA ' ’VOCAB' SANDERSON / SAN ANTONIO TX PHOTOGRAPHER CHUTIPON PATTANATITINON BANGKOK, THAILAND

I spoke to the river. I had so much to say. I talked to the river. She answered me in waves.

I once asked the water, “Do you recognize me?”

My whole body, a river, frame that flows and ripples deep within coursing to currents of beauty.

Liquid hearth gurgling with inseparable droplets and always inviting My entire habitat encompassing Salted and fresh, full, and rushing with life.

Never damned, or receding, and certainly never stagnant.

My movement a fluid feminine rhythm trickling or hasty through valleys and mountains I wind.

I am no pond.

Yet at times, I resemble an ocean.

I once asked the water, “Do you recognize me?”

I sat still, waited for an answer, All I saw was my reflection in the fluxes of waves.

lit.

L I N K T R . E E / D A B L U E K I D D I E

306 PEARL PARKWAY, SUITE 106 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78215 (210)826-6411 TWIG@THETWIG.COM

get involved.

We Care is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and provide a safe and permanent home for both exotic and domestic animals.

Founder and rescuer, Armando Mendez, is in every way “the Willy Wonka of the animal kingdom”. His extensive sanctuary houses hundreds of rescued animals ranging from exotics to domestic and even endangered species. A diehard philanthropist, Armando has made it his personal mission to help animals any way he can as far back as high school.

Located in Lakehills, Texas, the sanctuary is currently in need of help from the public—and that’s where you come in. If you’ve been looking for a great cause to volunteer your time or donate to, this is as good a place as any.

Here’s the scoop as explained be Armando himself…“This is a crucial time for our rescue facility. We are in the process of upgrading and installing safety fencing around our exotic enclosures. ​The total linear fencing is 900 feet.

This construction is necessary for us to reopen our doors to the public. Upon its completion, the sanctuary will be officially upgraded to a rescue facility that will allow the public to share and participate further.

The price is just under $30,000 USD. That sounds like a lot, right? However, with a minimal donation of just $35, a person can fund a foot of fence for the much-needed safety enclosures for our primate residents. For everyone who funds one foot of fencing, we will create weatherproof fence tags displaying your name, family, group name, or "In memory of" to recognize your compassion and care for our rescues. You will also receive an in-kind donation letter as all donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you so much for your help!!! There is no "I" in WE Care Wildlife Sanctuary. Together, we make the difference in our animals' lives and welfare.”

More about We Care and our mission: Each of our resident animal rescues come to be in our care from a variety of circumstances; from being sick, injured, homeless or surrendered to simply lost. We give these animals a safe environment, professional medical care, hope, and most importantly, lots of love. Our sanctuary, in every way, becomes their home. Every effort is put forth to create and nurture the most ideal 172

lodging and overall environment for each and every one of them. Whether they walk on two legs or four, swim, run, or fly, all are welcome.

Once We Care Wildlife Sanctuary commits to helping an animal, we seek the best quality treatment available - taking no shortcuts. Our team is compassionate and passionate about the rescue and rehabilitation of each one of our residents. We are a group of professional people with various backgrounds, who, together, have decided to commit to saving as many of these animals as possible. Additionally, we believe in the value of education pertaining to these animals, which makes We Care the perfect destination and platform for students, those seeking community service hours, and companies looking to do creative team-building while giving back.

Donate or Volunteer via WeCareWildlife Sanctuary.weebly .com We Care Wildlife Sanctuary provides a fully immersive experience for individuals, families and groups.

Educational, interactive, inclusive, and engaging...and proven to be therapeutic.

Let’s help them open their doors again ASAP!

linktr.ee/minxandonyx

AN ODE TO

ALL THE FISH PHOTOGRAPHER SOURY PHANSTER WITH MODEL BROOKE REESE GULF COAST, TEXAS

IN THE SEA

“As the human population continues to expand it's consumption of natural resources, the earth, oceans, and other natural sources for food continue to be exploited. That includes the over-fishing of the oceans. We must find other ways to ensure our natural resources are sustained and will be here for future generations.”

—Soury Phanster

WE WILL NOT GO

QUIETLY

Mixed Media Painter & Conceptual Activist Artist RUNA Lisbon, Portugal

“We are currently 8 billion humans on the planet, and more than a third are malnourished or live in poverty. According to UN estimates, in 2100 we will be 11 billion. And all of these people naturally struggle for a higher standard of living.

Will technology really be able to solve all problems? Pollution, migration, the need for things like food, energy and water?

Perhaps we will have to choose: more people and less prosperity, or the opposite. As Al Gore said,

reality is "an inconvenient truth".”

-Text accompanying “Big Troubles Are Coming” [see last page of article].

Activist artist and writer, RUNA (aka Rute Norte), was born and lives in Lisbon, Portugal. She is currently undertaking a Master's Degree in Painting at the Fine Arts Faculty of Lisbon University. She dedicates not only to painting, but also to writing and photography in travel chronicles.

One such chronicled travel experience which she

Pictured : Going Far 2021, Acrylic, oil and oil stick on unstretched canvas, 91 x 126 cm (36 x 49,6 inches)

177

has shared with PEPPER both in visual and written depiction took place on Atauro Island, East Timor. The artist recounts, “The Coral Triangle covers areas within six countries: East Timor, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. It’s shaped like a triangle because scientists have identified that these are the limits that outline the epicentre of marine biodiversity on Planet Earth. It’s here that exists the greatest diversity of corals in the world.

The dive lasted 56 minutes, and we went down to 17,6 meters deep [57 feet]. We did about 400 meters horizontally [1300 feet]. There aren’t words to describe what I saw. I saw a colourful world, full of vibrantly colourful fish. The water was 27 degrees [80° Fahrenheit].”

Atauro Island, East Timor (Chronicle 61 of East Timor) 2021, Acrylic, oil, wax, oil pastel and oil stick on unstretched canvas 126 x 91 cm (49,6 x 36 inches)

MORE FROM THE

ARTIST

Corvo Village 2020, Acrylic and oil on paper 300g 29,7 x 40,7 cm (11,7 x 16 inches) 178

Mixed Media Large Canvas Offerings All figuratively depicting various natural places and environmental concerns.

Self-Portrait (Tribute to Howard Hodgkin) Acrylic, oil and oil stick on paper 29,7 x 40,7 cm (11,7 x 16 inches)

Questioning the Self 2021 Acrylic, oil, wax, oil pastel and oil stick on unstretched canvas 162 x 84 cm (63,7 x 33 inches)

Out on the Fringe 2022 Acrylic, acrylic marker and oil on paper 40 x 29,5 cm (15,7 x 11,6 inches)

First Swim of All Summers (Tribute to Katherine Bradford) Acrylic, oil, wax and oil stick on unstretched canvas, 125 x 96 cm (49 x 38 inches)

Torel Garden 2020, Acrylic and oil on paper, 39,8 x 55,4 cm (15,6 x 21.8 inches) 180

Late Night Arithmetic 2020, Acrylic and oil on paper, 39,8 x 55,4 cm (15,6 x 21.8 inches)

The Waves Would Shake the Boat 2020, Acrylic and oil on paper 29,7 x 40,7 cm (11,7 x 16 inches)

Stand Firm 2021 Acrylic and oil on paper 29 x 37,5 cm (11,4 x 14,7 inches)

RUN! 2022 Acrylic and oil on cardboard 49 x 26,5 cm (19,2 x 10,4 inches)

Big Troubles Are Coming 2022 Acrylic and oil pastel on unstretched canvas 170 x 210 cm (67 x 82,6 inches)

Blackbird, the Messenger 2020, Acrylic and oil on paper 29,7 x 40,7 cm (11,7 x 16 inches)

Addressing the

ELEPHANT in the Room

An essay by journalist Robert Dean

Here’s the thing, I don’t care.

Have you looked around at the hellscape we live in? There are mass shootings, rampant debt, homelessness, a plague for a few years, and now gay dudes are getting monkeypox. Sounds like we’re killing it as a species. Bet the aliens are stoked to land down here and check out the freak show. These beings with potentially infinite wisdom land on earth to help us evolve into kinder, more loving people, and we’d be all enraged because they don’t understand our cultural obsession with a family of women with gigantic, fake asses.

The United States is continually dumping billions into a proxy war with Russia via Ukraine, leading to higher gas prices because oil companies love making a buck, masking their profits as “market demands” all. At the same time, the military-industrial complex stuffs its pockets with nearly a trillion dollars. America’s roads, bridges, schools, fire departments, and veteran initiatives sit broke or, at best underfunded. Oh, and people get big mad when you don’t want poor people to have anything or get the medical treatment they can’t afford.

182

There are men in 2022 who think mustaches and mullets and dangily fuckin’ earrings are the hottest shit, ever. Kids flip bottles half filled with water for fun because their brains are rotted out from constant content flashing across their retinas so much so that a simple pleasure like flipping a bottle gives them an analog experience that isn’t sponsored by the automatons at Facebook.

I also don’t care about social media. I don’t care about what’s trending, who’s cool, or who’s not. I never watch television, I go to the movies when my kids want to see something like Sonic the Hedgehog, and I have no idea what’s on the radio.

Whenever my news feed shows a list of A-list actors at some gala, I have no clue who most of them are. I also don’t understand fashion. I own ten of the same black shirts and wear stained blue jeans or Dickies.

My Vans are destroyed, and I have cowboy boots that have seen better days.

I live with anxiety and depression. I’m a bag of meat filled with regrets and fears fueled by self-doubt.

Sometimes I stare at my phone, dying to hear from someone. Other times, I could throw my phone into the ocean and never look at it again. Some days, I can’t get out of bed. Some days, I’m a shaking mess.

I’m forever saddled with thinking about everything, always finding the worst-case scenario. I read way too much into insignificance.

My heart has been broken, and it’s also been glued back together.

I love hard and give to those in my heart just as hard. I want you to succeed. I want you to wake up and crush whatever you do. I want you to find happiness in whatever brings a smile to your face.

That could be perfectly smoking a brisket for tacos or setting up your garage to become the Drinking Zone, a place for jerks to black out while listening to The Clash. If you need five bucks to get gas, if I have it, it’s yours. If you need to drink about a problem, let’s do it.

I don’t care about models. I don’t care about who gets to be on the covers of magazines, about who gets to wear what. If you’re fat and someone wants to look at you, cool. If you’ve got a dad bod and want to show off the gut, life is short. If you’ve got Down’s syndrome and Victoria’s Secret wants to give you a page in the catalog, that body must be banging.

Who cares about any of this? Who cares if Sports Illustrated hedged their bets with four different women on four different covers? Do you know how hard it is to sell magazines? THIS is IN a magazine, written by a working writer – we’re all aware of the duress.

If someone turns you on, go for it. If someone grosses you out, move on.

There’s so much whack stuff constantly happening everywhere. Worry about lessening the burden of those around you instead of how someone isn’t pretty enough to be in a catalog or too fat to be in a bikini. Literal fires are burning worldwide due to climate change—you’re worried about what Lizzo is wearing?

Get a hobby or at least a crippling mental health disease; you’ll find a lot more to loathe about yourself than if someone isn’t up to your standard of beauty. Life’s way too short. I don’t care about what you jack off to, but I hope you realize that face you make at the moment of joy is probably just as gnarly as the one you criticized in the comments section.

183

U N I O N

O F

T H E

Blue Dream depicts a creature clad in intricate white clothes posing in front of a mirror. There are a plethora of similar photos starring various Instagram beauties. The white frame also hints at this being an image pulled from this social network. Yet, instead of a pretty girl, this painting portrays a dog dressed up in human attire, sporting a wig attached with hairpins. It creates a chaotic effect, and we no longer understand whether the dog has transformed into an influencer or the other way round. Is this a feverish dream? And whose nightmare is this: the dog’s or the influencer’s?

In their works, surrealists intertwined reality and reality and dreams, their narratives were paradoxical and often shocking. Today, the line between reality 184

2021, Oil on canvas. 60 cm. X 50 cm

BLUE DREAM

IMPOSSIBLE

and fiction is even less pronounced: it has become much more difficult to discern between real and fake on TV and on the Internet in this world of simulacra.

Memes that circulate online successfully manipulate our consciousness by tapping into the collective unconscious. And those who created them could not even dream they would have such an effect or hold such power. Artists, on the other hand, use many techniques to protect themselves from the imagery imposed by popular culture: for example, by shifting emphasis, i.e. when they elevate a random picture from the Internet to the status of an exceptional work of art.

About

Union of the Impossible The group of anonymous artists self-titled Union of the Impossible was established in 2020, amidst the raging pandemic and socio-political unrest. Its members are not fixed and their number keeps expanding. The artists’ staple is the traditional medium of painting on canvas. They poke fun at everyday life that has undergone a drastic change toward the bizarre. They come up with new means of protection, creating ‘visual shields’ against blandness, boredom, indifference, logic, and consistency.

resemble Polaroid shots. This is both a hint at exclusivity because Polaroids are one-of-a-kind and an act of opposition to the replicated Internet memes.

Not in our wildest dreams could we imagine that we would get to face a time of ‘great trials and tribulations’. The new normal (and, possibly, the irrevocable) has changed our lives, and we are slowly starting to grow used to it. Irony is an indispensable aid in situations such as this. This is how the Dada farce took root, first causing the viewer to go numb and begging the questions, ’What is this, exactly?’ and ‘Why this, precisely?’ and ‘What on earth?’ The outcome is the new generation of memes, occasionally dark and often straight to the point.

Memes have been dubbed ‘the virus of the mind’. When all is said and done, only something apt and incisive will not fail to grab one’s attention in the influx of information that is today’s life. In troubled times, people use different avenues to protect their sanity, with artists, predictably, resorting to art. Union of the Impossible was formed during the lockdown with the mission to create works that were uncharacteristic of each individual member, and the ‘new memes’ swiftly became one of their directions. At one point over a century ago, Dada sprang up as a response to WWI with its unjustified cruelties. In 2020, artists are bringing the Dada principles back to life, repurposing them for the new circumstances: the pandemic that has the entire world under siege.

Whilst Dadaists propelled anti-aesthetics, Union of the Impossible provokes and baffles the audience with its memes.

“The Union of the Impossible is an artistic association that arose in 2020 in the era of pandemic and sociopolitical shocks.” @union_of_impossible

Most of these ‘new memes’ are presented in white frames that are part of each picture and 185

PEPPER Magazine

09

D

cover artist.

September 2022

PLASTIC BUCKET

and irreverent inside jokes. When he tells you one of his favorite authors and influences is the late Hunter S. Thompson, a lot of his work makes so much more sense. Note, the back cover art of HST is actually a

p. 187

avid A. Elizondo is a multidisciplinary artist and animator born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. And at 70, he’s still keeping it fresh with quirky boundary-pushing art heavy with puns

'22

piece which David tells us he commissioned “from an artist that had a booth during MonsterCon at Wonderland Mall some years back. I don’t have her name. It was signed SMS. My approach to collecting art is work related. The Hunter S. Thompson painting is being used in a film concept. Sometimes I modify

the art I buy, to fit into a narrative that I am following. I have also traded art with other artists.

My collection is limited to space and adaptability to the current state of the studio.” He comes by collecting naturally as he was part of the hay day of SAMOMA (San Antonio Museum of Modern Art) which PEPPER is currently building a documentary around.

Bamunanika Children’s Home •Uganda•

DONATE at gofundme.com/f/a-new-orphanage-neues-waisenhaus-uganda

directory.

directory.

Credits, Locations & Contact 6

Introduction by editor in

chief K. Day Gomez / San Antonio, Texas / Instagram @creative.consultant.kday / email hello.pepper@outlook.com /

8

web directory msha.ke/kathleendaygomez

Jensen & Julie Verhoeven / Drawings by Peter Jensen / Fabric art by Irene Williams

‘Lip Service’ self portrait series 10

Artist Melanie Allison /

Georgetown, Texas / Instagram @melanieallisongallery / Web directory msha.ke/melanieallisongallery 21

Artist Aleena Sharif /

Pakistan / Instagram

10

@aleenasharif_art 26

Conceptual Artist Maria

Christidi / Cyprus / Instagram @mariachristidiart / Website

Painter Shee Gomes / São

Paulo, Brazil / Instagram @shee_arts / Web directory linktr.ee/shee_arts 37

26

Digital Artist Daniela Santos

/ Instagram @artbydanibraga / Web directory linkr.bio/danimyart

Frida / cosmetics / mua DermaLove & Sara Guillen / models Victoria Trevino & Isabella Rush

Rahimi / Tambov, Russia / Instagram @rus.rahimovich / journalist K. Day Gomez / model Artem Olennikov @jsschrist666 67 Encounter by photographer Matthew Pitts / Columbus, Ohio / Instagram @mattywiththecam / Web directory linktr.ee/mattywiththecam / model Yanee Clements @yaneejanielle

ON THE COVER Artist David A. Elizondo of Plastic Bucket / San Antonio, Texas / Instagram @alonzobucket

51 Dos Fridas from Geisa Haus / San Antonio. Texas / Instagram @geisahaus / Website geisahaus.com / Photographer Saige Thomas / wardrobe La Casa

60 WILDFLOWER by Photographer Ruslan

mariachristidiart.com 33

42 Designer Peter Jensen of <<YOURS TRULY>>/ Denmark • England • Atlanta / Instagram @yourstruly_by_peterjense n / on VOGUE Runway vogue.com/fashionshows/designer/peterjensen / brand label by Aabake / photographers Kajsa Ståhl, Shan Shi, Annie Collinge, and Peter Jensen / Mood boards by Peter

42

75 Menagerie : the home of artist Kelly O’Connor / San Antonio, Texas /

directory.

Instagram @kellyoconnor_art / Website kellyoconnor.carbonmade.co m / photojournalist K. Day Gomez @creative.consultant.kday 86

Blown by sustainable

fashion & lifestyle expert

51

Becky Witte-Marsh / San

310 E Basse Rd Suite 109, San Antonio, TX 78209 • (210) 600-4223 • restore.com SHOP— Saks Fifth Avenue • 7400 San Pedro Ave, San Antonio, TX 78216 • saksfifthavenue.com BRANDS — PRADA, Heretic, Aveda Men

Antonio, Texas / Instagram @beckywittemarsh / with owner & model Ruth Bushman / glass art by owner & glassblower Glen Andrews / photojournalist K. Day Gomez / location Caliente Hot Glass Studio • 1411 N Hackberry St, San Antonio, TX 78208 • (210) 504-9244 / with art glass from the personal

60

97 Clear Light Coffee House / Owner Angelique Britt with partner & chef Theodore Apolinar Jr. / photojournalist K. Day Gomez @creative.consultant.kday / 12656 West Ave Bldg 3, San Antonio, TX 78216 / clearlight.coffee 104 Seek for the Darkness of Summer by Photographer Liu Yun with model Purlin /

collection of Loretta Chappa & of Amanda Alarcón-Hunter

刘云 檩粼 中 国江苏省南京市雨花台区铁心桥

& James Hunter / with outdoor art glass from Bayside Gallery in Suttons

Tiexinqiao, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China / Instagram @liuyun_photographer

Bay, Missouri / jewelry and garments curated from Becky & Ruth’s personal collections.

94

High Life / Highlight

67

with Lifestyle Contributor Joe A. Gomez III / San Antonio, Texas / Instagram @jag.enterprises /

114 I Am Everyone Who Came Before Me by photojournalist Nastya Buzinayeva / Belarus / Instagram @4ipolinz / Website buzinayeva.wordpress.com

photographer Joe A. Gomez III SPAS — Hiatus Spa Retreat • 312 Pearl Pkwy Building 4, Suite 4112, San Antonio, TX 78215 • (210) 202-3355 • hiatusspa.com & Restore Hyper Wellness •

111 10 Years of Grief by author & photographer Becca Willow Moss / New York / Instagram @beccawillow

75

directory.

118

139 Knowing Her Place with conceptual artist Tatsiana Yukhnavets / Bern, Switzerland / Instagram @ta.yu.art @ta.yu.exhibition @__ta.yu__

PASSPORT Basel,

Switzerland/ photographer Igor Boston / Instagram @igorphotography / Website igorphotography.com / journalist K. Day Gomez 129

Fit to a T. with

Nutritionist & Fitness Expert

86

Tina Sena / New Braunfels, Texas / Instagram @tinasenaofficial / Website tinasena.org / photographer K. Day Gomez 133

Healing Practitioner

Romy Nava / A Modern Mystic / San Antonio, Texas / website romynava.com / Instagram @romynava247 / photographers Nathan

97

Dumlao @nate_dumlao • Los Angeles, California & Finn @finnnyc • Adelaide, South Australia 135

Positively Crystal with

Motivational Mindset Coach Crystal Lopez-Crebs / San Antonio, Texas / Instagram @crystalmagic777 / Website crystalcrebb.com 136

145 The Affair by photographer Alistair Cowin / London, UK / Instagram @alistaircowin / Website alistaircowin.co.uk / model Olivia McCrackin / MUA @barbermads / retoucher Neil Downe

104

Intimate Affairs with

Empowerment Maven & Intimacy Alchemist Angela Michelle / San Antonio, Texas / Instagram @intimacyartist / Website theintimacyartist.com / photographer Angela Michelle @heyangelamichelle / Model Toria M.

111

150 Rylie Has Two Homes with child author & model Rylie Richardson / St. Louis, Missouri / Instagram @rylie2rich / Book amazon.com/dp/05783778 02/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_W9 969ZWPXNYBBPEAZZMZ / Represented by Doll Squad Kids Club / photographer Kerry White Photography / Mother Stacey Banks @bigbanksstl / journalist K. Day Gomez 159 Keeping Up With Noah by photographer & Mother Cherechi Brenneke / Portland, Oregon / Instagram @markchercyempire_offici al / model Noah Brenneke @noah_n.b 163 Meditation on My Body and Its Parts by poet Bett Butler / San Antonio, Texas / Instagram @bettbutler / Website bettbuttle.com /

directory. @souryphotography / model Brooke Reese / journalist K. Day Gomez

photographer Darius Bashar @dariusbashar / Web directory linktr.ee/dariusbashar • Toronto 166

I Am My Own Favoured

Poem by author Njabulo Nkambule / Swaziland, South

118

Africa / Instagram

182 Addressing the Elephant in the Room by journalist Robert Dean / Austin, Texas / Instagram @literallyrobertdean PHOTOGRAPHERS— Kaffeebart • Germany & Arya Dubey • India

@dablue_kiddie / Web directory linktr.e/dabluekiddie 167

Ask the River by Poet

Laureate Andrea Vocab Sanderson / San Antonio, Texas / Instagram @vocabulous / linktr.ee/vocabulous / photographer Chutipon Pattanatitinon • Bangkok,

129

Thailand 170

177 We Will Not Go Quietly with artist & activist RUNA / Lisbon, Portugal / Instagram @rute_norte / Web directory linktr.ee/rute.norte

We Care Wildlife

184 Union of the Impossible / Worldwide / Instagram @union_of_impossible

ADVERTISERS

Sanctuary / 7688 PR 37, Lakehills, TX 78063 / (210) 9053000 / Website wecarewildlifesanctuar.weebl y.com / Instagram @wecarewildlifesanctuary / photojournalist K. Day Gomez / Featuring holistician Amanda Hardman

150

@magicalunicorn1111 and her daughter Sofia, founder @the_only_armando and resident volunteer Annabele 175

All the Fish in the Sea

by photographer Soury Phanster / Gulf Coast, Texas / Instagram

175

5 Clear Light Coffee Co. / 12656 west ave, bldg 3. Sa, Tx, 78216 / www.clear light.coffee / Instagram @clearlightcoffeeco / About: Opened August of 2021 A privately owned shop focused on fine quality food, organic ingredients, amazing coffee & teas We want to provide an amazing experience for anyone looking to break away from the stressors of the day.

Forward focus plans will include a wine bar extension, seasonality chef

directory. prepared lunch/dinner menus menus.

Continuing to be a place that supports charity events & great causes across San Antonio. / photographer Caleb Russell • Queensland Australia / ad created by K. Day Gomez 9

5

"TEXAS FASHION WEEK™

is a 7-day long event hosted

74 Stylist Becky WitteMarsh / Instagram @beckywittemarsh

annually by the Texas Fashion Industry Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth and development of fashion in Texas. As proclaimed by Mayor Ron Nirenberg, San Antonio serves as the home base for TXFW™ and seeks to

50 The Magical Unicorn 11:11 / Instagram @magicalunicorn1111 / Web directory linktr.ee/MagicalUnicorn1111 73 Clinician Itxia Lee Acevedo of POUT MedSpa /San Antonio, Texas / poutmedspa.com / / Instagram @pout_itxialee / ad created by K. Day Gomez

9

highlight emerging artists and designers all across

96 NOVEM Cuisine by chef Joe A. Gomez III / website novemcuisine.weebly.com / Instagram @novem.cuisine / (512)9753383 103 Darkhorse Photography / Michael Avila Christman / Instagram @darkhorsephotographysa

Texas."

Key Dates: October 1st-7th 2022 Locations: Legacy Park, Brick, KLRN Studio / Instagram @txfashionweek & @texasfashionindustry 20

Geisha Haus fashion

41

production & media company / website geisahaus.com / Instagram @geishahsus 41

117 Artist Melanie Alison / Austin, Texas / melanieallisongallery.com / Instagram @melanieallisongallery / ad created by K. Day Gomez 128 Stacey Rae Photography / website cloverbudphotography.co m / Instagram @staceyraeofficial

Drop Your Lashes /

Instagram @dropyourlashes / Website dropyourlashes.com / model @belindaarosee / MUA @athinamua / photographer K. Day Gomez @creative.consultant.kday

50

132 Whole Heart Foods

by Tina Sena / website tinasena.org / Instagram

directory.

Sustainable Fashion Show /

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coming November 2022

[…continued.]

with tickets available October 1 / Web directory

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Embodied : A

Transformational Workshop

186

Series with The Intimacy Artist

& marketing services /

Angela Michelle /

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xlevelinc.com / (917)7270539

theintimacyartis.com 158

X Level talent agency

189

Neurodivergent Child

Bamunanika

Artist Aiden Gamez /

Childrens Home / Uganda /

Instagram @i.am.Aiden.g /

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Njabulo Nkambule /

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The Twig Book Shop /

306 Pearl Pkwy UNIT 106, San Antonio, TX 78215 / (210) 8266411 / Website thetwig.com / Instagram @thetwigbookshop 174

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UPON THE DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II —on September 8, 2022 at Balmoral Castle, her estate in the Scottish Highlands at the age of 96, with the crown transferring to her son, now King Charles.

“It marks both the loss of a revered monarch — the only one most Britons have ever known — and the end of a figure who served as a living link to the glories of World War II Britain, presided over its fitful adjustment to a post-colonial, post-imperial era and saw it through its bitter divorce from the European Union.”

—Mark Landler The New York Times

In honor of Queen Elizabeth II April 21, 1926 - September 8, 2022 photographer Annie Spratt

PEPPER STAFF K. DAY GOMEZ EDITOR IN CHIEF Hello, my name is Kathleen. I am a neurodivegent mother, wife and wearer of many hats. My career life is a bit of a juggling act.

I’m an internationally published artist, author, creative consultant and intuitive life coach. I also sit on the Advisory Board of the Alora Farm nonprofit for adult autists.

I’ve been a photojournalist, art illustrator and content writer for various publications and blogs for over two decades. I formerly held a modeling career for over 17 years that led to acting and directing, which I still may pursue in the future.

I always seek to be of the most help to our community and global humanitarian issues any way I can. It was with this intention that I founded PEPPER Magazine.

As a creative, and member of the LGBTQ community, it is also my intent that the publication be inclusive, diverse and support marginalized communities and those with varied abilities / disabilities by creating a safe space for all to be heard. Thank you for taking the time to learn about our mission. I anticipate great things for the future.

JOE A. GOMEZ III CFO & LIFESTYLE CONTRIBUTOR An all-American Texas boy born and raised in

San Antonio, Joe A. Gomez III has been a strong community leader, a humanitarian and a true lover of life. A former city councilman having served on the board of the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce for several years, he's also the founder of JAG Enterprises with over 23 years of management experience. He is now PEPPER Magazine's CFO & Key Lifestyle Contributor.

A chef to rival most, despite not having been classically trained, Joe's culinary expertise is impeccable. Enough so that over time he began to develop the ground work for what is now called NOVEM Cuisine. Since the founding of NOVEM, chef Joe's recipes have become more diverse and in turn, the public attention has grown.

This has led to multiple international publications, to include London and Manchester, UK. And if you have the luck of tasting his food you'll understand why. There is no detail that escapes him, and the care he puts into the preparation and plating of every meal is nothing shy of five-star dining.

The pièce de résistance is having him prepare it right from the comfort of the best restaurant in town; your own home.

ANGELA MICHELLE EMPOWERMENT MAVEN & INTIMACY ALCHEMIST Angela Michelle is a sexologist from The Sexology Institute. She specializes as an intimacy & body image coach and is also an

staff. empowerment photographer. Her portfolio is expansive covering almost two decades. As an inclusive yoga instructor, she also provides modified yoga lessons for those who need it.

Angela is a speaker, educator, mentor and advocate who raises awareness on a variety of topics she is passionate about.

known as: Artist Foundation of San Antonio).

In May of 2020 she was awarded Best Live Entertainment/Band Musician of the Year by the SEA Awards.

We are honored to have her unique and empowering insight on the PEPPER Magazine board of staff contributors.

TINA SENA

ANDREA ‘ VOCAB’ SANDERSON POET LAUREATE Poet Laureate 20202023, performs as “Vocab” in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas. ”Watching her perform, the word “hero” comes to mind. And not “hero” for the sake of just skill, but for her work in her community: Sanderson teaches poetry workshops, mentors, builds up and encourages artists to pursue their art, and gives them platforms to showcase their talent.

Sanderson’s interest in other people’s art and artistic development became a passion of hers, and she started curating her own shows and creating platforms for other artists to hone their craft by hosting open mics.”

-The San Antonio Current, Jan. 16, 2018 She received awards, Performer of the Year, Influencer of the Year, from Project Forward, and Dream Voice, from the Dream Week Commission. Sanderson is the winner of the 2019 People’s Choice Award, awarded by Luminaria Artist Foundation (formerly

NUTRITIONIST & FITNESS EXPERT Hi, my name is Tina Sena and it has been my passion to motivate, inspire and encourage others to achieve health and wellness physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

For 24 years now I have been doing personal training, nutrition consulting, kids programs, developing a protein line of sweet treats and running my own businesses. I am a spouse and also a real estate business partner with my husband Michael, and we have a beautiful 13 year old daughter named Mia. It is my desire to build a community where we can share with others all the knowledge we have accumulated over the years to help create total health and wellness in their lives.

I​ was an only child who grew up in a home with a mentally ill father and a mother who, although very strong, was also riddled with fear and anxiety while working all the time to provide for our family. We had very little so I was terribly ridiculed in school. ​ ​I saw my first therapist at the age of 10. My father passed away at 44 and as a very independent 20 year old I was on a mission to help others to not suffer in all the ways myself and my family did physically, mentally and emotionally.

staff.

Ibecame a personal trainer about 24 years ago while I was working as a model and living a completely unhealthy lifestyle. I wanted so much to have lean, sexy muscles which was a no no back then in that world.

So I hired my first personal trainer who taught me how to lift weights and eat properly. I never felt better! My body, mind and health completely changed and off I went. I began training for triathlons and fitness competitions with some of the best trainers and decided that was it - I wanted to do for others what they had all done for me.

So off to work I went. I am now an upscale fitness facility owner, protein treats line developer and I organize a nonprofit program changing the course for kids!

I believe that we all have the power within us to get past the pain we endure in life. We just need the proper guidance and resources to get us there!

It means everything to me to help my community to be encouraged and feel love and support through what might be their most challenging journey.....working on ourselves!!!”

ROBERT DEAN JOURNALIST & AUTHOR [In his own words...]

Robert Dean is a journalist, raconteur, and ‘enlightened dumbass’.

His work has been featured in places like MIC, Eater, Fatherly, Yahoo, Austin AmericanStatesman, Consequence of Sound, Ozy, USA Today, to name a few. He’s appeared on CNN and NPR. He also serves as features writer for Hussy Magazine and is editor in chief for Big Laugh Comedy, Texas’ biggest comedy production company. He lives in Austin and loves ice cream and koalas.

CRYSTAL LOPEZ-CREBS MOTIVATIONAL MINDSET COACH Crystal Lopez-Crebs received her degree in Fashion Design & Marketing from The International Academy of Design & Technology in Tampa, FL. She also interned with designer Tracy Reese in New York learning the ropes of New York Fashion Week (NYFW).

She owned an entertainment company in Tampa where she created costumes, did makeup, and stylized looks for her team.

After moving to Texas, she mastered her crafts in the makeup industry working for MAC Cosmetics. She has also done makeup for LA & San Antonio Fashion Week, worked on film sets as both talent and wardrobe & production design, and developed her fashion production skills at Neiman Marcus.

Crystal is now the talent coordinator for X Level Inc, a creative agency in San Antonio, TX, where she helps scout and develop talent. She is also the founder of the nonprofit, Fashionable Adoptions, that promotes animal adoption through fun fashion events, most notably her fashion shows that showcase adoptable animals walking the runway.

She’s helped many people (and animals) improve their lives with her health & wellness business alongside her husband, especially through her story overcoming a health challenge. She loves to talk about vision and mindset to her audience to empower them to live a bigger life. Her unique style and excitement for living a healthy life can be felt as she shares her passions on social media

staff. and in person. Crystal brings her bright light & energy to inspire everyone to live an abundantly beautiful & healthy life from the inside out.

BECKY WITTEMARSH SUSTAINABLE FASHION & LIFESTYLE EXPERT Becky found her passion for sustainable fashion and home furnishings at an early age when being sustainable was a necessity.

A lifetime of creating her own personal style through sustainable sources, got the attention of those around her.

Today her innovative creations using vintage, thrift and self-made items will inspire a new way to look at dressing and styling your home.

Becky will help you turn style sustainability from an inconvenience into an ADVENTURE!​

NJABULO NKAMBULE AUTHOR & POET Njabulo Nkambule also known as Njabulo N. is a writer, a poet hailing from the Kingdom of Swaziland.

“I'm also an author of the soon to be

published anthology, DEEP-ROOTEDWORDS which will include mainly my written poems. I’m a devoted,multipassionate, hardworking poet with a keen eye for detail and an insatiable interest in the use of the written word.

I'm one person who is so passionate about poetry having so many written poems under my name (not yet published). My writings (poems) include quite a number of poetic forms including rhymed poetry, narrative poetry, pastoral poetry, elegies poetry, limerick poetry, lyric and soliloquy poetry.”

PEPPER is enriched by the presence and liter contributions of this gifted writer and we are excited to see how he helps to shape the overall landscape of our publication over time.

NORMAN RENE AVILA ART HISTORIAN • SAN ANTONIO, TX Artist, painter, musician and writer, Norman Rene Avila wears many hats. Also a former teacher, he has taken on the staff position as our local art and cultural historian. One of the founding members of the SAMOMA nonprofit [San Antonio Museum of Modern Art], as influenced and aided by New York’s MOMA, he is great asset to PEPPER Magazine.

Norman has curated an extensive collection of memorabilia, artworks, film footage and photographs which document the SA art

staff. scene from the late 1960’s forward. Over time, we will be sharing these archives which range from obscure to iconic. We are grateful to have Norman as part of our team.

Currently, he is engaged in the development process as a key interview subject for our first documentary about the history of SAMOMA. In conjunction with our cinematographer Michael Avila Christman and editor in chief who is key interviewer for the independent filming project, Norman is providing priceless facts and contacts for the film’s creation.

STACEY RAE OLIVARESGARCIA DIRECTOR & CINEMATOGRAPHER Founder of Darkhorse Photography, as well as his media company Helios, San Antonio native creative professional Michael

Avila Christman is a fixture here.

His projects range from short film to documentary to commercials to editorial fashion photography. He’s worked with well known models, designers, makeup artists, musicians, local celebrities and other professionals throughout his expansive career.

Now, Michael is taking his passion for journalism and theatrical storytelling to new heights by collaborating with PEPPER Magazine and taking on a staff contributor role. He will be responsible for the majority of commercial video content for the

publication through his tenure to come.

STACEY RAE OLIVARESGARCIA PHOTOJOURNALIST Stacey is a San Antonio native, growing up down

the road from Karam's Mexican Restaurant and The Malt House.

While residing in Austin, Stacey began to grow her passion for photojournalism by capturing the heart of the person behind the lens. She wanted to bring this fresh outlook with her to San Antonio. Returning to her hometown allowed her to focus on the art in a person's story.

Stacey's work has been featured in several magazines such as; Entertainment Tonight Online, Voyage Houston, and S.A. Scene Magazine. She has captured photos for multiple businesses across various industries including Luzianne Tea and August Ink. ​ er creative eye and ability to capture her H subjects’ stories with grace and dignity makes Olivares-Garcia the perfect addition to the PEPPER team.

MELANIE ALLISON NETWORKING LIAISON One day, I decided to take life by the (long)horns and got back to my roots by modeling

staff. and painting again. I wanted to break the fashion industry standards and stigmas by creating a need for a petite and classic model. I started working with local photographers in the Austin area, building a new portfolio. Soon I discovered independent magazines and learned how to submit my work. I was finally published and on the cover of a magazine for the first time in October 2016. Soon after that, I was signed with TL Modeling Agency in Houston, Texas.

But things don’t always go as planned. After enduring occasional rejection from magazine editors, I founded my own art & fashion magazine called Bevie in November 2016. My mission with Bevie was to showcase emerging, local and international talent such as artists, models, photographers, designers, and other creatives.

By making a sophisticated publication more approachable, I was able to help my fellow colleagues get established or further along in their career. After two years of publishing my bimonthly mag, I decided to go back to work full-time and the last issue was released in December 2018. Bevie still has quite the following today!

Today, I am now focused on creating mixed media art, establishing my networking event, turned group called Girl Flock Party, and becoming a part of the local artist community. It has been an amazing journey and I am grateful for every experience along the way!”

Melanie is a great asset to the PEPPER team and provides valuable guidance, lead finding and creative / marketing advice from her home base in the Georgetown / Austin area.

ROMY NAVA HEALING PRACTITIONER Romy Nava has been actively developing his gift as a healer since the beginning of 2013.

As a Sound Healing and Reiki practitioner, he has formulated a signature holistic protocol.

His clients are comforted and claim to experience a relaxed calming sensation for days following each session he provides.

Also a media tech and podcast host, Romy aims to educate and hold space for enlightened thought by way of his platform.

He establishes a dialogue that is relatable with the intention of getting to the core of the human psyche, spirit and mind-body connection. He examines the choices we make vs. practical and functional resolution.

All of this expertise and experience makes him an incredible asset to PEPPER Magazine. Say hello to Romy and open yourself up to learning something new… maybe even about yourself.

ANDREW BARRAZA MEN’S GROOMING STYLE CONSULTANT Andrew is a graphic novel artist & comic book

staff. enthusiast who also happens to be a mustache connoisseur.

“Men are always just kinda left out when it comes to grooming topics. I had to learn all my tricks on the street. I’m and ambassador for a couple of stache grooming brands. It’s been a blast growing it, helping others with tips and making new friends.

I still draw when I have the chance. Love comics and art.”

He is here to lend PEPPER Magazine his expertise in mens grooming, the subcultural aspect that goes along with this niche and other great products, tips and resources for men.

“It’s really funny, without knowing when I got into it, there’s a giant mustache community out there of dudes that are happy to encourage, give tips, even help out with charities and events. One of the companies that I ambassador for donates part of every sale to first responders. Turns out there’s a lot of firemen that make and sell mustache wax also.

And seeing people randomly, I ALWAYS get compliments from people. And I’m happy they think it’s cool and get a kick outta it.

Even gotten some free beers in the bars.

That’s worth it right there alone.”

PEPPER STAFF IS A CURATED BLEND OF SPECIALISTS & PROFESSIONALS …And we’re growing.

More staff contributors & professionals will be named in issues to come as slots continue to fill. If you’re interested in

becoming part of the team, whether you reside in our home base of San Antonio, Texas or anywhere else in the world, email hello.pepper@outlook.com and let us know what your specialty is and what you have in mind for regular contributions.

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