Interview With Talia Sunsong

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Recently the Newser wrote about an art exhibit by Talia Sunsong. Not long after, I had a chance to interview her.

Dropping by, I noted the gallery, and Talia smiled, "Netty (Netera Landar) did a great job creating this gallery. We had a grand opening with Helena singing live. Sandy made a stage out of one of my paintings. Sandy liked the colorful stream painting and picked that for the stage. I titled the exhibit "Fire and Water" because it's about that sea of brilliant color at sunset or sunrise, or the flash of lightning in the sky. I wanted to make paintings that you can almost hear the sizzle as the sun descends into the water." I asked if sunrises and sunsets are a frequent theme with her, and she told me, "Yes,  I love to play with color. Color is like a vitamin. It gives you a burst of energy."

She went on, "Years ago, I lost everything in a firestorm, including a hundred of my paintings. I didn't paint for years after that.  Then I decided to paint at least one painting a day. I did that for over a year. I take photographs to help me with my painting, and I keep hundreds of ideas on a spreadsheet." I asked how long she had been painting and taking photographs. Talia answered, "I won a drawing contest as a teenager, and tried my hand at painting then. I could control drawing more easily than painting, and it was years later before I felt more satisfied with my painting, enough to show to the public.  I did photography later on, and did some serious reporter photography, including ending up in court testifying in a police brutality case." Asking what happened there, she answered, "The man who was injured did not win in court."

I asked Talia what where her favorite subjects to draw and paint. She told me, "I like to paint nature, including animals, like birds, whales and dolphins. I also like to do landscapes and seascapes. Sometimes I play around with painting mermaids. I am passionate about creating a mood or telling a story in my creations, including painting, drawing, writing, 3D computer models or immersive virtual worlds. I have also worked in filmmaking and was a crew member for two Sundance Film Festival picks. I hope my artwork uplifts and brings smiles to people's faces."

I noted she had created her account in 2011 and asked Talia how she found out about Second Life. She answered, "I had heard on and off about Second Life on the web for about 2 years. I wanted to visit. When I came, I found out about all the classes offered. I loved taking classes in Second life. I also was welcomed into a fun roleplaying group, when I played an Elf that could shapeshift into a dragon. In those classes I learned about free resources, like GiMP (2D graphics program) and Blender (3D graphics program). I still use those programs today. I'm also learning about creating vector art in Inkscape, which is good for digital art. I have looked into some AI (Artificial intelligence) art programs.

"These paintings here in the exhibit are hand-painted in real life. I put my artwork onto RedBubble, a print on demand site for physical, real life paintings, t-shirts, mugs, bags, stickers, cell phone covers, and more. I named my store Aryxaba: https://www.redbubble.com/people/Aryxaba/shop ." I asked where the name came from. Talia answered, " I wanted a name that no one else had, so I made the name "Aryxaba" up, starting with the word "Oryx" which is a big antelope.

"I have a mug from my RedBubble store with the 'Ship in a Storm' painting. That is probably my most popular painting." She walked over to one, "This one." I asked what inspired that particular painting. Talia answered, "There's something about the energy, the lightning, the wind in the sails, the choppy water, yet I know that ship will safely weather the storm. I like energy, a mood, or a story in a painting. Each thing is almost a character in itself, the lightning is a character, the ship is a character, even the water is a character. They interact to create a plot." 

I asked Talia about her more memorable exhibits in the past. She told me, "Myself, along with others, did a 3D exhibit for the University of Australia. It was picked to be photographed and put into a real life book. The exhibit was of a woman with wings, escaping a confining home, by going into virtual worlds like Second Life. I think people really understand that feeling, after the quarantines." I asked if she meant about virtual worlds being a way to figuratively get out of the house during those time. "Yes, exactly," she answered, "Free to fly around in virtual space, meet friends, dance, take a class, explore, play golf and more."

I noted the location of the exhibit, next to Netera's Coffee Lounge, and asked how this came about.  Talia answered, "Netera and I both work with a live singer, Austin Moores for about 5 years now. We go onstage with him during his shows. It's a lot of fun and I really enjoy hearing him sing. Netera and I like to write also. She set up the coffeehouse for a peaceful place to write and to exhibit art."

I asked Talia what stories she wrote about. She answered, "I wrote a time travel fantasy novel, about ancient Egypt and Crete called 'The Missing Princes of Egypt.'  I also wrote a comedic fantasy novel of magic gone wrong, 'Risky Magic.' ... Writing humor does lighten my day. Sometimes if I'm tired, I write humor. It makes me smile. I've been writing humorous slogans for t-shirts that I will eventually put into my RedBubble store." I asked for an example, and she told me, "I made up one yesterday for the holidays 'On the Naughty List, And Had Fun Doing It.'"

I asked about the exhibit opening's singer. Talia answered, "We had this wonderful live singer, Helena Navarita. Austin Moores had to cancel at the last moment and Helena stepped in to sing. I was so lucky that Netera could get her at short notice." I pointed out to Talia that with her on stage, some might have have mistaken her for the singer. She laughed, "I would not be able to sing as well as Helena."

So what does Talia have planned for her next exhibition? Her answer was, "Good question, I might go with an animal theme, either birds, or sea creatures, perhaps swimming in beautiful blue waters. Maybe a mermaid will join them." Pointing out the shoulder pet dragon on her shoulder, I asked if any pictures to be done soon will include dragons. She told me, "I want to refine my dragon drawings more before going public with them. I took a short class with a woman who was known for her dragon illustrations at Renaissance Fair. I liked the fluidity of her dragons, and have experimented with that in my work.

The artist's last words in the interview were, "I wanted to thank the people that helped me on my way in this art exhibit, Netera Landar for the exhibit space, Helena Navarita for the singing at the opening, Sandy Hauster for the stage, all the people that come to see the exhibit and you Bixyl for this interview."

Talia's "Fire and Water" exhibit is at Snug Harbor (115/94/25) and will run until December 23.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Interview With Talia Sunsong, Author of "Twilight of the Star Vampires"

A friend in Second Life media recently told me about Talia Sunsong (taliasunsong), whom had written a science-fiction parody: "Twilight of the Star Vampires." She had been at book readings, and giving out links to where one could get the stories.

Today is the last day for free for book 1, then book 2 will be free for 5 days. It's a trilogy. I'm giving a book reading today at 2pm at Open Books at Four Bridges. You don't need a kindle to read it, as Amazon gives free kindle software.

I met up with Talia, Paula Sunsong in real life, at Open Books between readings. She was in a happy mood, as friends of hers had "really whipped up some magic. My book is #1 in my category, parody."

"So how long have you been writing?" I asked her. Talia answered, "I started writing at the age of 10, hoping to become a novelist. I wrote a roleplaying game published by Hero Games. It was a science fiction game ... 'Star Hero.' ... I also founded a free newspaper called 'The Rallyer.' "

I asked her how the paper went. Talia answered, "As a journalist for 'The Rallyer' newspaper, I covered an event where the police started clubbing people. I myself was hit with a metal baton. I had no major injuries, fortunately. Later the police even shot into the crowd with rubber bullets and I was in that crowd." I winced, "Ouch, how many were hit, and how close did those get to you?" "There were within six to eight feet of me. I did not hear of any injuries. The scary part was, I just saw the police shoot. I did not know whether it was rubber or real bullets." "How did the protest get violent?" I asked. She answered, "The police were actually more violent than the protestors. In fact the police beat uptwo2 police review commissioners who were in the crowd observing. The police did not know they were police review commissioners for the city." She paused, "I guess writing satire is a lighthearted contrast to my journalism career."

"Star Vampires is my first satirical work," Talia told me, "I like poking fun at overbearing corporate marketing and governments. It has several love stories intertwined with action. It opens with the Vullcan Spocko being turned into a vampire. He asks 'Is logic all that there is?' Later, he turns Edward Cullet into a vampire by force, and kidnaps Edward for the Vulcanturi Empire. Edward has two children with Queen Paddymay: Luck and Lela." She grinned, "You might recognized the similarity to Luke and Leia Skywalker of 'Star Wars,' Spock of 'Star Trek,' and Edward of 'Twilight.'Spocko meets Lela, Edward's daughter, when she is trapped on the Dearth Star. Both Being telepathic, they feel as if they are 'soulmates' but Lela is wary of the Vulcanturi Spocko for kidnapping her father."

I chuckled a bit, "sounds like a number of people and things from those three stories get parodied." "Yes it was fun to joke about well known images," Talia told me, "On one planet they meet a 'Keepler elf of Nabiscko' who makes magic cookies in a tree. The Queen threatens to cut off the supply of Mint Milano cookies if the Senate does not help her. If only that threat worked in the real world to keep politicians in order. (laughter) Another love story is Obegone, the Jetti knight, who falls for Brun Solow (Hans Solo's replacement). Obegone also dated "Jabya the Hot" (Jabba the Hut's replacement in the story)."

"Guess 'Pizza the Hutt' was already taken," I mused. Talia chuckled,  "Mel Brooks scooped me on Pizza the Hut (giggle)." She continued, "Obegone met her at "Singles Roulette" where the men sit on a large spinning floor that spins, placing each man in front of a woman as a date. Jabya does not like being dumped by Obegone, but she gets revenge, having Brun Solow frozen in carbonite."

"Was the Star Wars parody 'Spaceballs' any influence?" I asked. Talia answered that it was, "I enjoyed 'Spaceballs' and 'Galaxy Quest' as inspiration. The playfulness of those movies frees my mind to write. Humor is freeing of creativity" "Were there any other influences?" I asked. She told me there were, "I think roleplaying games gave me the opportunity to play different characters, act out plots and joke with friends. That fueled me for writing. Roleplaying in Second Life can mean a lot of things from medieval fantasy to sexual fantasy." She then winked and giggled.

After a chuckle, I asked, "Did any of these games have an especially memorable plotline and scenes?" Talia's answer was, "In person, I started with Dungeon and Dragons, I liked Champions (the superhero game), Star Hero (the science fiction game I wrote) and private eye/spy games. Later I actually became a private eye in real life. Psychologists used roleplaying as therapy decades before roleplaying games were sold. I think roleplaying gives you a new perspective."

Talia being a detective caught my attention, "How did it go?" She answered, "I was a San Francisco private investigator for 3 years, like Sam Spade (smile). I had one case where I was following a man suspected of injury fraud. An ambassador's car with national flags got in between us. I was afraid I'd be arrested for tailing an ambassador (laughter). After a mile or two, the ambassador's car turned off and I was hot on the trail of the suspect again. One man I videod playing baseball when he claimed to be too injured to work. He flipped off the camera. My boss thought it was hilarious, and played it in slow motion to our whole office." She chuckled, "So you could say roleplaying and the silliness of life inspires my humor."

I asked Talia what were people saying about "Star Vampires?" She answered "I got a great five star review" on the book's page on Amazon, "People have said it is entertaining and yet has meaning in poking fun at mass marketing. Caglevision gave it a 5 star review. He is an author himself. ... My 'Twilight of the Star Vampires' is a trilogy and each book will be free for 5 days. The last one will by close the Xmas, like a gift."

"So what are your plans after 'Star Vampires?'," I asked Talia. "I have a fantasy short story about a witch with faulty powers," she told me, "I'm planning on putting it on Amazon. I also have been writing a book on how I put my diabetes into remission with diet and exercise." Of the witch, her spells don't quite work, "Her spells go haywire. Anything could happen with a spell misfire." She chuckled, leaving it to my imagination as to what could happen with such misfires.

"Any advice for those trying to write satire and parody?" I requested. Talia's answer was, "I like to say "Everyone is born with their own unique genius. Everyone  has a story to tell. I'd like to hear your story and to share mine. Today we have the tools to reach billions of people and 'sing our song.' "

It was about this time the interview ended. We chatted a little longer, then we soon went about our separate ways.

"Don't go to your grave with your song unsung."

Bixyl Shuftan