Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Artists in My Book / *Petra Hanson* Queens and Crowns Part 1

Much of the imagery in my book, MERMAIDS ON PARADE, was influenced by local talent from the Brooklyn arts community. No one else could play the character of Queen Mermaid better than Petra Hanson aka Kiku Kimonalisa, leader of a faux Japanese 60’s pop rock band called Gaijin A-Go-Go.




Gaijin A Go-Go also called themselves the 55’s because "go" means the number five in Japanese. Go-Go, Five-Five, get it? So 55 became the winning badge number in my book.


As I got to know Petra better I discovered she is also a model, a fashion designer and a writer. This talented artist was kind enough to give me an interview.

Q: If you had a mermaid name what would it be?

PH: My mer-name is: Maide in NY

Q: What does Coney Island mean to you?

PH: Coney Island means a subway ride from the city to the beach. Coney is like walking inside a tattoo of a circus freak.

Q: What are you currently working on?

PH: I am currently working on a new idea for a clothing line as my day job. After hours, I'm learning how to DJ, specializing in a rare collection of South American Sixties pop. In other words, I am a Mer-chant!

Thanks, Petra!

Photo: heartonastick/Flickr
Illustrations: from MERMAIDS ON PARADE Copyright 2008 Melanie Hope Greenberg

5 comments:

Loni Edwards said...

Hi Melanie! What an interesting interview! Its cool you modeled some of your characters after real life people. And then were able to interview! Very cool! Thanks for the post!

Anonymous said...

This is too cool, Melanie! She's a fabulous character to model from!

Nina Crittenden said...

It is wonderful to meet the people that have inspired you!

Kay Aker said...

What a fanciful cast of characters and yet they're real!

Anonymous said...

looking good. always nice to stop by and see some familiar faces. nice job!
king neptune