The Washington Post/Style/Arts - 1993
Extending Her Range:
Singer Brushes Up On Her Painting

In Washington's music scene, fans of Monica Richards might know her best for her painted eyelids rather than her painted canvases. When fronting the high-drama local rock band, Strange Boutique, Richards vamps like someone out of a low-rent horror flick, in swirling black gowns and makeup of the beautifully damned. "It's my Gothic demon-goddess look," Richards says with an evil smile over a lime soda at College park's coolest new haunt, Planet X, where Richards's other artistic pursuit is in evidence on the walls.

Canvases line the bohemian hangout, sending Richards's mythic visions of caged lions, female torsos emerging three dimensionally from the fabric and paint, and screaming angels into the cappiccino-wired brains of University of Maryland students. It's the latest offbeat location to showcase Richards's work; the Biograph movie theater and the Fifth Column nightclub have each mounted shows. Her paintings are " a celebration of artforms past," says Richards. "I use lots of ethnic patterns: Turkish arabesques, some Celtic designs, a little bit of Aztec, a little bit of Greek, some Art Nouveau and Deco. A little bit of everything." Richards, in her mid-twenties, dropped out of the fine arts progam at the American University a few years back when it seemed "they were trying to teach me things I already knew," she says. "They were saying, 'No, not like that! Like this! You're a student and you will learn our technique.' So I transferred to the literature program."

She's found ways to use her talents, if not her credentials: her day job as a graphics specialist at a local design shop, and she draws architectural renderings for real estate companies on the side. ("It helps pay bills and forces some discipline on me," she says). She is also the [co-]founder and art director of Bedazzled Records, which has released two Strange Boutique recordings. As the label's visionary, Richards creates all the cover art for the releases, as well as fliers, advertisements, and T-shirts, but her true artistic inspiration goes into her painting.

"A lot of them are based on stories I've written. I carry an image in my head while writing, then it becomes a painting," Richards explains. She pointed to the nearest piece, an acrylic and watercolor titled: "The Woman Who Fell From the Sky." "That one has a nice story behind it, " she says, and admits. "I'm really a frustrated writer." Richards is quick to point out that she would love not top lug her creations with her on a planned move to Los Angeles where she'll pursue her singing career and continue to paint. ("They're all for sale," she says with a sweep of her hand). Her latest artworks are on view at Planet X through September.

by Eric Brace/Staff Writer