“El Podrido”: The Rotten Makes Good

"El Podrido", (C) 2011, Miachelle DePiano.

When we are in our teens and our 20’s, the majority of us experience that euphoria of feeling invincible, that we can and will conquer the world. Nothing can defeat us, regardless of our good or bad choices. Then Fate steps in, and we learn a new definition of invincibility. We learn it is not our physical being that is invincible, but our spirit that is invincible, and we find out just how invincible our spirit really is.

Five years ago, El Podrido (the Rotten), a graffiti artist as well as a welder and metal artist, learned such a lesson. Originally from New Mexico, El Podrido always dreamed of living in Arizona, and moved to Phoenix. Deeply influenced by graffiti, he lived a dual life. By day, he was a certified welder, and by night a graffiti artist. Eventually he became recognized for his work, and was invited to create murals.

Hell on Wheels

"Patty Slamaise", (C) 2011, Miachelle DePiano

When I was a little girl, I used to watch roller derby on television with my mother. As a young girl, I was amazed by these amazons. They were rough, they were tough, and far meaner than any “professional” wrestler I watched. They would zip around the arena, as easy as you please, and somehow beat each other up.

Fast forward some 35+ years. As I was on the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk in Tempe, I saw a young woman on roller skates, in full safety gear, and pretty much covered from head to toe. I wondered if she was a derby girl. She rolled by me and smiled.

Listening to the Voice

"Twisted Steel" (C) 2011, Miachelle DePiano

You cannot interview an inanimate object, but that does not mean the object cannot talk to you. And just because the inanimate object talks to you that does not mean that it says the same thing to you that it says to another human being. But sometimes, there is a magical moment when in the gathering of a mass of humanity, you can see that the object’s voice and the object’s message is heard clearly by all gathered in its presence.

Interview with a Surrealist: Maynard Breese

(C) 2011, Miachelle DePiano



Maynard Breese, Arizona-based digital painter and printer, is a man of character; not in the cliché image of staunch nobility and forthrightness, though he does eschew those qualities. He is full of character. It fills him completely, and you can’t ignore it. Talking to Maynard, you don’t know exactly what his lightning-quick intellect will deliver. You don’t know if you’ll get the softer, more generous Maynard, or if you’ll get the entrepreneur who makes sharp declarations and calculated decisions. Maynard, tall and lanky, pale with a shocking top of curly black hair and dark eyes, is alive with his own hunger and drive to succeed personally and to better his fellow man. He is unconventional, and that is his appeal.