Scene Synopsis: Lena and Zoe discuss the imagery for the next DJ Succubus album cover.

Characters: Lena and Zoe

Date: November 12, 2010

Location: Alt.Coffee - Art Studio

Most of the room is a colorful mess while one corner is pristine and white. Each corner is a different station labeled as: Paint, Sculpture, Photography and Other. The center of the room has short cabinets for storage pressed together to make a large table. The surface is used for preparation before an artist dives into their work.

The Paint and Sculpture corners are on one side of the room. Between them are two sinks used for cleaning brushes and other tools, as well as hands if a larger mess was made. The Sculpture corner has a few tables showing signed of wear and tear from continued usage. Small bits of dry clay stain the area by a bookshelf being used as a drying station. The Paint Corner has a few easels often in use. The floor is covered by blue tarps as well as one wall where there is excessive paint splatter. Blank canvases are kept covered with clear plastic awaiting a painters dream.

The other side of the room has a pristine white corner and a colorful scraps covering the other. The station labeled Other is covered in yarn pieces, torn scrapbook paper and just about any other sign of miscellany artistry one could thing of litters the floor and tables there. The station labeled Photography is covered in bright white fabric that lines the walls and floor. Multiple tripods aim toward the corner waiting to be used to hold a camera. White umbrellas and super bright lights hang from the ceiling ready to redirect light as per the desire of someone looking through a lens.

Near the exit is a small sign encouraging everyone to be respectful of materials within the studio and to clean up after themselves. Beside the sign is a sign-up sheet for those interested in having their work shown in the gallery. The order in which names are added is the order in which art is rotated out of the gallery.

Poses:

Lena is standing in the Painting corner of the Art Studio. She unties a dark green 1950's apron and removes it from her waist. She then proceeds to fold the apron. Meanwhile, Isabella walks over, "Your last appointment should be here shortly. You really should consider getting an office."

Lena turns to Isabella and smiles, "I do like offices, but people expect a studio when visiting an artist." The apron is put aside, folded neatly.

Zoe arrives at the coffee shop, checking her watch. She smiles as she scans over the room for a moment before she heads towards the blue curtain, stepping through. Her eyes glances towards the hacker haven for a moment before she continues into the art studio, knocking slightly on the door frame to make herself known. "Hi. I hope I haven't kept you waiting long."

Lena turns her head when Zoe enters and speaks up. She gives a polite smile, "Hello." With a shake of her head she adds, "I have not been waiting long at all." Isabella gives Zoe a nod before moving toward the door. Most likely, time for a break. Lena turns to pick up a small notebook and a pencil before moving toward Zoe, "Let's sit down?" She waves a hand toward the direction of a few chairs. She moves toward one chair and waits for Zoe to join before moving to sit down.

Zoe smiles and nods as she steps into the studio. She offers Isabella a slight nod of her has as she passes by the other woman as she makes her way to take the seat opposite of Lena. "Thank you for returning my call. I hope that your projects have been doing well?" She asks as she sits down, crossing her legs at the knee.

Lena sits and looks toward Zoe, "Things are going well. However, I find myself most curious about what you may want for an album cover." She smiles, showing interest in this particular project. Her hand pats the notebook, before opening it to an empty page, "I thought perhaps we could go over ideas and I could quickly sketch a few things. Though, I paint better than I draw, having some representation does help when working on a commission piece."

Zoe smiles and nods as she leans against the table slightly. "That sounds great. I was sort of thinking of a visual representation of what it could be like in the digital world. Like what if life were on a circuit board." She pauses for a moment as she thinks. "Maybe some sort of digital club or something like that?"

Lena moves her pencil to draw a few rectangles, leaving them blank. "Hmm.." She lowers the pencil and leans down to where her purse is and pulls out her cellphone. Pushing a button reveals it was last showing a phone application specifically for showing Wiccans the current moon phase. She clears the screen and starts typing in a message. She explains while doing this, "My friend is much more computer savvy. I'm sure he'll have something for me to look at for an idea." she hits the Send button.

Less than two minutes later the door opens to reveal Kirk holding up an internal piece of a computer. He walks over to Lena saying, "Look, touch, but don't paint on it." Lena chuckles.

Zoe smiles as she watches Lena send the text. "Alrighty." She says before she looks towards the door as Kirk comes in. As he leaves the computer piece, she offers a smile and a wave to him. "Thanks." Her eyes move to the component, looking it over for a few moments before she giggles at Kirk's remarks to Lena.

Lena reaches out for the computer part, and Kirk carefully hands it to Lena. While holding it in her left hand, she picks up her pencil and draws with her right hand. Copying some parts of the board, drawing a landscape to look like the inside of the computer. She then turns the notebook, "Something like this? Perhaps with a few people dancing?"

Zoe leans over to get a better look at the notebook and looks over the sketch. "Yeah. Maybe a few colored light rays coming from here and here." She uses her finger to point out the two upper corners. "And have them come in towards center." She hovers her finger over the drawing as she moves it towards the center, not wanting to ruin the sketch. "Maybe also another option may be to make the components look like buildings of a city with these silver line things on this part here," She points to the part that Kirk brought in. "acting as the street and maybe an outside scene?"

Lena adds a few lines to her sketch to indicate lights. Then she moves her hand to go to another empty square. There she draws a tower with a balcony. The balcony shows computer component walls and stick figure people dancing. This all fills the left side of the rectangle. The right side shows a skyline looking a bit futuristic, "Have you seen the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera? The guys play it on the wall often.. imagine that.." She moves her pencil to show a bit more and then puts a few figures dancing in the street, lines drawn from the balcony show that light illuminates the street below, "Except.. shiny and new, instead of dark?"

Zoe smiles as she watches Lena work, her eyes focused on the image that starts to appear. "Yeah. Sort of like that with a cyberpunk twist. Oh!" She remembers something before she reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a burned CD. She hands it to her. "This is a copy of the new album as it stands now. It's going to go through a few more changes in the process. I thought it'd help inspire you and get a feel for what the album is going to be like."

Lena moves her hand to a third rectangle and starts combining ideas. She carefully moves to lower the computer piece, but Kirk's hand reaches out and takes it from her. He silently stands there, holding it within view for her. She smiles gratefully at him and then glances toward Zoe, "I think, you should be in the image somewhere.." She draws the balcony, seems to be closer up. Looking in from the outside she draws a stick figure and draws a line marking, 'DJ' there. Then takes the ideas from the first image and fills the inside of that room. Outside, she draws a hint of a skyline. However the focus on this third image is definitely the DJ amongst dancers in a computer-component-looking world. She then sweeps the pencil to draw a circle in the sky outside, "And here, you can have your album information."

Zoe nods her head as she smiles, looking at the drawing. "Alright. That looks good. If I'm going to be there..." She points to the spot reserved for her. "Then you need to be here." She says, pointing to spot amongst the dancers. "I don't usually have the album name until it's finished. I hope that won't be a problem."

Lena smiles, flattered as Zoe motions for a place to have herself in it. "Alright, I will have myself there.." She makes a new little stick figure. "There are times when I never know a title of a painting until it is finished. It does not bother me not having a name. However, for the sake of conversation, let's call this piece: The Succubus Club?" She points to the balcony, moving her finger to point at the DJ, "It is a club, after all..and there is DJ Succubus."

Zoe smiles and chuckles softly at the stick figure before she nods. "That sounds great." She chuckles at the suggestion of the name and the reasoning behind it. "That makes sense, so the Succubus Club it is." She thinks for a moment before she looks to Kirk. "You guys in the computer area all have online names you guys use right?"

Lena moves her pencil to write down a few notes to give more detail to her sketch. She glances toward the CD and then Zoe, "When do you plan to have the album finished? If you're pushing for Christmas, I juggle a few things to make sure I have time to focus on this."

Kirk nods to Zoe, "Yep. I'm b1n4ry." Pronounced like: binary. He points a finger at Lena, "She's Blue Shift." He grins saying the name.

Lena looks to Kirk, ignoring the reference to the hacker handle he gave her, "Bin, I'll need that for reference later, but you can put it down for now."

Zoe nods her head as she looks back to Lena. "Why not get all your friend's names and put them in as graffiti? Could help with the atmosphere of being a city." She asks, her head tilted slightly to the side.

Kirk grins, "That'd be cool."

Lena shakes her head, "I've never tried to paint graffiti before, so I can't guarantee I could do it. I will experiment on a separate piece and see how it comes out. If you like it, then it can be added. If you hate it, we can avoid it without ruining the painting." She puts her pencil down and picks up the CD, turning the case in her hands.

Zoe nods her head as she smiles. "That'll work as a compromise." She glances to Kirk as Lena looks over the case. It's just a simple blank CD with the words: Give to Lena handwritten in black Sharpie. The clear plastic case keeps the disk safe inside. She glances back to Lena and smiles. "I'm pretty open with any other ideas you may come up with along the line."

Lena leans down and places the CD in her purse, "Although you did not request my signature on anything, I am assuming a request for confidentiality due to the album not being released yet. Correct?" She then looks back to the notebook, "If you like, I can be equally secretive about the cover. I usually do not have too many visitors at my apartment." She waves a hand to indicate Bin, "Only Bin and a few others.. considered trustworthy." She then looks to Zoe, "Would you like to meet again in a week? I can have Isabella email you my address."

Zoe smiles and nods. "That would be greatly appreciated. My main concern is not so much for the cover, but more for the music. But if you could take extra care to not let it get out," Her eyes move to Kirk as well as Lena. "I would greatly appreciate it." She smiles as she focuses on Lena again, nodding. "A week will be perfect. I do believe she still has my card with my contact information on it. I really appreciate your help with this. How much would you need to get started?"

Lena nods her head, "You can trust me to be discreet with such a thing. A lady knows when to tell the world something, and when to keep her mystery." She smiles at Zoe. She then glances toward Kirk. Kirk chimes in, "Hey, I don't have to dress in drag to keep a secret." Lena chuckles while Kirk leans down to whisper to Zoe, "I make a sexy Marilyn Monroe, trust me." Meanwhile the mention of cost? Lena replies, "Of course, we can settle the details of cost, however I find it much less distracting if that is left up to Isabella. She can discuss with you the average pricing of my previous commission pieces, according to the size of the canvas and medium used. Since it is for an album cover, we'll have to discuss rights on the finished piece."

Zoe nods as she giggles. "Of course you do." She says in return to Kirk, chuckling softly before she looks back to Lena. "That's understandable. I'll speak with Isabella about the commission costs. For legal rights, did you want to discuss that next week or did is Isabella going to go over that with me?"

Lena smiles, "Isabella will go over the choices in regard to rights with you. And, the costs per option. I usually do not give up the rights for any pieces I create. But then again.. I have never painted for a music album before." There's a sound from the hallway and Kirk gives a bit of a wave before going out into the hall. Lena chuckles at the sound and turns to Zoe. "There's always something going on around here."

Zoe nods her head as she smiles and waves to Kirk. "Later." She says before she moves back to Lena and smiles. "Obviously. Well, you have my number, feel free to call my anytime in the evenings. My days are usually busy and I can't get to my phone. Doesn't matter if it's to just talk about the weather." She says with a smile.

Lena tilts her head, "My days are often rather busy as well. It's often much easier to have appointments in the early evening." She draws in a breath and taps her notebook gently, "I will work on the third image, painting enough for you to get a feel from it, but not completing it until you review it. I think about a week, but I will most likely call you sooner than that." She bites her lower lip at the mention of talking about the weather, she considers it, "Would you want me to call you to discuss the weather?" She chuckles.

Zoe smiles and shrugs as she chuckles. "Yeah. I mean, out of everybody in this town, you're the closest thing to a friend that I have here. I've hung around you more than anyone else really." She says with a smile.

Lena brings a hand to her heart as Zoe refers to her as the closest thing to a friend. "Such a sweet thing to say. Though, I'm certain you can easily make many friends." She then moves her hand to indicate toward the door, "You certainly have plenty of fans that hang out in the Lab. You should come by and hang out there sometime."

Zoe smiles as she looks to the door and nods. "I'll have to stop in there on my way out and say hi to the fellas." She chuckles softly as she looks back to Lena. "I just need to start getting out more. I have been busy unpacking."

Lena fidgets with her pencil, "There are plenty of things to do in Crystal Springs. Once you're unpacked, I can recommend a few fun places. However, I'm biased, Alt.Coffee will certainly be on that list."

Zoe laughs and nods as she looks at her. "Well, I happen to know about Alt.Coffee and I seem to enjoy it so far." She says as she smiles. "Well, why don't we say bye to the boys so I can get unpacked and I'll swing by tonight and we can have a night on the town. My treat."

Lena turns her notebook over to hide any evidence of use. "I am glad you like Alt.Coffee." When Zoe mentions saying bye, she stands and extends a hand toward Zoe offering a handshake, "Thank you, for bringing your album project to me. I am excited to work on it." As for a night on the town, she looks like she wants to go, however she politely declines, "I'm sorry, I must decline. However, I will check my calendar for a better evening to go out. I'll certainly give you a call, if you accept a rain-check?"

Zoe smiles and nods as she shakes Lena's hand. "Thank you. I love the work I've seen of yours. I'm excited to be working with you." She stands from her seat as she releases her hand. "And whatever night is best for you, we'll go out. Bring your friends too." She says with a smile before she offers a wave. "I'll talk to you later." She heads out of the studio, stopping by to say bye to the hacker boys for a moment before she heads home.