//The Lava Lady on La Brea Boulevard, Los Angeles, 1990s. Photo: http://antebellumgallery.blogspot.co.uk//

Sad to note the passing of Suzan Strauss, whose intriguing, otherworldly presence illuminated the streets around Melrose and La Brea in Los Angeles in the 80s and 90s.

Choosing to walk the otherwise empty pavements in her ever-changing extraordinary outfits, she was known as The Lava Lady since her residence on Detroit was clad in black lava rock (and apparently the interior was not lit by electricity, but candles).  In my circle Strauss was known as That Lady, as in “I was parking in Ralph’s and saw That Lady” or “I nearly spoke to That Lady at Fairfax High flea market but didn’t want to disturb her”.

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Tags: Detroit Street, La Brea Bopuldevard, Melrose Boulevard, Ray Suzan Strauss, The Lava Lady, The Wellington Witch, West Hollywood

//’Mick Passes Shirley, 1955′  Illustration for a feature about growing up in the 50s by Mick Farren, Club International 1975 by Hollyhead/NTA from an idea of George Hardie’s//

Growing up in London in the 60s and 70s with an interest in the counterculture, music and street politics meant that the shaggy-headed figure of Mick Farren loomed large on the landscape.
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Tags: 1975, Club International, Edward Barker, Filthy McNasty's, George Hardie, ICA, Joy hebditch, Kenneth Anger, Larry Wallis, Mick Farren, Nasty Tales, Nick Logan, NME, Paul Lewis, Phun City, Richard Thomas, The Deviants, Watch Out Kids, West Hollywood