We fight for our creative birthright!
Minnesota-based Velvet Rasputin LLC produces challenging and socially-conscious creative works. It also provides educational events for diverse folks.
DisclaimerVelvet Rasputin LLC policy prohibits unsolicited art donation requests, in order to ensure artists are paid a fair wage for their work. If collective participants wish to donate to causes they are passionate about, they will contact organizations directly.No one at Velvet Rasputin is currently available for commissioned art or unsolicited exhibit opportunities. Please do not contact Velvet Rasputin with these types of inquiries.Velvet Rasputin LLC staff is brave space/safe space certified and trains contactors accordingly.
Velvet Rasputin LLC Creative Services
Velvet Rasputin LLC Creative Services
Art/Creative DirectionIf you have a large-scale creative project, and you're feeling overwhelmed, let Velvet Rasputin LLC take care of it. Award-winning multidisciplinary, Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz has worked in the arts for most of their life, and in the promotional events and marketing field since 1997. They know how to build teams and find the resources to ensure that your vision comes to fruition in the most effective and memorable way possible. Contact Velvet Rasputin LLC for consultation to see whether our creative direction services are the right fit for you.
Velvet Rasputin LLC Creative Services
Artificial Intelligence Ethics For Creative People
A cautionary tale about visionary artists, the rise of Gen AI slop, ecological disaster, and deciding who gets run over first.As a boundary-pushing and innovative multidisciplinary arts collective full of computer nerds, Velvet Rasputin LLC, has often been on the cutting edge of creativity. Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz and long-time collaborator, Ram Lama, tried their hand at artificial intelligence art during the COVID-19 epidemic. They used their extensive body of comic art to train models, along the majority of their free time. Working independently, they meticulously-crafted stunning works of art.Ram generated charming comics in their own style, with wry and pun-filled humor written the old fashioned way. Ram released these saucy experiments into the Creative Commons for everyone to enjoy and remix. People started to notice, much to Ram's delight.Vas on the other hand, went on long hikes to take pictures of local flowers that would then be processed through neural style-transfer to create magical floral photography. Printed on metal-coated paper or wooden blocks, these images caused a sensation. The buzz ultimately lead Vas to become the first AI artist in Central Minnesota to exhibit in a gallery setting. So popular were these works, that it led to multiple extended exhibits and a radio interview.Unfortunately for both of them, AI art and lit went mainstream, and everything went down the drain; quite literally. For this reason, and because of a rather horrifying AI training gig, Vas abandoned the creation of their acclaimed neural style-transfer photography. Equally disgusted and frustrated, Vas decided to help other artists navigate the sea of slop.Check out the events page to see when the next presentation will take place, or contact Velvet Rasputin LLC for presentations tailored to your business or organization.
Velvet Rasputin LLC Creative Services
Historical Poetry ProgramsIf your organization wants to teach folks about local Minnesota history in a fun, engaging, and creative way, Velvet Rasputin LLC's historical poetry programs might be a great fit! Each program is an hour long and will introduce participants to a simple poetic style, while educating them about their community's origins. It's great activity for aspiring historians and poets of all ages.Look for these informative presentations in the events section, or contact Velvet Rasputin LLC to bring this event to your town.This program was developed with a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant and with assistance from the Central Minnesota Arts Board Teaching Artists Roster Program. Velvet Rasputin LLC works with cultural, heritage and historical organizations to further refine this program.
Velvet Rasputin LLC Creative Services
Lyrical Trash Art Group ActivitiesVelvet Rasputin LLC creative director, and lyrical trash artist, Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz, enjoys presenting at events that promote recycling trash treasures and build bridges between groups of people that may not necessarily get along. Contact Velvet Rasputin LLC for information on how our team can design the perfect event for your business, organization, or private group.Clients may be charged an extra fee if they wish to use new materials for their group activity.
Sample Activities
Velvet Rasputin LLC Creative Services
Trauma-Aware and Socially Conscious Arts FacilitationAre you offering a progressive-minded workshop, event or retreat in which you have to talk about difficult topics, but are deathly afraid of stepping on people's toes? Do you feel like when you talk to conservatives, older folks, or religious people, you are speaking a different language altogether? Is communication with folks of genders other than your own a source of bafflement and frustration? There's help for that!As a professional villain with a loving heart, Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz can be your nonbinary communication fairy and designated toe stepper. If there are things that need to be said, but you're afraid to say them, Vas will find a diplomatic, yet direct way of wording them. Using active listening, body language, clarifying questions and humor, Vas will do their best to decolonize minds and de-escalate hostilities in their unique and wonderfully autistic way.But, that's not all: Vas can do all of this while facilitating a cool art activity that will hopefully prevent escalation and resentment in the first place. Contact Velvet Rasputin LLC for information.
Velvet Rasputin LLC Public Events
Get To Know Cinquains And Delano Trains
Delano Great River Regional Library - Delano, MN - 4/23/2025 6:30pm-7:30pm
Enjoy the library's historical train photo collection and set your creativity in motion! Join award-winning Minnesota poet, Vas Wojtanowicz, as we take a historical locomotive ride for our National Poetry Month Celebration! Find inspiration in Delano's fascinating railroad legacy as we learn how to write the cinquain, a Japanese-inspired American style of poetry. (All ages.)For more information visit: events.griver.org/calendar/delanolibraryevents
Using AI Ethically In Creative Fields
Great River Poets First Tuesday Poetry Workshop - Great River Regional Library - St Cloud, MN - 5/6/2025 6:30 PM
AI technologies are everywhere, and many poets can't wait to explore their potential to elevate the creative process. But, how can conscientious folks take advantage of these innovative tools without plagiarizing, harming fellow writers or churning out AI slop that turns readers off? Is the ethical use of AI even possible for a poet? Multidisciplinary artist and writer, Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz, will teach folks committed to using their authentic voice, how to use AI as a labor-saving collaborator, rather than as a soulless content generator, without infringement or creative laziness.For more information visit: mnpoets.org
Velvet Rasputin LLC Publishing
DisclaimerNote from founder: Many of literary works are not intended for unsupervised children. If you are under 18, adult supervision is strongly recommended.Our works often deal with sex, issues of identity, trauma and other difficult subjects in a frank manner. They also may be spiritually objectionable to certain faiths. If you are sensitive to content that may be offensive to your sensibilities or triggering, then you are respectfully asked to visit a different section of this website instead.If you are a parent, and are concerned about your child accessing our material, visit our privacy and safety section for resources on how to protect your family on the web.
Short-Format Chapbooks, Zines and Mini-Comics
The I Can Can
A chapbook celebrating friendship and saltiness.Homeless Bound 1 and 2
A firsthand account of one man's homelessness journey by Jonathan Wilson. Only available on offline. Recommended for ages 14+Friolencia
A bilingual chapbook by Vas Littlecrow about violently cold winters and spooky things.
Recommended ages for 14+My Damage Contains Contractual Calluses
A raw and illustrated autobiographical chapbook by Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz about sexism, racialism, false allies and the will to survive against all odds out of sheer spite. - Recommended for ages 17+This Was Your Life
A frank sheet-o 'zine inspired by the tracts of Jack T. Chick, with a much different flavor of Christ-follower philosophy. - Recommended for ages 17+Not For Kids!
A sheet-o zine on why Vas was not on Web 2.0 social media for a long time. - Recommended for ages 17+How To Turn Mangoes Into Cheesecake.
An adorable story about Vas's dad and his insatiable love for mangoes. - Recommended for All audiences.Protest Trolls: A zany comic 'zine about the stupidity of politics and oblivious rich people. - - Recommended for ages 14+Confident Customer Loving: A little motivational comic about Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz. - Recommended for ages 14+Poe Takes A Trip: A naughty ninja kitty finds a bunch of wild mushrooms. Will he find enlightenment, or will Poe's Master disapprove of his magical trip? - Recommended for ages 14+
Other PublicationsIt Takes All Kinds
The Velvet Rasputin/Catnose Comics team made multiple comics contributions to multiple issues
Long-Form Comics And Webcomics
Velvet Rasputin LLC Webcomics and ZNLArts Preservation Project
DisclaimerNote from founder: Our webcomics are not intended for unsupervised children. If you are under 18, adult supervision is strongly recommended.Our works often deal with issues of sex, identity, trauma and other difficult subjects in a frank manner. They also may be spiritually objectionable to certain faiths. If you are sensitive to content that may be offensive to your sensibilities or triggering, then I respectfully ask you to visit a different section of this website instead.If you are a parent, and are concerned about your child accessing our material, visit our privacy and safety section for resources on how to protect your family on the web.
Our comic books and graphic novels are currently out of print.
Praise For Velvet Rasputin LLC Comics And Graphic Novels
❤️ "There is (a) boundary-pushing, experimental quality to (these) comics that I like…" - E.R.
❤️ "Reading Rasputin Catamite right now and, as a mixed-ancestry Siberia-born Cryptojewish Russian: nice work! I sincerely appreciate that everyone in RC is kind of ugly and shabby and has weird noses, because that’s pretty damn accurate. Also A+ on all the Russian minorities! My Tatar and Jewish heart sings to see more than the default Slav." - I.G.
❤️ "(Rasputin Barxotka) It is something so unique, hard-edged, and affecting that it defies even the multiple genres in which it might fall. It is not for the squeamish, but it is something that deftly shows a part of the world and the human spectrum of emotions and sexuality that most might not (but should) consider." -N.K.
❤️"(Rasputin Catamite) keeps you hooked paradoxically with its playful, colorful and funny art style where many characters have gigantic noses, while having really disturbing subject matter that includes gore, implied rape, anti-semitism, self-harm, BDSM and other heavy subjects. However, there is a method to the madness in that the violence is graphically displayed to show the messed up society that the main characters are living in, and based on their situations what morally grey choices they have to make to achieve their own personal salvation... The skillful mastery of this comic however is that it does not make these characters into stereotypes and play them for cheap laughs; I felt their pain, and despite their flaws understood where they came from because the comic has a very sociological approach of nurture affecting nature." - W.A.
❤️ "All the characters are very well written and enjoyable to read. Even the characters who would be the worst human beings have likable traits about them, and I like that sort of realism that's often overlooked in most media." - Gummy
Contact Velvet Rasputin LLC
Business open by appointment only
Se habla español
Postal:
Velvet Rasputin LLC,
PO Box 222,
Rice, MN 56367
Text:
(320) 422-1246
Email:
Send your email correspondence by using the form below. We will return your inquiry within 3-5 business days.
Velvet Rasputin LLC - Privacy
Privacy
We will not share your identifiable personal information with anyone outside of this website, unless we specifically ask, and you grant us permission to do so by using one of third-party vendors, to purchase our products, or by contacting us. We may retain personal information provided by visitors indefinitely, unless they specifically contact us to do otherwise. If you participate in social media activities, win a prize from one of our contest/giveaways, we will only publish your first name and last initial, unless you voluntarily provide information such as your public user name and website.If you send guest art or, if we find it on the web, we may publish your name, art and website, along with any promotional information that you choose to give us.We track website traffic using cookies including those from third-parties such as Doubleclick, Google Analytics, Quancast, Spoonflower and Amazon.com with monetized links and banners. If this is an issue for you, we suggest that you use an ad-blocker, cookie blocking program or anonymizer for your browser. We use third-party vendors for much of our merchandise and advertising. Please refer to their individual privacy policies if you have any questions about how your information will be used by them.
Velvet Rasputin LLC - Child Safety
Child Safety
Note from founder: This website is not intended for unsupervised children. If you are a parent, and you are upset that you found your child on this website, I commend you. This means that you are taking an interest in your family’s well-being on the Internet. Because of this, I want to give you resources to help you cope with your child’s visit to this website.Our comics are not age-appropriate for most kids. For older teens, I strongly urge parental guidance when making a decision about visiting this site. If your children have been exposed to the content here, discuss how your family values relate to the themes shown. These conversations may also help your child articulate struggles they are facing, but feel too ashamed or scared to speak about. I hope that the materials below are of help to your family.
Resources For Families
Kiddle: Kid-Safe Web Browsing
Zoodle: Kid-Safe Web Browsing
Blue Campaign: Identify and Fight Human Trafficking
Crisis and Suicide Lines
Recognizing Sexual Abuse
Learn About Self-Harm
Keeping Kids Out Of Gangs
Coming Out as Gay or Lesbian: Common Questions from Parents - Tips are also applicable to parents of transgender, non-binary or other queer children. They might also be helpful for parents of children who unexpectedly develop non-binary physical features. This info sheet also includes a non-judgemental section for parents who feel morally or emotionally unable to support their child through this process.
Velvet Rasputin LLC - Legal Information
Charitable Giving and Social Engagement Policies
Velvet Rasputin LLC policy does not allow for business resources to be used for political action committees, or charitable giving to avoid conflicts of interest. Insomuch, Velvet Rasputin LLC will decline all requests for solicitations of this nature. Members, employees and contractor may engage in these activities, but must provide a disclaimer which includes this policy on any posts made using authorized business channels.
Copyright and License
Velvet Rasputin LLC policy does not to allow commercial use of any of its characters or properties without express written permission, payment of licensing fees and/or approval. Commercial use includes promotional campaigns for properties outside of Velvet Rasputin’s scope, unauthorized translations, fundraiser campaigns, crowdfunding projects, products merchandising, inclusion in publications whether digital and/or printed and, other forms of monetization. If we are unable or unwilling to reply to permission requests, never assume that we will grant permission by default. We pursue all infringement aggressively.While we are very protective of our intellectual property rights, we do grant a general limited license for Velvet Rasputin characters and publications to be used for non-commercial fan art, educational purposes, minor comic cameos, parody, criticism and personal art portfolios that are not being used to sell specific products or services. This general limited license does not imply endorsement or, transferal of copyright to any party outside of Velvet Rasputin’s properties, and may be revoked at any time for any reason.The characters in our work are fictional and any similarities are purely coincidental. Any mention of actual companies, locations, trademarks, individuals and groups in our works are either satirical or fictionalized, and do not represent endorsement.Be sure to contact us if you do use our characters regardless of the reason, so we can keep track of usage, or so we may answer any questions.
Velvet Rasputin LLC - Special Events
Event ended. Thanks to all who attended. See you in 2025!
Thank you
Thank you for your inquiry. You will receive a response within 48 hours. Unsolicited commercial inquiries will not receive a response.