Watercolors

Dearest Internet,

I've been working diligently on these sweet little watercolors for a couple months.  Each is small and framed to a the size of 8" x 10"  I will have a show at the Indie Artist Colony in Indianapolis in the month of October.  As well, several Skull Tree paintings at Orchard Gallery in October for their Halloween Show.  I've also applied to a couple small works juried shows on the east coast at Arch Enemy gallery and Maryland Federation of Art.

Enjoy!

Abraham Lincoln Watercolor

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

Watercolors

Bust A Move

sobald ich geboren war

Firefly mural est finis! For now.  This is the beginning of a long, intimate relationship with me and a wall...

...and a mixed piece.  Watercolor, ink, collage, and wax on Masonite.  If I were Bob Ross I would call it "a happy accident," but since I am not it's called a fuck up that somehow turned out to be a really cool piece.

tomorrow I will pay*

*in reference to 5 hours from now when the alarm clock sounds, not my credit cards (but the same applies)

existential freakouts

Hello, friends and comrades!
A couple new paintings, larger ones based on the myriad of smaller ones I've been working on.  They were a bit painful to create because they took so long, but I powered through. :) Actually, they both only took a day or two to create, but when a person is used to finishing a work in an hour...
I've decided to pursue a M.A. at Saint Francis.  A tricky decision...but, it is a step in the direction and now I am super excited about getting back in a group studio and under the direction of seasoned artists.  So, now I must produce.  My summer will be dedicated to learning screen printing and beefing up my portfolio.  Not a bad way to spend a summer.

A pinch of prattle.

Feast your eyeballs on the newest series of little watercolor paintings!  So far there are approximately 20 or so of these little vagrants in existence (of this series).  I'm trying something new with these-a wax finish.  Very nice.  Now they are more durable to environmental hazards such as mist from the shower.

The tree is sold, sorry folks. A special commission.  The other two are headed to the Firefly for sale.  They are based on a couple little drawings from last spring (this may have been mentioned in a previous post).

Since the conception of "Something Has Grown Between Us" I have found that when things grow between people they are generally a bit more sinister than evergreens, but this fits the dynamic dualism of my work.  The coupling of cute and demented, vulgar and innocent.  It makes me so very happy. :)

the vulgar mind ++

I've started working on the monsters again.  They had a near death experience but made it out alive.  Here are a few that I have drawn out, ready to paint!

They are drawn on wood in ink.  Gotta love the vulgarity.  There is something intimate and unassuming about them that is very attractive to me (and apparently to others, as well).  Many of these contain words or fragments of sentences. They are all things that I have heard come from the mouths of my friends that have stuck with me.

This is a piece I made last spring that I found in a file.  One of the new pieces are based on it (below).  It makes so much sense now.

A larger piece.  My friend, Daniel, wrote this to me in an email several years ago and it has since surfaced in several of my pieces.  Love it.

recent drawings and musings

Still on the figure. I read recently that the majority of brain functions are dedicated to reading other people's facial expressions and emotions.

Pickin up

Things have picked up a bit since my last post. Not quite the Negative Nancy I was. :)

Here is the start of a self-portrait. I sanded and painted over a triptych I did shortly after Ezra was born that have been hanging around. I really loved the pieces, but it was time for them to go. To be reborn.



And, I scrapped the boxes I did first for the Artful Box at Orchard Gallery. This is my newest creation and all the boxes will follow suit in this style. I got the idea to paint watercolor over collage from Oliver Jeffers, he's a childrens book illustrator. While this is not a new idea, I liked the way he worked it and it caught me. I randomly saw one of his books at Ezra's day care when I was picking him up the other day. www.oliverjeffers.com

american ecstasy.

A Sunday creation.
After Bernini's "Ecstasy of Saint Theresa."

Passive Aggressive Bastards

Just kidding, but yeah, I seem to have an over abundance of passive aggressive bastards around me right now. Bleh.
Been super busy with art and life stuff. Here is a crappy photo of two more self portraits that I really hate and a sneak peak at my Sticks and Stones piece. xoxo

crop rotation

Dan came over yesterday and as we were chatting about the love and woes of art he offered up the idea that I needed to switch it up a bit. Agreed. I've been going at these little watercolors so hard I'm a little burnt out. Dave Mustard came home for a few days and while we were chatting he said he could always tell when I made something because it was so "Devil may care." Ha! So, here it is. A bit of crop rotation inspired by my friends.

My friends have been soooo awesome lately. I'm so lucky. I got a "You Are Free" tattoo last week on my inner arm (not shown in painting) that makes me feel a bit like the stars are lining up. This is another transitional piece. All pieces are transitions, really, as we are in a perpetual state of transition, however, some more so than others. I never could have painted myself in this manner previously and it feels GREAT to have the freedom to do so.

Finding myself again....