Red Region Inferno

As I have mentioned before… sometimes I don’t have a clue what I am about to paint when my brush first touches a canvas.

This is the result of one of those moments.

The subject matter is not my usual, and I really had no idea why I created this at the time.

Another odd thing about my painting is that I have no clue or care of what people will think about my finished product while I am in  creation mode.

Yellow jacket turned out to be a very popular painting.
Or at least it was popular in the greeting card market and small prints.
It has been the most sold as cards of any painting I have done since 2000.

Why?
No clue.
I am glad people like it though.
It seems to want to be liked.

Yellow Jacket

An odd thing about this painting is that everyone sees it differently depending on their personality and outlook in life.

Some think it adorable while others find it spooky.
It has been called a little girl, a ghost, and a doll.
It touches some people and others just see a picture.

For me it is something else altogether, but I never like to explain such things because an artist never can see their own creation in the way another can.

A few years ago  I went through a pretty rough time mentally and artistically.
The results was an art binge.
I purging of my soul so to speak.

The result was the Zombie Dolls series.
It consisted of over 50 paintings, a few dozen poems, 2 sets of tattoo flash, and a bunch of actual tattoos that I did in a very hasty and almost sketch like fashion.

The Zombie Doll period lasted from mid 2003 through mid 2005.

What are the zombie dolls?
They are a representation of the inner essence of a certain type of woman.
The soul – spirit – inner being if you so choose to call it that.

The project started with the paintings.
Women from my past mostly.
The ones I knew well.

What you see is the essence of the woman.
The wounds are all self inflicted through lies, deceit, bad choices, self degradation, etc…
The stitches represent their attempts to hold themselves together.
The act of mutilating their own souls through actions that hurt others and themselves on a spiritual, moral, and mental level.

Visually they are still beautiful.
They are always attempting to hide their wounds and show themselves as strong, confident, self righteous women who are fine with the choices they have made if not outright proud of them.

Inside – behind the facade is the truth.
They are zombies.
Just going through the motions.
The damage has been done.

Ambrosia

This painting is tittled  ‘Ambrosia’

The simple words that went with it are…

Strong of the body,
Strong of the mind,
her broken spirit left behind.

The girl who inspired this painting was once a close friend and is in her own right a very talented artist.
She is also a very successful artist.
Her succes as an artist and a business person came at a price though.

Her hard demeanor and callous ways in the art world have branded her a bitch.
Her vanity has made her unapproachable to all but others of what appears to be her type.
Her perversions keep her from living a normal life.

Inside… all she wanted was love.
The tender sort of love that is unconditional and forever.
She broke the few men who offered her such love when young, and now it is out of her reach.

She has her power, her money, her fame, and respect.
She lives a lie and is always alone.
She long ago… gave up.

She is beautiful.
She is proud.
She is sad.

Sometimes I don’t have much to say about a painting.
This is one of those times.
Make of it what you will.

Orange Cars

“No such thing as angels”
That is something I used to say a lot.

Under The Full Moon

One of my small quick paintings done in that “let the paint guide you type style”.
Or in other words… just start painting and see what happens.
The original painting is under 12 inches wide.
That is small for me. I usually hit canvas at least 3 times that size, but oddly it is these little paintings that come from nowhere that I often end up liking most.

Upward to tranquility…
is obviously a painting inspired by the yoga pose Upward Facing Dog.
“urdhva mukha svanasana”

Upward To Tranquility

This pose stretches the chest, lungs, abdomen, and back.
It will free you to breathe… thus the tittle of the painting.

High up, free from bothersome demands where the air is clean and fresh we open ourselves and allow ourselves to truly breathe.

I have actually done this pose high up on a mountain a few times, but in general I practice it on a mat in my living room.
If my mind can become clear enough I still am able to find that tranquil place I long for.

Upward facing dog is not only good for the chest, lungs, abdomen, and back.
It also stimulates your internal organs and offers relief from depression.
Many  yoga practitioners claim that this pose offers relief from asthma also… and they very well may be right.
Personally however I think that if it does help with asthma it is simply because when in this pose and breathing correctly it expands the lungs and chest so much that it may actually clean out the lungs a bit – ‘so to speak’.

So… I hope you enjoy my painting and it inspires you to not only get into this very beneficial pose, but also to seek your own tranquility.

Prints of my ‘Upward to tranquility’ painting are available through ImageKind.