New Octopus

 Ya, working on another one. 3 feet x 4 feet

Oops! Haven't updated! Raven...

Hungin, Odins Raven of the past.

Arbutus on the easel

Just finished this latest commission.
oil on linen.

How did this not make it on my site? COUNTING RETURNS< 4' x 3'

The Great Division

There are nights when I wish to abandon all, and sink into the music of paint,  and yet I cannot, knowing I have to work with power tools the next day. One careless mistake and I lose a finger or an eye. Yet the pull is strong. I want to paint, lose myself in the moment, forget time and space, just create. My entire body wishes to do so now, as my mind calls restraint. Leaves me unresolved in my actions, but safe in my body. It is my constant struggle; create from my soul, or create with my hands for other souls. I generally do the later. Not sure if that is failure or success.

start

Underpainting.

MAKE ORWELL GREAT AGAIN

Forgot to post this piece I did last year, just after Trump fired off the 49 Tomohawks. It is Animal Farm, with a new leader.....

LEARN!

So I challenge myself constantly, try this, try that, push man, push! So here is the evolution so far, the pillar of man, the spine. From rough in to today's work, more to come, not done it yet.

 

Back to my roots

I started by drawing cartoons. Beetle Bailey, Garfield, Snoopy, then found my own way. The Great Paper Chase is an homage to my early days, and my early painting style.

May the Farce Be With You

A friend of mine inspired me to alter my Empty Suits painting with a little pop culture. She was right. I could not help combining a few of my favorite films. Pulp Fiction, meet Star Wars! This was fun to do.

OLDER WORKS

Here are a few older images that never made it to the blogsite. They are all gone from my walls and enjoying someone elses. Gone, but not forgotten...

 

 

MY GHOST, LITERALLY

Early morning sunlight was shining though some smoke in my house, making awesome patterns, I put my camera on burst mode and took about 10 pictures of it floating, shifting, changing. A few days later I looked through those photos. What  I found was creepy, at first...

...knowing my home was built in 1920, I had often wondered about the spirits that had lived here. I believe I captured one. I don't know who he is, or if he died here, but I wanted to honor him, as our spirits share the same space.
  So I decided to paint the spirit in the smoke, a total divergence from my usual style. I think he likes it, I know I do.

Moonlight Sunflowers

 THE INSPIRATION: my neighbors amazing giant sunflowers! I took many,many,many pictures from all angles of these babies.

 THE CHALLENGE: A TRIPTYCH!    I wanted to do this as a series of 3 paintings, done as one complete image, so I build a cradle to hold the pieces together.

THE SKETCH: I needed a starting point, using the pictures I had taken, I quickly roughed out a layout that would allow me to space the paintings so each one could stand strongly on its own.

END RESULT AND GETTING THERE: For some reason, I decided to try out some black gesso as a base, instead of white. I thought that it would help me with the overall effect of the seeds in the end. I had to buy a white water color pencil to block in my rough idea from above. Originally this was to be a full color piece, but the white on black got me thinking, so I took a walk that night to ponder, walking past the sunflowers by moonlight, the idea hit! I have been working on it for 4 months now, and finished it last night. Though am not sure how to sign it. Does one sign each piece individually, or spread the signature across the 3 pieces???? I don't know.