Two works in progress

This is a sort-of-triptych I put together with 3 pieces of 2" cradled Ampersand Gessobord. The company doesn't list their Gessobord as being compatible with watercolor, but I like it even better than their watercolor-intended product Aquabord. My idea for what to do with this is only vague right now, I just wanted to work on something oddly shaped. I bound the pieces together with wood glue and six one and a half inch nails.

I'm working on a few different things at once right now. This is an in-progress photo of a piece for a July show. This is the portal to a world that spans out to the left and right, strewn with garbage and inhabited by urinal creatures. Last year I stumbled across these urinals with yellow caution tape reading "Do Not Enter" draped around them and thought, "Who would enter a urinal, and what exactly is so dangerous back there?"

The Stripemaker II

I was excited to do an Avatar of myself in Hiveland for the Hive Gallery's themed show in April 2008. This is it, titled "The Stripemaker"... it's one of my pieces I still get the most comments on.

The Hive is showcasing more Avatar works this April in a show titled "Love and War in Hiveland." Here's a sneak peak of what I did for it:

The theme was war, and it's titled "Stripemaker II: The Tentaskull Battle at Lake Honeysac." It's an 8"x10" watercolor on claybord, mounted on a 2 inch frame. I had a lot of fun painting the bees and tentaskulls in particular.

Ideas

I was in a laundromat today with two strangers. One was studying Chinese while waiting for his wash to finish. The other guy noticed this, asked him about it, and then started a loud 30 minute monologue about a race of Yetis in Tibet who are directly descended from homo erectus with some Irish roots as well; they are pale skinned with full body hair up to 6 inches long ("the women have to shave below the elbows and knees regularly") and speak "perfect English with no accent." He went on to say there are a group of them living in a fire station in downtown Seattle and in 1979 he saw one climb a telephone poll.

(The guy studying Chinese gradually moved away from him and to the other side of the room to hide behind the dryers.)

Sometimes people ask me where I get my ideas from; one answer is, from madmen in laundromats.

Seattle Group Show

I'm a little late in posting these show announcements, but in January I also participated in a group show in Seattle at University Unitarian, which runs until the end of the month. The opening was a lovely time with a nice turn-out, great music and paintings from many wonderful artists.

Divine Mother Kali

The Hive Gallery in L.A. kicked off 2009 with a show titled "Bee Here Now," inspired by the work of Ram Das and his book "Be Here Now." My painting is a bee-twist on Das's version of Divine Mother Kali (click here for the Wiki link to learn more about her).

Here is the video from the exciting opening. (My painting is at 6:14-6:15.)

"Changes in the Sun"

This is the final piece I did for my Wildlife class. The primary subject was insects, ala the butterfly and two beetles. It is watercolour on 12" x 12" Aquabord. It will be for sale at the Hive Gallery in Los Angeles for their December show.

The title of this is "Changes in the Sun."

I wanted to work with triangles for the composition. They point to and help guide the eyes to the focal point. The trees, leaves and curve of the turtle's legs help, too.

I like working on Aquabord. It's created specficially for watercolours and increases their vibrancy dramatically.

Bird sketches and painting

Here is the latest painting... it's for Molly's wildlife class. The focus for the past couple of weeks has been birds. I used the opportunity to practice more watercolour in the Japanese style (like I did for "The Fishface Fuchsia Fiasco").

Here are some watercolour sketches from the first bird class.