It’s been a month or so since I’ve been able to finish these two paintings but soon enough they will be complete! They are close to my size, about 5’2 & 4’9 painted on wood panels. I am excited to finish them! The larger one “My Life, My Lover, My Lady Is The Sea” was inspired by the song “Brandy, by The Looking Glass” (it is also my name so I guess the title of the song signs my name for me..haha)
Recently I’ve acquired an awesome Guided By Voices mix. Needless to say I’m a fan. Robert Pollard writes pretty amazing lyrics not to mention the music has a lo-fi sound but it’s catchy as shit! I started effing around and doodling as I was tuning in and out and back in again.
“Hey Aardvark where’s my ashtray, Put it in my room so I can smoke, Let’s hire a race car driver, Drive through the park and just tell jokes, And if it costs too much, I’ll foot the bill, Because I will, Oh oh I would like that, Oh oh i would like that.”
On break at work doodles. Here is a baby fetus skull with a light-weighted bird body. It was actually inspired by a song about realizing the capability of ever becoming a lover is impossible. Fly baby, Fly!
Found some wooden planks that took a fancy to my eye. Had some beer in the fridge & a good music mix playing so I decided to spend the night painting while bopping my head to tunes. Animals & Breasts, not the most original idea but they are going to look awesome in my living room when they are completed! If you have any ideas for other animals that might look nice with breasts, write me a hollar, I am open to suggestions! (also, I am way into music mix swapping so if it’s your thing too let’s make it a swap party!)
Here is a crappy, grainy (sorry) cell phone photo of the recent heart painting for the 5th Annual Jinxed Heart Show 2012 in Philly! I thought about some songs I’d like to paint to, and Two Headed Boy by Neutral Milk Hotel came to mind. Then I remembered I already did a drawing to that song, but I liked the idea of twins. So, instead of actually painting fetuses, I painted FEETus’s. Cheesy but fuck it, it seemed to work. Come to the show if you’re around, I had a sneak peek of the show when I dropped it off and it’s pretty damn awesome!
I’ve recently come across an extremely well-done and inspiring video about the John Muir Trail on Vimeo.com that captured the beauty of backpacking and the beauty of exploring nature in America. If you happened to watch the Ken Burns documentary on American National Parks, I was one of those folks that became emotional towards the end. If you’ve backpacked before you understand. There is something about being out in the middle of nature with nothing but a pack, some water, enough food to survive on and time. You learn more about yourself and others than you ever thought you would or could and no matter what you go through while you are out there, you always have a urgency to go back. Sure, to an unexperienced backpackers mind it is all just a hippie gathering full of drum circles and drugs but for that I just smile. The ignorant can only find out for themselves how amazing this country can be if they take the time to appreciate it’s free beauty. Here is the video:
In 2009 I met a lot of amazing folks on the Appalachian Trail. I would have to say those days were some of the most eye opening days of my life outside of Africa. I realized how real and amazing people can be, I felt at home and within minutes and with one introduction we felt we knew one another for years, after all, we were there for the same reason and that’s sometimes enough to understand a person. Everyone on the AT (Appalachian Trail) at some point if thru-hiking gets a trail name ( & a beard if you’re a guy), Forever you remember that person by their trail name because that is what will suit them the rest of their life in your memories. While I was out there I drew a few doodles of some of the hikers I met.
The John Muir Trail has been on my list of trails to complete in my lifetime. That video reminded me that I still have time to take advantage of and get my ass working on a plan to high-five that goal! Experiences inspire art, and art inspires the world. Make it so!
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
To follow more of the Almost There: The Muir Project, check out their website
The year 2006. I went to Paris for the first time. I fell in love with the culture, the city, the vibe, the art, the music, the food, the feeling, the…everything Paris was made of…and when I left, I think tears rolled off this cheek of mine because I did not want to leave this beautiful, magical, romantic place I call the verbal heaven. A few months ago I was just laying in my bed listening to a mix I had in iTunes and Dent May’s song “Oh Paris” began to play and that feeling came back to me, so instead of tearing up, I decided to paint to the song with my emotions leaving Paris that day in 2006. One day I know I will make it back there, even if a zombie apocalypse breaks out.
Dent May: Oh Paris!
On rainy days, my favorite thing to do besides pucker up & get kisses from my honey, is to put on some of my favorite tunes and just doodle. I never know what will come out of it when I start, but somehow my brain will focus on a certain verse or line in a song and it will entitle my pen to just make that lyric come to life, and by life I mean become a physical vision. Music is pretty much my lifelong friend, the truth behind all of my honesty & my inspiration for every step I take in life. So before this turns into a shitty Live Journal entry let me stop now and just post what the heck I’m blabbing about! These are from 2009. Pen and Marker over images manipulated in Photoshop.
Yes! Like every other hipster in Philadelphia, I absolutely adore the Beatles, but I did not do this one for me. A friend of mine has a dumb Beagle whom I love to death. His name is Toby (named after Toby from the office, and yes, the personality match is almost exact) Anyways, my friend is also a Beatles fan and commissioned me to paint for him a Beatles Beagles painting. I said, “Fuck Yes I Can Do That For You”
Inspired by these pictures I have in my living room:
I came up with this painting (using all of Toby’s faces for each Beatle expression)
I know this is a weird image of the painting, a better one to come once I remember to take a picture of it next time I am over my friends house! It’s been a hard days night and I’ve been working like a dog.
