Peccary

imageSince I was a child I have always had an interest in skulls. I used to collect them and prize each skull I came across in my wanderings. At a certain point that sort of behavior becomes a bit “odd”. Luckily all of my interests were odd so it blended seamlessly into the patchwork.

A couple years ago I spent a bit of time painting still life images containing rocks and bones… This particular setup was in a box I lined with aluminum foil. As the title suggests, it is the skull of a peccary… a really interesting little pig like animal found in the desert. The skull is incredibly thick and powerful for such a tiny creature… and the teeth!

 

 

Symbols & Signs

 

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This painting goes back a few years.

I was working with really thick translucent acrylic paint. I would pour it on and aggressively dry it in front of a heater and the surface would craze in unpredictable ways. A person can never entirely dictate the way materials will interact when used in unconventional ways. That unpredictable outcome can result in something that feels akin to magic but more often results in wasted materials. I was caught in a loop basically lured along by glimpses of success but wasting too much time. Quite literally hanging around watching the paint dry! The method of painting, used in this particular piece along with scores of others, I have moved away from. It started to feel more and more like that definition of insanity…

This blackbird painting was one I considered a success, he seemed to know the score.

 

 

even the moonlight is blinding

moonlight

The moon always a powerful presence in the sky, night or day. It seemed like a good excuse to post the last few lines  from a great song by an amazing songwriter…

Townes Van Zandt – Rake


And now the dark air is like fire on my skin
And even the moonlight is blinding

Who?

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This is a 10″ x 10″ owl painting I did. Originally I was doing a set of three but the third one refused to pan out. This one featured nice loose brush strokes and the paint had a really easy quality that I liked. The second owl painting was sold before I could get a proper photograph. Both paintings were done on a really thick translucent acrylic substrate and feature exciting depth allowing the light to reflect through the paint.