Watering His Iris

This small painting(5"x8") , Watering His Iris, is one of many paintings I've been working on where someone is on their cell phone. I'm sure that some day in the not too distant future I will have a show where every painting has a cellular phone in it.

Dante in a Thanka Painting

This just completed 24"x36" ink and watercolor painting is loosely based on the tradition of Tibetan Thanka painting. Dante , the main subject of the painting, is treated like a minor buddhist god. With a paintbrush in one hand and a TV remote in the other, he weilds his power. The two fish, hooked to Dante's nipples by orange fishing line are thinking profound thoughts. The one on the left is thinking `Give Dante an Fish and that's a meal'. The one on the right is thinking `Teach Dante How to Fish and he feeds his ego.'

There are a few more examples of Dante's Thanka-esque paintings on his website.

Ben, Pink and the Sentimental Sturgeon

I finished this yesterday afternoon after attending a Second Friday opening at Launchpad gallery Friday night. Ben Pink, Launchpad's owner, put together a great evening, so I decided to dedicate this 16"x20" ink and watercolor on paper painting to him. I have been working on illustrations for the Dao De Jing, so I decided to put in one quote from Laozi's text in this painting. The quote is translated and explained at http://daodejingillustrated.blogspot.com/ . I was trying very hard to make every line I comitted to paper have some grace and power. As dependent as my paintings are on narrative content, it is really the brushstroke, in abstraction, that holds potential. For me, the line is the closest thing you will get to the human touch from a painting. Each brushstroke is me trying to express something that is hopefully worth expressing.

He Fell For Love

I finished this a few days ago. I decided not to use color in this painting, just ink stroked onto the xuan paper with a wolf-hair brush. The power of the line can come through better without color stealing the show. The size of the painting, 12"x 30" is conducive to the cool drama of someone falling from the sky. Portland's Steel Bridge and iconic street lamps create space. The grasping hands add emotion. The oversized cat is silly. The bee and ambulance add danger. The falling gull enhance the out of control feeling. The happy girl is what it is all about.

Wet Cat = Unhappy Cat

The fading intellectual has a hose that still squirts with some force.

Wet Cat = Unhappy Cat was completed this morning 11/29/08, ink and watercolor on xuan paper