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.

Two Young Owls

Here is a small painting (6"x9") built around the image of two owls in a hollow part of a tree. The tree is painted with loose, broad brush-strokes. Everything else in the painting is more finely executed. The dog seems to sense there is something in the tree. Is this cute scene about to erupt into a bloodbath as the domestic animal tries to attack the young owls? Or will they all get along and go off together to the factory (that's what's in the background) to tour the assembly line from a glassed in observation deck?

Dante's Love Orbs

This is a second attempt to paint a self-portrait in the style of a Tibetan Thanka painting. The opposing fish help shed some light on the theme of the painting. The first fish is saying, "Give Dante a fish and it's a meal." The second fish is saying, "Teach Dante to fish and he feeds his ego." This painting points out some of Dante's character flaws while at the same time showing some of his more endearing qualities.

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.

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