Hello Kitty, Paintings with Words

I've been putting a lot of words into my paintings lately. Hello Kitty is one example. I think doing a lot of paintings with Chinese calligraphy in them has inspired me to use English....especially since most people who see the paintings don't read Chinese.

Pile of Practice Paper in Pittock Mansion

July 17th to Nov. 14th Uncertain Times show at Pittock Mansion. See a pile of newspaper. Come back each week to watch it turn yellow.

The Demise of the Newspaper

I'm excited about the upcoming show at Pittock Mansion this summer through the fall. It is called Uncertain Times and is about the demise of the newspaper industry. I will have an installation in the show. It will be a large (the larger the better) pile of newspaper I have used to practice Chinese calligraphy on. The two paintings above will also be in the show.

Forest Diptych with Lady and Sandy

The idea behind this forest scene was to take advantage of ink and washes by contrastign the dark trees in front with the lighter trees in back. I am also contrasting the relatively fine brushwork done on Lady and Sandy (You can decide which is Lady and which is Sandy) with the brisk loose brushwork of the trees. The Calligraphy couplet roughly translates, `I know my character makes it hard for me to conform. I like that I belong to no-one.' I used the li style of calligraphy.

Rain, Fire, Dog, Owl

This 10"x 14" painting has some of my familiar elements. The rain is represented by ink that has dripped and flowed. There is a fire in the background and an owl picking up a dog. Is the owl trying to save the dog or is he going to take the dog and eat it? Do you care? That's the dramatic tension.

Bird Watchers (1 and 2)

Both of these paintings (12"x36", ink and watercolor on paper) continue with my semi-obsession with people on cell phones. In both these painting a woman is proudly displaying a cell phone picture she took of a bird in the the tree. Something that I have tried to do in these paintings and on other occasions, is paint the cell phone signal....in case you are wondering what those curved blue lines are.

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.