Bounce : Studio Images

This painting measures 24" x 28". The starting point for this painting was inspired by Pickled Punks. Pickled Punks, are human fetuses preserved in jars of formaldehyde. Impostor pickled punks, often made from rubber or wax, are known as "bouncers" for their tendency to bounce when dropped. The title is also a play on the term to "bounce" someone out of prison.

Once I began to draw the figures, I realized another connection to the title, when I came to the conclusion that, because of how they were positioned, they must be dancing...hmmmm...maybe that was the Dark Dawn Stout talking?

All the characters are in place. Gonna give it one last look over, then transfer it to canvas.

Chain of Events : Studio Images

Inspired by the movie, The Day After Tomorrow, and the concept of a sudden, contemporary Ice Age. This painting is 30" x 40".

Initial sketch. 

Debating on the composition. 

Using a house style terrarium.

Playing around with the foreground.

Restarting with the canvas in a new orientation.

Playing around with snowflake patterning and metallic blue paint. 

Softening the background. Thanks to Cosette for being my muse!

Building up the "lucky" clovers and the background.

Decided on a horizon line to give the piece more depth. 

The happy sky turns dark and soiled. 

Starting the ellipse of the terrarium. 

Daisy chains and snow flakes. 

Detail of face. 

Detail of hands. 

Detail of sky. 

The finished painting. 

Brocade : Studio Images

This painting is 40"x24"...Errr...16"x24"

Blocking in color.

Defining the space. 

A lush garden. 

This is where things start to go awry. 

Changing tree.

Adding a large sculpture.

Rejecting sculpture. 

Adding a pool with suspended element. 

Changing the sky and defining the pool. 

Removing the suspended element and adding another character in the pool.

I wanted the piece to reference the overpopulation in China and the "disposal" of girls. 

But instead, I got total chaos. 

Removing the girl.

Replacing her with a "meditation rock."

or perhaps a lotus flower. 

Completely overwhelmed with the changes, I decided to cut the canvas and finished it in a vertical format. 

Detail of the finished focal point. 

Detail of the succulent plants. 

Detail of the tree. 

The finished piece. 

Contained : Studio Images

acrylic on canvas : 24" x 34" : 2007

The second painting in the Terrarium Series, measuring 24” x 34”, was inspired by Olivia’s sister, Sophia.

A quick sketch for placement. My original thought for this piece was to show a young girl that was perhaps too sheltered and protected and had almost outgrown her space. I wanted the tree to echo this idea with cramped roots and large branches.

Originally, I thought she might be standing in the jar, buried to her waist in the dirt. Then I realized that that seemed kinda gloomy, plus there wasn’t enough space, so I brought her legs out. In general, there are two basic themes to the Terrariums pieces: human children in pleasant environments surrounded by negative environmental issues and doll children in unpleasant situations surrounded by beauty.

Blocking in some color. I tend to start with the darker medium hue colors and build the lighter and darker colors from there. I wanted this piece to be a completely different palette from the first piece, “Blind Faith”.

My first thought for the clouds was to make them white and wispy. I knew I wanted the tree to work as a lid, but I didn’t know what shape I wanted, so I just started adding bunches of leaves.

I liked the idea of playing with pattern in the form of cast shadows on her skin and the tree, but I wasn’t sure how to make this work. At this point it just feels blotchy.

Bringing the pinks over the blue base in the sky is a nice way to make some variations of color that bounce between blue, pink and purple. The pink blobs inside the container were going to be lollypops. I kinda liked the idea of filling the jar with candy to echo the sugar sweet paint palette that was developing in the sky.

Layering up the leaves, still debating on the shape of the tree. The arched shape seemed to make sense, but... Changed my mind on the shadows on her skin, at least for now. It is easier to see the cocoon shape hanging from the tree. In the past, I have worked a lot with insect imagery and thought the cocoon might be a useful metaphor in this piece, but changed my mind. You will notice that only the doll terrariums have insects. I will talk more about that once I analyzed the next piece.

Candy canes and sugar drops started and I brought more personality to the figure. I also didn’t like the blah grass and thought a ring of rocks around the base would help convey the idea that she is trapped.

Some really nasty patterns added to the rocks. I think it was somewhere around this phase that I was starting to freak out that this piece was getting out of control. The elements were not working.

At this point, I also realized that the piece needed more depth and decided to bring some of the branches in front of the jar. I thought maybe it was the grass that was messing things up since it was supposed to be unpleasant outside of the jar, so I got rid of it and changed the pattern on the rocks. I also wanted to add something weaving in and out of the tree limbs to add some motion.

I am much happier with the rocks now and I realized that the candy was truly the problem. With all the terrarium pieces, I have debated what should go inside and outside and if it should always be natural elements. At this point, I am leaning towards sticking to the natural elements, but that may change. I also added the cool, drooping vines. I saw something like those a while ago, not sure where, but I liked the shapes they made and the strange pod forms dangling from them. Don’t worry, the ghastly yellow skin is just the underpainting.

As you can see here, I like to use lots of layers when making skin. I start with darker colors and layer on lighter ones, leaving some of the darker exposed for shadows. The objects in the trees are becoming more snake-like, which I like, but the tree still isn’t quite right.

More plants inside and I started to bring back the shadows on her skin. When this piece returns from the Indianapolis Art Center on April 20, 2008, I may add more plan life to the inside of the jar. At least more color. I also started stippling (using tiny dots) for the moss in the bottom of the jar.

The piece was getting close to being done, but the heavy, static tree was fighting for attention. I decided to Bonsai it with some blue. Ah, much better!

After the Bonsai surgery, I had to paint new swirls into the sky and unify it with the existing space. It is hard to tell with the digital image, but the sky has a glaze of Interference Blue paint that gives it a toxic glow. I love working with interference, metallic and now neon colors. I want to use them in a way that isn’t crafty or too psychedelic. In a recent critique, my style of painting was dubbed Psychedelic Art Nouveau, or as I have begun to called it, Nouveaudelia.

Details from the finished piece. 

The finished painting. Check out items inspired by this painting in the STORE. 

Blind Faith : Studio Images

This is the original painting in the terrarium series, measuring 32” x 38”. 

My muse, Olivia.

My original concept for this painting had the terrarium placed on a table, surrounded by hungry lizards. 

Once I dropped the laboratory idea, it seemed obvious that the vessel should reside outside in a unpleasant environment, contrasted to the utopia inside. 

Experimenting with the clouds. 

 I scrapped the realistic clouds and started layering waves similar to the ones I painted in Suspension of D in 2006.

With the background somewhat realized, I could go back to developing the image inside the terrarium by building the plantlife around the figure.

I wanted the environment to be really lush and colorful, while incorporating different shapes and textures.

Hanging out with Swanky in the studio. You can see my bulletin board with reference photos in the background.

My obsession with rocks can be quite a time consuming pain in the butt. 

I had posted the painting as finished, but after exhibiting it a few times, I decided it really wasn’t finished. 

Detail of face. 

Detail of lower area. 

Detail of sky. 

The finished piece.