New Orleans

New Orleans, oil on panel 10″x8″. I found a bunch of great snow globes and really loved this one, I almost never paint something twice but this guy is already in a larger piece that I am working on.

Sand Art

Sand Art 10″x8″ oil on panel. My son makes these whenever we see a stand, so I cant take full credit for the design.

Hip-Hop Lincoln

So this is probably the last of the money paintings for a while. I found out how to turn a five dollar bill into Lincoln in a baseball hat online and voila. Hop-Hop Lincoln oil on panel 5″x5″

Cool George

“Cool George” 7″x5″

Washington Monument

“Washington Monument” oil on panel 7″x5″. This is kind of a recurring theme for me. How is an item transformed by being painted? This is obviously a campy souvenir that has been recreated in paint, what ultimately is the subject? Is it the rather loaded symbol or the illusion of volume and weight? In other words, can a bad work of art become a better work of art simply by painting it? I tend to think so, but it is a funny line to walk. I think it is illustrated even more dramatically in “Broken Neon” and “Still life,Still” life where little is added contextually.

In both paintings, if the illusion is successful it should appear that I have added nothing to the original objects. They represent, as well as I am able, objects I wouldn’t hang in my home but become transformed by being re-presented. If nothing else I think they are really funny paintings.

Slingshot

“Slingshot” oil on panel 10″x8″

In Mushroom We Trust

Folding money like origami is giving me so many ideas.When I was a kid we used to fold a dollar bill so that George Washington looked like a mushroom. This is the painting that started my money trompe l’oeils. 7″x5″

Almighty Dollar

I  was so impressed with a painting of money that I saw recently, that I had to give painting currency a try and put my own spin on it. As much as I love the imagery I must admit I was excited by the technical challenge of all of that detail in such a small scale.  I try and paint trompl’oeil at life size so I really couldn’t fake it and paint larger than life and retain the illusion I was going for. It was exacting work under a magnifying glass, and while it was fun to try, it also made me rip my hair out, so I don’t think I will be doing many more than the few in my studio right now. 8.5″x9″

Hi there

I thought it might be nice to start a blog in order to share news and give a look at what I’m currently working on, so here it is!!!! I hope to use this blog to document what exactly I am working on and to stay a bit more current than I am able to on my web page. The web page is sort of a greatest hits and the blog represents all of the excerpts and b-sides mixed in with the good stuff. Hopefully it is all good stuff, but I digress….