Friday, October 17, 2014

Buddha in Purple (and Personalized Buddha Paintings)

Buddha in Purple, acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14"

Buddha in Purple is available through Latin Pop Shop on Etsy. 
Personalized Buddha paintings also available here.

Buddha Series...Continued

Buddha Series, acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10"
This painting is available from Latin Pop Shop on Etsy.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Coffee Label Entry No. 2

Here is my second entry for Joffrey's Coffee Art of the Label (Indonesia) contest, Morning Zen.
I have painted a number of Buddhas in the past and people seem to really respond to them. This particular guy is holding a cup, keeping in the theme of the contest, but I am taking orders for commissioned "personalized" Buddhas. You choose colors and what he's holding. Most will hold a lotus but you can pick a different type of flower...or a heart... The paintings measure 11" x 14". They are gallery wrapped with painted edges and ready to hang. $195 each (Free Shipping).

Morning Zen, acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14"

Monday, October 6, 2014

Coffee Label Contest Entry #1


Joffrey's Coffees & Teas, with whom I recently exhibited at their Art of the Roast event in Tampa, FL, searches the planet for single-origin coffees to share with their fans. They introduce a new Origin Coffee quarterly each year. Joffrey's is currently holding a contest for artwork to be featured on the label of their first ever Artist Edition coffee...Indonesia.

Getting my head around the fact that what I am creating is not a typical Gascot painting, but something that starts there but should be flexible enough to use as a graphic was a bit tricky at first. There were spaces of the canvas I wanted to fill with intricate embellishments, but am editing my entries to offer colorful detail that still leaves room for company branding. With this entry I took inspiration from the country's traditional masks.

Stay tuned for another one or two (three?) entries and keep your fingers crossed for me.

Indonesia 1, acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14"

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Random Movie Review: Anabelle



Ok, so it's no secret I hated the snoozefest called "The Conjuring" so I wasn't exactly sure why we were going to see its prequel "Anabelle" tonight.
Oh yes, it's because we can't get our netflix up without wanting to throw some device out the window with the "high speed" (wink wink) internet upgrade we paid for at the hotel. So sure, let's do "Annabelle", why not... 
It was pretty great. :-0
Not only does it surpass Conjuring by miles, but I would actually consider it one of the better horror flicks of recent. Simpler than The Conjuring and 5 times as effective. Clean and straight forward storytelling. Very simple and therefore EFFECTIVE makeup/special effects that result in imagery that lingers long after the movie ends. I even appreciated the effort to make the ridiculous appearance of a doll no one in their right mind would actually buy (except at a horror convention) somewhat make sense by including a few samples of the "collection" she's a part of. There's a bit of a "Rosemary's Baby" atmosphere to the film (It is no "Rosemary's Baby" by any stretch of the imagination, mind you.) with the themes tackled, the building they live in and fellow tenant/rare-book shop owner Evelyn (played by my girl Alfre Woodard). I expect there will be another film (I can already see the "Annabelle Trilogy" boxed sets out two Halloweens or so from now) as, in this episode, they revisit the nurses with which Conjuring began. The door is left open for the filmmakers to bring us their stories if they want to. The jolts were genuine. The story was simple (a good thing) but tight. The imagery was good (I REALLY enjoyed two things in particular which I won't spoil by mentioning) and the performances were solid. 3.5 (mayyyybe 4) out of 5.  ‪#‎Whoddathunkit‬