Painting Music:

On today's playlist:



Upon the insistence (all the way from London) of a dear old friend I finally broke down and picked this up. I'm very glad I did! A very chic blend of musical styles.



A lovely trip.



Kate Bush's "The Red Shoes" is one of those albums I always forget I own. Then I come across it, play it and kick myself for not listening to it more often. "Why Should I Love You?" is quirky, fun and beautiful. "You're the One" puts a tear in my eye every time.

Merry Independencemas!

My Dilemma About Small Paintings

I'm not feeling as strongly about "Women with Accents" as I did yesterday. I'm not sure if it's common practice for other artists, but I often will do some "rapid-fire" painting when I'm in between clear concepts. I'll do a number of quick paintings and feel strong about them for a day or two, then end up completely hating them and having to paint over them. LOL!

I still like the name "Women with Accents" for either a series or just a painting (which is what it might end up as).

Another struggle I'm having at the moment is the size of the paintings I'm working on. At one point I pretty much only painted in smaller sizes. As of late I am finding it difficult to paint smaller than 16x20". But I have to. For one, I have a shit-load of small canvases I need to use up.

Secondly, while I want to go bigger and bigger, there is something so great about finding and falling in love with a small painting! A small painting, you can stumble upon unexpectedly almost anywhere (not necessarily a gallery). You can pick it up and handle it as you study it. You know you'll have a spot for it at home because it won't take over a whole wall (and even if you had no wall space you could put it on a shelf). A small painting won't break the bank.

There's so much to say for small works! And I don't want to loose that, so it's back to the studio on this one...

Women with Accents

I need to do a number of small (8x10 types) pieces for the guy who's gallery I'm going into next month. He wants some ahead of schedule...like NEXT WEEK!

I want to be in his gallery because its in an awesome location in a $$$ town! So I ain't gonna bitch, just paint my ass off and try to come up with as many "quick" paintings as I can so I have choices to narrow down from on what I will give him.

As I was thinking of doing quick face-paintings the thought occurred to me for another series: "Women with Accents".

These are 8x10" acrylic on canvas/with collaged paper in for texture.


"Punk Brassiere"


"The Hostess"

Favorite Paintings:

"Les Loisirs" by Fernand Leger always fills me with a sense of peace.
The beautiful colors, lovely subject matter and wonderful composition of this painting makes it one I love to re-visit. And I do quite often.
Without a doubt, Leger is one of my biggest and clearest artistic influences.

I can't get enough box!

NO! Not that!
I'm appalled, y'all are just filthy.

I did it again...last night.

It's my third or fourth time in a month.

I know you can't see me but I've bowed my head in shame for this post.

My friends are all making fun of me.

But I just can't get enough!


When was the last time you could eat till you were ready to puke for FIVE BUCKS???

I'm sure I've rotted half of my insides off with this crap.

I NEED AN INTERVENTION!

Va-Va-Voom! Girls

As I mentioned I've been inspired by Fashion and Paper Dolls lately. Not necessarily the actual appearance of these dolls as we traditionally know them, but the concept of the same (or similar) body shape with interchangeable "looks". Out of this, the concept for the Va-Va-Voom! Girls was born.
The concept is fairly simple...but fun.
Paintings of similar sizes and compositions for create-your-own easy mix-n-match diptychs and triptychs (think Art Garanimals LOL!). Each Va-Va-Voom! Girl, much like a Bratz or Barbie comes with a name and back-story/line (starlet gowns, swim wear, fantasy wear...).

And of course, they are all full-figured and fabulous!

As I began to play with the concept, I stuck to basic body-hugging solid color gowns. I'm excited to see where this series takes me and how far I can take it.

The first four gals are each acrylic on canvas and 10x30" each.


"Veronica"


"Valerie"


"Vanessa"


"Victoria" (SOLD)

side by side: