Gobs of Squabs

Gobs of Squabs, 2011. Digital vector art. Illustrator CS2.

Birds (class Aves) are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) Ostrich. The fossil record indicates birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic period, around 160 million years (Ma) ago. Paleontologists regard birds as the only clade of dinosaurs to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 65.5 Ma ago.

Crew of the Argo

Crew of the Argo, 2011. 6' x 8'. Acrylic, oil stick, pencil on cardboard.

Taking imagery from old handwritten ship logs of the crew that had boarded this painting renders the names of those voyagers of the Argo. A line taken from the Greek epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes running up the right side reads:

"And then the rollers groaned under the sturdy keel as they were chafed, and round them rose up a dark smoke owing to the weight, and she glided into the sea."

Two sketches of boats can be found on the bottom of the panel. One shows the aforementioned scene of the boat being slid into the waters to venture off to storied Colchis. The other boat on top of Jason's name foreshadows his ultimate demise where the dilapidated Argo, decaying in dry dock, falls onto the sleeping hero.

The Symplegades

The Symplegades, 2011. 6' x 8'. Acrylic, oil stick, pencil on cardboard.

Inspired by Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece aboard the Argo this painting depicts the passage through the narrow straits of the Bosphorus at a place called the Clashing Rocks. These cliffs, the Symplegades which were also called the Cyanean Rocks, would come booming together and demolish any ship careless enough to try passage. The Argonauts were saved from this harrowing fate by Phineas who told them to release a dove into the thoroughfare. If the bird of peace made it past the crags then they should row like madman.

Please, please, please:

Small Nymph

Small Nymph, 2011. 5" x 8". Dragonfly, acrylic, oil stick, wax on cardboard.

Flower

Flower, 2011. 4" x 6". Orchid, oil stick, pencil, wax, newspaper on cardboard.

Lost in a Forest

Lost in a Forest, 2011. 20" x 26". Acrylic, oil stick, pencil on cardboard.

Shoe

Shoe, 2011. 18" x 24". Acrylic, oil stick, pencil on paper.

New Business Cards

What do you think ? 
Whoa-ho. Very nice. 
Look at that. Picked them up from the printer's yesterday. 
Good coloring. That's bone. 
And the lettering is something called Silian Rail. 
It's very cool, Bateman, but that's nothing. Look at this. 
That is really nice. 
Eggshell with Romalian type.
What do you think ? 
Nice. 
Jesus. That is really super. How'da nitwit like you get so tasteful? 
I can't believe that Bryce...  prefers Van Patten's card to mine. 
But wait. You ain't seen nothin' yet. 
Raised lettering, pale nimbus... white. 
Impressive. Very nice. 
Hmm. 
Let's see Paul Allen's card. 
Look at that subtle off-white coloring. 
The tasteful thickness of it. 
Oh, my God. It even has a watermark. 

A Naiad

A Naiad, 2011. 5" x 8". Dragonfly, acrylic, oil stick, pencil, wax on cardboard.

The cover series comes from rituals I had a child. Bed time for me as a kid was stressful on my overactive mind and involved a mantra that I would repeat each night. Sometimes the recitals changed, but the general theme remained the same. So to deal with being so scared of the dark I would say things like, "Nothing bad will happen to me", "Mom and Dad are right outside", "The faster I get to sleep the faster I'll wake up". Before I got into bed I had to remove all the evil action figures and toys from the room and place them in the hall. That meant Skeletor, the Rancor monster, Cobra Commander et al were relegated to outside.

The ritual could end once I was under the safety of the sheets. The cover series stems from the removal of fear after I got into bed. I felt that nothing bad could reach me. Blanketing the objects in this way keep them from harm, keep them from death. It's a way for me to provide shelter for something the way I felt the act saved me as a child. Though the object may be hidden by paint, it has something the others will never have; immortality. Like a reverse fossil the outline of the object remains. There is also irony in the fact that it is already dead.

If I am ever fortunate to have my own studio I have bigger plans for the cover series.