Amazon's Sacrifice

This one was done as a submission for a show in Seattle that will be called "Breast" - the brief wasn't necessarily just about the boob as a beauty-object, but also its place in society as well as history.
Of course my mind immediately jumps to the mythological Amazons, who supposedly burned off their right breasts in order to use a bow more effectively....

Fingers crossed that they like it.

Phalanges Envy -- better photos

I know this painting is from forever ago, but I still love it - it was a real labor of love and took me forever to complete, and I just felt like I never got any good photos of it - so when Kyla came in with her camera, I slipped this in with 'Little Gods and Monsters'

This is acrylics on what i think was a wooden homemade lapdesk of some sort... dunno..
61 x 72 cm

Odin

So I've saved my favorite for last - this is Odin of Norse mythology, riding his trusty (8-legged) steed, Sleipnir. This one is my fave for various reasons - painting that i was pleased with, lots of little elements coming together including a color palette that seemed to be not such a struggle for a change (although I repainted that horse too many times to count trying to get it close to what I envisioned in my mind), and really, the lightbullb and the head on a chain is just too cool - i want one for myself. Supposed to be a font of wisdom for Odin.... still makes me smile.

So that's the end of "Little Gods and Monsters" (a working title of this series that just stuck...)

This one is acrylic paint on a piece of thick pressboard I found on the street...
60 x 60 cm

Once again, all these photos were taken by the lovely Kyla Hancock

The Morrigan

The Morrigan is an old Irish deity, all about war and bloodshed and of course; fertility. It's interesting that so many old deities were similar blends of bloodshed and fecundity. All these new photos have been taken by a friend of mine, Kyla Hancock, who was kind enough to bring not only her mo'fessional-style camera but also her amazing self and photographic skills and take photos of the works for me. Thanks, Kyla!

So this one is acrylic on found wood,
59.5 x 45.5cm

Quetzalcoatl and Coatlicue

Alright, this is another one with a bit of that artist's interpretational prerogative... Mexican dieties Quetzalcoatl and his (sometimes) mother Coatlicue... of course in most representations Quetzalcoatl IS the feathered serpent, but in keeping with the spirit of this series of paintings I depicted them separately....
69x82cm (she's a big'un!) acrylic on repurposed pressboard

(Thanks for taking photos, Kyla!)

Unexpected Bloom on the Torensteeg

A sixth little beastie added to the I AMonsterDAM series... same size and materials as the others....

I AMonsterDAM

This is the first batch of little beasts, monsters, and demi-gods that are on the artist's prints of my screen print 'Torensteeg".....

They're all on water color paper - a 2-color ink screen print with the monsters painted in acrylic paints

30 x 40,5 cm

Shaving Buddies

Steven found a great old shaving box for me to paint a little something on -- it was a fun experiment, and I was actually really happy with how the face turned out. One of those painting experiences that was filled with those Bob Ross 'Happy Accidents' that you want to be able to take into whatever you do next....

So yeah, acrylic paints on vintage wooden box, 23 x 15 x 6cm

Available at the Otherist!

Heqet -- bigger, better, stronger, faster. NOT a Kanye reference.

According to Egyptian mythology, she's much more likely to have a frog's head, but that just didn't fit in with my theme this time around, so Heqet gets to have a giant frog instead. I think a little artistic license never hurt anyone... almost never.

acrylic on canvas
60 x 80cm

Susanoo-o-Mikoto & Yamata-no-Orochi

Susanoo o Mikoto & Yamata no Orochi
I love the whole idea of magic swords and 8-headed dragons, so this was a no-brainer. Admittedly influenced by Luke Skywalker and Samurai Jack, which is one of the best cartoons ever made - repeatedly gorgeous and often hilarious, as eye candy I can't think of anything else that holds a candle.... at the moment, anyway.

acrylic on found wood (some sort of thick pressboard)
52.5 x 45cm

Anansi

Anansi, the Trickster -- a Little God

acrylic on found wood
49 x 27 cm

Andromeda & Cetus

Well, I finally finished the entirety of Little Gods and Monsters -- no, that's not the title... yet. But here's the first - it's Andromeda and Cetus....

31 x 54 cm
Acrylic on found wood

Heget

Alright - this was a hard one. I worked and reworked and reworked this, but all through the process just couldn't get it right. I think the sky was the most challenging for me, and it wasn't helped by the composition. This was a real learning piece for me - and forced me to come to terms with not being happy with everything that I've done. That sometimes, a piece just won't live up to its potential, and you just have to wash your hands of it, and start over if the idea still appeals to you. So this painting is the one I had to wash my hands of. I'll post the newer (much larger) version later.

Anyway, Heget is an Egyptian deity, associated with frogs and fertility.

Tyr & Fenrir

Tyr and Fenrir - another small painting that I really like as a drawing, but once it was painted I felt it was a little static. I like how the boy's face and hair turned out alot. This legend is of course nordic, and is about how they were attempting to chain the wolf Fenrir. Odin, Tyr and others told Fenrir they were only testing to see if he had the strength to break from his bonds - and promised that if he was unable to break them, they would remove them. Fenrir - rightfully - didn't trust them, so as insurance, Tyr volunteered to put his hand in Fenrir's fearsome jaws. Well, they didn't let the wolf out of his bonds, and Tyr gave up that hand.

So it's acrylic on more found wood - another small one 42,5x27 cm

Maman Brigitte

yeah, I know - been forever. Well, been working on a big set of images with varying levels of success. Mostly they're legendary beings and animals they're associated with. This is one of the images that I did first, and while liking it, I think it ended up a little flat compositions-wise. Anyway, Brigitte is big in Voodoo, she's all about graveyards and drinking rum that has been so spiced with hot peppers that no human could drink it (and is known to rub it on her privates, as well, but I thought that might not be such a good picture since I'm painting her as a minor). She's symbolized by the black rooster..... this one's acrylic on found wood. 26x43cm

Jenny Greenteeth Gets Her Guy

I've always loved (loved, loved, loved) Mike Mignola's comic creation "Hellboy" - it took me a while to warm to it, since it started when I was still (only) embracing the Jim Lee style of drawing comics - so anything that wasn't picture perfect with all the t's crossed and i's dotted (in a drawing sense, if you get my meaning) sort of missed me. But I finally made the plunge and bought a used copy of the first TPB and instantly fell in love - with the story and with the artistry. Well, long story short, in one of his Hellboy short stories (see what I did there?) Jenny Greenteeth was featured - and for whatever reason she's just really stuck with me. Of course a part of it is Mr. Mignola's artistic interpretation of this folkloric femme fatale, hell, maybe all of it, who knows? But I instantly wanted to do my own interpratation/iteration of her. So here it is.
Somewhere along the way this painting began to be a somewhat tongue-in-cheek commentary on my own feelings of inadequacy and ugliness and being an outsider. Maybe those feelings are a little too large to be expressed by my current skill-set, so take from it what you will. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Acrylic on found wood. I'm trying to embrace a little more of my illustration influences and not try and be so literal/wannabe-photorealistic with my paint process.