Simbad has dainty knuckles, 2008 9X12" oil on canvas.
As a painter, but perhaps more so as a student of "Fine Arts", I feel a certain pressure to focus my attention and creative abilities towards the "deeply symbolic". I do like to tell stories in paintings, often using dream imagery to bring together disparate elements in a seemingly sensical way, as only dreams can. These stories often leave a lot up to interpretation, which is what I feel good art should do. These are my more "serious" works, when they happen - which hasn't been often of late.
When I'm not in a rhythm of painting, which is most of the time, I like to start up with simple sketches and frequently this means portraiture - the bread an butter of painters for centuries. I get a guilty pleasure for capturing someone's likeness in a mess of thick and unrealistically colored brush strokes. It's hardly cutting-edge, but it's fun and challenging, and often bring a smile to someone's face upon completion. For the last couple years, after having brought a dog in my life, this has also meant pet portraits. I love painting dogs and I'm not too sure why this feels like the equivalent to admitting a taste for Lady Gaga - but it does. Painting pets isn't deep, but it's fun.
Pretty Penny, 2010. oil on canvas board.
When my dog Simbad was sent back to Mira for training as a guide dog, I did nothing but paint him (from pictures) for about three months. It was my way of coping with his massive absence in my life. I loved finding the blues and mauves in his black fur, as well as finding ways to capture his gentle nature in simple lines and shades. As I've recently started painting again, I've again come back to my love of dogs and have again come up against this guilty sense of pleasure in producing these images. I figure I might as well share them as they come along. They are quick and dirty - as they often take less than 3 hours to complete and are mostly done on tiny and cheap canvas board.
Simbad, 2008 8x10" oil on canvas board.
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