Gallery of the Absurd

What I've Been Working On The Past Few Days

Sometimes when I need a break from the pop culture-inspired illustrations I regularly post here, I'll take a day or two and paint something completely different. It's different because I let go (letting go is challenging for me) of control and all expectations of what the painting should look like and allow it to emerge on its own. If that makes sense. I throw paint at it, close my eyes and draw on it, smear it, dance and drink wine in front of it, rotate it all around so the direction is constantly changing and at some point in the process, I stop. These three scans are from the same painting. Title: Rescue. Medium: Enamel, acrylic, charcoal on paper.

Something a Little Different

I'm still on temporary sabbatical working on my new mystery website, but I missed posting and thought I'd update with some new paintings. NO, these aren't portraits of Britney Spears or Tom Cruise, but I guess they could be if you look at them right wrong way. And no, I'm not planning on ceasing to paint celebrity gossip and pop-culture...I just wanted to post something a little different. These paintings were created without intent of outcome and are meant to be viewed multi-dimensionally and from all 4 sides. This is the sort of work I do to balance out the fetid flotsam of celebrity gossip. Back soon. Medium: oil, ink, stain, clay, enamel, tar on paper.

Laughing Over Spilled Milk, part THREE

One moment I'm posting my Laughing Over Spilled Milk series....and the next moment I spill my entire glass of red wine all over my carpet. This happened just over an hour ago (6:19 pm PST) and I firmly believe a trickster is somehow involved. Red wine is exceedingly difficult to clean out of light carpets. I hope my landlords aren't reading this. gulp.

Oh well, it didn't happen in vain. I transformed it into a random work of art and will soon paint this in oils onto a canvas. Medium: Argentine malbec on rented beige carpet, digital paint.

Laughing Over Spilled Milk, part TWO

I carelessly spilled coffee onto my sketchbook and within moments it transformed into a kind-faced English chap with a generous proboscis and a hair-trigger sense of olfactory perspicuity. Medium: coffee, pastel, ink, and graphite on paper.

Laughing Over Spilled Milk, part ONE

I spilled some white ink on my desk after knocking it over a few days ago. Neglecting to wipe it clean, the ink hardened and stained the wood. A painting was born. Over the years I've transformed several of my numerous spills and stains (wine, paint, juice, wine, etc.) into random works of art and decided to post a few. Welcome to my Laughing Over Spilled Milk series. Medium: acrylic ink on dark wood table, graphite.

One Day The Easter Island Statues Came to Life

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A Dinner Party in the Andromeda Galaxy

One day I decided to draw my vision of what utensils from other galaxies would look like and concluded that dinner parties hosted in the Andromeda Galaxy are very different than those on Earth. If you are invited to an Andromedian dinner party, be prepared to mingle with garrulous silverware and rambunctious kitchen utensils.

You might find yourself seated next to a Fork. Forks come across as very alluring and seductive, but make no mistake, their only interest is to divert your attention so they may steal the roasted asparagus off your plate while whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

You might also find yourself seated next to a Spoon. Spoons are a bit aloof, but if you indulge them with the gossip of the day, you can be assured of an engaging conversation.

Knives show up occasionally, but never linger too long at the dinner table. Since they are amphibious creatures, Knives prefer to confine themselves to the backyard pool and often spike the pool water with large quantities of Cosmic Vodka. They often become loud and rowdy as the night wears on, and will shamelessly attempt to grope any Spoon that comes near them. medium: acrylic on board, bad French.

Go Forth Ye and Overpopulate

Moments after I had sunk into the comfy window seat at my favorite coffee shop, I opened the Saturday paper and saw this. Seems the ever expanding Duggar Family has spawned yet again. Not only that, but "less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars were talking of having more." Aren't they concerned about overpopulation? Nah, that's just a bunch of left-wing mumbo jumbo. The photo is interesting because it manages to look both innocent "Arkansas Couple Welcomes 17th Bundle of Joy" and creepy "Broodmare Keeps Her Zombie Rabbits Hypnotized With Her Magic God Finger". Naturally, I decided to paint the creepy version. Medium: torn out photo from newspaper, ink, grease pencil, digital color.

Look! A Mermaid

This isn't the image I wanted to post. I had been working for 3 days on a painting that I had planned on posting today, but I spilled paint all over it, freaked out, and then tore it up into little pieces. It's okay, I had fun tearing it up and look forward to starting all over again. Because I'm sick of looking at Britney at the top of my page, I decided to post one of my older paintings to freshen things up. Mermaids really aren't that different from celebrities. Both are mythological creatures, however mermaids are experts at avoiding the paparazzi and are quite skilled at keeping themselves out of rehab.