Pure Imagination (2018)
At the time I made this it was the best thing I’d ever painted and the first piece I felt like I deserved to be proud of. It went through multiple versions and was the first piece where I really saw the benefit of doing my ideas more than once.
When it was finished I didn’t want to sell it, and though I’ve learned since not to become emotionally attached to my art I also am glad I felt that. Four years later it was sold to a long time patron and it couldn’t have gone to a better home.
20 x 16 ( 50.8 cm x 40.6 cm )
Acrylic on Canvas
When I was growing up I would draw on copy paper. I had sketch books but sometime it was the only thing around, or sometimes I didn’t want the pressure of adding something to my sketchbook that I might not be proud of.
It was hot and sunny when I first made this. I wanted to sit outside, but I really didn’t think it through— oil pastels on slick white paper on a sunny day are not a great recipe for good art. This was done sometime 2012 or 2013.
Oil pastel sketches
November 15 2016
The first painting
I had the idea to revisit my old sketches— I’m not quite sure when I started doing this, but when I felt out of inspiration it was an easy way to renew something I might not have a lot of value in. It turned out so well that my partner wanted it hung on the wall, and he may have even been the first to suggest I do it a second time.
Bowie
I never grew out of my David Bowie phase, and my partner made a connection to him that I didn’t intend but wholly welcomed. I began this project shortly after his passing which emotionally affected me for some time.
The Finished Piece
When I see my old work it’s easy to only see what I would do differently instead of what I did well, but I feel content with this one. It’s no longer my best work, but I learned so much from it and it was the first piece that seemed to give back to me as much as I put in. I’ll always be proud of it.