cacti

started another 30x40 the other night. i'm getting excited about this one because my backgrounds are usually lighter in value. at first i was unsure how the colors were going to sit and react with each other. so far its worked out. i've painted cactus blooms but not an actual cactus before. being from the southwest myself, i have a nostalgic feeling for these beautiful plants.

inhale exhale

some quick shots of a piece i'm currently working on. love them nepenthes, i had to add some in this piece. it's interesting how these recent works are tightening up a bit. they're not as loose as some of my other works. this isn't a bad thing but merely an observation. i pretty much go with it and whatever feels right at the moment. i'm finding a lot about myself and my process these days, meaning that painting unfolds at its own pace and sometimes rushing things or feeling rushed isn't always the best solution. of course the artist is always in control of the pace of their work, but just like life and nature you have to let it unfold and emerge on its own.i tend to fight with this internally on a daily. its sort of like when we cut our finger, we can remedy and clean the wound but the body heals at its own pace regardless of how we would like to speed things up. painting has taught me patience, or is teaching me rather.

another in progress

here's the start of another 30x40.

WOW!

A fan of my work by the name of Julie Patrick recently got one of my paintings tattooed on her!! This is definitely a first for me. Wow. Thanks for the pics Julie.

nuevo

here's one of three 30x40's i have going right now. it's quite a challenge to push green on a background this color. i'm digging it.

Done (i think)

finished last night. well, there's still some fine tuning but the majority is done. on to the next! pardon the poor image quality. snapped em' quickly before work this morning.

getting there

another progress pic.