Green Bottle and Red Ball

11"x14" oil on canvas. • Last week, a painting tried to kill me. Or, at least, that is what it seemed like to me. The 46" x 46" malevolent beast and I fought back and forth until I finally vanquished it late Saturday. (Pictures will follow.) As a matter of fact, it is still trying to snuff me out by off-gassing me from behind as I type this. My own Spawn occasionally try this deadly method on me, but that is another story—one that a few dietary tweaks and banishment from the house might thwart. The wet painting, on the other hand, must, for now, reside in my studio. So, there is a big fan in my wide open studio door, valiantly exhausting the mind bending fumes. Considering that the birds outside the door are acting like they are stoned to the bejesus, the fan appears to be working.  •  The above piece is an extension of my experimenting with using clear(ish) bottles as a background, kind of like wallpaper. I do not know how the experiment is going, but the challenge is there. A challenge that pushes hard on the use of abstraction for the protection of my sanity (what little I have left).  •  After rereading the above commentary, I am starting to think the fan may not be working all that well.
 
Posted March 18, 2013

sold • private collection los angeles, ca