Spirit Animal

Hm. There are quite a few new things going on lately. First, I am starting a collaboration piece with a (primarily) collage artist from Virginia. I am interested to see how this will work, since I've never actually met him in person. It could be a dream, or it could be a nightmare. We've decided that we'll get two turns each on two separate mixed media paintings, approximately 18" x 24". We're exploring mandala themes/imagery in this work. The joy of this project will be in the surprise, plus I'll be routinely receiving mail. I also managed two other artists in the meantime, for this traveling project.

Also, I am starting a new deer painting/print (first of this season). It's going to be a self-as-deer portrait. As always, these Deer Hart (Dear Heart) pieces are about love, loss, loneliness and heartbreak. They are also heavily laden with mythical, spiritual, and metaphorical references (the heart, the blood, the hunt). I've been systematically hitting every facet of 'love' that I can think of...including the unhealthy kinds. So, some pieces in this suite have inevitably referenced the subject of domestic violence.

This self-portrait, I'm just starting so I can't really tell you where it will lead. I'm leaning towards it being about self-loathing/versus self-love. We'll see what I get. This is my beginning imagery source, the photo I had taken for my birthday this past year. I think you can see where I'm going with it already...





Speaking of deer, two of my pieces are up right now on JSonline Art City blog. They are featured in an ongoing series about the use of deer imagery in contemporary art. The series was conceived by guest blogger Lonnie Turner, and is entitled Deer Hunting. Check it out, it's just getting started!