I Have A Disease And I Am Going To Die

The cool thing about that title is that the two statements are unrelated. One is a comment on my current health and the other is an inevitability. Hahahahaha. Aren't I clever.

So yeah, I'm pretty sick. Some sort of awesome headache-fever thing that I probably got from a bio-mechanical drillworm from the future sent back in time to stop me from painting the picture that eventually enslaves all mankind. Either that or from the guy who sits across from me at work who doesn't cover his mouth when he coughs and sneezes.

I was well enough to finish a series of drawings on canvas for my son's class. The class made self-portraits and some of the more involved parents came up with an idea for the upcoming school auction to turn the self-portraits into "something like Andy Warhol would do". I believe they were talking about something like this:

I tried to explain that there was probably a better way to go about it (aka silkscreen or any other printmaking method) than what they asked for, but they really wanted me to redraw the kids' self-portraits because I am "an artist". So that first picture is what I did while I was sick, at least on the nights that I didn't fall asleep at 7:00pm. Eventually the kids in the class will rally and apply color to them.

E-E-E-E-Easter!

In the interest of not turning my art blog into my personal therapy page, I am presenting the real way Easter eggs are made. This painting is pretty rough right now, but I keep coming back to it because I really like painting vaguely spherical shapes. I make a lot of paintings intended to make my kids laugh, or to make me laugh and confuse my kids. My son is seven and there's pretty much nothing funnier to him than a rabbit puking giant eggs. Well, I guess if it was puking AND pooping them at the same time he would think it was funnier.

Curls And Twirls

Lately, I’ve been wanting to make a tessellation that was missing some pieces so that it ultimately falls apart. A tessellation is a self-contained world made up of the repeated reflection of one form and its perfect complement. It’s wholly dependent on all the pieces being there, and as long as they are it’s a stable and beautiful thing.

I think this painting was borne out of those thoughts, just from a different angle. It started as a drawing of smoke – I love watching smoke curl and twirl in the air and have yet to come close to doing it justice in art. But as I worked on rough sketches I looked at what I had so far and realized that the dragon could have been guarding anything; treasure, baby dragons, chocolate covered espresso beans. Instead, I kept placing hatched and empty eggs beside it. This wasn't intentional - I've found that if I think too hard about what I'm drawing I end up with an awkward mess.

Once a week, my children go to their mom’s house. It’s been almost two years and I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to the sense of loss and identity crisis that goes along with their absence. As far as I’m concerned, this is still a painting of smoke. But I’m not ignoring the fact that the dragon is alone in his cave, guarding nothing.

Monkey vs. Robot

This is a painting I did a very long time ago. It’s based on this doodle that I did on a Post-It note while I was supposed to be having my brain and vocal chords stretched into taffy by a repetitive call center job. I still have the Post-It note after all these years – I keep it with my art supplies for inspiration. I remember being baffled at the time that anyone could get excited about what seemed to me to be crude, obvious, and derivative. But people got excited, and my (now ex) wife even egged me on to the point of making the painting.

I thought that the doodle was wholly derivative because it was pretty much based on James Kochalka’s “Monkey vs. Robot” song and comic book. I love the idea of comic books, but I don’t love comic books. The medium has so much potential, but for every artist like Dave McKean, Chris Ware, or Dave Cooper who realize they have the ability to create something that gives the language play of a novel, the design of a painting, and the motion of a movie, there are 10,000 more who want to draw Spider-Man punching Batman in the face while a woman with giant breasts poses beside them.

James Kochalka was one of the first comic book artists that really inspired me though. The first time I saw “Le mystère Picasso” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ESf1hqisQ), I was blown away by the freedom of Picasso’s lines and the energy he poured into them. It was a defining moment for me – I finally realized that I didn’t have to try so hard to make something just so, that it was much more important to put expression into my lines than perfection. I had a similar experience when I found James Kochalka’s art – it’s crude, playful, simple, sometimes uneven...but it carries so much emotion and really feels like a raw extension of his brain. Sometimes it’s clearly for children, sometimes it’s clearly for adults, but the best stuff is somewhere in between. Fun trivia fact: Kochalka was recently named Vermont’s first Cartoonist Laureate.
The point of all this is that Chris Staros recently started following my art on Twitter. I don’t even really know how Twitter works (and for all I know he will read this and immediately un-follow me), but Chris Staros is the publisher of the alternative comic book company Top Shelf Productions. The company that published James Kochalka’s Monkey vs. Robot book. Seeing Staros’ name associated with my art in any way was a huge thrill for me, and a very small sign that I might be on the right track.

Lost In The Desert

This is the other half of the collaboration I posted the other day (here: http://spiralsinlove.blogspot.com/2011/02/art-exchange.html). That one was started by me and finished by my friend Shenna; this one was started by Shenna and finished by me. I got partway through finishing this one and wished I had gone another direction, so I might redraw her part and do this one again.

Another (much more successful) artist pointed out to me that I should be writing more when I post my art, that people might actually want to know what I was thinking about when I worked on something instead of me just throwing a picture up with a witty little comment. I balked at this initially for two reasons:

1. I can’t imagine anyone wants to hear about my insecurities and even if they did…

2. I would have to make another mental leap. It took me 15 years to get comfortable showing my art. Some people who see my art have made very insightful comments, recognizing that my little creatures must spring from somewhere inside me and represent aspects of my psyche whether I intend it or not. Burying those parts of myself in pictures is one thing, but actually talking about it means no more hiding behind the veil of misinterpretation.

Anyway, I’m going to try to write more when I can.

The Triumvirate

Art Exchange

A collaboration with a friend.

Why Yes, I Do Like Ghostbusters

At some point I will actually finish a painting instead of starting a pile of new ones every night.

Two-Trick Pony

I just don't know what the second trick is yet. Actually, I'm not even sure about the first trick.

Somewhere In There Is A Vampire

There's not much worse than sleeping alone.

Happy Valentine's Feature!

I've been getting some love from the people at imagekind lately - Muns In Love is featured on the front page of www.imagekind.com today along with five other holiday-themed works of art.

You can buy it here if you want to show your love with money, which is always the best way: http://imagekind.com/Muns-In-Love-art?imid=9b8a858a-a554-4801-9322-559af5c0a90c

Hug Me

For all I know I'm going to get a DMCA takedown notice for transcribing this, but I felt like typing the whole thing out and leaving it up to your interpretation.



Hug Me
by Patti Stren

Elliot Kravitz was not like other porcupines, who were quite content having quills and being left alone.


Elliot was not content. He wanted a friend. A friend to talk to, a friend to play with and tell his best secrets to, but mostly a friend to hug.


All his friends told him, "Hey, Elliot! It's really great having quills! No one bothers us and we always get to be first in line. And we never have to share our ice cream cones. No one ever comes near a porcupine!"


But Elliot rather liked being with people. He never really minded sharing his ice cream cone, even if it was a double-scoop, chocolate chip cone with sprinkles on top.


Elliot longed for a friend. You see, there was one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world...A BIG, TIGHT HUG. The other porcupines wouldn't hug him. It's too hard, they said, to hug someone with quills.


So Elliot spent a lot of time hugging telephone poles, parking meters, and traffic lights.


After a while, Elliot got tired of hugging telephone poles, parking meters, and traffic lights. They really didn't make him feel very good.


During the day, he continued to hug things. And then at night, in bed, Elliot would dream about having a real friend who would hug back.


One morning, he got out of bed and said, "Enough is enough. No more hugging parking meters, traffic lights, and telephone poles. I want a friend to hug! A friend who will hug me back."


Elliot decided to disguise himself as a birthday present. People love birthday presents. Maybe someone who loved birthday presents would want to be his friend.


When it was Christmas, Elliot put lights around each quill and rented himself out as the first walking Christmas tree.

Everyone loved to look at him, but no one ever wanted to touch him. He never got hugged.


By this time, Elliot was very angry and upset. "I'll get even," he said. "I'll put erasers on each of my quills and wipe everyone out!"


Then he said to himself, "Elliot, you're being silly. There's nothing you can do."


And then he said, out loud for everyone to hear, "I GIVE UP! I don't need anybody. I'm going to the forest where I can be alone and no one will ever find me!"


In the forest, Elliot found himself a quiet, grassy spot under a tree. He sat hugging his knees. "You give up what?" a little voice said. Elliot turned around and saw another porcupine facing him.


"What's your name?" she said.


"Elliot Kravitz," said Elliot Kravitz.


"What's yours?"


"Thelma Claypits," said Thelma Claypits.


"What are you doing here?" she said.


"I'm here because nobody wants to hug me."


"I'll hug you," she said.


"You will?" said Elliot.


"Sure," said Thelma.


"But I'm a porcupine," said Elliot.


"What do you think I am?" she said, pointing to her quills. "Let's hug."


And they tried...slowly, carefully, very gently, they hugged.


Elliot smiled.


"This is nice," he thought to himself.

Bears Behind Bars

I read a lot of bleak literature. I also read a lot of children's literature (aka BOOKS). Sometimes there is overlap, and this out-of-context picture from "A Pocket For Corduroy" is one of the bleakest.

All I Wanted Was A Pony

Just one pony...

Can't Stop The Love

Every Day Should Be A Holiday

Those are some eggs!

Featured Art & New Prints

"Mun's In Love" (original idea credit goes to Matt Reynolds) is featured right now in Imagekind's "Valentine's Day Art" section.

I also uploaded some finished pieces the other night so new prints are available for sale. Except I kind of hate the scan of the gorillas so don't buy that until I get a better scan that doesn't look like they got drenched in glo-stick goo.

One Doughnut A Day

I like the IDEA of doughnuts much more than I like actual doughnuts.

Love Is A Beast And Love Will Consume You

It will get worse before it gets better.

More Jungle, Almost Done

Being Seven Or Twelve

Thanks to the library (yay, library!), my son recently discovered my favorite thing from when I was 12 - a comic called Spider-Man 2099 about a Spider-Man in the future. This is a quick doodle for him (my son, not Spider-Man).

The Sun Sets On Sugar

The Horde

It's been a while since I drew zombies. It's like coming home.

The Blow

I saw Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne speak tonight and holy cow was it ever inspiring. These women are brilliant and pour so much thought and energy into their art that it kick-started me thinking about a million things I wanted to do. They spoke at length about pushing the boundaries of your medium and playing with what people expect from a situation. I'm excited about their show tomorrow night (conceptual art in the guise of a pop concert), and just as excited about trying new things with my own art.

Froggy Went A Sparklin'

Buy it!

Safe In My Spider

I'm not sure if this will turn into a painting or not, but here is a doodle of a little girl with pigtails taking her robot spider out on the town.

spiralsinlove.com Redesign

I finally got tired of paying for the default storefront on imagekind, so I broke free and redesigned www.spiralsinlove.com. I'm not saying it's the best site ever or anything (even though it is), but I have a lot more control over it now so will probably tinker with it quite a bit to get it just the way I want it.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know!