Off With My Head

Today is National Beheading Day! (Thanks to Underneath The Juniper Tree for the heads up...or down...)

To celebrate, I'll be at the Issaquah Art Walk tonight from 5-9pm. Well...probably not all the way to 9pm because last year by 9pm it was totally dark and people were politely squinting at my art but not able to really see anything so I will likely start packing up when the sun-god gets beheaded and the sun plops below the tree line. Come by and mention this and I will draw you a picture of a beheaded monster.

I should be here:


View Larger Map

If you just want to celebrate the holiday in the peace and quiet of sitting in your underwear in front of the computer, you can do so with the new issue of Underneath The Juniper Tree here:

http://issuu.com/underneaththejunipertree/docs/utjt_sept2011

And by listening to The Offspring song "Beheaded", which is probably not OK for kids depending on how you feel about recreational dismemberment:

Winners In Love

My piece "The Kangaroo In Love With The Sea" won last week's Underneath The Juniper Tree Challenge. Hooray for me!

http://underneaththejunipertree.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-do-you-have-in-your-pocketses.html

Everyone should go celebrate by buying 25 prints and wallpapering your bathroom with them.

http://www.imagekind.com/The-Kangaroo-In-Love-With-The-Sea_art?IMID=9ae45bf2-359a-408a-82a8-c1c4ded6c6c2

A Kangaroo In Love With The Sea

As usual, I put it off until the last minute but am hoping to complete my entry for this week's Underneath The Juniper Tree challenge "What Do You Have In Your Pocketses"(http://underneaththejunipertree.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-do-you-have-in-your-pocketses.html). I don't know if my entry is entirely in the spirit of the challenge, but they did say "Your character can be anything as long as it has pockets in which to have things. " My character is a kangaroo (which technically has a pouch) and inside its pocket are the tentacles of a lonely octopus.

Since there are only two or three species of kangaroo that can breathe underwater (and this is not one of them), theirs is a tale doomed to end in tragedy. Provided you think drowned kangaroos are tragic, which I do.


I started this painting as a doodle on a square-shaped scrap of paper, so the transition to the tall rectangular paper was awkward. I started out by making a complete mess with the paint because it was fun and then building layers on top of it as it was partially dried. So far I've added some fish and curling seaweed, followed by a wash of color. I would like to do this a few more times, but it all depends on how much I can get done before the midnight deadline.

And since I referenced it in the title of this post, here is the Stephen Merritt song "The Sailor In Love With The Sea" performed by Gary Numan and The 6ths.

Sigh and grow every day paler
Bowed by a mortal ennui
I fell in love with a sailor
A sailor in love with the sea

Cry like Elizabeth Taylor
Out on the end of the quay
I fell in love with a sailor
A sailor in love with the sea

Underneath The Juniper Tree First Issue!

The first issue of Underneath The Juniper Tree came out today! It's jam-packed with wonderfully dark writing and art that kids and adults can appreciate. I have a piece in the art section and (if they'll have me) I look forward to contributing art and writing to future issues.

Get the first issue here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56934489/1-June2011

Writers and artists interested in contributing should check out their blog as it's updated regularly with poems, stories, art, and fun challenges.

http://underneaththejunipertree.blogspot.com/

My mother, she killed me,
My father, he ate me,
My sister Marlene,
Gathered all my bones,
Tied them in a silken scarf,
Laid them beneath the juniper tree,
Tweet, tweet, what a beautiful bird am I.
(an excerpt from "The Juniper Tree" tale by the Brothers Grimm)

Down To My Last

I lost my favorite brush! It's not a fancy or expensive brush, but I learned a long time ago that those things rarely matter with art supplies. I started making so much more art when I stopped going to the art supply store all the time and getting sucked into the trap of "if I only had THIS kind of brush and THESE new paints I would be doing something so much better" and then putting off actually ever making any art. But even after telling that little story I still don't have my favorite brush, so this painting was done with a new brush that will probably not be my new favorite because it holds so much water that I'll probably take it with me the next time I go camping instead of a canteen.


I'm not a very superstitious person so losing the brush is not like losing my lucky underwear (but if I had a pair I would draw monsters all over it to keep my privates safe), but it has thrown me off quite a bit. For the longest time I would just paint with whatever was at hand and let the randomly chosen brush dictate the feel of the painting. But lately I've grown so comfortable with this one brush that I'm having a hard time accepting the loss and moving on. I ended up making this painting as an attempt to jump to new gear, but I have to admit that my heart wasn't really in it with this one. It feels trite to me and the contrast between the red flower and black flowery collar on the monster didn't end up anything like I wanted it to.

The painting in this post is a submission for another Underneath The Juniper Tree contest (http://underneaththejunipertree.blogspot.com/2011/05/play-it-again-tex-music-challenge.html). The first issue of their digital magazine comes out tomorrow and as long as they're not openly mocking my art I will probably continue to submit things for them to review as I really like their mission of bringing creepy and interesting art to kids and adults.