50.5 x 3cm
x 76cm
While listening to a podcast the guest began playing a song which I then shazamed. I was surprised to learn that the artist was Charles Manson, but I do sit in the camp of separating the art from the artist so I decided to paint him as the rock star he never became. This was also my first artwork being documented in the form of a “How to” so each step was documented with incredible detail. I decided to paint an outfit as a mix of ideas from 80’s rock stars, the guitar and tattoo are odes to his cult and the expression is Bruce Springsteens. A guest recently visited and mentioned the expression makes her uncomfortable which is precisely how I wanted it to turn out. To have that Charles Manson crazy face look but also showing that expression Bruce showcases in the example photo. This artwork is one of my hand-stretched ones, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.
50 x 1.7cm
x 60cm
This is a challenge artwork that I left at my grandma’s. During a previous visit I’d painted my grandpa who’d passed away about 30 years ago today, for my grandma. However the tools I had at hand were tricky to use and it came out mediocre at best. Since then I’ve done quite a few art challenges like busking, art battles, 80 artworks in 79 days and so on so now I have a much better grip on creating artworks in situations that aren’t ideal and with terrible paint. This time I didn’t have my trusty water mixable oils which dry much faster than the denser oils and had to use thick oils. I ended up only having two weeks for this artwork after having found turpentine (which was impossible there!). The next challenge for this artwork was the brushes. I had about seven of the same size, one large and one tiny brush, so I made this artwork with just three brushes. Unfortunately it’s not for sale but it’s here to be apart of the collection of artworks I want to share with you.
50 x 3cm
x 40cm
I woke up from a dream shortly before painting this artwork, well... I thought I woke up from a dream, then I thought I woke up from a dream again, then I woke to a dream that was actually a dream then I actually woke up. I found this insane, I’d never had such a weird experience and had to paint it, I felt like Christopher Nolan must have had a similar dream in order to feel compelled to write ‘Inception’. All that aside, I rushed into painting it and don’t think I captured what I felt, but here’s to the first attempt! The first two dreams were entirely mundane which threw me off, the last one, clearly I was in a dream at that point. So I painted an entry, a super basic entry, then a garden, then a wave in a room. I painted the bird to be a common occurrence in each, watching you figure it out. This artwork is one of my hand-stretched ones, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.
45 x 3cm
x 32cm
In case another artist glances over this artwork, this is aimed at some of my peers. As someone who isn’t surrounded by art lovers or enthusiasts I’m letting you know that the general public still and has always looked at artworks with no effort put in it and ask themselves “WTF is this shit?”. I will redo this concept with a different take however when I saw someone on tv explaining to someone else it’s what the artwork makes them feel I felt like painting this. I feel conned from both perspectives as a viewer and an artist. I feel conned that someone else created something that looks like a 5 yr old made it and expects people to buy into it (literally) without giving the buyer a good reason except for the artists name being attached to it. As an artist I feel conned as people don’t have high expectations until they see my artworks, these artworks create a low bar of expectations and make the career choice look bad. I’m embarrassed to be in the same (general) category. I aimed for a simple artwork for two reasons, 80 artworks in 79 days, and I originally imaged a statue of a bust, giant like this one and half finished by one of these trendy artists. I painted a paint brush thrown at it, since that’s what I imagine these people are doing. I’ll have another go at this with an entirely different scene soon. You can see this trend particularly pronounced in elite art competitions, “Call for shitty artists”, said no one ever. It’s time for people creating these to reconnect with the general public over an elite crowd propping them up. This artwork is one of my hand-stretched ones, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.
61 x 3.5cm
x 61cm
Before this artwork I created a self portrait which was another challenge artwork to paint a digital artwork. Then I decided to create another version, this artwork, based on the idea that artists have a reputation of being hopeless, and always high. If I tell someone who already has this bias that I’m an artist they automatically assume I’m high, can’t keep deadlines and all that goes along with the reputation, when really, it’s just the loudest ones keeping up this unfortunate image. So I created a version of my self portrait with a cocain bag instead of sunnies and the plant growing in the background instead of the flowers from my kimono in my self portrait. This artwork is oil based, isn’t one of my hand-stretched ones and sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.
