A Really Interesting Artist (2020)

When I’m stuck in a rut, I revisit the 4 x 4 solid text square pieces that I made when I first began creating word art. It’s not exactly clear why I chose to break my latest rut with a 2011 tweet by pop star Britney Spears, but I have no regrets about this decision. At this moment, some of you may be wondering the context of these words. I urge you to NOT click this link and simply appreciate the absurdity of the following words:

“Does anyone think global warming is a good thing? I love Lady Gaga. I think she’s a really interesting artist.”

To complete this piece, I cut my paper down to size, then lightly penciled in borders 1/8 inch from each edge. I rotated the paper and repeated the above quote, until the space within the pencil lines was full. Finally, I erased the pencil lines. This proved to be perilous after I touched up a corner with another pen, then smudged it with the eraser. Oops! It could have been a disaster, but lucky for me, I was able to edit out the mistake (and it could be easily covered up by the right mat or frame). I emerged from the incident stronger than yesterday.

YOU WANT A PIECE BY ME?

“A Really Interesting Artist" is available in my online shop.

Jubilee (2019)

After I was invited to participate in the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center’s 2020 exhibition “Obsessed: The Art of Nerd-Dom”, I decided to take this as an opportunity to create blatant, unapologetic fan art. The theme had me daydreaming about the various nerdy things I’ve embraced throughout my lifetime. The X-Men immediately came to mind.

Many children living in the 1990s went through an X-Men phase, but I took things to the next level. My uncle would gift me Marvel trading cards every time that I saw him, and I would sit in my bedroom carefully studying the strength, intelligence, speed, and other abilities of every hero or villain.

I didn’t do anything useful with that information. In fact, I would completely ignore it while playing with the action figures, choosing instead to evade attacks by jumping very high and staying there.

As you might suspect, I was also a fan of the animated series that aired from 1992-1997. Beast was my favorite character by a landslide. Constantly, I would jump into pools imitating the way he jumped in one of the franchise’s many video games. I imagine that my friends found this very annoying.

Despite my love for Beast, I decided to base my piece for “Obsessed” on spunky teen shopping enthusiast Jubilee. I thought the bright colors of her costume would pop in a sea of black and white text, and perhaps more importantly, I needed a safe space to show my appreciation for this line she delivers in the animated series:

“Does a mall babe eat chili fries?”

To complete this piece, I mapped out a bold, stylized Jubilee design in my sketchpad. Once I got the colors and proportions right, I cut out my original drawing and traced it onto an 11 x 14 inch piece of watercolor paper. I penciled in the rest of the design, then filled it in with colored pencil—meticulously layering and blending until the surface of the paper was no longer visible. To prevent smudging, I sprayed the piece with a matte fixative and waited for it to dry.

Then, as usual, I rotated the sheet and filled it in with the phrase above. I tried to vary my lettering choices to provide some extra texture in the background. The entire piece took several days to complete, and despite being the first piece that I started for the show, it wound up being the last one that I finished.

It was then matted, framed, and shipped off to be displayed at the Port Angeles Main Library from January 11 to March 15, 2020.

Is this piece available?

“Jubilee” is available as a print in my Redbubble and Society6 shops.

The original is still available. Please contact me if you’re interested.

But My Mom Says I'm Cool (2019)

In my submissions for the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center’s 2020 exhibition “Obsessed: The Art of Nerd-Dom”, I wanted to include a famous nerd from pop culture. My original list included Steve Urkel, Tina Belcher, Daria Morgendorffer, Velma Dinkley, Squidward Tentacles, and mononymous Peanuts character Marcie.

Then, a friend suggested Milhouse Van Houten from The Simpsons. Though my affinity for this character wasn’t as strong, everything clicked into place when I did some research and uncovered this quote from the season five episode “Burns’ Heir”:

“But my mom says I’m cool.”

With a quote selected, I set out to find a depiction of Milhouse that fit this sentiment. I doodled a few of my own renditions in a sketchpad, and when I finally got it right, I cut out the drawing with an X-Acto knife and traced the outline onto a piece of 9 x 12 watercolor paper.

From there, I copied the outline lightly in pencil, filled it in with layers of colored pencils, and blended until the surface of the paper was no longer showing underneath. I outlined the drawing with a black Micron Sakura ink pen, then sprayed it with a matte fixative to prevent smudging.

Once dry, I rotated the paper and repeated the phrase above until the page was fully covered. Because of the drawing’s bright colors, I took some liberties with varied lettering to provide a more dynamic, textured background.

It was then framed, and shipped off to be displayed at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center from January 11 to March 15, 2020.

Is this piece available?

“But My Mom Says I'm Cool” is available as a print in my Society6 shop.

The original is still available. Please contact me if you’re interested.

Candy (2019)

I spent a lot of time thinking about (and researching) the word “nerd” as I prepared for the Port Angeles Fine Art Center’s “Obsessed: The Art of Nerd-Dom” exhibition. When the Nerds mascot popped into my brain, it took me a few days to realize it would pair perfectly with the lyrics to Mandy Moore’s 1999 hit single “Candy”.

Beyond this song’s bubblegum pop sheen, there’s a dark tale of unhealthy obsession. “I’m so addicted to the loving that you’re feeding to me,” Moore sings on the first verse, before continuing later that her, “Body’s in withdrawal, every time you take it away.” It’s almost alarming until you realize it’s the type of melodramatic metaphor you’d expect from a teenager.

Ultimately, this is a piece about Nerds and obsession, rather than a piece about nerdy obsessions.

To complete this piece, I began by doing sketches of the Nerds mascot. Once I got the color and shape right, I cut out the drawing with an X-acto knife and traced the outline onto a 5x5 inch square of paper. I penciled in a quarter inch border of white space on the edges.

Next, I replicated the drawing, then filled in the tongue and body with different shades of pink colored pencil. Once blended, I opted to outline the drawing in black colored pencil, rather than ink pen. This emphasized the cartoony quality of the image and made it pop a bit more on the paper.

From there, I sprayed the drawing with a matte fixative to prevent smudging. Once dry, I rotated the paper and began repeating the lyrics to “Candy” until the full square was full. I decided to go with a more uniform, simple text style to avoid upstaging the drawing.

It was then framed, and shipped off to be displayed at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center from January 11 to March 15, 2020.

Is this piece available?

“Candy” is available as a print on INPRNT, Society6, and Redbubble.

The original is still available. Please contact me if you’re interested.

A Nerd (2019)

I wasn’t very far into my research for the Port Angeles Fine Art Center’s “Obsessed: The Art of Nerd-Dom” exhibition when I realized that I had to do a piece inspired by the origins of the word “nerd”.

The first known English-language usage of the word “nerd” was in the 1950 Dr. Seuss children’s book If I Ran The Zoo. It had nothing to do with the definition we know today. A “nerd” was merely a creature that lived in the zoo. It resembles the Grinch (and predates him by seven years).

I chose to pair the nerd creature with a quote attributed to lifestyle blogger Mandy Hale. There was an extremely Seussian quality to a phrase she uses in one of her posts:

“Better to be a nerd than one of the herd”.

To complete this piece, I began with several drawings of the nerd creature in my sketchpad. This character was surprisingly difficult to draw, despite appearing quite simple. My final drawing was a bit clumsier than I would have liked, but I reasoned to myself that it didn’t have to look exactly like the original. It just had to look like a nerd.

Once completed, I cut out the drawing with an X-acto knife, traced it onto a piece of watercolor paper, and lightly penciled in an outline. I added the yellow portions in colored pencil, then followed it with the red parts. The black portions were drawn with a Micron Sakura ink pen. To make the white parts pop, I highlighted them carefully with a conté crayon.

The completed drawing was sprayed with a matte fixative to prevent smudging. Once dry, I rotated the paper and repeated the above quote, using a relatively uniform style of text to avoid clutter on the page. I continued until the page was full. In total, this piece took about two to three days to complete (while simultaneously working on other pieces for the show).

It was then framed, and shipped off to be displayed at the Port Angeles Main Library from January 11 to March 15, 2020.

Is this piece available?

The original is still available. Please contact me if you’re interested.

That Stage U Speak Of (2019)

November was an extremely busy month. I participated in the Lavender Rights Project’s 2nd annual LGBTQ art auction. I had work featured in Confluence Gallery’s “Wit & Whimsy” exhibition, as well as Art Intersection’s “Little by Little” show in Gilbert, AZ. On top of that, I was preparing for two additional shows, setting up my shop to sell greeting cards, and doing a dozen of other things that probably aren’t worth mentioning here.

Things were looking up! Until I found out that my favorite venue in town would be closing.

That may not sound like a big deal, but to put things into perspective, I spend most of my time indoors and desperately need a social outlet to stay sane. This is a small, often conservative town. RadarStation was the one place I felt safe enough to be myself, and after attending their open mic night for several weeks, I gained the courage to try stand-up comedy. I was immediately hooked and came back as often as humanly possible.

You’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with the piece above, which includes a 2011 tweet by Rihanna that reads:

“Good luck with booking that stage u speak of”

Well, the answer to that question is kind of convoluted! I had just done a particularly bizarre set at RadarStation that involved Costco and Rihanna in a top hat. (Please do not ask me for additional details unless you give me a few drinks beforehand.) Ultimately, this piece served three different purposes:

1. It was a continuation of an unofficial series about tweets by pop stars and celebrities.

2. It was an embodiment of my unhealthy Rihanna obsession.

3. It was reflective of the anxiety I felt that I’d never perform comedy again.

This story has a somewhat happy ending. I performed the Rihanna set to a packed room at the final open mic night, and it went better than I would have ever anticipated. The rush I felt walking off stage made it a bittersweet goodbye. If that was the peak of my comedy career, I might be okay with that.

While RadarStation as a physical space is gone, it still lives on in many other ways! Follow on Facebook or Instagram for phenomenal art, local events, and other things that I am mentioning because I am guilty that I made this entire post about me.

Is this piece available?

“That Stage U Speak Of” is available in my online shop.

Prints can be found on INPRNT, Society6, and Redbubble.

Secret Scrooge (2019)

I’m trying to establish a tradition of designing a new Christmas card every year. This year, I wasn’t really feeling the Christmas spirit, so I wanted to honor all of the Scrooges and Grinches out there.

The final product features “Merry Christmas” in negative space, surrounded by smaller handwritten text that reads “Bah Humbug”.

To complete this piece, I used a ruler to lightly pencil in borders along the edges of a 5 x 7 inch sheet of watercolor paper. Then, I lightly penciled in the “Merry Christmas” outline. It’s intentionally imperfect and a bit clumsy. I wanted it to look written by a human, not a reproduction of a common font.

Once the outline was in place, I rotated the paper and repeated the phrase “Bah Humbug” in a consistent size and style, occasionally alternating between uppercase and lowercase lettering. I continued until I filled all the space, then carefully erased all of the pencil lines. The original design took approximately one day to complete.

The completed piece was scanned, edited, and printed on 5 x 7 inch watercolor paper greeting cards.

Is this piece available?

“Secret Scrooge” is available as a greeting card in my online shop. Discounts are available for bulk orders.

The Center of Attention (2019)

“The Center of Attention” happened after I randomly heard Britney Spears’ 2007 single “Gimme More”. My ears perked up when I heard the lyric, “The center of attention, even when we’re up against the wall”. Soon, I found myself giggling at the idea of drawing a dot surrounded by the word “attention”. Appropriately, that piece of art would eventually hang… against a wall.

The process for this piece was similar to “A Small Noise In The Midst of Silence”. I measured with a ruler to find the center of a 4 x 6 sheet of paper, then stenciled in the black circle in the center. I lightly penciled in a small white border around the circle, as well as the edges of the piece. Then, I rotated the paper and repeated the word “attention” in various lettering.

The pencil lines were erased, then the piece was scanned and edited for prints.

Is this piece available?

“The Center of Attention” is available in my online shop.

Prints can be found on INPRNT.

Wine Helps Me Drink (2019)

This is my second piece of Bob’s Burgers fan art, and it’s far more subtle than the first. Two tilted wine glasses appear in negative space, along with shapes to indicate that they’re clinking. The text forming the shapes includes a quote from Linda Belcher:

“Wine helps me drink!”

To complete this piece, I cut down a large sheet of watercolor paper to 12 x 12 inches. I measured out an outside border of a half inch on each edge, then used a projector to get the positioning of the wine glasses just right.

Once the outline was in place, I began by filling in the “wine” section with a purple Sakura Micron Pigma 005 pen. I moved onto the black section afterward, slowly rotating the paper and filling the designated area to completion. This took approximately three weeks, though I took breaks between sessions to work on smaller pieces.

After breathing a deep sigh of relief, I erased the pencil lines and scanned the piece in four separate sections. These were then stitched together to form the final digital version. As of now, this piece remains unframed, but I do hope to show it somewhere in the near future.

Is this piece available?

“Wine Helps Me Drink!” is available as a limited edition print in my online shop.

The original is still available. Please contact me if you’re interested.

Get In Loser! We're Dismantling The Patriarchy. (2019)

After attending a collage exhibition at Collapse Gallery, I was so inspired that I found myself wanting to revisit the medium. I had been hoarding random images in my studio, waiting for this opportunity, and I dug into them with joy, curiosity, and no idea what the hell I planned to do with that energy.

An image from an old kitten-themed calendar jumped out at me. I did some light doodling to transform a cat in a teacup into… a cat wearing glasses and driving a teacup? I cut this out with an X-acto knife, set it on my desk, and stared at it for a moment.

The cat looked lonely. To paraphrase my 3 year-old niece, he “needed a friend”. I found a teddy bear in a piece of art that had appeared in a thrift shop frame. I cut it out with an X-acto knife, and I was delighted to see that it could straddle the side of the teacup as a passenger. It needed a little extra “oomph”, so I outlined it in black ink.

I tried several different backgrounds, eventually deciding on a pink, glow-in-the-dark page from a USPS promotional package about the power of direct mail. (This was hoarded from my 10-year career in marketing, because some of the images were quite beautiful.) I cut down the page to 5 x 7 issues. When I placed the cat and bear, I was dissatisfied with their appearance, so I pasted them onto a white sheet of paper and cut out a thin border.

The pink color reminded me of Mean Girls, but I didn’t get the impression that this cat and bear wanted to go shopping. Immediately, I thought back to the Women’s March in Boston and remembered one of the signs someone was holding—”Get in loser! We’re dismantling the patriarchy.”

It felt fitting, so I created a little text bubble on scrap paper and glued it on. Once dry, I placed it in the frame that the bear originally appeared in.

Is this piece available?

“Get In Loser! We’re Dismantling The Patriarchy” is available as a print in my Society6 shop.

The original piece is not currently for sale. It’s hanging in my studio under a cat poster that says, “Leave me alone! I’m having a crisis.”