Commitment Issues

Sometimes I have commitment issues.

Too pale...

Why did I put purple on it? Wtf

Let's use retina-scorching red instead!

Let's just scrub it with solvent and start again...

Voila! One layer... That was just one :(

What you don't see is that I make lots of mistakes... And it's perfectly normal to wipe, repaint and experiment.

Having no knowledge of colour theory (warm or cool) everything is pretty much trial and error. Luckily I have friends who DO know it, and that's why progress critiques are valuable to me. 

Also, lots and lots of paint thinner.

S.O.S. Venezuela

I bought two 3' x 3' canvasses knowing only two things. One of them, was that I wanted to paint my friend Rosaura, a fellow artist, and the other was that I wanted to use a certain shade of pink. When I think of Rosa I think of her pink backpack, her favourite colour, and her name "Pink Aura" in English. Yet she is no typical pink kind of girl. Even if she plays tennis and smells like flowers, she has a rare depth that few people I've met can match.

One of these many facets is Rosa's heritage. She is a Canadian citizen who was born in Venezuela. 

"Rosaura" (in progress), oil on canvas 3'x3'

In order to for my photographer (Hailey Logan) to takes the references photos I needed, I began to discuss the politics of Venezuela with Rosa. I saw a glimpse of her true feelings and that far off look told me she wanted to be there, fighting for the human rights her people deserve.

This spurned on my idea for the second painting. I asked a friend we had visiting from Venezuela if I could paint him. Once again, we used this process of discussing what he felt about his home, and through broken English, Manuel began to unfold just like Rosa had. 

I feel like the words of Venezuelan citizens are being silenced but the freedom of expression is here with them in Canada. They have the conviction of soldiers, and I hope my diptych will express it in the way I want it to. 

Thankyou to my soulful models and my talented photographer. S.O.S. Venezuela.

Why I'm An Artist.

I can't remember when I started making art. It was just always something I did. I did it when I got up in the morning, while I watched TV and ate breakfast, while I sat in the car on my way somewhere, and in the margins of every textbook I ever owned. When my grandma asked me, "Where do you get all your ideas?" I said, "The pictures are already on the paper, I just gotta let them out."

I tried a lot of other things, tried to let myself work "creative" jobs, but nothing cut it. I'd get creative ideas and write them down on the back of my hand between juggling coffee cups, saving them for later. I couldn't wait to get home and slap paint all over the nearest flat surface I could find. I had to face what I always knew but was too scared to admit:

I'm an artist.

This sort of inner dialogue is what fuels my work. The expressiveness of a human being. What goes on in this somewhat flawed but beautiful evolutionary work of art that we walk around in: the blood, the guts, and most importantly - the brain.

"Symbiosis" 12x12 in, oil on canvas.