“Are we home yet?” - doilies made by my grandmother

My grandparents' house in Ohio has always encapsulated the intangible feeling of home for me. It has a smell that I've never been able to pin down to one thing.... like a musty library basement, but mixed with scents of Dial soap, coffee, and White Diamonds perfume. They lived in their home since the 1950's, and it's one of the few physical places that's been constant throughout my whole life. Sadly, my Grandparents both suffered strokes earlier this year (one day apart from each other, strangely) and had to move into a nursing home. Their children (my mom and uncle) are in the process of selling their house to pay for their care, so we recently brought back some of their things to Kansas.

I've always struggled to feel a sense of "home". Maybe it was moving around a lot as a kid... maybe it's due to lacking a sense of permanence. I don't really know why. I've always done little things to try to make my house feel more like my grandparents', but the effort has mostly been futile. After bringing their things back, objects that feel magical in my Grandparents' home are suddenly transformed into just "stuff" the moment they arrive in mine. Maybe the magical component is my Grandparents themselves.

Milkweed. Watercolor and India Ink. 22" x 14. 2021.

I'm a sucker for a good pun... "Milkweed". This one could also accurately be called "Size #0 Paintbrush". Haha. I'm looking forward to working in a looser style after I finish up some of these tight, illustrative pieces that are in progress.

Colostrum. Watercolor, India Ink, and Gouache. 10" x 13". 2021.

Rot. Watercolor, India Ink, and Embroidery. 14" x 21". 2021

Worm Moon. Watercolor, India Ink, and Gouache. 29" x 21". 2021.

I have some artwork on the set of Hulu’s new film, Sex Appeal.

Here’s one of the promo images Hulu released today… there’s my painting (Loose) on the wall behind Margaret Cho. The show will be released January 14th. 

 Material explorations in coffee, ink, and watercolor

Here's some crude printmaking made from styrofoam printing plates... a PSA, of sorts.

 

Riding in a car between Kansas and Ohio for 13 hours looks almost constantly like this on the passenger side. Does painting in a moving vehicle count as plein air? Here are some sketchbook drawings/paintings to capture the landscape.

 

Crayon self-portraits - I've been exploring crayon as a medium lately.

A portrait-in-progress of my buddy Allen.

 Enjoyed a beautiful plein air day this weekend and won 1st place in JRAC's plein air competition.

 Natural Inclinations at Joplin Avenue Coffee Company in Joplin, MO.

 Headlines feel like a Rorschach test these days.

 My work in We'Moon 2022 - The Magical Dark.

 

My *first* First Thursday Joplin Artwalk! My show, Natural Inclinations, will be on display at Urban Art Gallery throughout the month of September. What a great evening in a beautiful space. Huge thanks to Linda Teeter for the opportunity.

 

I got to dip my toe into the immersive experience that is live-painting at the Rejuvenation festival this last weekend. People kept calling Rejuvenation a “restival” rather than a festival, but we didn’t get much rest when a massive night thunderstorm on Friday soaked all of our camping gear. Despite that adventure, it was a lovely mental reset and I’m still trying to process it all. Also, painting with a medium that I’m not very comfortable with (acrylic… and in front of other people, no less) got me out of my comfort zone, which is probably a good thing that I need more often. I’m already daydreaming about next time.

A few pictures from the "Light In The Darkness" group show from a few weeks ago.