new year, new stickers.

hot off the presses (actually, straight from sticker mule) and ready to slap.

folk around and find out

headed down to the central coast to leave some work at morro made in the coming weeks. stickers as well as some large scale panels from a recent collab (ok it was last year but time flies) with arturo romero and maybe some small format collages too. please support your local california artists. also, have you listened to andreas xirtus? dude is blowing my mind! check out this philosophical minds podcast epi where xirtus dicusses morro bay, santa cruz, the california/deserette theory.

get a hold of yourself

another small work for the crocker art museum’s big names small art show. this little lady is mixed media (acrylic paint, cut paper, glue, and pencil) on an 8x8” birch panel and was sold at the auction last may. she has a little sister panel that i’ve yet to take a picture of but same vibe, and also available for purchase.

the figure in this work is getting a hold of herself, but it is also a request and reminder for everyone alive during this fourth turning point to get a grip. please do look at the book by william strauss and neil howe titled “the fourth turning” (1997) for a decent model of this now moment, the end of a kali yuga and the dawn of a new era. will it be golden? will it be a sci-fi horror? your guess is as good as mine but i am holding a higher vision that heals the earth and our relationship to it and therefore also our relationships to each other.

stay human, ya’ll.

wake the bear

hey california, hi.

i made this last year in response to some of the larger themes that we have all been dancing with recently. the second star represents children; did you know there are almost 9 million kids in california? and that they account for nearly 30% of the state’s population? nearly all of our policy and legislation reflects a criminal negligence where the health and well being of children are concerned. regardless of how you feel or what you think , morality is not a moveable feast and state sanctioned child abuse is never on the right side of history. please wake up, we need you.

for the culture

i made this collage and i wrote a little thing that you can find in for the culture, a beautiful new biannual magazine published by Klancy Miller. it’s all about black women and femmes in the food industry. if you like food and love black women, or some combination thereof, look for this magazine scheduled to be released end of the month.

2020 vision: big tiger vibes

Found some scrap pieces of wood, and made this sweet little painting for my daughter’s birthday. She started roaring like a tiger last summer, and has been bringing that big cat energy with her everywhere she goes. Tiger (as well as lion) is associated with Durga, the Hindu goddess of war and the warrior form of Parvati. Durga smashes the evil spirits and demonic forces that threaten peace and prosperity. No biggie. Watch out Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci. Roar!

The Lion’s Gate will be here this Saturday August 8, 2020: smashing timelines to a zero point. Thinking carefully about what I want to manifest, and what is best left to rest. In peace. A friend of mine described the Lion’s Gate as a mirror hanging in the sky, drawing everything into the center until it disappears and we all die (maybe ego death and not like actually kicking off?).

sacramento

This is a ceremonial mask from a tribe in the Congo. The mask is worn to commemorate occasions— birth, marriage, death…I started using the mask image last year for a group show in Sacramento.

This piece is called “Homegoing” and it seems fitting because I am indeed moving home to Southern Calfornia…the move was inspired in part by my uncle’s passing. He went home, too, in a manner of speaking.

The box is a found object, sort of. Certainly it is up-cycled. My daughter’s wood blocks come in these slim little wood boxes. I didn’t want to throw it away, and figured it would make a nice little surface for some tiny collages.

This little collage will be available at the Crocker Art Museum’s Big Names Small Art auction. Come say hello, or goodbye. Whatever suits you.

paper on paper

I started making collages during my first year of teaching at Encina High School in Sacramento. I inherited a classroom that had been occupied by the same instructor for decaaaaadesss (it was a mess, ya’ll) and I was told that department budgets were dependent on extorting the funds from the students.

So while we waited for the students to pay their lab fee, it would be a while until we had money available for paint and charcoal and fancy paper. What was on hand was literally 500 tons of magazine debris, a gazillion partially used glue sticks, and scissors. Et viola! Papier collage.

I made the collage pictured here in 2004 and it was laminated in the school library, lol. The students and I had a good time with collage. And as it turns out, collage is a very useful (and inexpensive) starting point for teaching the elements of art and principles of design to beginning art students.

I am still fascinated by collage, and it has turned into my primary focus as of late.