Pig in the Cubby

If you are following this blog at all, by now you have realized that I am a pack rat. I collect all kinds of things wherever I go, and yes, they are showing up in these daily paintings. It can't help but wind up being an autobiography in paint for any artist practicing daily painting. I think that is what makes the body of work interesting. It is a lens into a person's life, what they observe and what they surround themselves with.

Here is a cast iron piggy bank I picked up somewhere along the way. I love the chipped and worn paint. I actually think he is more attractive that way than if he were in pristine condition. My friend Mary (who is a fantastic artist) thinks this painting is edgy and dark. I never started out to create that impression, it is just what happened.

Pop Caps of Childhood I

I really like the graphic simplicity of the old bottle caps. I wonder if you can get birch beer and sarsaparilla anywhere anymore.

Even though I call this piece "Pop Caps of Childhood", they come from an era a bit before my childhood. I picked up a big jar of these at a flea market probably 30 years ago.

Pop Caps and Pop Art VIII

Here's Warhol again with the seal on the soup can mimicking a pop cap in the composition. 

Something I didn't even notice until I'm posting this (and I went into my kitchen to check a tomato soup can), but the O in soup is tilted like the O in Robert Indiana's "LOVE" (but in the opposite direction). I've read so many interpretations of that tilted O, but wouldn't credit any that didn't come from the artist himself. Sometimes I think that those making a career out of art criticism come up with interpretations and meanings that the artist never thought of or intended. I can think of as many reasons why an artist would not refute any of these and is the wiser for remaining mute.

Pop Caps and Pop Art VII

Roy Lichtenstein again and fun with bottle caps.

Pop Caps & Pop Art VI

Of course, I couldn't do an homage to pop artists without Andy Warhol!

Glowing Scent I

Over 2 feet of snow fell here last night, and as I look into the yard I can see that some of the drifts will be over my waist. No plows have come down the street yet, and even though the snow stopped at daybreak, no one is out clearing yet. 

So it seems like a good day to post this warm, gemmy little perfume bottle painting. The sun pouring through the bottle seems to set the shadow on fire.

Pop Caps and Pop Art V

Here's another in this series, this time with Robert Indiana's famous "LOVE" poster. I don't think there was any other artists who has been defined by one single piece of art like he has been. Certainly he himself has reiterated the theme with other words and numbers and reinforced that perception, but he has contributed much more to the graphical imagery of the Pop Art movement than that and deserves investigation by anyone interested in the genre.