Month of Love #2: Diamonds

"On My Mind" 5" x 7" oil and acrylic on board

This time of year, diamonds might as well be growing out of my head with how much they’re drilled into me via sappy commercials… I’d rather marvel over a natural gemstone with character any day!

Month of Love #1: Love Thy Neighbor

"Kin" 5"x7" oil and acrylic on board

 Month of Love is back again for 2015. This week's theme: Love Thy Neighbor! Neighbors to me, no doubt, include our animal brethren, and deserve as much love and respect as we can give.

Month of Love Week #4: 69 Love Songs

7" x 5" oil, acrylic, gold and silver leaf on board

The song I chose is "Long Forgotten Fairytale". The song (my interpretation, at least) is about abusive relationships and the Stockholm syndrome that often manifests in the abused towards their abuser.

That and I just love new wave. Don't judge me.

I'm glad I finished off 2014's Month of Love with a piece I'm quite happy with!

Month of Love Week #3: Fetishes

5" x 7" oil and acrylic on board

Formicophilia - having sexual interest in being bitten by and crawled upon by insects. Among other things... but that can be deduced with your imagination.

One more week to go!

Month of Love Week #2: Favorite Love Story

5" x 7" oil, acrylic, and gold leaf on board

This week's theme for Month of Love is to illustrate a favorite love story!

One of my favorite love stories is a Russian folktale called The Tsarevna Frog--The Frog Princess. The story is about a prince whose destiny is determined by firing an arrow towards whom he's to marry, a frog, who in the end turned out to be more than he could ever ask for.

The whole story can be read here: The Tsarevna Frog.

Month of Love is Back! Week #1: #nofilter Valentine

9" x 12" oil and acrylic on board

The first week's theme for 2014's Month of Love was #nofilter Valentine. Breakups are a an unfortunate aspect of love. It can hurt, a lot, but eventually with time the pieces are put back together... perhaps with the help of someone new!

Month of Love: Day 26

Today's theme was to put a bunch of your music on shuffle and illustrate the first love song that came up. On the way to and from work I had my good 'ole Zune on shuffle, and Rammstein's Pussy came on. That's a love song, right?.... Right?!

Month of Love: Days 22, 23, 24, 25

Day 22, free theme, decided to paint whit my fingats...

 

Day 23's theme was I Would Do Anything For Love (but I won't do that...)

For Freestyle Sunday I posted a progress pic of me working on a painting for a Sandy Hook Benefit.

Today, Day 25, was a free theme again and I decided to do a Love Wizard.

Month of Love: Day 21

I was at work all day, and hadn't much to do considering the kids are on February break. I then spent a good while rooting through my supplies and using a set of alphabet stamps I had found, individually coloring and stamping each letter. Originally this was to be the background for something, but I love how this looks by itself. It shall remain the mating call of typographers and graphic designers.

Month of Love: Day 20

 

This is for yesterday's theme Odd Couple. Bam. 

Month of Love: Day 19

Toooooooootally did the wrong theme today. I thought it was opposites attract but it was actyually odd couple. Woopsies!

Month of Love: Day 18

It's been a few days since Valentine's. The last bits of candy are trickling away, and those left just screaming "Eat me!"

Month of Love: Day 16

I was in Boston all this weekend for Boskone, and didn't have much downtime to sit down and dedicate my brain to my duty of doing a daily piece on Friday, so I missed it... However, for today's entry (day 17) Marc, Kristina, Scott and I took a ridiculous picture together forming a giant heart with our arms while we were together at Rick Berry's studio party. Once that's uploaded I will be posting it here.

This piece was for Saturday's theme Tainted Love. I was sitting chatting with Aedan Roberts and Jason Cheeseman-Meyer and whipped out the Moleskine and my travel watercolors which I had forgotten I had in the deep recesses of my bag. I was thankful for that, despite how reluctant Moleskines take to watercolor...

Month of Love: Day 14

A month or two into getting to know each other and building a close friendship, John took me to go ice skating. We were supposed to meet up with two friends of his, but they overslept. After John and I skated around for an hour looking like idiots, he suggested lunch. We ended up at a vegan place, tucked away in a back parking lot a few towns over.

As I got out of the car, he sat down on the hood, and after a moment of looking out into space, he asked me out. It caught me by surprise, but the moment was perfect. To this day I still think our friends flaking out on us was all part of the plan for John to woo me. Regardless, we started dating two days later. The rest is history.

Since then the car has been a staple in our lives. We have gone on so many adventures, whether they started off with a destination or not--sometimes the trips just resulting in the two of us driving around for hours for the fun of it. All I can say is I hope the adventures never end :)

Month of Love: Day 13

While my brother was off in California, John, a coworker of my brother's, would take me on late night trips to our 24-hour diner. Up until that point I had only spent time with him in the company of my brother and his group of friends. I always felt like an add-on, and not truly integrated.

At the diner we would sit for extended periods of time until the wee hours of the morning drinking cup after cup of coffee, getting to know each other better and better. We talked about video games, books, movies, television, art, anything and everything. Slowly but surely, a mutual love was brewing...

Month of Love: Day 12

So for the next three days, our challenge is to illustrate a love story from our lives. Here's my part 1 of 3:

After I graduated from college I made the decision to move back home to Connecticut. I had left my college friends behind, and the friends I had in Connecticut from high school were elsewhere, living their own college and post-college lives. In essence, I was marooned.

Within two months of moving back, my brother, the only person keeping me sane and entertained at the time, went to California. I was bored, lonely, and needed someone to rescue me from going insane! (to be continued...)

Month of Love: Day 11

Lovetopusssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Month of Love: Day 10/Klaymen Buddy

Decided to dedicate the day to working on one of two pieces I'm submitting to a show this weekend, well, Thursday. This is Klaymen from The Neverhood. I have a lot to do the next few days!

Month of Love: Day 9

Today's theme was A Face Only a Mother Could Love. These little monsters are all over my classroom, they're fun :)

Month of Love: Day 8

A few days ago I was down in my basement and saw a woodlouse spider ambling his way across the floor. They're frightening looking things with large fangs and rusty red in color. I named him Peanut :3