Philadelphia Weekly Covers WNS In PA And Empty Night Skies

read it here!

I've seriously been neglecting this blog, but it should be back in action soon with some work in progress, Portland photos and some book reviews!

Print For Sale Online Through Shirts And Destroy!

(This is my kind of bad scan of this painting the print one is way better)

Hey, this is the first time I'll be selling prints of this piece at all and you can conveniently buy it ONLINE from Shirts and Destroy. Hopefully I'll move into selling more stuff online in the future, I know I'm ridiculously behind on this stuff.

12" x 16" Giclee on 100 year acid free archival cotton rag paper.
Limited Edition of 50.
Buy it!

Show write up!

Me, Mike and Ryann

The folks over at Blow the Scene were kind enough to do a really thorough write-up of the bat show along with some pretty great photos!

Check it out!

Corpse Flower

Here's my second piece for the show friday:

I wanted to draw from folklore that was neutral towards bats (like I mentioned previously), so I picked up on the idea that the soul could leave a body in the form of a bat and went from there. It mostly seems to stem from the association between flying animals and ascension. There's also some Eastern European folklore I remember reading where the souls of captured witches and wizards escaped in the form of moths and insects and magpies. I thought it would be neat to have the bats chasing the moths on their way up since that's a food source for insectivore bats.
After I drew out the skull I wanted to make it more interesting and remembered the painted skulls I just missed seeing in the beinhaus in Hallstatt, Austria (we were there in December so mountain roads were closed).

So I included the stylized red laurels and the gold theta:

The "flowers" in the foreground are Monotropa Uniflora which I've mentioned on this blog before. I first discovered them peeking out of mounds of rotten wet leaves while hiking in Maine.
I honestly couldn't tell at first if they were fungal or floral and it turns out it's a chlorophyll-less plant which is parasitic to the fungus that grows on tree roots. I figured something that thrives in an ecosystem because of fungus might be interesting to add to the painting since one of the challenges of fighting white nose syndrome is maintaining the integrity of cave ecosystems that actually NEED fungus (especially the many many species of arthropod that live there). It's also referred to as "Ghost plant" and "Corpse flower" so I thought it fit the theme in that sense as well.
I'm pretty proud of the amount of time I put into the background for this one since it's something I've really been working on developing a bit. I'm also working on controlling my use of color to produce more of a mood. Whatever, look at the moon!

Some pictures of the opening can be found here if you want to check them out.

Friday I leave for a little trip to Oregon to hike, camp, hang out, pet dogs, eat food, look for Bigfoot etc. so it might be a while before I have any more work to post! I'm working on something much less serious next.

The Voice Of The Unheard Language

First off, I have to say the show Friday was an overwhelming success.  The place was packed, art was selling SO FAST, and between the art on the walls and the additional prints and pins and donations we raised $3,100 just on the opening night! I know a larger piece sold the next day as well and there's still a lot of great stuff and printed multiples left so we stand to raise a good amount of money when this is all over.  I feel like all the artists involved REALLY put a lot of effort into their work and it definitely showed.  The employees at Grindcore House also did an amazing job keeping up with the frantic pitch of the sales.  The event received a good amount of event press so there seemed to be a lot of people beyond the usual Philly art crowd in attendance and I got to chat with a few people who found out about it through Bat Conservation International, or who picked up flyers we left out when we went to the lecture about White Nose Syndrome at the Wagner (I have a big half written post about that lecture to post soon).  I also have to give a shout out to friends who pitched in all kinds of help like Nikki who helped fold all those origami bats, my mother who baked and decorated 200 vegan bat cookies for the opening, Carol who brought a flat of vegan brownies with little bat picks in them, my friend Greg who came from Pittsburgh with the awesome bat house he built for the show and Dilek who came down from NY to sell etchings of her piece.  

                                             

I struggle to adequately express it but I'm just really excited to be working with other artists and people who have the enthusiasm and generosity to get behind something like this. Thank you so much, guys! I'll make sure to share some of the press I know is in the works about the show as soon as it gets posted.  I'll also have some more photos.

In all the commotion I didn't have much time to post about what I made for the show.  I'll spread it out into two posts since this one is already so long, but here's the first piece I made:

 

I decided early on that I wanted to do something a bit outside of the normal, somewhat negative, associations with bats in folklore.  I've been reading this excellent book about Grimoires lately and have particularly been thinking about the early blending of science, medicine and magical thought particularly astral magic which includes the idea that everything in the natural world was imbued with powers from the stars and planets which could be harnessed for medical and magical purposes.  

 

A lot of this centers around the idea of like producing like, meaning that animals and plants with certain associations for humans (or in the case of the doctrine of signatures the appearance of a natural object) could be used to treat and influence a similar problem.  In the case of bats their association with night led to their use in medicine and magic that dealt with sleep.  This is why I also chose poppies (my favorite flower) for the piece. 

 

"Ualueria" is the word for bat in the Lingua Ignota ("unknown language"), a language invented by "Saint" (her sainthood is unofficial) Hildegard of Bingen "the Sibyl of the Rhine" a medieval mystic, abbess and writer of medical and herbal texts, and musical composer.  It's believed that she invented her language, which included 1,011 words and its own alphabet, in order to encourage comradery among the nuns in her order. Many of the words are for plants, animals and medical terms because she used them in her writing interspersed with Latin.  There are some really amazing illuminations of the visions she had that I recommend googling:

And there's a really extensive website about her here.

I don't have a good picture of the piece framed yet, but I built the glass-less frame myself and glued one of the resin "rock crystal" pieces to it. Happy to say it sold! A full post and image of my second piece tomorrow!

My Love Is A Bat

Quick peek until I get the full images up. One of two new pieces for the bat show (also donated two really small older bat themed things). Show is tomorrow! Hanging it all tonight. It's gonna be brutal.

Empty Night Skies is in one week!

Just thought I'd make an image heavy post about the show now that it's a week away. For starters, there's a new flyer from Mike Bukowski:

Work has been pouring in this past week and I'm so stoked about what people have made. It really seems like people put in a lot of effort and enjoyed the theme and there's a real variety of mediums and interpretations. Here's some sneak peeks at just a few of them:

L to R: Amy Duncan, Justin Miller, Alan Brown, Jeff Pfeil
L to R: David Cook, Dilek Baykara, Tamara Santibanez, Kirsten Teel

I'll have two pieces in it myself. One of them is small and is already finished and the other is a little larger and probably needs one more day of work. A little peek:

I also spent several hours yesterday folding origami bats for the ceiling with the help of my good buddy Nikki:
Come to the show! Tell your friends! Become a member of Bat Conservation International!

Little Stuff

Here's a little sneak peek at the first smaller piece I finished for the bat show:

I'll be posting full images including framed ones and some explanation closer to the show. Trying to keep a little mystery around the event but I have to say everything I've gotten so far has been REALLY good and people are putting a lot of work and thought into what they're doing which is awesome. You can see some images and info on the event page.

I also just got in the buttons we made for the show, thinking it was a good way for people to show support and donate a buck or .50 if they didn't have the money or inclination to buy art. They'll be available at the opening and afterwards on the internet. We had them printed in 1.25in and the more traditional 1in (those are compliments of Alex at small world buttons) :
There are four designs, one from me, one from Mike Bukowski, one from Justin Gray, and one from Alan "Medusa Wolf" Brown:
In other news, check out this little write up about the Forgotten Gods show I was in on Friday. It'll be up for a little while so go check it out if you find yourself around that area. There was a lot of good work in it. I also made some cheaper hand signed prints ($15) which you can buy there. I'll be doing a more expensive higher quality run later, so if you're low on cash but just like the image and want a print try and pick up one from Phantom Hand. I did the layout of the print to echo the frame which came out pretty cool:
Just started my second bat show piece last night and I look forward to pulling my hair out in the next couple weeks trying to finish that and wrangle around 50 artists and get the show together. PHEW.

Hollow Sky

I'm a bit slow starting on my piece for the bat show. Going back and forth on ideas which absolutely sucks when you don't have a lot of time to work on something. After much moping and procrastinating I decided to start a small piece so that if I was going to waste time, at least I'd be working on something in the meantime.

I also made a couple resin pieces with tiny embedded bones that I'm planning to use for the frames.

In other bat news, if you live in the Philadelphia area the Wagner is hosting a lecture on the impact of White Nose Syndrome next weekend:

In the last five years an epidemic called White-Nose Syndrome has killed more than

5.5 million bats in the northeast United States. It is said to be one of the most devastating diseases in the history of mammals and threatens some of North America’s most abundant bat species with extinction. Dr. Barton, an expert on microbial life within caves and an avid spelunker, is uniquely suited to understand White-Nose Syndrome. Join us to hear about her latest research -- she may be our best hope in the race to find a cure to save the bats.

Dr. Hazel Barton is an Associate Professor of Biology and an Associate Professor of Geology and Environmental Science at the University of Akron, Ohio. Her award-winning research, published in over 30 peer-reviewed articles, focuses on understanding microbial processes in cave environments. She has appeared in numerous publications, TV shows, and in the documentary “Journey Into Amazing Caves.” She is currently a Fellow of the National Speleological Society and the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

With Poison Instead Of Blood She Filled Their Bodies

Hey hey. So I finally finished the painting I've been posting about and I'm really happy with how it came out:

Her strength is mighty, she is full of dread!

When I got the invite to be in this show I wanted to do something besides the expected Greek and Roman mythology (not that there's anything wrong with that, I actually have a long list of Greek stuff I want to paint) and knew I wanted to do something non-humanoid, just because I was in the mood to paint a creature. I finally settled on Tiamat, a Babylonian creation goddess descended from an earlier Sumerian one. I like that she's a progenitrix from the cradle of civilization, making the mythology surrounding her some of the oldest recorded mythology in the world. As the story goes Tiamat was " the primordial salt waters of chaos" who mixed with Apsu, the personification of fresh water, at the beginning of creation and gave birth to the first generation of gods, the Anunnaki.

Descriptions of Tiamat are hard to come by and though she's not very explicitly described in any of the sources I could find most agree that she is serpentine, though this might be because she gave birth to some serpent monsters (sort of reminds me of Echidna who I had also considered painting), with some qualities associated with sea creatures. In looking at other Babylonian gods and creatures I noticed most of them are chimera of some sort, hybrid creatures with features of birds, lions, scorpions, serpents, and humans so I constructed her in a similar way. This image of Marduk's battle with Anzu gives you some idea what they usually looked like.

I wanted her face to have the basic form of a human skull (it's mentioned that she has lips and a nose), mixed with a lion's skull and mouth, with a serpentine body with bird and lion features (wings, mane, talons, paws). It's also mentioned in the source text that she has "udders" which makes sense given her role as the mother of the gods which is why I gave her all the nipples

Most of the information we have about Tiamat seems to come from the story of her battle with Marduk. The story is similar in theme to the Titanomachy in which the original Greek gods were killed in battle by the new Olympians. The Enûma Eliš is a religious text with a political aim and tells the story of Marduk's battle with Tiamat and rise to supremacy as the patron god of Babylon. It's worth noting that this is one of the oldest recorded stories in human history and I have to say, it's still pretty gripping in parts. Marduk comes charging armed with everything you can possibly imagine and aided by the winds, as Tiamat furiously spawns monsters to fight by her side. Unfortunately for Tiamat, the tale is rigged and Marduk wins, piercing her belly with arrows and then slicing her body into pieces which become the heavens and the earth and the Tigris and Euphrates come from her tears.

The passage in the Enûma Eliš regarding the re purposing of her corpse by Marduk is especially graphic and detailed. You can read the whole thing here. Many people believe the tale of Marduk marks the point where Babylonian civilization shifted from matriarchal to patriarchal and if that's the case then it's an especially brutal turnaround and I mourn the loss.

The painting is such an odd shape because it was made to fit a frame I made from a clock door I got at an antique mart with my parents:
Which I fixed up, painted and added the omega to:
Here's the show card for the show this is part of where I will also, hopefully, have prints available:
On a totally completely unrelated note, last night Mike and I finally got to finish this movie that's been on our mile high stack of "movies we can't watch while we work" (all of them foreign language or movies that require a lot of looking), Dark Waters 1993 (not to be confused with Dark Water). An Italian/British/Russian coproduction filmed in the Ukraine (in the Odessa Catacombs!), filled with scary nuns, beautiful arresting nightmare imagery, Lovecraftian themes, amazing location shots of the nunnery on the cliff and tunnels filled with hundreds of candles. Not recommended for people who absolutely positively require a linear plot with lots of explanation, but if you're into dreamy beautiful looking Italian horror it's really great and underrated (or maybe just overlooked). It's really low on violence (and happily free of any sexual violence) but has some really genuinely creepy and disturbing stuff as well as a few gross outs. See it! Watch it! Maybe do a double feature with the Devils.

We Bring The Greater Days

Just a short update to make up for my silence. I've been busy and sick, and spending a couple days in bed with tissues crammed up my nose really put me behind work-wise and socially (and yeah, I have yet to post stuff in that etsy account oooops). Today was my first day up and about in a while and I picked a good day for it because it appears to be a very convincing false spring day. Nice. Anyway, the painting I'm working on for the Forgotten Gods show is nearly done (and would have BEEN done by now if not for the sickness). Just some sneak peaks:

The only part I have left to do:

I like seeing stuff at this stage, especially knowing that it defies what painting and drawing instructors told me about working on the whole piece slowly building all the areas together. The few classes I have taken I was always scolded for working in sections and though I get why, generally, that is a bad habit it ended up being perfect for the method I've invented for myself.

I've been meaning to note this for a while since I know everybody looooooves tumblr these days but I do have a seldom used tumblr account I may start using more. Last night I transcribed and posted a runic farting spell from a book I'm reading if that gives you any clue to the content.

In other news, the bat show now has a facebook invite with some images of the work that's coming in. If you use facebook feel free to check it out and spread the word! Getting really excited as it gets closer and also a bit nervous about the setback of this past week since I have my own piece to finish. However, the invites and posters are currently in production, and we're hoping to have something to bring to this excellent lecture on the impact of WNS coming up at the Wagner. If you live in Philly or nearby I would definitely recommend going!

Finally, Happy International Women's Day (everyday).

Everlasting Faint

I got invited to be in a Mythology themed group show in March so I decided to throw another project in before I work on the bat show piece. I just couldn't pass up a show with this theme. I spent half a week going back and forth on my design. My issue is usually that I have a lot of ideas I've been thinking about for a while, just waiting for an appropriate project. It's never the case that I don't have ANY ideas I just sometimes have trouble figuring out which one is the RIGHT one. Anyway, I stopped freaking myself out and in two days designed, drew and inked this:
I'm pretty excited about how it's going so far but it's going to be a lot of detail work (snake and fish scales take foreverrrrrrr for me) so I need to get painting as soon as possible.

More info about what it is when I have a finished painting to post.

I also made an experimental etsy store last week to sell off the remaining heart pins from the heart show (there are actually a lot left) once I get them back. I'll probably put some really old prints in there too for really cheap since they're just cluttering up my studio. I'll update when that actually happens but for the time being here's the link. My heart pins in the Storage Heart Show didn't do great but my bigger piece in the Jinxed show sold right away which is cool!

In other news, the Alice Bag show/reading went really well two weeks ago and I have to say it was one of my more fulfilling experiences making art. It just feels great to contribute something to someone whose body of work has meant a lot to me. She's extremely nice and inspiring and somehow she ended up asking me for my autograph right off the bat. I did get her's too though:Ahhhh enough mooning, back to work, D'Angelo.

Until The End Of The World

SO, I finished the piece I've been posting little bits of for a week or so. This will be in the OTHER heart show at Jinxed/Toothless Cat Gallery also this weekend. I know all this heart business is making me look very romantic but really I just love group shows.

When I was planning my trip to Portugal I came across the story of Dom Pedro and Doña Inés which is one part a tragic romance and one part a grotesque bit of folklore and I was instantly obsessed with it. To make a fairly long story (which you can read here) short, Inês was the great love of Dom Pedro and was assassinated by Dom Pedro's father the king in response to political pressure from advisers who feared the influence of her Castilian family. This prompted a war between father and son which eventually ended in a truce of sorts until the king died.

"As soon as he was crowned in 1357, and in spite of his promises of forgiveness, King Dom Pedro I recovered two of Inês' assassins from Castile, where they had sought refuge (the third had escaped to France). He then had them tortured and executed in a barbaric but highly symbolic way: from one of the men who had killed the love of his life, the heart was ripped out of the body through his back, and from the other, the heart was pulled out through the chest."

According to folklore the newly crowned king then had Inês' corpse exhumed, dressed in finery and crowned and had the entire court come to pay her respect as their queen and kiss her hand.

He also commissioned grandiose tombs for both of them which I went and saw at the Monastery of Alcobaça and had her body moved from its original resting place in a candlelit procession "between two lines of stars". The tombs are placed contrary to tradition foot to foot across from each other in the chapel of the monastery so that when the world ends and the dead rise they would each (theoretically) sit up and see each other first.

The phrase "Até ao fim do mondo" (until the end of the world) can be found at the foot of Dom Pedro's tomb which includes a carving of the wheel of life. It's not really visible in my picture but at the bottom of the wheel there's an upside down corpse that has this inscription:

Anyway, I'm not the most sentimental person but I found this story irresistibly melodramatic and macabre so I've been thinking about it ever since my trip and a valentine's day show seemed too perfect an opportunity to do a painting about it. The weird little skull cherubs are something I had sketched out a while ago, with references to biblical cherubim in the wings covered with eyes and the confusion with the European putto (I first learned about that reading a Wind in the Door in elementary school haha). I don't paint babies often (or really even LOOK at babies) so they might not be the best haha. A couple photos of it mounted to the wood heart and hanging on the wall:

Here's the info for this show:

Jinxed Philly

1050 North Hancock Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123

Saturday, 2/11. 50 + Artist. This Show is Cash and Carry. No Sunday reception, just a big one on Saturday...

And tonight is the Alice Bag/3Jane/Brillian Colors/Carmen show at the Marvelous. It's gonna be a cool weekend. I'll also be starting some bat show work!