Faith in the Kitchen

I love being in the kitchen. It's pretty much always my favorite room in a house. My sister is a chef, my mother used to be a chef and both my parents are excellent cooks, who have a passion for creating great dishes. I also love to cook and bake myself. When my parents owned The Deer Head Inn, we spent an extraordinary amount of time in the kitchen. My mother was the chef and both my sister and I would either help or just hang out and chat there. That kitchen was the hub of the business and became the hub of our family in a lot of ways. As is typical, this vibe was not lost on our cat. Faith enjoyed perching on high places in the kitchen to observe the action and perhaps see a small scrap of cheese or turkey thrown her way. This painting is 24"x30", painted with oils.

Oil Spill Birds

I started a painting when the oil spill off the Gulf coast happened last year. The images that were coming back of animals drenched in heavy tar balls were bringing me to tears. This is the image I needed to get out and was finally able to complete:

Oils, 24"x18", raised canvas.

Sustainability: "Leaves in a Pot"

I'm taking this class on Sustainability, which is a great class but happens to fall on the same days as the art classes I want to take.

Well, I finally got to spend my limited homework time painting anyway. "Leaves in a Pot" is painted on piece of wood off a broken cabinet. It's about 18"x18" and done in oils. The idea is mimicking nature's process of refertilizing the soil. When we copy nature, things usually work out for the best.

This was a quick painting done from life.

I finally found a cat I don't like.

I was visiting my parents in Pennsylvania last weekend when my mother told me to come look out the window. She wanted to show me this:


I really didn't think I would get more of a glimpse than that, and since I've never seen a hairless cat before, I felt inclined to get a closer look. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that the cat was very loving and eager to be touched. Yet, petting sticky, thick skin is slightly vomit-inducing for me. It looked like a cat, it acted like a cat, but it reminded me of a rat. It felt like touching some kind of alien baby that just wants love but the mother can't quite get over the hideousness of it.

My mother was particularly displeased that the cat's junk was on full display:


I understand that people who are allergic to cat hair but love cats could get down with that, but ick. Sorry, kitty, I prefer my felines with hair. Here is a little something to cleanse your brain:

My Kitty Died Last Christmas

...It was kind of a horrific experience. We thought she had a urinary tract infection because she kept peeing on the floor uncontrollably. After medicating her for weeks on anti-biotics, I was sitting on my computer and I saw her piss right near the litter box. She looked completely tense and just let out a tiny bit. I realized something strange was going on, it looked like she was having a seizure. My theory was confirmed as they progressively got worse throughout the day. I could not stand to watch her suffer. It seemed like with each seizure she was losing her brain. She seemed out of it and unable to balance. I felt certain that we needed to put her down.

When we were in the vet's office, he offered us alternatives. We could medicate her without testing and see if it helped, we could get a $150 test done to rule out poison, or we could continue as planned to put her down. The decision was too hard to make in 1 hour, which was the time we had until the vet closed for the day. So, we took the medication, Quaaludes, and tried to keep her sedated for 24 hours. It was the longest 24 hours ever. Not only did the seizures continue and get progressively worse, but the medication made her even more drowsy and braindead. She didn't even know who we were. I can't go into anymore detail than that, it's all just a nightmare that brings me to tears to think about.

The next chance we got, we took her to the humane society, where they kept her alive and drugged her until they determined in a matter of days that she was unable to be saved and put her down. It's good to know that she's finally at peace but it's taken us awhile to heal from the experience. I don't usually paint just cats, but it helped me to immortalize her in some way.

Gemini

Fantasy Diptych

This started as a magazine collage, using mostly National Geographics. The collage was turned into a painting and the second painting is a continuance of the first. A bit of storytelling seems to have come out. It's a dream of mine to write an animated movie and these images sent my mind into some uncharted territory:


Oils 24"x36"

Oils 24"x18"