This Years 12 x 12 sneak peak

"The Expectant Wife" *Detail* 12" x 12"

colored pencil, ink, paper collage and silver leaf on board

So here we are again. I have been participating in the Oklahoma Visual Artists' Coalition's annual fund raiser, "The 12x12" for something close to a decade ... An exciting thing about this show is that the work I produce for it is very often some of my most cutting edge stuff. The piece that is the background for the title of this blog would be a good example of such a piece, as well as the one I use on my business card, and this years creation is no exception.

"The Expectant Wife" was created using strictly the impulses and desires of my subconscious. I've been wanting to play with Dali's ants for quite sometime, but have been concerned about the inevitable creepery of such rendering... No longer! No more shall I restrain myself with worrying if something is to "disturbing". It was funny, I was almost through with the piece when I realized that I was making a "subconscious" piece, that was also very pointedly a homage to Dali... go figure. I used myself as the model, because if I'm going to cover anyones mouth with ants it ought to be my own... I may also add some quip to the title alluding to "sweet talking" something ants would be attracted to. Right now I'm just posting a wee detail shot, please stop back by for the full reveal sometime in the next month leading up to the show.

Oh, and it's nice to talk to all of you again, sorry I've been less than active around these here parts... sometimes life gets in the way of art.