What I've Been Up To Lately

Pretty much just painting this time.

Last year I had the idea to paint pictures of my favorite things in the style of religious icons.  The results were underwhelming and I moved on and just tried to forget about it.  A few weeks ago, one of my friends asked "What makes you happy?" on Facebook and the comments were full of enthusiastic lists and it made me think about the icon paintings and how I could add a bunch of stuff from my own list to them and then maybe not hate them so much.  It was a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be, so it's basically all I've been working on over the last month.

Before and After of Favorites (Vol. 1)

The first piece is about television, peonies, crystals, and sushi. This painting was the most heavily revised of the four.  I painted over the entire original TV because there was literally nothing I liked about it. I really like it now, especially the flower and the sushi. 

Before and After of Favorites (Vol. 2)

This one is about fiber arts, dinosaurs, tea, cherry blossoms, art, and museums (the dinosaur skull and the painting were my attempt at representing museums). This one is my favorite of the new set.

Before and After of Favorites (Vol. 3)

 The original version of this painting makes me so angry.  I really hate that I'm showing it to you guys, but it's part of this story so here it is.  The new version is MUCH better and it's about Halloween, pumpkins, the full moon, movies, and tattoos (the little birds, it's a stretch, but I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to draw.)

Before and After of Favorites (Vol.4)

 This donut was the very best of the original paintings.  I was actually a little hesitant to change it, but here it is, better than ever! This painting is about donuts (duh), butterflies, sewing, cleaning, and prom dresses.