With cherry season in full effect and a bowl of sweet guys in the fridge, a new series of watercolors was begging to be set down. All are 6″ square on paper. Here’s the first four, more to come after the Dry Run revision. Which is to say, imminently.

The latest non-Elvis drawings are here: “Pretty in Pink.”

It all started on a bad day, when I wrote “abandonment!” (punctuation included) real big on the wall, in a gesture at once cathartic and kind of funny. Magenta colored-pencil in hand, I set to writing the larger-than-life, Molly-RIngwald-meet-Ed-Ruscha words with a anal fourth-grader’s determination. Through the ongoing series, I want to know: can the text cut both ways? Jubilant and  devastated? Ironic and honest?

Colored pencil on 18″ x 24″ bright white paper. Click for a bigger, no-red-border version.

…this time, with yellow tulips. Nine new paintings, all 6″ square, watercolor on paper.

the first tulips of the year are out, and they are yellow.

1, 2, & 3:

4 & 5:

6 & 7:

I’ve got five pieces in a show at Vox Pop in Ditmas Park. It’s up all month, opening reception is tonight, Jan 17, from 7-10. Take the Q to Cortelyou, hand a louie and go down about 4 blocks. It’s on the corner, at Stratford. Did I mention $1 beer?

it’s 08 now, but still working on the same old oceans. making a trip out to brighton this weekend for new material.

also working on my kitchen sink (one grimacing friend last week–”what’s the matter with your sink?”–was the straw that broke the camel). it and its new coat of “tough as tile” are currently “curing,” and i’m sure the tub’s off-gassing all sorts of wonder into my apartment. dishes, they go to the bathtub until Tuesday. as such, currently soliciting invitations to dinner.

A quick note to let you know my mouth paintings are up at a couple of places:

1. Antagonist Art’s Gallery Night at Niagara Bar.
Thursday, December 13, 9 pm – 2 am
Niagara, 112 Ave A(Corner of East 7th St and Ave A, across from Thompkins Sq. Park)

2. Chashama’s/La Superette Holiday Art Sale.
Thursday through Sunday, 2 pm – 8 pm, though Dec 22
112 West 44th St (between Broadway and 6th)
*some of the work is on rotation, so if you don’t see a lemon up, ask!

And thanks to all that came to Dam Stuhltrager Gallery on Friday for the book party. It was great.
Okay, back to “work.”
And by work, I mean I’m writing a story on the future-imperfect.
Kisses.

dispatching from brooklyn. more mouths. bigger now, 12 inches by 16. two cars, three oceans. i’ll be picking the pacific.

Between stories and editing I’ve kept on painting, this week was a handful (mouthful?) of John Deere tractors.

These pictures stood the test of Nebraska: my mother, my publisher, and two of my publisher’s sisters are from the Cornhusker state, and when they saw the paintings at my reading/open house, the reaction was along the lines of “what is THAT doing THERE?” While tractors get dirty, they are far from lewd, but people see what they want. It’s a bit ludicrous that as soon as something goes in your mouth it becomes obscene, especially considering that these paintings are exploring visual representations of speech and what comes out of your mouth more than vulgarity. In any case, seeing people’s reactions to the mouths, both good and bad, has been great. In addition to a couple sales, the work landed me a ride on a real tractor.

i’ve been painting, pucker up. each is 6″square, watercolor on white paper.
apologies for the color, taking pictures of things stuck onto my fridge makes everything look gray.