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Fire, Tarot, and the Weight of the World

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 02:49:23 GMT

Despite the horrors of the world, a woman lies prone, taking her feelings from the glasses of wine and turning them into action through the fiery wand. At the time of painting this, I was exploring the symbolism of Tarot.

The initial figure was painted during a class at Fleisher, taught by my favorite teacher, Martin Campos, with my friend Susan as the model. At one point, I even felt compelled to stab a hole into the canvas—a strange, physical need to break the surface. Though I couldn’t break through, the dent remains, a reminder that sometimes art carries scars just as we do.

Originally the figure was blue, set against cyan. Cold and sad. Over time, I worked warmth back into the scene, placing her beside a fire for comfort. Around her, symbols emerged—the Earth as a bomb, Daffy Duck without a bill, a sandwich (or cake?), a bowling ball and pins. Strange imagery, yes, but all carrying personal echoes.

I almost gave this painting away before it was finished. I’m glad I didn’t. It carries too much of my journey to part with it.

Ocean Dreams & the Eye of the Heart

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 02:48:22 GMT

I struggled with this one for a long time, as I struggle now to talk about it. Sometimes after a session I know exactly where to take a painting, and sometimes I’m a thousand layers of stuck. I tried colors that didn’t work, words that fell flat, and shapes that lacked clarity. But mistakes are part of growth, and traces of them remain in this piece.

There are hidden feelings in the murky depths of the nighttime ocean. We come from the ocean. Ocean is Mother. I often dream of swimming at night, at the edge of the beach.

In this painting, a woman reclines on a levy at the beach. Her face is blank, but an eye appears over her heart. It speaks to seeing with the heart, even if the message isn’t fully clear. Some paintings feel like insights; others feel like transmissions from somewhere beyond. This was one of the latter—a reminder that art can carry messages we don’t fully understand in the moment.

The Bonfire, the Ghost, and Resistance

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 02:46:18 GMT

I was curious about underpaintings, so I threw down a quick layer of magenta before heading out to paint. This was summer of 2024, and I was having a ton of anxiety about Project 2025. I can still feel that when I see older iterations of this painting! I lurched my way to the spot, a half a mile uphill, and started with a charcoal drawing. The roof on that structure is still raw charcoal on the acrylic underpainting.

Sometimes you just see things that need to go into a painting—the bonfire and the ghost, the spirit of our resistance. At the top of the painting, I added chaotic, oppressive geometry, representing ill will imposed by the red hats. In the distance sits the Black Omen, a reference for anyone familiar with Chrono Trigger. From there, I let the painting sit for months.

Following the election, following grief both collective and individual, it became clear this was not the totalitarian takeover many had feared. The American people stood together and said NO. As I revised the piece, the Black Omen and much of the oppressive geometry receded.

Today, the threat remains, but so does the fire of resistance. Viva resistance!