Acrylic on canvas 22″ x 30″.
The muse is hungry after my long hiatus . It was nice reconnecting with my roots after spending practically all of last year painting huge murals. Not to mention the truly profound experience I had being pregnant almost the entire time. Then giving birth. It sounds cliche, but the whole experience was really moving because I thought it would change me completely, but it hasn’t. I’m still as fearless as I was when I began! What a surprise!!
Acrylic on canvas. 22″ x 30″.
This piece is part of a Dr. Who series I’m working on. The show is amazing on so many levels! The themes are universal and there is something really beautiful about time traveling through the universe in something so ordinary as a police box. The Dr. himself has taken on many incarnations since the series began back in 1963. But this series is centered on my favorite incarnation, the 10th Dr., David Tennant. He is both timeless and timely all at once. He brings an element of fun to the dangers that plague our planet. He has a rebelious energy about him that I think serves the Dr. very well. The show is inspired so I think this is a great way to start the new year. Happy 2013 all!!
Paint pen and ink on paper. 14″ x 20″.
This is like one of those days where every cloud in the sky is perfectly formed and the sun is smiling down on everything. A day when everything goes incredibly well.
Acrylic and gouache on canvas, 18″ X 24″ (each).
Ahh. The joy of painting is sometimes inexplicable. The process of creating this series was quite profound. I stood on the brink of my bare canvas, in total submission to the muse. Then I dimmed the lights after each 2 hour interval. Each time, a whole new palette splashed across my subject. Instead of a simple study of light, it became an exploration of sight. By the end of the month I was left with this series. Each piece is a universe, eternal all to itself.
It always fascinates me how people’s facial features are as distinctive as their fingerprints. The human face reveals a sense of history, both past and future.
Acrylic, pen, and ink on paper, 12″ X 18″.
Voltaire was once inclined to think that eyes were the windows to the soul. That becomes more apparent each time I look at this painting. The joy of starting fresh, of being loved, and of feeling brand new all radiating from her eyes! I felt as much glee painting this, as the baby did at that moment! Its the potential inside the painting that really moves me.
Paint pen and ink on paper, 18″ X 24″.
This painting took about ten days. The two subjects share a basic instinct. I like to leave it to the viewer to decide what that really is.
Paint pen and ink on paper, 18″ X 24″.
They say when it rains it pours, but on this particular rainy South Florida day the rain fell silently on our beautiful city. I looked out from a two story building at work to a mysterious place. Silver beads saturated everything in sight and for the first time I was able to see the magic in the well. All the different tints and hues of blue and gray gave reverence to the whole place! The beauty of decay, the wilting of the economy, and a residue of greatness just jumped out of the whole area.
Acrylic on canvas, 24″ X 30″.
Chief Seattle once wrote that man didn’t weave the web of life, he was merely a strand of it. He pointed out that ,”…whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” That’s what I was grooving on when I painted this. The idea that if we allowed ourselves to be still long enough, then we would be able to look around and, you know, see ourselves in everything.
This one really resonates with people. I think it reminds them of “one of those days.” We’ve all been there. It’s like breakfast is burnt, you’re late for work, and all your problems kinda run together like a watercolor in the rain.
Colored pencil, Paint pen, and ink on paper, 12″ X 18″.
I think kids are really great to paint because most of the time, they wear their enthusiasm like a second skin. They are tabla rasa; a clean slate, so they are truly incandescently happy. They make really fun subjects!
Acrylic, paint pen, and ink on paper, 18″X24″.
To me, this piece really deals with the awkwardness of adolescence. The idea of being in a state of pre-self discovery and everything you do just feels so off kilter. It’s a time of crafty defense mechs and little bouts of self- deception. Elsie’s expression is pure joy, but by the time I get to the eyes they’re saying something quite different!
Acrylic on canvas, 24″ X 30″.
Dr. Strange is another fave from the comics. What always intrigued me most about our modern mythos was their habitual references to physics. What I thought about when I painted this was the idea that you can’t create energy, but you can convert it to some other form. In the painting Dr. Strange is having to make the best of the conversion because his powers lost some of their potency in the transfer.
Photoshopped Print from Mural, 11″ X 14″.
The mural this was based on is actually 6′ X 9′. It was done in my last semester of college. Up until that point, I hadn’t painted very many portraits. It was painted on several pages of old newspapers that I glued onto raw canvas. The whole process of painting it was phenomenal! Everyone sees it differently and each time I look at it, I see something new. I think that makes it something else. Entirely.
Acrylic on canvas, 20″ X 30″.
The Avatar painting was really a metaphor for certain forms of inspiration. Whether you’re deciding what to cook for dinner, writing a book, running for President, or just saving the world, the muse has clearly seized you.
Paint pen and ink on paper, 18″ X 24″.
This piece was done within the 5-day work week. Its always been one of my faves because of the strong contrast between the two subjects. The juxtaposition of Elle to her mom is life in a nutshell. Children have such spirit and for a while everything about the world is so enchanting and exciting! Then they grow up and before long, the responsibilities of life kick in.
Acrylic on Canvas, 20″ X 36″.
This piece has always delighted me more than some of the others because of its perfect union of light and subject matter. That high noon sun light that pours itself over everything and really brings them to life. It makes Rian’s skin blossom. The shadows become like smooth brown sugar at the base of the pumpkins. It makes for really yummie texture!
Amore Colore: Nina's Color Lab. 