Revenge Of The Dead

There is a story behind these paintings. I feel it symbolically tells my entire story as an artist. There was a time when I was very afraid to paint portraits of people. It just seemed a daunting task. I had seen it done poorly and I was afraid. The first commissioned order of a person that I decided to accept was from a photo of a lady with Day of the Dead make-up. I decided that was not so overwhelming. The face did not have to be real skin tones. I accepted the order and set to work. It took me over a week, drawing her, layering and blending skin tones and coming back to it, adjusting, worrying, and readjusting… Finally I had surprised myself by painting an amazing likeness. I showed a photo to the customer, who said he loved it and was amazed.

As a new artist, I had not required a down payment. Rookie mistake. The customer tried saying he thought the price was a different amount, but I had it all in writing and would not budge. I kept the painting and hoped that my week of work and worry would pay off, as I felt this was gallery quality work. I entered it in a contest, which led to two gallery offers. I was feeling pretty good about my decision.

Last October, Jana’s RedRoom asked me to show this piece and create a series of three others. I got to work excitedly, thinking I would come out on top for sure. The show was a success, and got me an offer for a show at Twisted Artist Gallery, which I accepted. This original cursed piece, along with one other, was showing in the hallway of The Arts Factory when someone actually stole both of them right off the wall!

Many fellow artists shared announcements of this in hopes to catch the thieves, but to this date, they have not been caught and the paintings have not been recovered. Another artist has also had work stolen since.

A few good things came of all this. It did gather community support and public awareness of my work. If my work had to be lost, I’d like to gain something from that. I also gained wisdom. I have grown a lot as an artist and business person from all of this. I’ve stood my ground, picked myself up and tried again. All great lessons. I am determined to come out on top. I’ve painted these girls again, sexy and fierce, with their message to the thieves that they won’t be defeated!

These girls are for anyone who has been victimized, crossed, stolen from, or stepped on. Like mama said, “When life gives you lemons, eat them whole. Choke them down – skin, seeds, pulp and all, without breaking eye contact. Maybe life will stop being such a jerk if you show it that you’re done ****ing around.”

-Mandy Joy

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