I paint on wood and use the natural knots and grain of the wood to become part of the painting. This series depicts children becoming animals or perhaps the other way around?
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THE DAWN OF EVIE. This painting was inspired by a young muse of mine named Evie who is transgender. Right now she loves mermaids and I think it's beautiful to pose her as the Little Mermaid who made choices about her body as well. The butterflies are another creature that transforms and I love how they form protective halo around her. The pale blue and pink background is speckled with little white dots and echoes the colours of the transgender flag. This painting was very inspiring for me.
WILD HORSES COULDN'T DRAG ME AWAY. I love the idea of this gang of centaur girls. Who needs a bicycle or a motor cycle when you are half horse. I also loved how all the knots of the wood became spots on the horses on their backs and legs. I imagine they live in some magical land with lollipop tree forests and a tribe of flame haired children.
ONE TRICK PONY. For me the story of this paintings is a bit about that one girl who loved her horse so much she was almost at one with it. And then she met a boy. And it all started to change. The cowboy boots, the horse, the boy, the girl....
CATFISH. This painting is quite large and has so much gorgeous detail in the tail of the fish. I never know if the claws are about to sink in or if they are actually playing. I think everyone interprets it their own way and maybe that says something about the viewer too!
KAT AND MAUS. I love that this little kitty cat of a girl is just playing with the mouse. Or is she. I also love the two knots on her tail and bum. I love making the wood become part of the story. The mouse is made of Japanese origami paper.
CAT BOY. This little fella is wearing traditional Cree mukluks and a Russian fur hat as well as his western shirt. The humming bird is made of a Chinese felt doily. I love how it all pops against the charcoal background.
KITTY CAT. This is the third in the series of the little cat kids. The hummingbird is made of Japanese origami paper and again her bum and tail have the knots of wood. I also love how all three of them have such cute little paws instead of hands. One of my favourite things about this one is how her black hair pops against the crimson background.
UNDER THE SEA. This image looks blurry but it actually has a fine mist of silver all over it to give it an underwater feel. This is a smaller experimental piece that I used a lot of metallics on and experimented with the background, misting it with water and spraying it with metallic paint. I love the effect and it really does feel that you are hanging out with her under the sea.
