The Joyful Octopus:
Collection 1
Paintings inspired by this photo, taken by Amber Doan at Shedd’s Aquarium
The Unfinished One
The Unfinished Two
The Unfinished Three
Scroll for The Details:
The First One
It was June of 2022, I was working a stressful job, I was watching the world catch fire, and I was struggling with a chronic illness that was a mystery at the time. Painting escaped me from those horrors; it had become an addictive positive-feedback loop. I hadn't really painted in oil since college in the 2000s and rediscovering that medium was exactly the kind of challenge that was exciting and spurred on the whole project.
The Layered One
Once I started on The First One, I realized that part of painting in oil is literally watching (waiting for) paint dry... which is brutal when painting is the pacifier. So. I devised an elaborate drying system made of pizza boxes so that I could work on at least 6 at a time with the least amount of space necessary. This system was essential for this One in particular as I used a classic technique of painting in thin, transparent layers that took a million years to dry and a million layers to develop the rich and dynamic colors- without that pizza scheme.... I don't wanna think about it
The Alla Prima One
After receiving deep satisfaction from The First One and The Layered One, I was compelled to continue. I'm not sure when I fully realized the scope of this project, but reviewing classical painting techniques seemed to be working out so far..
Alla Prima is Italian for At First Attempt. The paint is wet the whole time here, so color blending is different than that of the The Layered One. To comabt that challenge I chose a limited palette. This was almost Alla Prima, it was more like At Third Attempt... but still
The Color Theory One
Stuck in the basics here still, but I did learn so much about the value of painting with a dirty palette and brush. Painted mixed in a way I won’t have don’t on purpose, to great surprise and joy. I focused on the color here and lost a bit on the little suckers. Those suckers can suck the joy out if you let them!
The Kandinsky One
Still thinking about school here; I enjoyed Art History and Wassily Kandinsky had an interesting bend to fine art that captures my attention in a splendid way. The unique shapes and colors that he seemingly ‘doodled’ in paint. I jive with all that and I was getting bored of the same ol’ tentacle and those dang suckers…
The Matisse One
Henri Matisse’s The Dessert: Harmony in Red (The Red Room) played with the planes and depth in a room painted a vermillion red. I was way outside my comfort zone here, I didn’t really like the outcome- the red is not quite vermillion. BUT! I’m so glad that I’ve kept it included in the collection- the positive response it received on the first public showing made me realize that art is subjective, including my own.
The Koons One
Jeff Koons is the remarkable artist responsible for those giant sculptures of metallic balloon animals. He also did that one sculpture of Michael Jackson with his Chimp, Bubbles. Koons’ unserious subject matter, the bold colors and giant scale make him one of my most treasured contemporary artists. To achieve the shiny metallic look I ordered a tiny metal balloon dog and went cross-eyed staring at the reflections… then I just went for it, which in painting is kinda just what you gotta do. I actually struggled greater with the solid white background and keeping it crisp
The Mondrian One
This was a lesson in patience and acceptance. Oil does not do straight lines easily- it kinda blobs out a little and painters tape ended in a mess. Acceptance it is. Perfectionism is poisonous and unattainable anyway. Peit Mondrian’s iconic style was an obvious choice to me, but much like The Matisse One I was unsure about the end result of this one, but I really like it a
The Moore One
I wrote a B- paper on Henry Moore in college. He did these really sad and captivating sketches of people sleeping in London’s underground during WWII, while sheltering during the Blitz. Those sketches were scribbly and urgent and left a memory on me. Moore also did large wooden sculptures that were human-esk with satisfying curves that speak to me. The Detroit Institute of Art owns Moore’s piece that I took inspiration from here- Reclining Figure and I was fortunate enough to see it in person.
The Other Mondrian One
Based on a very different body of work by Peit Mondrian, I was way more excited about this ending that the other one. Gray Tree feels so much freer than the precision blocks of primary, black, and white. Before starting this series I would have said that my style is better suited to precision, but I’ve learned that the opposite is true and a way healthier approach to life.
The Kusama One
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who is notable in many ways. She has such a sad story and her art has given her a foundation for life. Art is healing and communicative across humanities. I love her vibrancy and tried my best to capture a sliver of that with my first use of bismuth yellow here.
The Van Gogh One
Vincent Van Gogh, painted a lot in wet-in-wet or Alla Prima so that’s how I approached this homage. With Alla Prima, there is less control and a lot more happenstance- sooooo… I dragged my feet on this one; I’m puckered a lot and controlling the paint is like ointment for it. This is inspired, not by the typical Starry Night, but by the similar Starry Night over the Rhone, I saw this one at the Detroit Institute of Arts when the Van Gogh Exhibit was in town and it was the first piece of art that brought tears to my eyes at the sight of it. The blues achieved were overwhelming to me- he somehow matched the color of my soul exactly and that knowledge leaked from my eyes
The Jack White One
The prolific and inspiring musician, Jack White, has left an indelible mark on me- in the best way possible. Painting is how I communicate- and painting about music is... kinda like apple-ing about oranges, you know? but, this is how I am capable of showing him respect and gratitude.
“Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the money in the world, all the colors in the palette, anything you want — that just kills creativity.” - Jack White in a 2010 documentary Under Great White Northern Lights. I thought about this a lot when I was struggling with a chronic mystery illness- I needed to create as much as I possibly could. NOW!
“Great work comes from great joy. Leave the angst for the movies; do art – that is fun.” - Jack White. Aye aye, captain!
The Neon One
This one was so fun! It was the first one that I really pushed the image to a more imaginative place. The brick wall was fun to paint with all the loose details but logical shadows. Tedious! and most things that are tedious I find them enjoyable torture.
Fun > annoyed > fun > ugh > FUN! > Nooooooooo >Yay! > omg, why’d i do this?! > OMG! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!*
The Tornado One
Nothing joyful about tornadoes.
HOWEVER. I still had a great time painting this, and it kinda happened all at once… unexpectedly.. like a whirlwind it came outta no where and there it was.
Neat.
The Robot One
Mechanical/organic mishmash!
That solid color background in oil shouldn’t have been the nightmare that it was… but sometimes I just gotta learn the hard ways (trial and unexpected error… why didn’t that ever dry? ugh. wipe it off and try again!
The Scritchy Playful One
Imperfection on purpose is perfection
The Cow Snatching One
Something real satisfying painting something ridiculous and whimsical with the same materials as historically important works that dedicated to documenting their history. We have cameras for all that now, and I’m so happy I don’t have to paint all the atrocities of our time to preserve history.
Oh yeah, I used to have alien nightmares as a kid… hmmm, I guess that’s here too… nightmare whimsy? That would be a great movie genre
The Graffiti One
Once I started really pushing the imagination on these images, with The Neon One especially, my people started suggesting all kinds of good themes!
The dirty wall was the best fun on this one!
The Groovy One
Hell yeah! I feel like lava lamps were made explicitly for the joy they bring. Well, now it’s probably joy + nostalgia
This one outta context of the rest of the collection isn’t a tentacle at all.
The Jungle One
I’m a Professional at unnecessary details! I loved doing the little bits and bongles here… all totally made up
I tried too hard to put a head on the end of the ‘snake’… the proportions never fit and I finally realized that it’s a tentacle and a manufactured world that doesn't need to ‘make sense’
The Stained Glass One
If I had approached this one in the beginning of my project it would have tripped me up more than it did. I used to try really hard to hide my brush strokes (ugh, I really fought with acrylic paint because it leaves hard edges that frustrated me) but here, they were there on purpose to mimic glass texture and I used some thin glazing layers on top of the texture layers to give it the luminous vibrancy
The Volcano One
I’ve had vivid nightmares periodically in my lifetime and a recurring image is one of a volcano exploding in the backyard and lava is showering down or oozing under the walls of the house. Makes sense living in Southwest Michigan
The lava was so deeply satisfying that this image spurred off the Volcano mini series
The Flamingo One
Tropics and vacations, flamingos provoke feelings of warm sand and teal water in most. They are that and more for me; a symbol of a beloved family member lost to a time that was brutal on purpose- the AIDS epidemic in the 80s- our bigot leaders spread fear and hate that legitimized abandoning people who were terminal.
I wish we were further away from that than we are.
The Jack O’Lantern One
At some point it seemed right to do a holiday one…. Halloween is the most tolerable one to me