I originally desigend this tattoo for Michael back in August 2005. Michael, who resides in San Francisco, wanted a design of the sun, a symbol he has always had a strong connection to. Over the span of a few weeks we went through several different designs and colours styles before we came up with the perfect image for him.
However, he didn’t actually get the tattoo until July 2009, while visiting Fargo, North Dakota. The tattoo artist did a phenomenal job, and I was extremely impressed with how well it came out.
For his design, the symbol, like Michael himself, is one that radiates creative emergence. The essence is the centre of the sun, which contains the symbol for the origins of the universe, depicting the seed of the universe rotating clockwise in the spiral of potential energy. I’ve met Michael a few times, and the amount of positive and creative energy emerging from him was also what I wanted to capture in the symbol.
(Photo courtesy Michael’s charming husband Jase Wells)
Once again, another wondrous and mystical collaboration with a very willing and open client. Simon emailed me back in January as he was emerging from a dark time in his life. He was turning over a new leaf and embarking on significant changes to his life and mindset. Part of his new direction involved buying a new condo which he wanted to decorate with his own artistic flair, which included a reverence to his life in symbols.
I tend to not paint very much between January and April. I don’t know why. It just sort of happens that way each year. Maybe to give my hand (and head) a rest, maybe just the winter blues tampering with my chi and dampening my motivation. Then as the snow melts so does my hibernating mind, and the ideas start to flow. Then more and more ideas come, and my head explodes into torrent of inspiration and I can’t get to a canvas quick enough.
The wonderful thing about painting for other people is that (both artistically and otherwise) they take you places you wouldn’t normally go if you were only working at a level within your own self. You gain a different perspective by jumping inside their head and crawling around in their skin for a while. Not just to see the world how they see it… but to learn what they have learned by looking at the world this way. It is amazing what you can gain when you are willing to give up your strength, for a time, to learn the strength of another.
About 2 months before Rhonda and I ventured down to see U2 in San Francisco, she started to contemplate the idea of getting a tattoo on our trip. She said if I designed something for her, she’d definitely get a tattoo. Great, it was decided. Then I promptly drew a blank… for a month. Calling up memory banks….. wrrrrrrr….. nuthin.
These were painted for Cyndi and Klaus who were married in April (I think I was at their wedding… it’s a bit foggy…) There are 3 paintings in total.
You know… I had a really good reason for coming up with this name while I was painting this one. But, akin to the fellow who first discovered insulin… I forgot to write down why it is that name struck me. I can tell you, I’m sure it was something brilliant. This is in my living room.
This was originally done for my new house, but realized once I hung it up that the red in the painting was a bit too much for my deep terra cotta walls. Oddly enough, Rhonda had recently renovated her place, and this fit PERFECTLY into the space and colour scheme her bedroom (eerily so), so it didn’t take long for this hanging to find the perfect owner and home that matched it so completely.
This one went to Delores for her partner in crime. I used the turtle and the lizard as symbolism in this hanging, as well as my 2 different images of the sun / moon. Much of this was also done right-handed (injured my hand painting Pending Sun) as there was a rush to get it done so she could give it to him for Christmas. How I suffer for my art!