don’t worry darling.

don’t worry darling.
acrylic on canvas
4″x4″

They write. I paint.

Here is a sneak peak at new pieces that will be for sale at the Durham Art Walk November 21st and 22nd. These pieces are a part of my Faces||Story series.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain! **clapping**

Durham Art Walk

Mark your calendars for a spectacular event in downtown Durham: Durham Art Walk, November 21st and 22nd. There are over 200 locations and over 400 artists. I will be in the lobby of West Village with a new series! Come see me!

Durham Art Walk

The Durham Art Walk is presented and produced by the Durham Arts Council with support from The City of Durham Parks and Recreation Department and many generous community sponsors.

Story Behind the Painting #1

I am initiating a new aspect of my blog, which is called Story Behind the Painting.  Story Behind the Painting will include one blog post each month that will give you background information about a particular painting.  I will share with you my ideas and/or experiences surrounding the painting and the process I used to create the piece. I would love to have your feedback, so please comment!

Story Behind the Painting #1: AFRICAN GIRL WITH CUP

A good friend of mine, Garry Dodds, was in Africa – Kenya for 3 months and Uganda for 2 months – this past year working with various NGOs, families, community organizations, and other groups/individuals he found along the way. While in Nakuru, Kenya, he volunteered at Arap Moi Children’s Home, a local orphanage, teaching various subjects like English and History. During recess he would play with the kids, including a young girl who has “two really big funny front teeth,” loves to dance, is “funny, and not too shy at all.” She would dance by “placing [her] hands on [her] hips and shifting around somehow.”

Garry sent me a letter from Uganda with this photo of her included:

I loved her eyes as well as the colors and composition of the photo.
And thus, using my own style and media, a painting was born…

I first started with a gray background. Next, I sketched the girl. I then taped off and covered the sketch in order to spray paint the green part of the background. Color was then applied to the girl and cup, and all was outlined in black.

This painting is a part of the Faces||Story series, which includes many other portraits in this style. View the complete series here.

Thanks Garry for sharing your stories of life’s journey with me.

Be on the look out for next month’s Story Behind the Painting.

New Items for Sale!

I added new paintings and drawings on canvas and paper to my Etsy store, including Fuzzy Reflections, a piece exploring reflections – both thoughts and mirrored images – and the distortions of reality they can create:

Purchase this piece and others at my Etsy store, tINK makes art.