More regrettable incidents in a life filled with bitter remorse.

'Heaven Awaits' 11 inches x 14 inches. Mixed media on found canvas board, 2011.

I have half a dozen Jesus related artworks appearing in The Jesus Show which opened last Saturday night at the fabulous RayRay gallery at 530 Broadway Street, Chico, California.  Religiously speaking I go through life as a kind of disinterested agnostic until I have the misfortune to actually encounter organized religion first hand, at which point I rapidly transform into a card-carrying atheist. Despite this lackadaisical attitude to religion, when Ray Ray invited me to contribute to the show I decided to take the plunge, figuring I would be able to find a rich vein of humor in a subject that’s already knee-deep in absurdity. Hopefully I succeeded. Because when all’s said and done, if I did believe in Jesus I’d have to believe he would enjoy a good laugh.

And, judging by this promo video for the show, the folks at RayRay agree:

If you’re feeling particularly spiritually stout-hearted you can see all six of the pieces I made for the show on my Society 6 page right here. And if you can’t be bothered here’s one more to be going on with.

'All Things To All Men' 16 inches x 20 inches, Mixed Media on Found Canvas Board.

And just to make the whole thing seem totally legit, you can even read a review of the show right here. Apparently my contribution “ isn’t a mockery of faith… so much as a playful, sarcastic teasing of any moral sanctimony.” a statement I’d have a hard time disagreeing with. Hallelujah!

Other Gallery Related News:

After almost 10 years of being represented by Hang in San Francisco, I recently decided to part company with the gallery. New ownership and a change in attitude to things like ‘output’ and ‘market value’ had made me even less comfortable with the gallery than I already was. (I’ve always been pretty much the token supplier of ‘quirky’ artwork – along with the fabulous Dave Warnke - amidst a plethora of well executed but pretty asinine decorative abstract and landscape paintings.) This won’t actually make any real difference to the amount that my work gets shown, since it’s been quite a while since Hang actually Hung any of my work, but it does mean I won’t be selling any more pieces through them. The good news for you and me is that, since there  won’t be a 50% gallery commission on every piece bought, I can actually sell my work for a more reasonable price and yet still make more money. With that in mind I’ve posted a bunch of new work for sale on my Etsy shop. If you have the time and the inclination I’d humbly implore you to have a look. After all, nothing say ‘Happy Holidays, Sweetie Pie’ like the gift of slightly dodgy artwork.

William H. The Pathetic President.

Just finished this illustration for Cincinnati Magazine for an article by New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins about William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the USA, who apparently hailed from Ohio.

As a President he was a pretty sorry specimen, his claims to fame all pretty much amounting to spectacular non-achievements. Firstly he gave the longest inaugural speech in history, which would be bad enough, but unfortunately March 4, 1841, was a cold and wet day and Our William chose to wear neither overcoat nor hat. This was allegedly to demonstrate his robustness, which had been called into question due his advancing years. As a consequence of this foolhardiness he developed both pneumonia and pleurisy shortly after. Despite the attentions of the top medics of the day and the liberal application of  opium, castor oil, and leeches he proceeded to drop dead exactly one month later. Which made his the Presidential term the shortest in history, coming in at 30 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes. It also made him the only President never actually to move into the White House.

No wonder he looks so bloody miserable.