Behind the schemes...

I found this little guy or should I say lady laying around my office and thought it was interesting enough to post.  Nearly forgot I had sketched this over a year ago before I even attempted starting.  The original title was apparently "I'm all fine by myself here, thank you", which became "I Need My Space"  Anyway as an artist I love seeing the process and behind the scenes, so hopefully someone appreciates this.  It was awesome seeing someone so excited to win a piece I painted on the floor of my old apartment.  Hope the lucky lady that won this piece last night at the show gives her a good home.

Joe signing off.

My 2nd annual 50/50 show, showing...

Last year was my first year in the wonderful 50/50 show up in Cleveland, OH.  The overall experience was great so I decided that I wanted to be apart of it again.  This year's piece is a watercolor/ink titled "I Need Some Space".  Featuring two of my favorite subject matter...women and outer space.  Sure the title may be a little tongue and cheek, but why not?

Poster's don't preach

I'm sick of this poster. I'm tired of the played out parodies. I hate the overall idea. Keep calm during war time and stay busy you little useless worker bee. And the rediscovery of this thing is like opening up old wounds. Now every damn hobbyist has a "keep calm and..." fill in the blank with whatever the hell it is you do. So how about not. I'm tired of it's fucking face.

Hopefully I can print it soon. :)

Ambient Pressure

Had this laying around "the studio" aka my apartment. Been meaning to shoot her, obviously she's another piece from my women series. I thought it would be awesome to feature a woman wearing only those awesome old school diving helmets. She was going to have a tube wrapping around her from it initially but I opted out along the way somehow. My paintings never set out to find some greater meaning usually, but I wanted to make a statement how we all want to protect ourselves even at our most vulnerable moments. Sorry about the bluer one, my camera is merely a sony cybershot. Here's more of 'Ambient Pressure'...

The King has returned...

Or some clever subtitle like that. Here is the 2nd piece in my MJ series of 10 I hope to do. Obviously it's still from one of my favorite MJ eras (BAD!) and it still uses one of my favorite hues to use...purples. Except this one is a bit more on the Blue side. Ummm, yaaa...Don't stop til' you get enough. Allow me to apologize in advanced as this wasn't shot under studio lighting so the coloring is a bit off, as the paper is much whiter than what is show. I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time to color correct it. I eventually need to shoot them all in the studio. But you know with the days melting away lately it gets harder to do things ya know, that you want to do.

Michael Jackson Opus

Today when I got off work I got great news. I found out the artwork I submitted for upcoming Michael Jackson Opus, a 404 page museum quality book that weighs over 26 pounds, was selected among 25 others to appear in the book. A truly lasting and fitting tribute to the King of Pop. To say I am honored would be the understatement of the decade, I nearly fell over when I got the news. He inspired me throughout life and I find it more than fitting that my artwork is now featured in something that forever connects me to him. I can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that I have accomplished this and that it will be seen by family, friends, and fans of MJ worldwide. I am greatly humbled and still a bit flabbergasted.

Cruise on over to the link above to learn more about the Opus or to purchase one while they last.

This one was for you Mike. Rest In Peace.

The Birth of Ectoplasm

Here is a piece I did last week that I wanted to post.  I've always been into paranormal stuff and ectoplasm, its just cool.  And there's something sexy, beautiful, and quite lovely about a pregnant woman in the nude.  I was just going to paint her but I ended up adding ectoplasm forming a human shape above hovering above her.  It's as if it's coming out of her and attacking her at the same time.  Does it mean harm her or does it want to love her?  You decide...oh yea and it's a little twisted which is just up my alley.