Carousel of the Gods

The novel American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a favorite of mine. There is a part in where all of the old gods get together for a meeting to decide what to do about all the pesky new gods. They have this meeting at the House on the Rock in Wisconsin (not Missouri) which is a most bizarre and fascinating place. A and I had the chance to go there back when we were traveling the country and I shot many photos there. I took two photos of the worlds largest indoor carousel (which is also mentioned in the book) and overlaid them together. I then digitally painted over that composite to create this final piece. Careful, looking at it may cause dizziness and disorientation!

Bird Call

This is a painting my wife commissioned from me a while back. The theme of birds silhouetted on a monochromatic background is all the rage right now in home decor shops like Red Tree. (Which we love to kill time in!) Rather than buying one she asked me to whip one up for her to put in her office. I tend to focus on the one who is taking off on his own though the fat one alone on the right makes me smile with his slightly curmudgeon like posture. Maybe the rest are about to follow the one taking flight, maybe not. I'll leave that to you to decide.

Outside of the Box #1

This is number one in a current series of digital artworks. It represents man made compartmentalization being subdivided and stacked on itself. Symbolic of modern development, cubicle office life and the social tendency to place people and things into neat little boxes. However the more we try and place our organic and mysterious experience into stereotypical classifications, the more it becomes apparent that things do not fit so nicely and neatly into perfectly arranged compartments. In fact as we attempt to analyze things down to their core and classify them to the nth degree, nature has a tendency to break down under such scrutiny and present more interesting anomalies that challenge our previous deductions about the nature of reality. Tunnels and doorways open up into previously unfathomable dimensions and possibilities. Eventually our own structured belief systems must melt away to make room for these new and unexpected realizations.