Night, Night

Night, Night 14x11 Oil

SOLD

I often find inspiration or subject matter while traveling. I found this guy at an antique store in Lewisburg, West Virginia. His gorilla like stature really appealed to me. What often inspires me to paint a certain toy many times is the humor. They make me laugh. I hope that my viewers are confronted by the same feelings.

I will be going on a plein air painting trip to Denver, Colorado this week. The paintings will be part of a western show at The Gallery in Chattanooga, TN. For more information visit www.redbankgallery.com . I will Post pics here when I get back.

About Toys

Lamby Pie 9x12 Oil Private Collection

I have been painting vintage toys for several years now. In 2006 I was trying to find my creative voice, wanting to paint something different than traditional still life I started to go through my personal belongings. A memory of a stuffed lamb that my sister and I shared as children came to mind. Shortly thereafter I found this toy at my grandparents and went straight to my studio to paint it. After I had painted my first toy painting I started to notice many other abandoned toys, mainly at antique stores. First I found a stuffed penguin. The humorous quality of these toys was very exciting to me. I was really attracted to ones that has this generic quality, unlike fad toys like beanie babies. Finding these unfamiliar abandoned toys related to my beliefs about quality versus mass production and individuality versus popularity. Some of these toys might have been popular at one time but I was drawn to them because of their character. I have painted many toys since "Lamby Pie" and will continue to share them here.