My latest commissioned painting, Confluence

Confluence | 36" x 36" | acrylic on polyethylene and paper on wood board

My latest commissioned painting was made for an office, my company's office, actually. We just moved to a new space that is close to the Chicago River. Our new color scheme reflects that. The wall that was designated for hanging the painting is almost a square shape, and the shape of the painting follows suit. The square shape needed diagonal waves to create a sense of movement. They are also in keeping with the river theme.

I made this conceptual sketch with ordinary office supplies because I didn’t have time to get my Prismacolor markers, colored pencils, and other drawing supplies from my studio. Instead, I created some squares in a Microsoft Word document, printed it out on standard printer paper, and drew variations of my ideas in pencil, then in pen, and colored it in with highlighters, permanent markers, and ballpoint pens.

I scanned my favorite concept into the computer and used Photopea, a free web-based Photoshop alternative, to tweak the colors and enhance the highlights and shadows. 

I used some of the polyethylene foam sheets and Kraft paper that I'd been saving to create a wavy surface. I didn't follow my sketch like a blueprint. Instead, I improvised.

After spending some time in the new office space, I decided to use richer, deeper shades of teal and green that better reflect the new furniture, finishes, and accessories. 

the edge of a glass door in the office

While working on my painting, I watched Geoffrey Baer's Chicago River Tour, a documentary produced by our local PBS station, WTTW. That was what inspired the title. "Confluence" is an area where rivers meet, and the word felt fitting. 

Here are some detail shots that give you a closer look at the texture and color variations. There are a few different shades of metallic teal, as well as emerald and copper.

I really enjoyed creating this commission and would love to do more custom pieces for anyone who's interested. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to make one last big painting before the end of the year.

a tragedy told in screenshots

We have 45 days of freedom left before America descends into Hell on a golden escalator. This is not the future I want. This is not the kind of world I want to live in. Social media is an inadequate medium for expressing complicated thoughts, but that hasn't stopped us from trying. The months leading up to the election were full of misdirected anger, masochistic defeatism, and hyperbolic language and for the past month, I have seen a lot of misplaced schadenfreude.

My political opinions are too complicated to be expressed concisely for social media. I prefer to blog about them. I needed a month to figure out what I wanted to say because I am so angry and disgusted. Hot takes aren't my thing. I think I still need more time. Perhaps I will save my final analysis of this time for my next art book. In the meantime, for your consideration and for the historical record, here are some screenshots that I have saved from this cursed election season. They help to tell the story of how we got here and where we might be headed. They answer important questions like, "Why are we in this mess?" and "How did we get here?" They may lead you to ask questions like, "What is wrong with people?"

This is a tragedy told in screenshots. I didn't redact any names because these were public posts and if the people who posted them feel ashamed of themselves now, that's not my problem. I have not edited out any profanity or slurs, so be forewarned.

Apparently some very online leftists are fine with collective punishment as long as it happens to American civilians. According to them, we all deserve to suffer. This time the election wasn't stolen, but purchased by the richest man in the world.  To me, the real tragedy is not that Harris lost, but that Trump won.