SIDESHOW BOB'S CARNIVAL OF ODDITIES

"Step right up!" This snake-charming siren is my contribution to a show of carnival banner-inspired art. I'm interested in exploring vernacular American art outside traditional highbrow vehicles. Imagine this lurid banner on a sideshow tent, luring farmboys in from the midway and promising lurid mysteries within. One thin dime, one tenth of a dollar!

My contribution to the climate change show at SCCC. This cranky old survivalist just ain't buying it. He's got his gun and his Humvee and the possibility of an eco-catastrophe puts a snap in his trunks. Click to embiggen.

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My contribution to the climate change show at SCCC. This cranky old survivalist just ain't buying it. He's got his gun and his Humvee and the possibility of an eco-catastrophe puts a snap in his trunks. Click to embiggen.

Sifting through artwork for a group show by our troupe of ne'er do wells, the Friends of the Nib. The four-eyed gunsel at left is mine, and the Frank cartoon at right is by Jim Woodring. Coming soon: First Thursday at Howard House.

THE KENSHO TRAMPS

The Kensho Tramps have settled in for the night on the edge of nowhere.

In Zen, "Kensho" refers to an awakening--a glimpse--seeing through illusion into the true nature of things. You may recognize some of these enlightened hobos from your travels, but the dog in the foreground is the late Lily, beloved pet of the painting's owners, Brian and Stephanie Saklofsky.

MIDNIGHT AT THE CAFE NOIR

Who's been talking? Telling everything I know? Blue Man contemplates beauty in a smoky joint on the edge of town. The music jumps, jives and wails. There's a grill in the back, and a rack of ribs in a steel drum barbecue. Maybe you know the gal with the flower. She's as hot as a red pepper, and sweet as cherry wine.

This is what I call serpent surrealism.

TRIO

"Trio" by Robert Rini

This was part of a public mural commissioned by the City of Seattle that triggered a heated debate about public art. Watch the news story about the vandalism of this piece and the rest of the "Friends of the Nib" mural commissioned by the City of Seattle:



If you know who vandalized the mural, or where the artwork is, please call the KOMO News Problem Solvers at (206) 404-4402.

BLACK MARKET EGG

These slinky denizens drift through a dark world of intrigue, romance, deception, and double-cross, where disenchanted idealists knock back shots and hustlers offer anything -- for a price! Through swirling cigarette smoke, you catch a glimpse of an extremely rare, black market egg. Welcome to the occupation.

For a list of my favorite films noir, click here.

HIGH STAKES

Never eat in a place called "Mom's," and never play poker with the gods, or even demigods -- regardless of their religion. This piece is an obvious riff on the old "Dogs Playing Poker" calender illustrations. I painted it for the "Gods and Monsters" show at Roq la Rue, a hipster gallery and the flagship of the pop surrealism movement in Seattle.

The best way to leave a casino with a million bucks is to start with two million.

CONCEPT DRAWINGS FOR AN INDIE FILM

This Fall, David Miller and Derick Avitt commence production of an indie film, "Love in the Year 2000." According to David Miller, this is "a visionary science fiction film set in the future. The ambitious production will create a work of bold post-modernity, entirely relevant to the present in which we live."

The goal of concept drawing for film is to help visualize the script and "concretize" this world about to be created. The trick is keeping it fresh and not relying too heavily on the conventions of the genre. As you can see, the final painting never strayed far from the original concept, though more details were added from the script by screenwriter Miller, who was available to help me flesh out his written words.



This is an early rough version of the trailer for the film featuring my concept art.

ROGUE'S GALLERY

With the success of the film "Pirates of the Caribbean" it seems that pirates are everywhere. I did this piece for a pirate art show in Vancouver, BC, and now it belongs to the young buccaneer Skyler Abahazy. Here I was trying more for N.C. Wyeth than Walt Disney.

If you haven't heard the great album of pirate ballads and sea chanteys, "Rogue's Gallery," you're missing out on something special. The music never fails to put me in the mood to plunder the high seas.

ANDY WARHOL LOOKS A SCREAM

click to enlarge comic

"A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it." – The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

NO ONE EXPECTS THE INQUISITION

This was done with a nib pen and bottle of black ink, for a show with my fellow "Friends of the Nib," a present-day medieval art guild that believes in using traditional tools and materials to make art.

WHAT'S CHIHULY AFRAID OF?

This illustration was NOT used as part of the promotion for "Chihuly Over Venice." With all due respect, I hold Mr. Dale Chihuly and his legal team in the highest regard. Some call him "the Picasso of glass," and a glassmaster, and others call him a charlatan, a pantaloon, and a hedge-born bladder. Whatever you may think, he sure makes big chandeliers.

FEAR OF ART

"Fear of Art" is a hard-boiled film-noir, a meta-art about art, in which a big lug of a detective--formerly an artist sent up for art crimes--scours the seamy underworld of art galleries and museums with his sidekick, a work-study gallery attendant fresh out of art school and bursting with wall-text explanations for every occasion. Together, they run a dangerous gauntlet of art directors and curators, hammer-swinging prep crews and two-fisted painters, savvy patrons and axe-wielding budgetcutioners, big time collectors and small time crooks. Gentle as roses, tough as blackjacks, these mugs prowl the periphery in search of truth and beauty.

FEAR OF ART (detail)

DOG CIRCUS

Smell the peanuts and sawdust? This is the dog circus. This was commissioned by artist Jim Rittimann, who makes wonderful imaginary creatures from actual bones and leaves. A former rodeo rider, Rittimann also trains dogs for agility trials. They proved to be great models, especially the Boston Terriers. I hired a bug wrangler for the insect models. Oh, and no animals were harmed in the making of this painting.

THE DA VINCI COLD

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a flat-out genius, no question about it. A brilliant painter, scientist, mathematician, inventor, anatomist, architect, sculptor and musician -- he was the archetypal Renaissance Man who could do everything but cure the common cold.

SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME

This is what happens when you mix Albrecht Durer with Ernie Bushmiller. Originally inspired by Masaccio's fresco in the Brancacci Chapel, "The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden," this painting now resides in the Wendy Cox collection.

The question remains, is the Red Angel a guardian protecting Nancy and Sluggo, or a heavenly bouncer seeing them to the door?