Appetite, completed acrylic painting full process

"Appetite" is my last painting of 2022. When I first sketched this out, I didn't care for the design and considered scrapping it. I'm happy that I didn't! Throughout the process, a few of y'all shared with me your interpretations of this venus fly trap. A couple of my favorites were "healing the devine feminine" and "being helped in a way that hurts". I think both meanings fit, and I think it's so cool when people see something in my art!!! What do you make of this painting?

Acrylic paint and glitter on 8"×10" canvas board.

Open Eyed, completed acrylic painting full process

I haven't had as much time for my personal art recently, but I still managed to create this mini-painting I'm calling "Between the Lines"! Posca markers, acrylic paint and holographic glitters on a miniature 3"×3" canvas panel. A small, square painting of blue eye gazing through the V of their middle and ring fingers. The fingers cast a shadow that resembles sharp teeth over the face.

Nothing Sacred in the End, acrylic painting full process and insight

"Nothing Sacred in the End" depicts a crumbling angel statue, presumably overlooking a cemetery, with the sun at her back. The sun is partially cloaked in thick, black clouds hanging in the sky. A crow breaks into flight above the angel's head, leaving feces dripping down the angel's face, imitating the appearance of tears. This painting is created in acrylic with mica pigments and holographic glitter, sealed in epoxy resin on a 19"x24"x2" stretched canvas.

Like all of my paintings, "Nothing Sacred in the End" started out as a feeling that evolved into a sketch. I've had this composition on my mind for a long time (at least since 2020). I was hesitant to paint it because the subject matter is a bit darker than what I usually depict. Clearly, I chose to give it a shot, and once drawn, I went with a super warm color scheme. I created a stark red underpainting, and first worked on the shadows and tones of the angel statue. Once I was happy with that, I mixed (knock-off) Black 2.0 pigments with black acrylic to create an ultra-deep black for the dramatic shadows and details. Yellow micro-glitter was mixed with clear acrylic medium and painted on the sun and throughout the image to imitate the effect of warm sunlight. Overall, I was focusing on a "fire-and-brimstone"-inspired color palette with a simple, somewhat ambiguous composition.

I grew up on steady diet of apocalypses. Between the METRIC TONS of apocalyptic media consumed at a young age, culturally anticipated catastrophes (like Y2K), and the emerging reality of climate change, it seemed like many were absolutely infatuated with the end times. I think I was right. As my world changed in the wake of COVID, I've observed a general uptick in apocalyptic sentiments. A growing romantic pessimism that what's happening is deserved, or a "natural consequence" of "human" activity. "Humans are the virus", as they say, painting our extinction and their own death as a net positive. Although I'm also a clinically depressed bitch, I find this sentiment to be based on a shallow, white-centric view of human history that functions in lockstep with religious extremism. When and if the end of the world arrives, it won't be romantic, it won't be deserved, it won't be God's plan...it will be only be pain -- I see nothing sacred or interesting in that. "Nothing Sacred in the End" encapsulates my both my sadness for human suffering and bitterness toward the apocalyptic rhetoric that has propagandized our hearts.

Each figure in "Nothing Scared in the End" is symbolic. The angel herself represents the collective works of humanity, as she is finely detailed sculpture. As an angel, her symbolism automatically evokes religiosity, mercy and salvation (which she can no longer offer -- missing her arms and wings). The crow represents ecology and the living world, having stopped for a rest and to relieve itself -- utilizing the statue for its new purpose in a human-less world. Bird feces dripp from the angels eyes, mimicking the appearance of tears that this formerly stoic angel can finally shed for her creators. In the background, we see a dark orange sky with a low, fiery sun bordered by black clouds. Whether the sun is rising or setting is ambiguous, allowing the viewer to interpret if the sun is rising or setting on humankind. The orange sky and black clouds communicate something ominous -- is this the orange sky of a beautiful sunset, or the aftermath of something more sinister? Because of the darkness of the blacks and the high-shine of the resin, this painting is somewhat functional as a mirror -- the viewer can see themselves reflected back in this foreboding scene. The tl;dr being: all of the works of humanity don't mean shit at the end of the world.

I know I can't be the only person who has been affected by the dark and consistent rhetoric about the end of the world. I want those folks to know that not everyone is rooting for the apocalypse, and that they aren't alone in feeling scared about climate change. I hope that "Nothing Sacred in the End" can validate that fear without romanticizing collapse.

I created "Nothing Sacred in the End" with acrylics, mica pigments, and resin on stretched canvas to communicate the abject meaninglessness of the end times with people dealing with fears about climate change today. I don't believe that the world is ending, but I do know that if the worst should happen, the hand that holds mine is more sacred than any silly artifact that remains.

If this painting spoke to you, I would love to hear your thoughts! It is available for purchase through my artist shop or Etsy. You can also support me through Ko-fi, or follow me on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook.