My Thoughts on Social Media and Artistic Nudity

I want to say something regarding my recent painting “Same Breath” and how instagram decided to react to my first post of it.

Even though I was warned by other artists who paint nude figures regularly I can’t help but be disappointed in instagram’s immediate penalization of my content. Luckily my post wasn’t removed but they flagged it and removed several posts on my story in addition to making me ineligible for monetization for several weeks. And since posting this painting several more times each time was met with another slap on the wrist. All of this for a piece of artwork that showcases the dynamic beautify of the human form. Unfortunately I have shied away from making paintings like this for years in fear of these exact consequences. Even though I have loved illustrating the nude figure ever since my first figure drawing classes in college, I have held back in my professional work because I knew that social media can be strict with their community guidlines. I find it most frustrating that meta chose to flag my post for “sexual content” when (I want to be loud and clear about this) there is nothing inherently sexual about the human form, nude or otherwise. Sexualization is something imposed on the nude body by an external viewer who cannot appreciate its innate beauty and strength so they result to objectification. The painting I posted came from the depths of my soul, it was raw, emotional, and sensitive but in no way sexually driven in any way. I you read the description you will know it is about the transition of a soul from one form to another. And I hate to play the blame game but I have seen some unspeakably offensive posts on this platform relating to sex, violence, racism and sexism that were not only allowed to stay up but were actually amplified by the algorithm to be seen by more and more people.

If I’m being honest this is an issue that is much broader than instagram. Our culture has developed to a point that we are so afraid of the human form that it is specifically hidden from sight and ONLY to be seen in a sexual context. So it’s no wonder that this is how our minds work. Just for some personal context, when I took live model drawing classes in college, me and all of the students learned very quickly that not only does nudity not equate to sex but it also showcases the striking uniqueness and universality of all our bodies. When you as a student sit at your drawing horse for hours upon hours thoughtfully observing and replicating the incredible curves, angles and textures of the human form you gain a deep appreciation for the human body as a work of art and not something to be sexualized in every context. When our instructor found people to model for our classes he made sure to find a variety of people of all shapes, sizes and ages and through this exposure we all learned to find beauty in all of these forms.

Sorry if I am rambling but this feedback from instagram got my mind thinking about these ideas and I wanted to vocalize them. Art is so important to me and I feel like it can benefit so many people if we are ready to engage in it. And I specifically think that artwork involving nudity can have a powerful role in reshaping our societies skewed views of sexuality, hopefully creating a renewed appreciate and respect for the bodies we all inhabit.

I’m sure that meta will most definitely NOT fix their system but I just wanted to vent my thoughts to you all and remind you that we all move about this world in a precious vessel. This body that we inhabit deserves to be respected and appreciated as a work of art.

Painting Process Video for "Sower of Seeds"

Over the last few weeks I’ve been progressively uploading process videos for my solo show paintings. These videos take a lot of time to edit and voice record so I hope you enjoy seeing how I created “Sower of Seeds”.

Brand New Terra Human Painting | "Interconnection"

My final brand new painting for the "Contemporary Figuration" show at Abend Gallery is here! Say hello to "Interconnection" This lovely original painting is available on Abend's website. Click the button below to view this piece on the Abend webstite.

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Here is the painting description: The world contained within this painting shows us blending seamlessly with the environments that we love. Every memory, emotion and thought that is contained within us is interwoven with those of the earth to create a single beauty. The immense highs and lows in our lives directly mimic the mountains and valleys in a way that shows the earth understands us to the core. The mountains listen to our thoughts and feelings while the stars comprehend our dreams and aspirations. The trees plants and animals grow and live for decades only to lose their lives and begin again in another form.
As a viewer we are allowed only a momentary glance at this world through a window so that we may contemplate our existence and what we wish to do with our time.

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New Throwback Posts!

It's been a while since I've done a throwback post so I hope you enjoy this fun comparison of one of the first faces I painted as a professional artist to my most recent painting of a face!
Believe it or not I used to be terrified of painting people and faces in particular so I often stylized figures or just left their faces blank. The idea of a human face is so engrained into our brains that we can almost always tell if it is illustrated incorrectly by an artist. We can't always vocalize it but we can tell if there is something slightly off in the proportions. So this fear of failure prevented me from even attempting to paint people's faces for a while even though I loved looking at portrait paintings. More and more I was drawn to figurative art but was afraid of painting faces and failing at what I loved to do.
The painting on the right "Terra Firma" was one of my first real attempts at painting a figure while also including the face. I worked on this piece with caution and excitement because I was so entranced with the concept and vision I had in my head. I actually started this piece with the intention of NOT painting her face as to avoid the intimidation factor. But the more I painted the more I felt confident in my abilities and was willing to take the risk of illustrating the face in full.
The painting on this right is my most recent painting of a face. "The Giver" features a seamless double exposure portrait of a woman blended with the leaves, branches and sunlight that surround her. Even now when I am much more confident in my painting abilities I approach every piece with humility because every painting can be a new and unpredictable experience. I just feel thankful that my painting abilities are starting to catch up with the visions I piece together in my head. I truly love painting people because we instinctively connect with the person we see on the canvas and can use it as a way to reflect on ourselves.

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I want to share this throwback image to show that inspiring ideas don't just materialize out of nowhere, they build over your years of hard work, risk-taking and sensitivity to your surroundings. In 2015 as part of my senior thesis as an art major I painted my biggest and boldest painting to date. I had grown into a relatively confident landscape painter but decided to jump into the unknown by incorporating these haunting figures traversing the landscape. This decision would completely shift the narrative of the piece and give me the confidence to create unique and risky paintings for years to come. I often think back to this piece and the distinct moment when I had finished the landscape portion and finally worked up the courage to start painting the figures. It actually felt like jumping off a cliff into the unknown, both terrifying and exhilarating.

So when people ask me how I come up with ideas for my paintings I try to express that I have been accumulating interesting concepts, images and emotions for years in my head without really realizing it. This allows my art to build on itself in a natural progression so that I don't feel lost in a sea of ideas. When you look at these two paintings side-by-side you can clearly see an improvement in technique while also seeing a distinct starting point for the concept. With each new painting I try to take a small but uncomfortable risk so that I always feel like I'm moving forward and trying something new.

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I hope you enjoy this fun comparison between a painting from 2017 vs a painting in 2020.
As I've evolved into a figurative painter over the past few years its been hard to unsee a large disparity in this genre of art. Notably that the majority of figurative art focuses on women rather than men. And even more stunning is that the majority of paintings of women are painted by men. Now this branches into a much larger topic that I've discussed in my blog but I just want to sum it up in saying that as a figurative painter I want to do my best to represent all people. Since I started tentatively painting people several years ago I've made a conscious effort to specifically paint men. I do this even while knowing that these paintings on average don't sell as often as paintings of women. I do this because I hope to shift the norm in this regard and show not only that paintings of men are valuable and interesting but that they don't also have to be hyper masculine or show a "typical" version of strength. Artwork in general has an opportunity to show that men are multifaceted and complex creatures that are allowed to listen to their emotions.
I hope you see what I'm trying to accomplish in a lot of my artwork. In the years to come I am planning on pushing myself to paint more people of color as well as more people in the LGBTQ+ family.

Throwback Thursday Posts

Hi Everyone!

Here are some of my throwback Thursday posts that I like to put on Facebook and Instagram. They are great opportunities to look and back on my old work and reflect on how far I have come in the last few years. I hope you enjoy!

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In this throwback post I thought it would interesting to look at two different styles I implemented in with a single reference. Before creating the realistic version of this painting I decided to make an energetic and expressive study to get a rough impression of the subject and experiment with color. Once I got into it I really enjoyed jumping around the piece with spontaneous brushwork that seemed to add some nice movement to the figure and the light source. Now I don’t always create these impressionistic studies but in this instance it serves as an interesting comparison to the more realistic “final” painting. In the realistic version I worked in sections with a variety of brushes to both apply and blend the paint. I focused on blending and color accuracy to make the piece realistic and nuanced.
I feel like both of these painting styles have a place in my creative practice and in the artistic world as a whole. Being spontaneous and heavy handed can serve as an amazing break from my usual detail oriented process. And I greatly admire fellow artists who can blend both realistic and expressive techniques into a single dynamic painting. Overall I really love how there is so much to explore in the realm of painting and I feel like I have barely scratched the surface!

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For this post I thought I would show a triple comparison showing my progression from High School to College and finally professional art! And I want to take this opportunity to talk about the most important thing that I learned in this 15 year process.
Throughout my education I was especially lucky to have much more exposure to art than most and it really worked well for me. But like most children who are artistically inclined I was only rewarded for my "inherent artistic talent." Me and other creative students were told over and over again that we were talented and this choice of words told us that our artistic ability was fixed and couldn't be changed. Now I don't blame anyone for this because as a culture this is how we see artists because we don't understand them. So my time creating art in high school was great overall but I still was not able to shed this preconception that I was "talented" and therefor not able to improve.
My art experience in college was a transition time, I started to make a connection between practice and improvement in my art. My professors were the first people to tell me that art is a skill that can be developed over time. All of the sudden art felt less mysterious to me, I always knew that I was a hard worker and now I was starting to find a place to dedicate my effort.
It's safe to say that my professional career as a painter would not have happened if I wasn't shown that art is a skill not an innate talent. So much of how I work now is based on practice and slow improvement, trying to make every painting better than the last using my own personal growth to measure success. And I look forward to learning and improving as much as I can for the rest of my life 🤗
Thanks for listening

"Flowers and Thorns" Has Been Sold!

I am both humbled and excited to say that my painting "Flowers and Thorns" has been sold!
This piece is incredibly special to me so I really happy to see it going to a forever home of a new collector! I had the pleasure to speaking to this buyer on the phone and I have to say that it's really reassuring to know that this piece will be going to a loving home that really appreciates its beauty. The buyer said that she simply could not get the image out of her head for sever days and needed to buy the original piece!

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As always, I'm greatly appreciative of this sale and so happy that something I created will be hanging in someones else's home!