Vendedora

Vendedora means basically "sales girl" and this is a Guatemalan girl selling peanuts and cucumber slices in front of her house. Her little sister hid just inside the door, so all I could see was her foot.

Still life Study 11" x 14," Oil

I did this at my first painting class at the Alexandria Art League. For 3 hours of work, I'm quite satisfied with it!

Henna Feet

Henna Feet, 5" x 7", pencil

This picture was done for my friends Erik and Dena, from a postcard that Dena liked of an Indian bride's henna-painted feet. I just finished it in time to give it to Erik at the 2006 ESRI Conference, but then we both forgot to cut it out of my notebook and so I haven't yet given it to them. As long as it is in my possession, I will probably continue to obsess over it and work on it. Oh well.

Waiting for Relief

Oil on canvas. I saw a picture in the Tribune on December 27th, 2004 of these women waiting for food and water in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami. I thought that the woman in the front had such an intense and powerful look...so I had to keep it. And then when I found out that my friend Purva was getting married, I decided to paint this for her and her new husband, Terry.

Sharon

Oil on canvas. 18" x 24"

I started this painting years ago, as a gift to Sharon when we graduated college. I showed it to her, but I told her I wasn't happy with it so I wouldn't let her keep it. Then I realized that I had to completely re-paint her head because I didn't have the right angle. That took awhile, but finally it started to look like her and I was happy. And the timing worked out just right becuase she married Anthony at the end of May and that gave me a perfect deadline to finish it by. So this was my wedding present to them. Of course, I had to explain to Anthony that the guy in the background was a figment of my imagination. For reference, I used a picture I had from Puerto Rico, but it was really small and dark. Sharon is a beautiful woman and I really liked this expression in her face. It could be interpreted as so many different things...that's why I had to put the guy in background--to keep you guessing!

Elephant in Kenya, 5" x 7", watercolor pencils

Adrian and me, Pencil. 9" x 12"

This was from a picture I took, pretending like it was not set-up.

Self-portrait

Crop of Adrian and me. So I suppose it could be titled "Adrian and me Minus Adrian"

Jeff
18" x 24" Pastels. This was for a class in college. They wanted some portrait, and I chose this guy Jeff, who was famous for this silly hat he used to wear. I don't know where he is now, or if he still wears this hat, but it made for an interesting portrait. And that BW3's in the background is no longer there. The picture was taken near 5th & Green St. in Champaign, IL. Notice the award-winning Cham-bana bus in the background. Yes, they won awards for the bus system.

Tired
18" x 24" Charcoal. I think that this drawing nicely captures a feeling of exhaustion. I did this for my drawing class in college. We regularly had nude models, which was cool. There was un-circumcised Bill, who was no less than 80 years old. And also the young blonde girl with a very interesting piercing which made for good after-class conversation, "Did you see it?!?"

Content kid, Watercolor pencils, 11" x 14" (i think...)

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 36" x 48"

it's big. i don't know how big. I think it is 36" x 48" i really want to chop it down to a better size. just to cut off the boring bottom part (which I did with this photo, so you can't see how boring it is!).

I got this idea from an interesting photo in the Chicago tribune and substituted the guys with a couple of people I know. The guy in the black t-shirt was from an old picture of Bob Marley...I just put a slightly more "urban" hat on him...yes, that's supposed to be a hat.

Untitled, Oil on Canvas, 30" x 36"
I personally think that this is my best painting...or maybe the Sri Lankan women...I don't know. But I did this in high school and won an award for it, so someone else liked it too. The background picture I took in Denmark and the kid in the foreground was from a National Geographic picture. In the National Geog picture he is sticking his tongue out. I had to change it to make it "original."

Bubbles, Watercolor pencils, 11" x 14"

Nude
8.5" x 11" Pen & ink. In high school I had to draw something with little dots. I forget what they call that--pointalism or something like that. I liked this picture, so I used it. Not much to this story.

Pop, Charcoal, 18" x 24" (i think)

Sculpture
This was my only real attempt at sculpture. It was supposed to be candleholder, or a hand holding a candle--a handleholder, if you will. But the support at the base (where the candle should go) is not big enough. So it is just a hand, modeled after my own.

Sculpture

Mt. Vernon, Oil on Altered Canvas, 36" x 36" with cut-out sections

I feel like this one still needs some work. But it's in my parents bathroom in Chicago...

Pencil in Jar, Charcoal, 11" x 14"

Ducks in Florida, Oil on Canvas, 18" x 24"

Witness to Evil, Acrylic, 18" x 24"

This was one of my first paintings. People usually seem to like it, but it annoys me. I only see what needs to be fixed. But I'm a virgo...what can you expect? This is from Mt. Vernon, and when I took the picture I imagined a world with slaves...hence the name. I won a freshman year art competition with this and the prize was a summer course at the Art Institute of Chicago, which was awesome!