48x60 Chicago, Illinois

I painted this piece in 2014, right after returning home from Thailand. It is a piece of art I would never sell, as it has been the centerpiece of my home for six years. I had never painted something this large, sparkly, or detailed. It will become a catalyst for nearly a hundred paintings in the years to come. This piece is the very best of my old style. Vintage. 

I don’t know what my life would have been having I not met you both. You were the only people that helped me to feel safe when there was no safe. You gave me a place to crash, cookies to eat, places to live when I had no money. You made me a never-ending blue hallway for my art. I so wish I had that hall now. You taught me about in and out burgers and how to drive every god damn back road in Las Vegas. You spent your last $20 at a thrift store on a dress for me so I could go on a job interview. You did that with love and excitement. You made me home-cooked dinners when I lived on horchata and rice.  I was broken, and impossible, and vapid, and addicted to drugs, and negative, and a kid. And you loved me anyway. You brought me through all of that. 

This painting is a homage to the broken and scattered coming together to form something beautiful. To me, it is a portal, a blessing, a silent and bold member of the core family. I am so grateful that I have given this piece the sparkling and bombproof topcoat that she so deserves. It is with great joy that I pass her on to you. 

I hope that she can live on your farm with you, bringing Kevin and I some of that figuring out the fucking farm energy too. I feel that, like crystals, my paintings are the eyes and ears of the upper cosmos. Everything that this energy absorbs, experiences, and learns about within your process will in a sense add to my learning and experience too.