I Thought it was Funny, so I Painted It...

I officially started my blog/newsletter on June 1st of last year. That means I've been doing this for a whole year now.

I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, or if I wanted to change anything for year two. And I realized that I have a show at The Box Factory in a bit over a month. So I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone, and talk about a painting for my show each day this next month, as well as show progress shots of the painting prep and framing. And on days I have a bit of extra time, I'll try to make some sketches of the flowers outside. I'm calling this month "Frames and Florals". So that's what I'm doing for the next month. And truthfully, when I started this whole project a year ago, I had only planned to do the daily thing for a month before continuing on with something else. Then I realized that I really liked the daily format. So we'll see if maybe Frames and Florals this month helps this space grow even more into itself.

Painting 1: Self-Portrait after Albrecht Durer

I don't really like doing self-portraits. But occasionally I think of a funny one to try, and give it an attempt. I find it viscerally important to try not to take myself seriously. "Don't be serious - be sincere" is a personal goal. A few years ago (the painting says 2023) I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and saw Albrecht Durer's self-portrait looking back at me. I thought it would be fun to do my twist on it, with my hand holding my phone taking a selfie instead of whatever AD is doing with his hand in the original. It was meant to be a quick joke painting, but I ran into trouble pretty quickly. Which just made me want to get it to work. It was a whole process, where I ended up re-starting the painting at least twice. I probably got too serious about it. But the end result turned out pretty well, and I really like the end result. It makes me laugh. Sincerely.

-ZR