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A Question of Parity

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The balance of good verses evil is an old tale in art. This digital art was inspired by earlier work I did in 2020-ish, but centers on the question of what happens when the scales tip, the ideal evaporates, and the cogs begin to question their place in the machine.  A I’ve said, there is … Read more

Mary and the Last Sinner

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A painting of Mary with long curly hair wearing a pink dress with ruffles, and a halo above her head. She faces a large, menacing purple dragon with glowing yellow eyes and sharp teeth, emerging from dark, swirling shadows behind her. The scene captures the tense moment from "Mary and the Last Sinner.

I had an entire long post ready to go but thanks to an app crash, I’ll give you the highlights.

I wasn’t going to share this painting. I didn’t think it worthy, but people started to like it, so, here we are.

There’s two themes going on here. First, there’s a piece of Papayrus at Harvard (this is not the Dan Brown / Da Vinci Code angle) that has a line where Jesus calls Mary Magdalene “my Wife”. Imagine that? Going from fallen prostitute to the equal (or better than, in the words of Paul) of Jesus. The documentary I watched “The Gospel of Mary“, started the ball rolling on this idea. I was originally going to paint just her.

As an aside, and from a historical perspective since I’m not religious (there’s a long story involving an ex-wife that caused me to be like the hit R.E.M song with God), I’m fascinated by what got in the Bible, what got left out (Gnosticism, Council of Nicea, etc.), and the power-plays that took place to put down Mary (labeling her a prostitute). So painting this had a lot to do with egalité, as the French would say.

Next I came across a Mark Twain quote that made me pause:

“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?”

I thought, “who better to bring the word of God to the first and last sinner?” So I had Mary confronting the great vvrym and closing the loop on this Christianity thing – a denouement of sorts, but without the 80’s soundtrack.

The painting had a working title of “Prom Dress Mary and the Pompadour (fixed) Dragon“. That title should explain why I wasn’t going to post it at first. Anyway, here it is.

Art for the Homeless

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A surreal painting of a woman in the foreground with a road extending into the distance. Two smaller figures appear further down the road. The sky is filled with vibrant, swirling clouds in shades of purple, yellow, and red above a twilight horizon. Trees line the road in this Art for the Homeless piece.

I’ve been doing random acts of kindness for the homeless for a while now, 2-3 lunches instead of just mine, coffee for my man hanging in Starbucks to keep warm, a buck or two here and there… 

I’m going to say this up front, I’m not tooting my own horn. 

I firmly believe that in telling people you do these acts of kindness; it lessens the value of the act with any higher powers that may be out there. I’d rather keep it simple, but I have a project that is growing.  

You see, I’m putting together backpacks for the homeless in the Washington D.C. and Maryland area. 

 In each backpack is a warm blanket, a Mylar blanket for the cold nights, a magnesium Firestarter, two pairs of socks, a rain poncho, a copy of the ‘SAS Survival Guide’, basic toiletries, food & water, and a little extra for train fare (in case it gets too cold out – you can ride the Metro all day). If I find camping / survival deals on Amazon, I’ll include them in the bags.

Why do this?

I’m an artist at heart, and I want my work to mean something; not just end up (possibly) making someone millions in the future when I’m long departed. Selling art now to fund this program seems to be a very cool thing in my mind.  

Most homeless don’t want to be where they are. Some have problems with drugs, alcohol, or mental health issues. Others have been out on the fringe of society for so long that they don’t know or want to reintegrate with society. I give them the benefit of the doubt in every case.  

How you fit in?  

I’m going to sell each original work I do for $99 dollars plus shipping. If you purchase a work, I’ll give you the opportunity to add extra donations to the purchase via PayPal (how I can take credit cards and keep my inbox safe). All of this money will all go to making packs for the homeless. 

 So far each backpack is averaging around $50, even by trolling Amazon for the $10 backpacks and blankets. If the project grows too big, I’ll have to start a non-profit.

I’ll have the first four ready to go on Monday (most of the initial gear is en-route). My plan is to carry one to work or each time I go into the city. When I find a suitable candidate (I can tell between those truly in need and the ones that get in a Lexus at the end of the day), I’ll give them the pack.

Final note,

You don’t have to buy my art to do this, you can do it on your own too.