Little Wonders III: A Song to Sing in the Dark
16x12”
SOLD, before the piece is even finished 🔴
Hey @horijefe
I wrote this song about you.


I’ve spoken about Jeff before, he’s a musician & owner of @hiddenhandtattoo. He’s not just any tat artist. I call him the “grand daddy of the Seattle tattoo scene” - Find anyone who would disagree, I’ll wait.
To cut a long story short, as fate would have it, years ago I found myself under the needle of Jeff who brought the tiger on my leg to life I needed to see. Every. Day.
He even threw in some cherry blossoms, free hand. You wanna talk about trust??


Years later, I had visions for a sleeve telling the story of my life, with all the totems and important people who have become part of the 30+ year long chapters.


I wouldn’t trust anyone other than Jeff with this task:


A fox at my wrist gazing up at the moon, following a blaze of giant monarch butterflies, leading the way up to the mountains, into the crescent moon light on my shoulder… encountering a forest, marigolds and yes, even a unicorn on their journey toward the star-lit sky.


In my work, monarchs are fluttering beacons of hope in this sometimes dark world. Hope flutters in the dark.
That’s also where it begins.


When I heard Jeff has to battle stage 4 cancer, seeing my leg, my sleeve, he has been top of mind every day since. I learned a lot from Jeff, he is one of the only people outside my immediate family to see this journey of sharing my art from the onset. Always supportive and encouraging. Celebrating all the moments along the way.


I painted this piece as a tribute- half of the sale is being directly donated to his gofundme which you can find in his bio @horijefe .
Prints will be available in a few weeks with every sale above cost to print & ship being donated directly as well.


I’ll speak more on it when this is final. I wanted to share today as the original has just sold and I finally got to share it with Jeff.

Story time :
A coworker mentioned showing up an hour early on accident forgetting it wasnt Monday hours yesterday.


I told them I had once taken a day off in advance and accidentally showed up to work, they were like “clearly you didn’t have anything big planned.”


I don’t think parents understand me and my need to have a random day off without an agenda or obligation.
I suspect creatives might understand this.
Or maybe it’s just one of my quirks.


This morning it came to my attention that *I* don’t understand parents of human children. Check this out.
I was listening to the radio-  1 06.1FM,Jubil was taking advice on the confession line which I don’t normally pay any attention to but for some reason this caught mine because I was jamming out to  the song they were playing right before the talk segment. Anyway, this dad is on the line with a confession and a hack about how to take your child’s sass away here’s what he did. She was 9 years old and a serious Minecraft player , I’m no gamer. I played N64, we had mariokart growing up. Just mariokart. Anyway, while messing with his daughters phone, he accidentally deleted  3 worlds from her game. She was devastated. Instead of apologizing and taking responsibility for doing this himself- he takes the opportunity to tell his daughter, who has a bit of an attitude, that ‘sassy girls often have glitches in their computers …and that’s probably why it happened.’
The dad remarked this move worked  well: her behavior was swiftly checked for a few days.
I cannot with this!
My take? However you feel right now, you gotta know,
is an appropriate response to this world.


😂 It reminded me of my Royal Foxes shining those Savage Crowns.


“👑🦊 You’re like a little wild thing that was never sent to school. -M O


He’s a little moody. I think all of us has a little bit of the Royal in them… some are just a little better medicated, that’s all 😆.”




Mood and monsters, FOREVER!!!!✊






Tl;dr :However you’re feeling, right now is an appropriate response to this world. Don’t fall for toxic positivity. Everyone will always tell you to be happy. Part of my purpose in sharing my work and thoughts is advocating to normalize  the emotional spectrum. You’re a human. You’re entitled to the full range. It’s a package deal.

All I Need X 24x18” oil on panel

There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving. 
But, who wants easier?
Mary Oliver

Part of my show next month @colegallery . Can’t wait to tell these stories.
You can pre purchase a few of these directly from colegallery.net 
Pink Lions Paper Crowns, August 2022❤️
​

New Tricks. Oil on panel 12x9”. 
SOLD 🔴 before the paint even dries
to a wonderful collector
🦊
I have learned that we cannot choose who we love in this world. 
I have learned you cannot trade your love for someone to love you back.

I have learned that there is a tiny keyhole in my chest and if you unlock it, paint and canvas and brushes fall out.

I have learned that there is a little girl with a paintbrush in my heart, and she has painted thousands of foxes about you.

I tried to tell you how much you mean to me
But all that came out was this painting.

And I hope you know,
It’s the lyrics to all your favorite songs.
And the words to all your favorite poems.
This is how I can tell you everything I don’t know how to say.

Learned some new tricks (and a whole new palette) in a workshop by @jen_art at @whidbeyislandfas last weekend finally got to finishing it! 
If you ever get the chance to learn from her you better jump on it. Worth every 💵!
​