I'm Not A Pigeon
2007 - 21"x18" Acrylic, charcoal, colored pencil, newspaper, duct tape, hot glue, on found chipboard wood.
Finished with three coats of Krylon Kamar Varnish #1312
(Available - Inquire for price)

This painting originally started off as a newspaper & found objects collage. It had a guitar player where the blue bird is. There was also a tree made of a Sun Chip bag. I wasn't happy with it, and the Sun Chip bag eventually became unglued. I covered all remaining remnants of the collage with gesso, then painted the left side orange, and everything else black.

My original idea for the collage was the guitar player, a tree, and a few birds. The birds and tree carried over to this painting. The outlines for the birds, tree, and sun were etched into the wood with a razor blade. The blue bird looked complete after I etched in the leg, so I didn't bother to add a second one. At one point, there was an ominous looking man etched into the painting, but I decided he didn't fit and replaced him with the orange bird.

Newspaper was added for the sun and painted yellow. I added the doodling with a charcoal pencil. It's my favorite part of the painting. My wife kept asking if the bird in the tree was a pigeon, and I kept saying no.