One Green Lizard
2008 - 11"x12" Acrylic, pencil, charcoal, newspaper, on wood.
Finished with two coats of Krylon Kamar Varnish #1312
(Not For Sale)

May 30, 2008

I have no idea what the painting is about but can explain some of the random ideas within the painting.

The green lizard is a gecko. Geckos are believed to bring good luck so the animals like having him around. I visited a coffee plantation in Hawaii years ago and have two memories; how good the roasted coffee smelled, and the green geckos in the garden. The two-headed animals are giraffs and made their first appearance in an earlier painting (Don't Drink the Water).

On the right side of the far left triangle mountain is a six-tentacled octopus (or is it hexapus?). I think something I heard on tv inspired me to draw it. It has six tentacles because that's all it required to look aesthetically correct to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my recent painting (Year of the Rat), I did a lot of carving into the wood with an exacto knife. I liked the look and did a lot of carving for the outlines of all the animals, especially the flying snake. There is a lot of heavy scratching all over the painting as well. I liked how the gold emphasized the scratches, which in turn made me add even more scratches.

In the lower section, there are two mountains with two trees on top. It's symbolic of Ventura, CA where I used to live. There is a hill in Ventura, with two trees growing on top, that has been a city landmark for years.