Gallery of the Absurd

The Backwoods Barbie

Over the past few weeks, Dolly Parton has been a prominent character in my work. While scrambling to finish my portrait of Dolly Parton for the Dollywood show in LA, a random editorial illustration job came across my desk -- and what was the subject? Dolly Parton, of course. Coincidence?

Knoxville's Metro Pulse wanted me to illustrate their cover and create a few smaller black and white illustrations of the bubbly country star. In addition to Dolly, other clients emerged at the same time, giving credence to that old maxim -- when it rains, it pours. I have nothing new to post since clients have demanded my time, so I thought I'd post a few artifacts of my Dollyfication over the past few weeks:

Dolly's first hair head shot.

Because Dolly feels she looked like Miss Piggy in Nine to Five, the art director asked that I draw her that way. He also wanted me to add a mysterious male figure in the background to suggest her reclusive husband the public rarely sees.

In addition to her sweet natured temperament, Dolly is also known for her bawdy humor. She often jokes that she looks and dresses like a prostitute. Medium: Ink, graphite, liquid pencil on paper.

GOTA Trickery Fools International Newspaper

Much to my delight, an alert reader has informed me that the NY Edition of The Metro has used my Urban Satchel in a fluff article about women's handbags. When I first saw it, I thought it was an Onion-type parody newspaper -- but it's real. Not only did they use my image as an illustration, they included my fakery under "Purse Facts". Unbelievable! I created that bag after gluing collected trash (including a shrimp tail and a used band-aid) onto an old purse AND I deliberately misspelled "Louie Vuitton" - which they printed. That's almost as bad as the German TV show that featured our images of the Stella McCartney Heather Mills Jewelry Collection on their morning show as the real thing. Makes you wonder what other trickery the media publicizes as fact. Thanks Laura.

Dolly Parton Art Show Announcement: Dollypop

The WOW Storefront Gallery folks put on some of the most entertaining and fun pop culture-themed art shows in Los Angeles and I'm pleased to be included in their latest - Dollypop, a celebration of beloved country star Dolly Parton. Opening this Friday, Sept. 12 in conjunction with with the premiere of the Broadway adaptation of Parton's 9 to 5: The Musical, at the Ahmanson Theater in downtown Los Angeles. I hear they're transforming the gallery into a country barn jamboree, complete with bales of hay and chickens. Oh my, I think I may have to attend this show. My painting appears above, but all the sparkling, glittery, iridescent paint I used doesn't show up on the monitor. It's very sparkly, just like Dolly. Medium: acrylic, iridescent ink and glitter on paper. Size 11 x 14 framed.