Original artwork description:

Back in the mid 1980's, during the summer break from college, I found myself at the library every day just looking for reference images, reading books on art, and just soaking stuff in. I happened to come across a book on Octopuses (yes, you can use Octopi as well...both are correct) and this book fascinated me. I never really looked at the form of an octopus and for some reason, it just blew my socks off. I was hooked on this alien creature.

This began my journey of painting octopuses. I started with just the tentacles and suckers; long skinny canvases. Then onto the full mass of the creature. I was scrubbing (aggressively) oil into lightly gessoed canvas. Swirling my brush with a million circles to get an ethereal outcome for their skin. It was a blast bringing these to life.

All in all, I created about 15 or so major canvases and they were my first make on the NYC art scene, as well as Jersey City, which at the time was an up-and-coming art scene. This series gave me a much needed perspective on the notion that you need to paint what others will buy...proving, If I paint what I want and love it, there is always an audience for it.

All the octopi sold, except for one I kept, and one I gave as a gift to a cousin. The last painting of that series as in 1991.

30 years later, with the budding of my work in glitter, it seemed time, and appropriate, to go back to the octopus form again. I am never one to rehash a series or idea...always moving forward and all, but the octopus was always there, waiting for the right time, and the next way to represent it, to come out again. GLITTER inspired me to see how it would bring an octopus to life.

THE FLOW is the very first effort back into this subject matter, and I am over the moon that I took a chance and created this. I have a feeling it will not be my last...actually, I can guarantee it is not my last.

Materials used:

Glitter

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