Drawings and Paintings

Anxiety Chalk, Fall 1996 Was feeling stressed about school, work, life. But with encouragement of a really wonderful art teacher I was getting into abstract expression, so this was the result. Final project for Language of Drawing. If you go to Berkeley, I highly recommend taking some classes from the art department.

Metamorphasis Charcoal and Chalk, Fall 1996 A combination of self and "spirit animal." I don't know how this thing with lizards got started but it suits me. Chameleon, changer of identify. The Lizard, keeper of dreams. (The software company was originally name Chameleon Software before changing to Grinning Lizard.)

Ectasy Acrylic on Canvas, Spring 1997 The definitive example of the not quite taking the art world by storm "Lee" style: figures combined with abstract expression. The figures are an appropriation of work by Christina Hope, which I painted freehand from a black and white photograph.

A caring, wise, but more conservative individual than I advised against putting my more daring work on these pages. This is good advice. I'm not taking it because it is important to be honest with one's art. So if nudes in art offend you, avoid Michelangelo, mirrors when exiting the shower, and Paris.

Faces Acrylic on Canvas, Spring 1997 A self portrait. Started as a diptych for Self-portrait, below. The connection between the paintings is thin. The canvas "shows through" the painting, which I never do. (Some of my paintings don't extend to the edge of the canvas, granted, but there is almost always a well defined area covered with paint.) But the painting had this energy and freshness I was afraid of destroying if I didn't stop working on it.

Self-portrait Acrylic on Canvas, Spring 1997 Er...it kind of looks like me. The hard thing about self-portraits is you know what you look like. If someone else's visage is a less than perfect representation, well that's okay. This is art, after all, not photography. But your own face can lead you to obsession.

Nude Sitting Oil on Canvas, Spring 1997 My peers were threatening to beat me senseless with a gesso brush if I didn't try oil paints. So in the interest of personal safety and artistic horizons I did this painting in oils. I liked oil paint, though I could do without the smell, but it had a serious disadvantage for me. Painting is a very physical and wild experience for me; I get paint on my face, covering my hands, and in my hair. This happens regardless of medium of course, but oils are much more toxic and much harder to remove. So I haven't pursued oils again.

Film Acrylic on Canvas, Spring 1997 This painting has some perspective problems, and the frame is warped, but I include it as a literal (and gently amusing) illustration of the importance film had taken in my creative life.