3DTreeXJ13 Turnaround

3DTree XJ13 Turnaround

oil on canvas

42" x 11"

So this 3.3gram XJ13 bud teased me for a week as i painted this.  I propped the bud up on a turntable with a fixed light source as if it is a tree rotating in water.  I painted 12 angles adding sequence and time and depth to this oil triptych.  I am now enjoying the reference flower and utilizing it's stimulation to write a little piece about this - coming soon...

(thinking about making an indica nightscape next)

Tangilope Turnaround

Tangilope Turnaround
oil on canvas
28" x 11"

I made five small 4" tall oil sketches of a single one gram flower bud of Tangilope:  A very sativa hybrid strain of cannabis.  I placed it on a rotating tray with a fixed light source.  After choosing to paint this particular bud, I had to go back to the dispensary and pick up some more so i could partake in this strain while painting it. (does that make sense?) I made five of these sketches yesterday before realizing this morning that five more would make a fairly smooth rotation.  So here are all ten quick oil sketches animated of a single gram Tangilope flower bud.  Enjoy! (I did)

As if painting time and space isn't enough, I went back and set up still life compositions of tangerines, lemons, chocolate, and coffee beans which are the things i smell in the Tangelope strain. Maybe if i paint images that trigger memories of smells, it will help the viewer better experience these fresh flowers.

Organized Medicine Cabinet

Organized Medicine Cabinet

oil on canvas

11" x 14"

I converted a cigar humidor by screwing the plastic caps from single gram glass cannabis jars to the inside lid of the box.

I then label each jar color coding strong sativas orange, hybrids green, and strong indicas purple.  I write the strain name on each label and organize them left to right sativa to indica.  The bottom row are just a salad of leftover small buds from each category.

I think of this like an organized medicine cabinet.  Sativas can be high energy and can bring focus to creative processes.  They are also accociated with high anxiety and can lead to panic attacks when overdone.  Indicas can be more like sleepytime tea with painkiller.  They can be a great pain relief and anxiety relief but have been known to increase the risk of unscheduled naps.


I was hoping to post this in time to celebrate California legalizing cannabis last week -

but election night...
...was...
...rather...
...interesting.

Still Life With Four Twenty Flowers

Still Life with Four Twenty Flowers
Oil on canvas
14" x 11"

  As I pulled into my local Sacramento dispensary at opening time on Wednesday i saw a line of people snaking out the door and immediately realized ... Oooops, i forgot today is FOUR TWENTY.

At first i thought it would just be a long wait to get in.  Then i realized what the line was for - free swag.  Some people told me they took the day off work to drive around to all the dispensaries they could to take advantage of all the freebies.  One group said they were heading to the Bay Area next.

Wow - This holiday has changed - I tell myself.  I remember 20 years ago when you just left work a little early to be home and ready to light up by 4:20 in the afternoon on April 20th.   Now it's swag parties and giveaways like some treasure hunt you never care to complete.  I wonder what the rest of America will think of this?  

Cannabis culture has changed so much and is still changing and so many people are still afraid to talk about it publicly (including me).  I want to speak about it within my artwork.  I want to explain it with colorful imagery.  I want to tell stories in paint.  In a decade we will all think of cannabis as a simple glass of wine or headache remedy or sleep aid.

So I picked up my freshly dried flowers, my free buy one get one free eighth (for not previously realizing what day of the year it was) and free t-shirt for being among the first 100 customers willing to wait in a long line to get in the door on this not so secret holiday.  I went home to put on my new cannabis shirt (pretending i would dare wear it out in public) and then i meditated medicated on designing this new floral still life in my sunny California art studio.

I worked on this canvas on April 20th and 21st.  I completed it on the 23rd and it took me a little while to decide quite how to present this. Here is my first painting: The strains pictured in this still life painting are Superglue, Pre'98 Bubba Kush, and good ol' Grand Daddy Purps.  I love my spiral sorting dish and i keep my flowers sealed and organized in small glass jars in this cigar humidor.  I screwed the jar lids to the inside of the top of this humidor and I label each jar with color coded stickers to tell me the strain name and color tells me whether its a sativa, an indica, or a hybrid.  Ill show that off in my next painting.