Guardian Kal

"Guardian Kal"

14 x 20"

acrylic on 140 lbs. watercolor paper

Here's something I had fun doing-  a portrait of pal of mine dressed as a galactic superhero.  I've felt for awhile that Kal would be an interesting subject, and a month ago I got the idea from a pic of the bearded one peeking through the band on his headphones. It looked as though he were wearing some kind of visor, somehow sparking the thought of our shared enthusiasm for the Guardians of the Galaxy comic by Marvel. I imagine Kal recruited by Peter Quill/Starlord to join the reunited team, using his cool wits and raygun (The Fridge) to help battle the dread Dormammu to the death at the North Pole! Or where our new recruit was "weaned by wolves in Northern Quebec"? So much to work with here, People...

Gary Passanise

"Gary Passanise"  2012
acrylic on paper, 14 x 20"

Gary is the Director of Painting at Webster University and founding Executive Director at the Santo Foundation, as well as an accomplished artist represented by Bruno David Gallery here in St. Louis. I tried to fit Gary into a setting that emulates the spirit of his art. so I chose The Baffled King  as inspiration, replacing the black figure in the foreground of his abstract painting with Gary himself.

Gary has an up-coming exhibition at Bruno David Gallery "Gary Passanise: Painting", October 19 to November 24, 2012. Go see it.

Pygmalion & Galatea

"Pygmalion and Galatea" 2000

acrylic on board, 14 x 11"

Here's a blast from the past- I was using mythology and religion in many of my paintings during this period, sometimes updating the setting and/or using myself and people I know as the characters, rendered in my awkward, cartoon figurative style. I sold a lot of prints of  "Pygmalion and Galatea"  at a little shop called Archetypes on "the Loop" in University City back then. I like to think about all those prints out in the world and who may be looking at them, what they are thinking...  it was a very productive time for me.

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a Cypriot sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory. His statue was so fair and realistic that he fell in love with it. When Venus' festival day came, and Pygmalion made offerings at her altar. There, he quietly wished that his ivory sculpture would be changed to a real woman. When he returned home, he kissed his ivory statue and found that its lips felt warm. He kissed it again and Venus had granted Pygmalion's wish.

See more of my available works at my WORKS AVAILABLE page at Shawart.com :) EMAIL ME if you are interested!