At my most recent show I had the honor to sell one of my newest and favorite drawings. I think it would be fun to have a little meander down memory lane and see how it was made. (Do you remember that show?! How It’s Made? I loved that show and stayed up many late nights watching the reruns.) Aaaanyway, here is a little story about “I Was Missing You and My Heart Got Heavy”
Where they all start: circles and scribbles
This drawing took me a year to make. I moved my studio THREE times during the drawing of this piece and am fucking proud I kept the spirit of it alive during so much upheaval. Proud of you, boo.
Saying goodbye to my first studio outside of my home. I laid out the bulk of the drawing in this lovely space:
I found some time lapse videos of me working on sections of this drawing and have three of them peppered in here:
I’ve drawn a few pieces that focus on bodies with penises and I’ve sold them all! Many conversations have been had over why we don’t see these bodies in art as much as we do vulva bodies. There is a whole long racist and misogynistic story about the use of white, vulva/breasted bodies being the only bodies we see nude (you should look up Gorilla Girls) and I am sure this is not surprising. I do have some thoughts on a secondary reason we don’t see penis bodies: we’ve forgotten how beautiful they are. People love seeing a diversity of bodies in art; I will continue to draw them because these bodies are a feast to behold and deserve appreciation, too.
My next move was to another studio outside my home. It was a much quieter space; not a lot of people were around and that was hard. I ended up enjoying the quiet but missed my fellow creatives to shoot the shit with as those conversations always lead me to big ideas.
My first studio had a metal wall the length of the room. I was initially unsure how I could use the wall and it ended up revolutionizing the way I draw. My drawings up to that point were small enough to create flat on a table. But I wanted to go big AND I am anal about my paper being perfectly flat and clean which means I had to go vertical.
That magnetic wall was hard to leave behind. I found a very workable solution though, a heavy ass white board that is also a heavy duty magnet surface. Thank you to my amazing partners for helping get this puppy moved and up on the wall (many times over!)
This is the studio where I completed the drawing. Let’s take a look ◡̈
The octopus was amazing to draw because I got to lose myself in meditative patterning. Up until this point, this is the heaviest detail I’ve brought to life in my drawings and the result says it all: keep doing that.
I’ve noticed over the years I have three subjects that continue to show up in nearly every drawing: bodies, hands, hearts.
1. Bodies: my most favorite thing about being a human is how I get to be naked with myself and/or a lover and experience pleasure. **sigh*to love and be loved in these human bodies*
2. Hands: I think the hands are the most intimate part of the body to know. The creases, the shapes of finger nails, rough or soft, strong or delicate, how the touch, and what the feel like to be held in them. Give me your hand and I’ll just melt.
3. Heart (of the anatomical style): I want to draw hearts onto every drawing. It perfectly says what my work is all about – love.
Each work has drawings within drawings, little vignettes, and I like to take those details and make more art with them; I get to keep the drawings alive and help sustain my style through all the art I make. The heart in this drawing turned into a postcard and a TATTOO!
This most recent show was the first show I displayed the storyboard NEXT to the original it helped create. As you saw above, I make my storyboards while simultaneously drawing the final piece; these written and illustrated works are the conversations I have with myself as I am drawing.
The storyboards are personal and are a window into what my art “means.” Once the drawing is completed my version is left on the storyboard and the drawing goes on to find its new meaning.
“I Was Missing You and My Heart Got Heavy – Storyboard”
My last studio move was into my apartment living room. Although this drawing was completed, I did my final step of documenting it in my new studio. It was nice to have this as a starting point to get me drawing again.
It still blows my mind I get to make these drawings from a blank piece of paper, have an emotional experience while making it, and then watch someone else connect with the art and purchase it. It is magical.
Thank you to my new collectors for seeing the love in this piece. So pleased to be part of your collection.
And that, folks, is how it’s made.
A Good Cunt 
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