Ocean Grove after a dramatic rain storm. →

I don’t usually draw or paint adorable little sea side towns, but the adorable ness of Ocean Grove wasn’t the focus here, it is the overly dramatic rain clouds that were taring apart and wringing their last drops as the sun was setting and illuminating the water vapors with menacing indigos and charcoals as well as glowing cadmium yellows and alizarin pinks.

It was done with a technique I have been using more and more frequently. After preparing the panel, I sketch out my drawing roughly with pastels, I try not to cover every bit of the panel with pastel as it does affect how the encaustic adheres to the panel a bit . it’s dusty ness essentially clogs the pores of the wood weakening the bind to the panel….I think. I haven’t had one self destruct yet.

after the pastel sketch I can go back with a graphite pencil and bring out details and shading if need be. The rest is done with hot encaustic wax, in several layers.

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Something in the Atmosphere

In Progress - Another climate change influenced piece. Every day, some 93,000 flights take off from approximately 9,000 airports. Flying is not without consequences. It’s estimated that 5% of global warming is caused by air travel.

MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT A THE BOWERY BALL ROOM 11/31

I absolutely love these sick bunch of naughty funsters. You can resist songs like, Daisy Chain for Satan, Devil Bunnies, Join the Children of Hell, the Days of Swine and Roses and Blue Buddha. We got dressed up as displaced undead and rock out with our cocks …nearly out. I wanna do their set design or at least some T shirts.

Tara and I at TKK, best Halloween band ever.

The downward spiral is picking up speed

I read some articles recently about the dire state of our environment and how many indicators are actually worsening faster than scientists had predicted. Indicators like ocean temperatures, melting glaciers, rising seas and extreme weather. This painting was inspired by the Canadian wildfires that filled New Jersey - New York for several days with smoke and bad air quality. It’s untitled Burning.

The second image I finished today. It’s not a sunset or sunrise. It’s entitled Good Bye, Blue Sky. the title is borrowed from a Pink Floyd song. A suitably somber song from The Wall.

Burning airlines, 36 x 36 in. encaustic

Delicious Demon

Just finished and delivered my little pony for the Freehold Half Mile of Horses. The town is displaying 18 artist decorated horses. This one is loosely based on Day of the Dead type designs, but has a lot of tattoo inspiration as well. This took a while, mostly because I used acrylic paints. I have yet to find an acrylic paint that covers with one brush stroke.

Lux Spa - Red Bank

You can find these spray paint squiggles in the entrance hall to Lux Spa, the new branch of Cryolete in Asbury Park. Both are owned by my friend Wayne Stroeble, who asked me make the hallway more inviting for clients. How could I say no? It was fun and only took a few hours….I may have lost a few more brain cells from the fumes, though. No matter, ….

On a long enough time line, the survival rate drops to zero- Tyler Dyrden.

Monmouth Museum - Annual Juried Show

Nice to have been accepted into the Monmouth Museum’s Annual Juried Group Show. The exhibit will be in the Main Gallery from January 22, 2023–Sunday, March 12, 2023. ‘Justice’, one of the paintings from my (still unfinished) tarot card series, was selected.

Medal for the Victorious Dead

Reworked an older piece with the addition of the golden skeleton. I guess you would call this an assemblage. The idea here is it’s an award for a fallen solder or fighter, kind of a thanks for your service, post - mortem. Thank the universe that I never had to go to war and fight for my country, pick up a gun for transient political beliefs, kill a stranger over land disputes, or property, or as revenge for an assassinated leader, or my favorite, take lives for a difference in religious dogma or over the interpretation of God. An award like this goes to the dead’s survivors, who can only feel it is vastly inadequate, an empty gesture for the children of a dead parent or spouse, and ironic, because the only satisfactory ‘prize’ is never having the burden of duty to fight for an institution, place, way of living, food, and someone else’s cause.

We won the war, but all the winners are dead…… M. Teters, 2022