Where The Sun Don't Shine

Where The Sun Don't Shine
2008 - 11"x12", Mixed media on wood
Price: $300US
www.ErikVP.com

This painting started with an inkjet print I was experimenting with. I took a bunch of photos and printed them, one at a time, on the same paper, then glued it to the wood. It quickly evolved into Manhattan with the buildings, subway lines, trees (Central Park), brown border representing an island, and the water.

I felt like it needed nails somewhere so I put about ten of them along the brown border, and then put a little paint on each. It didn't look right, and then realized they would look better around the sun.

When I am standing in the subway stations waiting for the train, I like watching the rats running around on the tracks. They are interesting to watch. The rats are running uptown/downtown on the C and F lines in the painting. The dollar signs symbolize Wall Street in lower Manhattan.

I knew the painting was of Manhattan, but didn't have a creative name for it. My wife took a look at it and came up with the name. We both really like Manhattan, so it's intended to be humorous, not negative. If you have never been to Manhattan, there are places where you don't see the sun due to the tall skyscrapers.

Snake In The Garden

Snake In The Garden
2008 - 11"x12", Mixed media on wood
Not For Sale
www.ErikVP.com

My wife named the painting. I really liked the name because it fits perfectly with the generic Freud/Jung sexual symbolisms that paintings with snakes and women are assumed to be about.

Here's an alternate theory to consider. I used to have a pet red tailed boa constrictor. She only ate rats, and I wondered if she had any interest in eating something else. I experimented with a variety of foods including McDonalds french fries & M&M's but she had no interest.

The snake in the painting likes M&M's and is curious about the purple M&M. She is smelling it with her tongue. The lady is watering her M&M garden but is aware the snake likes to eat M&M's. This is symbolized by the three M&M trees etched into the snake's body right behind the head, but it's not easy to see in the photo. The M&M trees that have no color aren't ripe yet.

Squirrel Took My Bagel

Squirrel Took My Bagel
2008 - 22"x17", Mixed media on wood
(SOLD)
www.ErikVP.com

Anteater is tired of eating ants and decides to buy a bagel. He goes to get something to drink and when he returns his bagel is missing. Where could it have gone? Anteater asks lizard where his bagel went. "Was it an everything bagel?", asks lizard. "Yes it was", says anteater. "Squirrel took your bagel", replies lizard. Anteater is not happy with squirrel.

The painting was inspired by a funny story my wife told me. She was at Prospect Park (Brooklyn, NY) and saw this squirrel run off with someone's bagel. It was one of those giant New York bagels...the ones that are about 6" in diameter and weigh two pounds. He carried the bagel up a tree and ate it.

When we lived in California, we visited the Santa Barbara zoo a few times. One of my favorite animals was the anteater. I think I like the unusual looking animals the most.

During the summer months in New York, there are lots of mosquitoes. My wife is always using Deet to keep them away. One day, we were feeding the ducks and this class of kids stops by the pond. The teacher points to a dragonfly and says they eat mosquitos. I wondered if tying a string to a dragonfly would keep the mosquitos away.

Painting on this piece of wood really frustrated me because I couldn't come up with anything worth keeping. It was probably my fourth attempt at a painting. However, the layers of paint and newspaper made for a great irregular surface to paint on. The razor blade scratches also look a little deeper than other paintings.

I have used the horizontal split across the top of the painting several times before. It's inspired by one of my favorite artists, Wosene and also used in Egyptian art. The black and white section has nothing to do with the lower section, yet I don't think the painting would look very good without it. It's kind of interesting how they work together.

The black are is not really a perfect black as seen in the photo. I had some trouble with glare when taking the photo, so I modified in photoshop but it ended up looking a little too perfectly black.

Rat and Moon

Rat and Moon
2008 - Mixed media on wood
SOLD - Private Collection New York
www.ErikVP.com

Rat is looking at the moon wondering if it's really made of cheese. A few of the rats discovered a secret subway line that takes them to the moon. The painting is dated 4706.

There was a partial painting underneath this one (see photo on my website), and I covered it with black gesso. I scratched up the surface with an exacto knife, then drew in the animal and moon. It came together pretty quickly, and I was really tempted to add detail because it felt uncomfortably minimalistic. I resisted temptation and compromised by adding some detail outside the black area.

This painting was completed in early February during the Chinese New Year. This is the year of the rat. The animal originally had a much shorter tail, but once I realized he was a rat, the tail was extended. I have rats in some of my other paintings because I see them running around the subway tracks all the time. I like to watch the rats as I'm waiting for the train to arrive. The tracks along the right edge are marked "F" since that's the train I usually take.

Rainbow House

Rainbow House
2008 - 11"x12", Mixed media on wood.
Price: $300US
www.ErikVP.com

This painting was inspired by Babe Ruth and the Yankees, but probably not obvious. I went to a Yankees game and there was an hour long thunderstorm before the game started. Eventually it cleared, and there was this amazing rainbow off in the distance. It was a great game, and yes the Yankees won.

Rainbows are preceeded by clouds and rain, then followed with sunshine. Babe Ruth was the rainbow that brought the sunshine to New York and the Yankees. He joined the Yankees in 1920, hit 54 home runs, and helped draw record crowds. The larger crowds led to building a new stadium in 1923. This is why Yankee Stadium is called "the house that Ruth built". Their first season in the new stadium also brought their first World Series title.

I started this painting around the time I was finishing up a recent painting called "Here Comes The Sun" which is why they look similar. Both paintings have bright colors, with the raw newspaper providing a black and white contrast. Sometimes I go overboard with too much bright coloring, but the black and white helps tone everything down. As with all my paintings, I use the Brooklyn Rail newspaper.

In the yellow section, to the left of the two mountains, is a little guy riding on top of an elk. This was inspired by a painting I really like from Bill Traylor called "Untitled (Man Leading Black Dog)".

I used an exacto knife to scratch up the area outside the house outline. It wasn't planned, but I liked how it created a color contrast between the house and the background and helped separate the two areas.