Another in the series of tango dancers, this one 4 feet wide for a change. I started it in 2012, then lost the feel and it sat in attics and closets through several moves until I finally felt like taking it out again. You make me feel like dancing??

As more color layers go down and the image started to pop out, I sat back and realized I have no idea what I originally drew the guy wearing. Are short sleeved suit jackets a thing? Is it a sweater? Maybe it’s a t-shirt tuxedo. Did he roll the jacket sleeve up in the shirt sleeve? 2021 Kelly has some questions for 2012 Kelly.

I keep putting on those westie playlists, hoping the vision will hit. It’s not quite there, but it’s close. This one is currently sitting on the easel in front of the fireplace as a constant reminder. Somebody come triple triple, wahhh wahhhhlk with me!

Ahhh, yes. Finally making progress again. May I have this dance?

Next step: the Wild Atlantic Way: isles, bays, lighthouses, distilleries, and more. I want a castle from Roscommon and the bridge from Nenagh and waves upon waves of sea lavender. Somehow all woven into a yew tree. And maybe a few more pours of Jameson black barrel.

The original concept was inspired by a conversation about fire and brimstone and the depths of hell. Is there a lake of lava? Does the Devil have a tail? He’s a fallen angel, not a lizard, but he’s also been a serpent.

What kind of horns does he have? Are there even horns? So many questions about a fictitious being. Would lava splash like water? Can the lake be fluid and on fire? Really it’s a feeling, not anything logical. Does drowning mean fluid, or just oxygen deprivation? Drowning in flame would absolutely deprive you of life giving air.

The original cliffline took a turn. It has evolved into a lovely easter egg from a Ghost song.

There’s something about that connection, that undying love some people find. It’s such a strange phrase when you think about it. Why is it ’til death do us part? Who came up with that phrase?

I don’t know what’s next for this. I can’t see it at all anymore.

Where to even start with this one. There’s a brewery in Detroit that I hear is amazing, I’ve never been but a good friend who is a connoisseur of both whiskey and beer says it’s excellent. It’s called Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, and if you get a chance you should stop by one of their several locations. The part that piqued my interest was when I learned they had teamed up with a local tattoo artist, Adam Forman, to design their labels. Things got really fun once I realized he had created an entire set of characters that you could follow their stories across the labels, which is it’s own internet clickhole of amazingness.

My friend was obsessed with a painting someone had done of the La Roja cat from one of the series of labels, which hangs on the wall in their Detroit location, and always said he was going to get it somehow one day until he remembered I was an artist and commissioned his own painting. The part of the story he loves is the part where the La Roja cat is an old Spanish sea captain who has fallen on hard times, and has been turned out in the streets with a bum sack over his shoulder holding a mouse for his dinner, wearing a bicorn cap. Hence the origins of this painting, which took more than a year to complete and several iterations with hidden characters from other labels and one very special mermaid if you know exactly where to look.

Moral of the story: Go to the brewery. Admire their original painting. Maybe get a tattoo from Adam Foreman in Ann Arbor. Tell me how the beer is, it’s been a while since I’ve made it up to Detroit.

This one is complete, but I’m not ready to let it go yet. It may be for sale someday.