Tarot

Her hairstyle dates her to the late 1950s or 60’s, but her eyes are looking past whatever is in front of her—her mind is not in the present. The red velvet of the chaise sofa glows in the bottom edge. The light plays in the gossamer strands of her hair.

The model is an inspiring individual named Jean-Marie. She is the epitome of a modern Renaissance woman: bold and mystically powerful. She does readings with a pack of angel tarot cards that have brought her friends optimism and joy. By day, she’s an enchanting waitress in the Rainbow Room at the top of the Rockefeller in New York. By night, she writes songs, channels lyrics with her eyes closed, and directs her own music videos. Her band is Zen and the Twin Paradox. She posed for six hours while I drew her from life in my studio, my dear friend Nick Kova captured some of the process.

Jean-Marie is a contemplative, wonderful, dear friend and fellow creative. Together, we love to research the supernatural: sacred geometry, occult knowledge, healing arts, light beings, telepathy, and channeled texts. 

This painting is a celebration of shape. The negative space of her arm creates a sharp triangle that is repeated in the pattern of her velvet geometric dress with a bright red waist sash. Initially, the dress was black, but that was too simple. After it dried, I went over it with the broken glass pattern, and you can still see the finger painted texture below the blue and red on the dress, like a design stitched into a fabric.

While most of my other works capture motion, the pose here is uniquely still. Usually, my pieces contain accidents of swirling colors, but this painting is defined by tight, controlled, precise movements. This is a finger painting, even her face, which forced me to work larger than life. I really let my fingers flow through her hair to carve out parallel tracks. My favorite part of whole piece is the gentle orange glow on her bicep, where all the colors in the painting converge.