The Art of Jeannette L Herrera

BFK Celebrates La Primavera

2011-09-21T13:50:00.001-04:00

I first saw an image in a poster book of Sandro Botticelli's La Primavera when i was in 9th grade. I fell in love and had dreams of seeing it in person. I have a poster section with the 3 Graces on it that sits in the dining room. I had it framed 20 or so years ago. And i have stared at that thing more times than i can count. I have looked at those beautiful faces and perfect hands and feet. Little toes, fingers, faces and flowers and leaves and so many glorious little details that it would take my breath away! A series of difficult events in my life left me somewhat broken and I found myself thinking about that painting day and night. I wanted to see something beautiful and feel something beautiful and in March I made plans. To my surprise , I bought a ticket to leave in August.And it takes a lot for me to get on a plane! With the help of my parents I could leave and not worry about the kids and i am grateful for that. I had originally thought to go alone but i was blessed with a loving travel companion who sneaked a photo of me while i was happily weeping in front of my dream come true!
Days later I had a dream about the nymph from Birth of Venus. In my dream i was restlessly sleeping and she sat on my bed next to me and put her hand on my back and told me it would be ok and told me to sleep and i did. When i woke up I was so happy. The only thing that would have made this trip better is if Prince was standing next to La Primavera. But i can still dream!

What do you mean funny? Funny how?!

2011-07-19T23:06:00.000-04:00

Yeah , funny like a clown.. This series will be hanging in this years DCAC Wall Mountables annual show in Adam's Morgan. They are mostly acrylics with powder pigment metal flakes and the two eye masks being acrylic and oil. I have been a busy bee and need to post many more paintings than this but this is a good start.

spider clown 7 3/4 x 14 7/8 acrylic on 8ply

disguise 1 acrylic and oil 2x7

diguise2- acrylic and oil 2x7inch

elefante! 4x4 acrylic on wood

acrylic on wood 3x4 circus clown1 acrylic on wood 3x4 circus clown2

birdclown 4x4 acrylic on wood

butterclown 4x4 acrylic on wood

beetleclown 4x4 acrylic on wood

Happier Days

2010-11-11T13:41:00.001-05:00

"Patron Saint of the Lost Sock"

12x16 acrylic on canvas

"Last Night while I Lay Dreaming"

11x14 acrylic on canvas

Feeling a little moody

2010-11-11T13:10:00.001-05:00

In my moodier times i have found myself painting some crazy things. But the norm for my moodiness is iconography and strange cutesy creatures. Sweet smiles with a possible chance of being brutally slain.
Going through a rough patch , feeling cut off at the knees and helpless , praying for a miracle and trying to remember there's beauty in the world. Wishing i was in Italy looking at my favorite painting. That basically sums up this pile of paintings. But this mood didn't last

Progression

2010-11-11T12:57:00.001-05:00

"seacret lovers" 9x12 acrylic on canvas

"Something between you and I" 9x12 acrylic on canvas

Last night while i slept 11x14 acrylic on canvas

DC Arts Center 1460 Wall Mountables show 2010

2010-07-27T09:50:00.000-04:00

From the top

I miss your face,

Talk to the hand, man, What? no ! you don't say!,

Lovin, touchin, squeezin, St. Miss Stake

Jason's painting, Natural Born Killer

1460 wall mountables is DCAC's yearly open exhibit. Each 2'x2' space purchased can be filled with just about anything. So long as it fits in the 2x2 space. It's a fun show and I love being part of it for the past 2 years. This year I painted on 7,4x6 wooden boards but because 2 didn't make it to the show, I included an older 8x10 piece from this past year's ArtOmatic.

(i love your power animal)

Love Connection

2010-07-03T15:33:00.000-04:00

Once again I am hit with the "no uniformity" critique. I understand , I really do. Perhaps to some, there is no connection, but to me , it all comes from one place which makes it as uniform as it can be.
The question of 'why Optimus Prime?'(titled , Cherish is the word that i use to describe) in my last series, came up more often than not on opening night of the baby canvases show. I don't think I'll ever be the kind of artist that makes the series that obviously ties in together ,and to the critics, that is to my detriment. I guess I'm not built that way. I paint through stream of consciousness and with that, the audience can decide to connect the dots(fuzzy as they may be to some) and see that I'm actually wearing my heart on my sleeve and showing the sickness in my head and a love/obsession in my heart and choosing to share it OR just judge it on the surface. Love it or hate it or think nothing of it at all. I even feel not quite myself offering this explanation up. For those of you that know me and my sense of humor, you get me and that's awesome. There is also the pile of you that know me (sorta) I make you scratch your head and I confuse with my sense of humor and that is also really awesome to me.
The whole 2x3 series for example is about love and a dark amusing place.
These all came from blots of paint spattered on boards and one after the other a picture came to mind , like watching clouds in the sky turn into people and things. If you know the 60's love song , 'Cherish is the word' you can be amused by my special imaginary relationship I have had with Optimus Prime. As we lay in our giant transformer sized bed together and he charms my pants off while that song plays in the background and I look into his eyes and sigh,sigh,sigh."Oh Optimus... I love you"

I also have what some people call , an "interesting" fascination with amputees and ''it's what's for dinner" just showed up in the cloud of paint on a board. With her very vulnerable, naked, legless body just waiting to be taken advantage of and to be possessed by this part serpent, part man. How much more intimate could he be with her ,if not by eating her? What lies did he tell her to make her believe he loved her and were they even lies at all?

Simple pleasures- the girl with three decapitated heads for balloons. Oh what a strange place this came from. After A long trip to the A T & T store , I was thoroughly engaged in the size of my salesperson's ass. To begin with , I by no means have a tiny ass. I have quite the badonkey back there but this ass was special. It was quite possibly the biggest ass I have ever seen in my life. It was hypnotic and when she walked across the room I was riveted by the story of this ass. I thought to myself , I bet she could store at least 3 decapitated heads in that ass and who would ever know??? 3 unlucky fools that hold a special place in her heart(or the heart of her ass if you will) and within that sizable wonder of the world was born the simple pleasures of the girl with her 3 balloons.

and on and on it goes......There's your freaky love connection.

Baby Canvases Show! smaller than a business card

2010-06-22T20:30:00.004-04:00

Every once in a while I find myself gravitating toward these tiny wooden boards ,where it becomes an obsession for days on end at a time . I wear myself out at the end of these mini binges and round and round I go; always finding my way back to my 18/0 brushes , my magnifiers and the crazy little pictures in my mind.

Here are my images that will be displayed on Saturday at the Soundry. . They are 2inch x3inch on wooden panels. I layered different colors of gesso and aged the boards with a faux finish, cutting through the layers with wire and a mini hand saw. Then , very much like deciphering an inkblot , I looked at the pattern on the boards and just start painting what I saw. These images are what I saw through the blots.

Simple Pleasures, (Amputees)It's what's for dinner,Virgin/bangs, wishing-hoping-praying, Cherish is the word that i use to describe, I think i love you so what are you so afraid of, Be my little baby, and The ventriloquist

Getting into portraits again

2010-05-29T12:41:00.007-04:00

Here is a progression of the latest portrait I completed. Unlike most of my portraits , this was done in acrylics. Working on it has given me a nice boost and a desire to paint more portraits. It is strange to me how i seem to forget how happy painting them makes me , until i paint another one and i am in heaven.

click image to enlarge

James Marlowe of Marlowe Ink.
While i was working on it , my mom came over and was startled by him(she is a jumpy one, that mom of mine haha!)I assured her he is a stand up guy. He has a real talent for making me smile and laugh. Plus he has done some of my most complimented tattoos on me.
You can visit James at Marlowe Ink in Fairfax Va

16x20 acrylic on canvas

New work and some new inspiration~May 2010

2010-05-22T10:15:00.005-04:00

*a little doodle from the desk of SSG Gordon at the Pentagon, from 2008 i think*

My husband used to come home from the Pentagon with a new daily desk doodle that he drew. I didn't keep all of them but I managed to keep a little box full of them. They always make me laugh because of their ridiculousness. This particular sketch makes me laugh for a few reasons. One being , the brain flying out of the guy's head-- whole. I mean , what an amazing shot! The ants are ready to climb the guy and do goodness knows what. Go insides the hole in his head? Feast on some brains? who knows. The girl looks pretty pissed and is possibly Asian , which is only significant because Mike was stationed in Korea for 4 years and was previously married to a cute little gal from there. I can't help but giggle to think of the possible scenarios that prompted this image to begin with.
Because of that I am calling this painting " Lemme splain!"

So while he is away in the desert,I have decided to translate these doodles into paintings. I had started this one in particular a couple years back , but then it was more of a passing thought. It had sat as a blue board for quite some time. With Mike away though , i find that it makes missing him a lot less time consuming. This way i can kill 2 birds with one stone. I can miss him AND not be a mopey lump on the ground. Besides this I have a million ideas I need to get out. So expect to see more from me , very soon.

click on the image to see it larger.
24x30 oil on masonite.

Newest works Nov2009-Jan2010

2010-01-22T09:41:00.004-05:00

Since I had last written here, my husband has been deployed and I am going through a bit of an adjustment not having him here. It took me a little while to want to paint but thankfully I have found some momentum again.
These are all I have done since end of Nov 09 until now.

nov 09 fat glam and little coy 8x10 acrylic on canvas

Nov 09 acrylic on board oops I did it again

Dec 09 18x18 acrylic on hardboard Hey you guise!

Dec 09 16x20 acrylic on canvas - if you threw it up in the air it would turn into sunshine

Jan 2010 from the 80's series-Caterpillar girl, never never go.(aka her shoes last twice as long) 14x18 acrylic on canvas

Assassin girl Snake Belly

2009-10-29T13:11:00.003-04:00

Snake Belly is sister piece to Blue Face Killer. I started it some time ago and after a time of not working with my oil paints, I have finally finished it. I had gotten used to working with acrylics for a while and just let it go. This piece is 24x36 on masonite. from now and into next year I plan on working on some of the larger pieces in oil that i have been neglecting.

New works!

2009-08-20T13:51:00.003-04:00

If I were a man( I would give you yellow roses) 11x14 acrylic on canvas
.

A commission for a very nice man6x9 acrylic on canson paper , he asked for a holy crocodile and it was a real fun painting to do

DCAC Wall Mountables

2009-08-20T13:16:00.003-04:00

I painted a new series of acrylics for the DCAC wall mountables show in Adams Morgan called the albino series. All small paintings , small enough to fit a 24x24 inch space. The show is up until Sept 1st. Opening night was really wonderful and I'd like to thank everyone that came to see me. I was feeling pretty special for sure.

The series includes

White bread vs. white corn taco shell a triptych on 2x3" boards

Dinocorn and Dragoncat 2x3"

Saber Tooth Gopher 3x4"

ready to fight .. Shark vs. ?? 3x6" and Flora and Fauna3x4"

Just call me Al 3x7" and (squid) Battle Bino 3x6"

12x12 Battle Royale aka never bring a knife to a gun fight

The Daily Campello News Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T17:11:00.003-04:00

Lenny Campello posted his top ten picks from Artomatic 2009 and I am so proud to have made the list,chosen from out of over 1000 artists. If ever I had doubted quitting my job to paint full time, this blew it out of the water. A very favorable review for sure.

Jeannette L. Herrera - Space 210 on the 2nd floor. This blue face killer is all over the map with her artwork, and yet she covers that map very well. She makes and sells everything: T-shirts, buttons, stickers, skateboards, shoes, custom made frames, etc.

She is a GerhardtRichterian artist in the sense that her artwork is about what interests and makes her tick, not what the critics dictate. I love the energy and drive and zeal behind her work; it's like an artistic hurricane in violent motion at all times.

I know a lot of accomplished artists, now in the October of their careers (the best time for hurricanes) who wish they could find a way to rediscover 10% of the energy and intelligence that Herrera drives through your brain with paint-stained nails in each of her paintings.

CocoSala 929 f st Nw DC Everybody Wins Charity Event

2009-06-02T15:58:00.004-04:00

The Cargo Cult Crew together perform another live painting event at Coco Sala in DC for Everybody wins. The price was 50$ a head to get in and there was a small pile of things to raffle off including each of our paintings at the end of the night.
A very special thank you to my husband Michael Gordon for photographing the events so carefully. He did a great job

The people at Coco Sala treated us so well. it was a real pleasure working for them and the people from Everybody wins

Immediately after set up we got down and dirty. I went in with no idea of what I would be doing so this is just a straight pull out of thin air. I'm not much for sketching ideas out, i just like to start painting

from left to right myself , John Lucien Grillo of Logical Explosion, Sean Welker secretworm , And Danny Phantom Not from this planet.

laying paper down

John begins his layers of watercolors

drip drip bleach and beets.

startin to look like something

Sean's background so far

Danny's work in progress. Beginnings of Chesire cat

refining lines

John's piece is a Japanese Kanji symbol that is a play off of Everybody Wins

hard worker , workin hard

tossin rings onto paper

still trying to make something out of this

oooOOooo it's coming to life

cleaning up those lines

squiddy lines and suction cups , is it? could it be? Cthulhu?

blue , pink, white and toothbrush splatter

'T was brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe. All the mimsy were the borogroves. And the mome raths outgrabe!

Never give your heart away for free people

Keisha watches hubby John refine the linework

Danny almost done with his cool cat

The scene from outside CocoSala

Sean always ambitious and we love him for it

Chesire cat project complete!

Definitely done , just needs a varnish but that is for later

John's masterpiece

The gang after a job well done

The finished piece at the end of the night

18x18 inch acrylic on hardboard
"never give it away for free"

Art-O-Matic

2009-05-26T00:55:00.003-04:00

this is not quite the finished product, more photos to come

SO I have been insanely busy with art-o-matic. The biggest one ever to date. I opted for the 8x8ft wall space but after filling it to the max I should have gone with the 12ft but hey , at least it is nice and packed full of bluefacekilleristicness. It starts at 4 pm on friday but runs through July 5th with selected days for people to sell from a table so there should be quite a nice collection of artists and their wares for sale. My selling time for cards, prints and other BFK goodies is June 14th and I am table 8. Of course I have plenty of things for visual entertainment and for purchase on my wall as well. Besides having some talented and wonderful people around me and on the floors above Here is a few of what you have to look forward to of my own work on the 2nd floor space P10 near the bar/cabaret stage. Easy to spot me, so find me!

3"x6" Batty acrylic on wood

My little misfit plaster, wood, acrylic and wire

sewn muslin and acrylic , stuffed doll

3"x7" Old man acrylic on wood

3"x6" Top Hat VooDoo Fish Daddy

1"x3" acrylic on 8 ply

Lucha Lady 3"x7" acrylic on wood

n
the stage next to my wall next to the bar

my beautiful little Katie pointing at her portrait

Donny buys Police Story on opening night . Who's Donny? I dunno, never met him but he was awful sweet :)

I love this man.

Cargo Cult does X

2009-03-30T12:29:00.003-04:00

On the 21st Cargo Cult was invited to paint at X event at BeBar (1318 9th st nw) A musically artistic event to satisfy all your senses
The lineup was as follows John Lucien Grillo and Danny "phantOM`" Jean-Jacques joined up for some madness. Believe me it was sick! Sean Welker of secretworm fame gave me the honor of partnering up with him. And we did rock the house.

Cosmic was the theme for the night and we made it a stellar event. Painting on the fly like that is kind of a gutwrenching experience. You hope it all happens the way you can see it in your head. The lighting was a challenge but we all made it work for us. It was a great energy and I was happy to be part of it.

Sean and i worked on one side of the stage ( closest to the bar) and Danny and John worked the other end while the DJ's were pumping music behind us.

Partner in crime Secretworm Sean Welker

scraping on the paint

Sean and I working diligently

the background

my back was hurting so i was trying hard to find a comfortable position to paint in

I wonder what he's thinking there. I know I'm hoping that this spaceship turns out right

painting on my knees

for the most part we were creating in the dark

Mr Welker cuttin it up

time to give flight to these astronauts

astro monkey I love him!!!

Sean's magic rocket fire is insanely beautiful

Finished for the night , will post completed work soon! Thanks to all my friends that came by to see us. We appreciate the support.

later that evening , the Gordon's decide pancakes are a good idea

Danny "phantOM`" Jean-Jacques gettin it started

Mr.Sticky Rice himself John Lucien

Stencil plus these boys equals genius

i know anxiety was high at this stage but it was worth it

hell yeah!

i really love how these photos turned out , thank you Mike!

Their finished cosmic display , awesome

2 new acrylics~ as per request

2009-02-20T11:20:00.004-05:00

For my friend Snoopy. He wanted one of him and his two boys. He bought G-Luv and liked the style. He's a pretty debonair gangsta fella himself so I tried to keep with his style and he loves classic cars , was a mechanic until a serious back injury kept him from that , so I put 2 of his cars in his kid's hands.

This painting is inspired from a friend's favorite Black Flag song. Police Story

When this tattoo is all healed up I will post it here. James tattooed a penguin on my arm that says SLIDE beside it. I have always been fond of the power animal and it made me laugh a bit too. James Marlowe is a really kick ass tattoo artist in Fairfax Va. If you would like to see his portfolio please click here
This is a 9x12 acrylic on canvas , you may not be able to tell in this photo but there is the smallest Virgin of Guadalupe on the gun handle

~Portrait work

2009-02-20T01:28:00.010-05:00

I love to paint portraits , truthfully not everyone's portrait because some people like a straight portrait. I understand that but I prefer to work on something a little different. When i meet someone I am taken with for one reason or another or when i get a commission and we click then I want to paint your portrait . I want to see if what i see is what you see and I've been lucky to have fun clients, great friends and just a great desire to keep painting. Everyday i feel I improve and its a very good feeling.

~ Everybody wants to rule the world, a portrait
I have yet to take a decent picture of this but I finished a portrait of my very good friend Jason Von Victor. When we met I was immediately taken by just , that way about him. What a truly lovely person. Smart assy and hilarious , serious and not so much all at the same time, Not to mention the drive and the passion .... what a refreshing fucking human being. Some people seem to go by , without an appreciation for the greatness around them. In order to raise yourself to a better standard you have to keep your eyes wide open. See what's out there and try to learn from it , though you may never reach that goal you know that at least you haven't missed out on an opportunity to just learn something. Let it pass you by and mediocrity will eat you alive. He seems to me to be the kind of man that is always learning , or trying his best to anyways. Meeting him made me want to paint him and I hope that its a compliment for him. It is my first ever portrait in acrylic paint. Being as that i can't shake this cough I have been staying away from the oils.
(Painless J ), "Welcome to your life"

Jason Von Victor is a tattoo artist at Marlowe Ink . He has been tattooing my latest traditional pieces on me and I couldn't be happier. You can see his many talents posted at the Marlowe link where you can see his portfolio. The traditional pieces I painted around him are pieces that represent different parts of his life. I had talked to him prior to starting the portrait and got an idea of what I wanted to do and how it should look. This is also my first portrait in acrylic. I usually do them in oils. I prefer not to do a straight portrait , not that i don't appreciate the skill it takes to do that , it just seems to lack that certain something that says that I had a hand in it.

Other portraits I really enjoyed doing were Mrs. Batson
Commissioned by Allen Batson in remembrance of his mother. I painted one for him and he had me do one for his brother too. He came to me with the queen of hearts idea and all i wanted was to do her some honor and not disappoint him. You can only hope that you know what is going on in your clients mind and that you had a good connection. He was very pleased and that made me very happy. I definitely felt close to her and even missed her when she was gone. The frames I made from bass wood and plaster and then silver leafed them. Mrs Batson was quite the card player , so i kept with the theme.

A portrait of Martha

Martha's mom Nancy came to me with a request to paint her daughter so she can remember 21 year old Martha for always. Martha is the most together girl I have ever met. Mom and daughter both made me smile a lot. Nancy said ... this is the face that Martha makes to me... its that face , the " oh mom" face. I jokingly said , "we'll call this piece... Shut up Martha ! Just shut up!!" Needless to say , those two were a blast to work with

Katie~~~the tasteful nude portrait
always fun to paint...

Katie , so young and lovely and just too much fun to be with. Seriously her youthful exuberance is like magic. You just can't help but fall in love with her. An excellent model and a good friend. The skin tones were really fun to paint. I wish I had such pretty glowing skin.

Self Portraits
you can see my self portraits in some of my older posts.

Shows at The Phantom Gallery/ Orange California

2009-02-08T18:00:00.007-05:00

Phantom Gallery
2736 East Chapman Avenue
Orange, CA 92869

The Phantom Gallery and I found each other on myspace when they posted a bulletin about an 80's show they were putting together. Since there is a slew of 80's paintings floating around in my head , I was in heaven when I heard about it.

It came from the 80's had a great turn out and I was happy to be a part of it. They did make a little video of all the pieces and let me tell you , any 80's fan will be over the moon to see what some of these artists came up with. There is a Jason "Bear"hese that just about killed me when I saw it. Look for the Hellraiser reference in one of these pieces.... it is awesome! Too many great pieces. I really wish I could have been there.

The pieces I did were small and honestly just more manageable a size to mail so far away. Otherwise I would have worked on a larger scale. I have had on my plate for a while an oil on masonite "Little China Girl" but since I had such a short time to get these out I re-started the idea in acrylic on a 6x9 canvas

Then my love for Prince could not be left out of such a great 80's event and I decided to combine 2 favs.

When the Doves Cry Purple Rain" 6x9 acrylic on canvas

Last night was the opening night for A salute to Cthulhu the Squid God
I really had fun painting this and it sold before the show even opened. Made my day!
5x5 acrylic on hardboard.

"Cthulhu takes a day off"

John Colle Rogers , The owner of Cthulhu is one of the most awesome people I have met, even though not in person, we had great conversations by mail. I got a glimpse of some of his work and I loved it!! Unicorns , muppets , and metal works of art..... so dope! "I do custom ironwork to pay the bills, fancy hand forged gates and railings. I get paid to play with fire."
SO here are a few of his works that I think you will love too.

you can read more about John Colle Rogers and see some more metal work here

Whack People - Logical Explosion Project

2009-01-29T17:59:00.002-05:00

John Lucien Of Logical Explosion came up with a great project for the Cargo Cult and various others called "Whack People". I have been just waiting for the right time to get my boards to me. Finally I ran into John at the tattoo convention and he was nice enough to remember me so here we are. The picture quality is not what I would like but I decided to do all 3 4x6 boards today. I didn't want any kind of plan of action, no pencil , no sketches , nothing in mind to begin with , I just wanted to paint. So I began with a permanent marker and just put it down. I also used gouache and Dr.Martin's inks.

I started with this somewhat impression of me and my newest tattoo on my arm

Then I saw this notebook paper covered board and thought about kids and school and the evil little kids that like to poke fun of everyone

Then of course the devil took me to the angel. But the paper had a very oriental feel to it. I used a lot of gold but it's hard to see in the photo

I can't wait to see everyone's together. I think it's really going to turn out to be something great

Tattoos and my art!

2009-01-27T10:45:00.012-05:00

The Danny Phantom & Tiffany wedding tattoo design

I don't make a point to specifically design just tattoos but he asked me and i can't say no to Danny. Lovable guy that he is.

Photo courtesy of The Baltimore Sun at the tattoo convention

This is my newest tattoo of Mike , and all of our inside jokes .

Tattoos have been a long time love of mine , the most steady relationship I have had next to of course my love of painting. So it seems only too wonderful that those worlds should collide. I hope to fill this space with more and more pictures from people that do me the honor of wanting my art permanently placed on their bodies. I think it's the coolest thing ever

Mr Gordon wanted ball in a cup guy on his arm

Leonard Shafer got himself a BFK warrior

Then I got the most polite request from Jack ( http://sintixerr.wordpress.com/ ) and Paivi (that I met through www.artdc.org ) asking to use one of my paintings for a back piece. They were sure to make certain I was ok with the idea which I really appreciated. Plus the artist she chose does the most beautiful work. How could I....... why would I say no to such a great opportunity? Excited about the whole thing I asked if I could be there for the event and as luck would have it she was going to get it done at the Baltimore tattoo convention where I would be selling some of my artwork. The day came and I was there long enough to watch the stencil and Paivi's cuteness just waiting to get things started. I had had SUCH a long weekend and a big Saturday night of being with grown ups that I was exausted! I couldn't stay for the whole thing but luckily Jack had taken some great photos of the event. Cynthia Rudzis of British Ink DC
( http://britishinkdc.com ) was the artist and she was just too wonderful. She was very thoughtful about telling me that she would be sure to stay true to the piece and I could see she was very respectful to the idea of the piece that it made me very happy. It made me want to get tattooed by her. So here are a few pictures , No More Shall We Part with a slight variation to the words .

To visit all of Jack's photos for the day and other really lovely photos please go to his Flikr page

The artist Cynthia Rudzis from British Ink

The lovely Paivi signing her life away

Laying out the stencil

The Inking begins

Cynthia focusing nicely on the job at hand

Outline is done with all the right little details

Now for the color work ..... yay pink ink!

Finished :)
Lovely

wrap up and aftercare

There's a happy camper if I've ever seen one ;)

I'll post a full on piece when i get a picture from jack .

here it is!

my newest piece from the painting ,If I was the man- James Marlowe , Marlowe Ink Fairfax

my zazzle store

2009-01-26T16:06:00.003-05:00

I have been very excited about all the options my zazzle store gives me in creating shoes, shirts, skateboards and you name it. One of my customers took the cutest picture with her new shirt on.
I'll post more as I get more people shopping but in the meantime.... Thanks Kristine! It looks freakin awesome!

click any of these banners to go to my zazzle store!

Nick and Keller.... what a couple of cuties!

more zazzle awesomeness!

The story of the assassin girls

2009-01-03T13:32:00.011-05:00

After not painting for a good pile of years , the piece that started it all again for me really was the BlueFaceKiller painting , (" 2006 oil paintings of “Assassin Girls”—carnivalesque, weapon-wielding creatures inspired by the Japanese art/crime flick Pistol Opera") I had been held back literally by my previous marriage and a subsequent violent relationship ending in a skull fracture for myself and 7 years of incarceration for him.
Being single and free of drugs , alcohol and a having made a conscious decision to be celibate starting in 2003 , I was inspired to paint once again. I started painting again on a daily basis and until all hours of the night. I'd try to sleep but couldn't keep the urge to paint away long enough to want to close my eyes so I would get up and paint again for a few more hours. Slightly obsessive but it was clear that we found each other again and didn't want to leave each others side, if you get my meaning. After one night of watching the Japanese stylized art film Pistol Opera , I was flooded with images of assassins and a little hippo dog warrior that had been previously invading my mind and immediately BlueFaceKiller,100,000 eyes and Snake Belly had formed in my head. BFK was the first to find its way onto masonite as it was the most clearly formed image in my mind.
Someone seeing my BlueFaceKiller painting at the shop I worked at had found a venue for my artwork in my first show in 2006 dubbed "The Art of Jeannette L Herrera ( Two Years Sober)" which I found amusing and honest at the same time. Some people took it more seriously than others. My brother being one that found my sense of humor in it had a good laugh about it. Two years sober managed to get some interesting images out of my head. You'd have never guessed they came from a completely sober person.

BFK is 24x36 oil on masonite. Some inspiration was given to me from Tobias and the Angel by Andrea del Verrocchio and it was also one of the earliest recorded paintings that Leonardo DaVinci's hand can be plausibly identified (as DaVinci at this time was one of the emerging artists in Verrochio's studio).

The images of the carp on either side as catch of the day , like the carp held by the boy walking with the angel. I liked the light in the eyes and the scales . I had never painted something like that before. The carp is generally a sign of good things , of abundance and wealth. Here the carp are gutted but still seemingly have some life in their eyes while the life seems to be leaving the little BFK warrior at the same time.

It was a beginning for me that I think i have fallen short of. I have been really trying to get accustomed to dealing with the public and painting commissions here and there and ignoring these larger works but now that i finally recognize this I will be getting back to more serious work like the assassin series.

Following BFK was 100,000 eyes 20x24 oil on masonite

Pretty Kitty Killer 7x9 oil on masonite

and in progress so far I have Snake Belly 24x36 oil on masonite. She is the sister piece to BFK
making her too precious has been an issue for me and for that reason it has taken me twice as long to finish her.

belly detail , navel eating BFK soldier

floor panels that snake belly sits on , with faux wood grain

face in progress

I will be posting the completed work as soon as I can recover from this bronchitis. Paint fumes just seem to aggravate it.

3 acrylics

2008-12-09T16:52:00.003-05:00

Katie came for a visit and of course took it as another opportunity to pose for me. Very comfortable , goofy, young and a handful. But a lot of fun to paint.
5x5

These are also 2 smaller paintings from my painting while sick in bed time.
I got a thing for black pearls so I painted me one. I also painted a black heart that's been on my mind. As my lungs were feeling like 2 shriveled up raisins it was on my mind.

3x7

3x7

Continuation of the Mini Series

2008-11-26T15:34:00.006-05:00

My acrylic series on 3"x4" on cherry wood continues with an image from a strange and very long dream I had about a house in the middle of nowhere and a little schoolgirl just floating around in my head.

"I Sure Love My Hunny!"

"Picture Day"

"Red Rubber Ball"

"The Lady Lizzy"

Info for blue squared show

2008-11-16T00:59:00.003-05:00

I got an email from the wonderful Cathie Joy Young of The Gallery Paradiso in Portland Oregon about the card she had made for the Blue Squared show. I was excited to see the wonderful work of some of the other contributors & also to see that 2 of the 3 of my images ( Synch or Swim & Blue Grace) were selected to be advertised for the promotion. All 3 of my paintings including Blue Bunny are still up on my website but will be available for purchase only through the gallery from now - Jan 4th. There is a link by each one at www.bluefacekiller.com under recent works. To visit or get contact info for Cathie Joy , her amazing works and The Gallery Paradiso happenings click the banner to visit the site. Currently Cathie is showing a collection from the brilliant Mike Egan and lucid dreamy paintings of her own creation as well.

A new direction

2008-10-20T22:18:00.006-04:00

In rediscovering my acrylics I have started this series that seems to be endless and really a lot of fun. Many more in the works and on the way. 6x9 on heavy 140lb watercolor paper.

~Candy Girl

~Little Luci

~My Buddy & Me

~So Happy Together

~Gangster Luv

~Cradle of Love

A little thing called love

2008-10-10T21:07:00.002-04:00

I do love weepy emotional everything , but this song says a lot to me. Ups and downs of living have made me a sap. And no more shall we part is the song and i sat down and painted this , again i used acrylic and it was really smooth transition from idea to board. Unfortunately I have been not wanting to get back to my oil paints so i have a pile of unfinished oils that need a lot of work. Laziness perhaps. Here is my new piece acrylic on masonite 11x12

The Blue Squared series

2008-10-10T09:02:00.004-04:00

I was asked to paint a few works for submission to a show themed Blue Squared. I picked up my acrylics after not having used them since i was 17. I was pretty happy how comfprtable it felt since i have been pretty loyal to my oil paints for so long now. And i gotta say , what a nice break from wearing latex gloves and a mask ( I am very sensitive to the chemicals involved in oil painting)
It was fun... different.

here is my Little Blue Bunny 5x5 in acrylic.

My monochromatic swimmers called Synch or Swim acrylic on canvas 10x10

and last is Grace in Blue 12x12 acrylic on hardboard She has a sister piece in color named Grace

September 20th , Live painting at The Space

2008-09-22T11:10:00.021-04:00

Danny PhantOM (http://notfromthisplanet1459.blogspot.com/)
Kreg D. Kelley (http://www.kregdavidkelley.com/)
Jeannette Herrera (http://www.bluefacekiller.com/)
Rufus Clark (http://rufusclark.com/)
John Lucien (http://logicalexplosion.blogspot.com/)
Sean Welker (www.secretworm.com)

A good time was had by all! The Space in D.C. was explosive with ideas from 6 very different artists . My anxiety aside , I immediately found myself comfortable when i saw where we were painting and the people I was sharing the billing with. We were on the roof in the most beautiful weather. Attacked by mutant mosquitoes that actually ate through my pant legs. Freaks! Nonetheless , a little deet and a lot of malaria later ..... i was on my way to having a really lovely experience. Thanks to Devin and Aaron and The Space ( http://www.thespace-dc.com/club.html ) for making such an occasion possible.

Mike was in charge of the photos so I do have him to thank for that. I think he got some really good shots of most everything that went on.

As usual I begin the process by pulling out my razor blades and applying black gesso.

Danny PhantOM contemplates his nuclear dream and how to apply it to canvas, while Mike listens to him speak he has 99 red balloon deja vu.

By background in progress

Evil Wobble makes his first appearance

A favorite technique of Danny , watered down acrylics

which give him this beautiful effect

Sean Welker begins to lay it down

Sean gets a good word from Danny about watering down techniques

Rufus Clark joins the group and the sun starts going down

John Lucien to my right is painting insanity with the most beautiful color combos. Math equations and notes found in the street , it was a joy painting beside him

Rufus is workin it out while Sean plans out the placement of the luchador mask

The Space onlookers

Kreg is gettin busy

Raffle time , Each of the artist chose from the raffle bucket and picked the winners of each piece

In the end i raffled 9 signed prints and Cynthia who was just dieing to win Evil wobble won a Blue Face Killer assassin girl print. I was so happy for her

Shawna and Rich discuss the finer points of glitter in the use of art

Kreg is polishing up his masterpiece

Danny's final piece "Sad Song"

The boys .... My gorgeous husband Mike on the right , Lenny center and Rich Left

Devin's sister won Evil Wobble and gave him to Devin as a gift :)

My finished product , Evil Wobble

Evil wobbles but it don't fall down

pin up sisters

2008-09-14T13:11:00.000-04:00

Sweet Tits and Sugar Ass are sister pieces i created in 2004. The owner of these 2 pieces moved several states away and after having unpacked everything found the 2 were missing. It's a stretch , but if anyone should happen to see or know anything about them , I know she would like them back. They measure about 11x11 and have wide black frames . no mats,with museum glass in them. This is all I thought I could do to help her out. Thanks for your time in reading this.

self portraits

2008-09-12T23:05:00.000-04:00

"1-2-3" June 2007 - oil on canvas 18x18
"She died of mortal passion. How she suffered for him.
They say that a sad dove comes to sing to her early in the mornings. They say that dove is none other than her soul."
At the time i was having great pains from kidney stones which have plagued me since the birth of my daughter. I now have an overproduction issue which have stones that filled both my kidneys and all the way down the ureters ( T M I ) but at the time i was feeling ill and I was so tired. It was a ugly moment for meboth physically and emotionally.

I am very much in love with portrait work , most especially of the older very traditional style like the ones i am in love with st the Portrait Museum. Not being a master of the art by any means I still enjoy painting and drawing portraits. It is a very intimate process which is why I am so emotional about looking at portraits and painting them. Here are 3 self portraits all done in oil.

Self Portrait 2004 - 14x18 oil on 8 ply acid free board

"Twin Bed" 2005 - 8x10 oil on masonite The celibate years

Sewing project

2008-09-10T02:33:00.001-04:00

It's 2:30am .... just finished this a little bit ago and i was very happy with the way it turned out. Hand sewn , hand painted muslin , embroidery floss and acrylic paint. It's been floating around my head for a while, it's good to have it complete.

Color pencils

2008-09-08T15:09:00.000-04:00

The other night my husband and I decided on watching a slew of gruesomely dark and disturbing movies. Some were laughable and some were just , a little too much for even me. Which is rare. But past events may have changed my viewpoints of such random acts of violence. Not that i don't love Grindhouse, Evil Dead and other such classics , I tend to be too emotionally attached somehow to the based on true story movies. Moving on though , the day following our film fest i found myself feeling loopy and out of sorts so I decided to draw for a bit. I took out my colored pencils which cause me great pain after drawing for too long, but it felt so good to use them again. My subject matter helped me get back to feeling "normal" again. It's hard to feel bad when I see their faces.

Recent works, plaster and wire

2008-09-08T12:19:00.000-04:00

Here are some of my recent works. It's been 4 months since i quit my job and I have taken up more time consuming projects I previously just didn't have the patience for. It's been a nice growth period for me. I find myself wanting to do too much at once and focus has been a problem. So that, i do need to work on.

"Grill~ Extra Cheese" wire plaster , oil paint, metal leaf

"Love me" wire plaster acrylic paint. Lyrics , Love and Rockets (part of my 80's series in oil, coming soon)