After not painting for a number 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") After an attack and subsequent traumatic head injury, I chose to pick up my brushes again and use painting as part of my healing process.
Being single and living a clean lifestyle, choosing to be celibate and even more so choosing a reclusive way of life, I was inspired to paint once again. I started painting on a daily basis and until all hours of the night.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. Two years sober managed to get some interesting images out of my head.
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)
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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.
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.
