Share Your Story
Everyone sees art differently. One of the best things about being an artist is listening to others interpret what’s on the canvas. Share your story.
Everyone sees art differently. One of the best things about being an artist is listening to others interpret what’s on the canvas. Share your story.
About Tiki Man
This was the first painting in the “Wonderful” series. At this point “Something Wonderful” was just an idea to create around twenty 8-foot paintings and to find a place to exhibit them.
All my paintings are based on a sketch which I quickly do a rough underpainting of to figure out the shape, feel, composition etc. When I got this guy on the canvas (okay, not canvas, plywood) he seemed a little to menacing as if he was attacking the viewer. I worked on his mouth and got a big smile on him and added the vibrating drums. This turned his attack stance into more of a dance.
His face was originally a flatish brown. I used my faux finishing experience, and used this nifty rubber “graining” tool and made fairly quick work out of a seemingly difficult task.
Everyone sees art differently, what do you think Tiki Man is about? Share your story.
– Jortt
About Bigfoot.
Before Something Wonderful was something anything, my friend Cory drove up my driveway with a piece of plywood and said “John, paint bigfoot on this”.
This was the beggining of the “Big Idea”. Within a half hour of starting his bigfoot, I knew I was going to paint a bunch of different creatures and have an exhibition somewhere. I jumped head first into this project and it’s been consuming me since last September.
I felt obligated to paint a bigfoot for this exhibition. Like all my other pieces, it started out with just the main figure. I’ve painted several iterations of Candy Corn Girl in the past and thought she would be perfect riding the back of our Sasquatch friend.
– Jortt
One of my favorite pieces of Johns original art is one I happen to own. It’s the Afro man without eyes giving a beer to the little eyeball girl with the candy corn dress. I have several interpretations however my favorite is that he’s being kind to his vision- he’s taking care of her, giving her beer, sharing space. (eyeball girl). I love eyeball girl.
Candy Corn Girl made it into Something Wonderful. She’s easy to find.
The Four different pigs were once four very similar pigs. They took walks together and took their meals together, and did everything all four together. But one day, one of the pigs burned the pasta. How do you burn pasta you may ask? No one is really sure, least of all the pigs. But they got in a very large fight about how one could possibly burn pasta. To settle their debate, they decided that the only reasonable thing to do would be to see who could climb the highest in a tree. Does this make sense? No. Did it make sense to the pigs? Not really. Did they do it anyway. Yes, yes they did. The pink pig went first and barely made it off the ground. Next was the purple pig, who made it a few extra feet, but then fell, right on top of the pink pig! As they are pigs without opposable thumbs, they couldn’t manage to get down. But the orange pig was not to be deterred. They started climbing next and made it even farther, but then fell too! Right on the purple pig! He couldn’t get down either, and the yellow pig thought it would be so funny to complete the stack, that he climbed right up and jumped on top! We find our pigs right after they all stopped laughing at their predicament, right as they are realizing they may need some help, but none of them know how to dial 911. Do you think they ever figured it out, or are they still stacked up to this day?
The dog in the saucer makes me think of the pod races in Star Wars: Phantom Menace. How cool would it have been to have a dog alien racing against Anakin in the pod races🤣 Love how the dog’s tongue is hanging out while he races just like a dog hanging his head out the window.
Giles treks on through the endless valley, haunted by the memory of his late son Candycornhead. Nevertheless, Giles treks on.
My interpretation of this painting:
Jack Eyeball always wanted to be a magician. Unfortunately, his father, Alfred Eyeball, always expected his eldest son to take over the family hot dog business. When Jack was a teenager, they fought and fought and fought. “I was born to be a magician,” Jack would say, “not a hot dog salesman!”
Jack and Alfred had a strained relationship throughout his teenage years, but everything changed when Jack met Sally. Jack was enrolled in a local magic class while in college. There, he met a fellow magician named Sally. Sally took an unorthodox approach to magic. Rather than the simple card tricks and rabbits-in-hats, Sally liked to incorporate out-of-the-box things in her magical acts: live music, fire, sky diving, acrobatics, you name it. Jack and Sally grew closer and closer throughout the magic class they were in, and they eventually found themselves to be close friends. Jack told his predicament to Sally, and she presented him with a simple solution: add some magic to the hot dog business!
Jack thought on Sally’s idea and realized it just might work. He showed up at his next shift at the hot dog stand with a newfound gusto. He served hot dogs with a magical flair, enchanting customers from all over. Word spread, and the Eyeball family’s hot dog business gained a new reputation as the local hangout. People from far and near came to try the magical hot dogs!
When Jack eventually took over the family business, he decided to host magic nights every Friday night, featuring out-of-the-box magic tricks and hot dogs galore, with Sally as his co-host. At the end of the first show, as his grand finale, he pulled a diamond ring out of a hat and presented it to Sally. “Sally,” Jack said, “will you make me magically happy and be my wife?”
Sally said yes, and Alfred was the first to cheer and congratulate the happy couple. The whole family lived a happy, magical life, and the Eyeball family business became a town establishment.
My best friend, Tammy, collects pigs. She also loves bright colors. I know she would appreciate this print for those reasons. Most of all, the print reminds me of her because she is the most warm, welcoming, and inclusive person. This print, to me, signifies diversity and inclusion with the different colors, different sizes, and different directions. The best part is there is a smile on each pig showing their pleasure with each member of the group.