Mulder, It's Me.

"Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only in contradiction to what we know of it." 

- Dana Scully

 Dear lord, what couldn't she do, except believe? 

A critical mind and clear wit, nothing got past her. As a sceptic and atheist in a world that hides magic from us every day, I did not understand her nearly as well when I was younger. 

I love her all the more now.

Fox Mulder made so much more sense to me when I was younger, and now I feel the ever-present pull between the struggle to realize something more exceptional than ordinary life and my own skepticism.   I love that Mulder will always strive towards the unnatural and unlikely at any possible moment.  He is a time capsule of my lost faith in the supernatural. 

What more is there to say about this one? 

"Dear Diary: Today my heart leapt when Agent Scully suggested spontaneous human combustion."

I made this pair of Mulder & Scully gouache paintings for fun -

 you can buy prints of them in my store now!

Split + Growing

I've been wrestling my way through the new body of work I am making 

to show at the Bureau of General Services: Queer Division in late April.

I have taken a lot of time to consider how what I make and what I enjoy 

and strive toward need to get a lot closer.

In preparing for this show, which opens April 20th, I wrote a lot 

and meditated on the intricacy, personality, and whole worlds I need to

capture in my work as I move forward.

This new show is going to be something different, hopefully more personal,

and certainly a next step in my process of growth as an illustrative artist.

Selection of Work from Emblems of Things to Come

This is a collection of images of half of the work currently on exhibit

at the window gallery of the Leslie-Lohman Museum.

  

The reception was a great success, and I owe a great deal of gratitude

to the team at the Museum and to the people in my life who made so much of this possible,

particularly my partner, my family, and my longtime friends.

 This show took a lot of time and research.
It seems like I have just begun down a path where

I challenge myself to do much more than I have accomplished before.

Whenever I make a new show, it's difficult to avoid that fear
that your concept and actual work are in conflict,
and this is a show where put in a lot of time to

challenge my own expectations and not to get too comfortable.  

I'm very proud of this collection of paintings and intend to just
keep going on from here, collecting stories and histories for a long time.

Anne Bonney (1700 – 1722?) “The most famous of all women pirates, 

of Anne’s various activities… reporters are loathe to tell about her lesbianism.   

Anne is reported to have quipped during her final fray, 

“Dogs! In insteady of these weaklings I only had some women with me!” 

(The Encyclopedia of Amazons, Jessica A. Salmonson)

­Boudica (d. c. AD 61) “Derived from the Celtic word for ‘Victorious.’ 

Warrior-queen of the Iceni of Norfolk.  She led a rebellion in A.D. 61, 

sacking numerous [occupying] Roman settlements… [and] temporarily liberated her people

 from the Roman yoke.  The Roman army was urged on with the observation

 that the Celtic queen’s forces included “more women than warriors.” 

(The Encyclopedia of Amazons, Jessica A. Salmonson) 

Hypatia  (c. AD 350–370; d 415) “was a brilliant mathematician and astronomer – 

at the time of her death, she was the foremost in her field in the West, 

and probably in the entire world.  

…Religious and secular tensions in Alexandria led to her murder.” 

(“Missed in History: Hypatia,” Tracey V. Wilson)

Sarojini Naidu from Emblems of Things to Come

Sarojini Naidu (1879 – 1949) 

“The Nightingale of India, was a child prodigy, 

Indian independence activist and poet. 

Naidu was one of the formers of the Indian Constitution.  

Naidu was the first Indian woman to become 

the President of the Indian National Congress… 

Her birthday is celebrated as women's day all over India.”  (Wikipedia)

Above is another sneak peek at the show, which opens tonight!

Emblems of Things to Come Coundown

It is just shy of 36 hours until the reception for Emblems of Things to Come.

Big thanks to the team at the Leslie Lohman Museum for such a warm welcome

and promotional help. 

 Here are a few snapshot sneak previews of the mirror paintings

and a wood portrait detail.

Sleep is overrated // Mirah show poster!

 I just started and finished this poster for the upcoming  

Mirah & Tender Forever & Lillie Ruth Bussey show in Philadelphia.

This lineup of these three bands / performers is a recurring set that is always well worth it.  

It is one of those minutes when I really miss living in Philly, even though

I am so glad to have moved to New York and taken change on in a big way.

Still, if anyone is able to make it to this show, go!

This piece is mostly gouache, though there is also some ink and watercolor.

I really enjoy collecting unusual pigments at the Dick Blick and A.I. Friedman when I 

end up by one.  Gouache comes in really fun hues, I'm glad that it only takes a

little to work with, or I'd never get my collection to expand.

It's all part of my Agent Dale Cooper plan.

When it isn't paint, it is almost always.  Always.  Coffee.

Leeway Project Continues

As the summer heats up I am not only taking on my new body of work for the 

upcoming show at Leslie Lohman, but I am pushing forward with
 my Leeway Grant project. 

You can read all about the project HERE, and if you want to contribute your

story to the collection, please get in touch at: KetchWehr at gmail.com

I love taking in more stories of LGBTIQQ resilience and coming of age - share yours!

Started Work on Comics

In the interest of using my time on the subway and on lunch breaks better, 

I have been putting all the weird thoughts I have jumbling around inside my brain down

 in the form of quick little semi-autobiographical comics.

I want to work more on my composition, and a change of pace and low-stress, 

high detail planned project like a page of a comic per day is the shift I was 

looking for this summer.

I will have scans of pages coming up shortly, above is a snapshot of the first page 

which I scribbled out in my cubicle at work yesterday.

I'm collecting settings and strange humans I see and adding them to my roster.

Know what you want for the next comic?  

See something strange on the street yesterday?

Tell me about it.  I might use it!