STORIES:

WELCOME TO THE SOUTHWESTERN BELLOWS
The Southwestern Bellows is the magical land that lives in my imagination and is the land where all of my paintings and drawings take place. At first glance, one might think that my paintings have an 1800s Western boho vibe, and they would be half right, but at its core, “The Southwestern Bellows” is a fantasy world with magic, monsters, adventure, tragedy, royalty, and…...nightmare-harvesting aliens that worship cactuses and eat gold. I have a pretty clear picture of this place in my mind, but every time I make up a new story for a painting or a series of paintings, I learn a little more about this place, and the sense of discovery powers my drive to continue returning to this world.  

The Southwestern Bellow is a breakaway human civilization started on another terraformed world by the Zeta Reticulan Grays. In the 1850s human pioneers and other people from planet Earth were brought to this new planet to repopulate its lands. The purpose of this off-world colony remains a mystery, but local scholars, paranormal investigators, and warlocks believe that the Southwestern Bellows was created as part of an experiment by the Zeta Reticulans…an experiment that involves genetics and dreaming.      

I love reading fantasy novels, and typically, the traditional fantasy world is set in a land similar to Medieval Europe with magical elements inspired by folklore. The Southwestern Bellows is similar but set in a place like Early America with magical elements inspired by UFOlogy, cryptozoology, the occult, and the paranormal; all of which I feel is the modern folklore of our time. 

It’s like this: traditional fantasy = knights and elves. The Southwestern Bellows = pioneers and aliens that eat gold and collect both decorative cactuses and human nightmares.    

Welcome and enjoy your stay! 

ALANZO AND THE CACTUS WITCH (2020-2021)

This collection of paintings loosely tells the story of Alanzo, a dimwitted youth with an amazing singing voice who has been forced into becoming a professional assassin by his sinister father who wants him to join the family trade. Unfortunately, Alanzo is afraid of blood, so his father sends him to apprentice with the Cactus Witch, where he is to learn the art of poison-making.

During the apprenticeship, Alanzo learns a bit about cactus and magick, a lot about friendship, and even more about the mysterious Gray Aliens that inhabit the desert around the Cactus Witch's cottage. One morning, Alanzo accidentally poisons his poison-making instructor. But, she is brought back to life by the Aliens and they later meet a Cactus God. How exciting! The story ends with the Aliens presenting Alanzo with the gift of his father's severed head.

It was really fun for me to work in a narrative-based series like this and although my earlier paintings fit loosely into this world, this was my first attempt at painting a series with recurring characters unified by one narrative.